Five Years in Microsoft

By Jian Shuo Wang on 2004-06-29 23:43 · Microsoft

Today, I celebrated my 5 year anniversay with Microsoft.

June 29, 1999 is the day I formally got on board in Microsoft after half year of internship. The 5 year gave me so much. I am lucky enough to enter a company that I love from the bottom of my heart.

The division I am working at hold a grant celebration party for me. Then I got my Microsoft Five Year Award. I’d like to show off the beautiful gift I was longing for quite some time.

The Big Box

Guess what is inside this box, which was shipped from Redmond, WA to Shanghai.

Let me open the mysterious box.

Smaller Box

There is a smaller box. What is inside this colorful smaller box?

Uncover the box - a nice silver clock appears.

The Clock

The Five Year Service Award is a clock. Oh. If the globalization team in Microsoft ever reviewed the proposal of sending clocks as gift, they will find it is not proper in China. “Sending clock” sounds the same as “sending someone to tomb”. :-$ So people in China never send clock as gift. Anyway, I can understand. I love the clock very much.

My name was printed on the clock.

The Card

Five Year Congratulation Card signed by Bill Gates (by print, not by hand).

There is a plate. I assume I should stick it onto my shirt.

The Party

Eric helped to took some photos of the celebration party this afternoon.

26 Comments

Congratulations, Jian Shuo! That's an accomplishment many people *never* experience in this changeable world we live in today, and for you to be so enthusiastic about it, and so happy with your job, is an extra bonus. They're lucky to have such a good employee!

— Carroll · 2004-06-30 00:36

Congratulations ! ;-)

I didn't knew that you had been in Bill's company for that long !

The watch is cool !

You have achieved almost anything from MS - exept Wendy (hmm, maybe she works in MS too ?!) and I hope your future with MS will be bright and prosperous.

MS has a huge potential in China if they do right, so when you go further upstairs in MS (I don't say "IF"), I hope that you still have some spare time to continue your fantastic blog.

— Carsten · 2004-06-30 01:04

HRM in MS is very special and admirable.:) Congratulations!

— yimao · 2004-06-30 01:30

wow.....

congratulations ;)

— tutu · 2004-06-30 09:32

Five years with a multinational, very cool.

Now about all these bugs that your friends keep leaving in my computer software.

— Angry Chinese Blogger · 2004-06-30 10:15

Nice souvenir ! Congratulations! GG

— Jessie Chen · 2004-06-30 10:29

hey, dude. Congratuations~~

— Halcyon · 2004-06-30 10:48

Well done, Jian Shuo! I hope the next 5 years will be as much fun as the first!

— julian · 2004-06-30 12:50

Congratulations!

What did you see when you looked at the back of the clock? Let me guess: Made in China? :-)

— JH · 2004-06-30 14:28

Microsoft is hated and loved. But still, it is one of the most successful company in the world. Congratulations!

Shen

— Shen · 2004-06-30 22:09

Bravo and congratulations!

— Shanghai Slim · 2004-06-30 23:09

Big Congrats!!! Microsoft is a better place with you on their side :)

— Robert Haynie · 2004-07-01 11:19

Congratulations! What a happy life.

— deuteron · 2004-07-01 12:33

haha i was thinking they were giving u the new windows

— ehD · 2004-07-01 13:39

Thanks everyone!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2004-07-01 14:09

Thanks for everyone! I'd like to especially thank Alex and Claire who changed their MSN Messenger display name to honor my 5 year with Microsoft.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2004-07-01 22:06

Admiring ...

Keep on your good work!

— Levin Du · 2004-07-02 13:22

Amazing! Congratulations, JS! I thought MS gave you X-Box as a gift. But the clock is really nice. Now, I know it's not a good idea to give clocks to my Chinese friends. Congrats again and keep up the good work! :D

— earthmilk · 2004-07-03 21:57

On the back of the clock is

German Mov't

China Case

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2004-07-03 22:11

yea i've gotten plenty of clocks as gifts here :) westerns wouldn't have a clue about chinese cultural on clock giving LOL

— dodo · 2004-07-04 12:58

Congratulations to you!

— Lu Heli · 2004-07-05 12:17

Congrats, JianShuo. I'm going to join the 5-year-service club in the coming Auguest. I'll meet you there :-)

— rangew · 2004-07-08 14:45

Congrats, JianShuo on your 5 years and yes the clock was nice.I have just completed a li'l over one year at MS and hope to roll on for the remaing 4 years an dyeah congratulations on your joining MCS.

— Satyaki Panda · 2004-10-23 20:08

Congrats !!!! Five years for me too las May.

— Carmelo · 2005-10-12 10:17

Jian Shuo,

Congratulations! But shame on Microsoft for not properly observing Chinese custom! Don't they know that according to Chinese custom, it is bad luck to give a clock as a gift. You know? "song biao"

An alternative meaning of "song biao" translated from the Chinese to English means to "send someone to their death"!

Ai-ya!

- John

— John · 2007-12-17 02:21

Songbiao = Song Zhong in Chinese, which means postmortem in China. So I heard they have changed that in the recent years.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-12-21 11:42