brain drain

today was my first day of work at my new company. fortunately or UNfortunately, i'm on a 5-day induction program for new hires. the fortunate thing about it is that i have a 5-day transition before being exposed to the day-to-day work i'll be doing again for eternity. the UNfortunate news was, LESSON NO. 1: If they pay you a lot expect to get what its worth. why so? because, for my first day of work, we (me and fellow new hires) get to sit from 8am till 6:30 pm! Like what!!!! Its a real brain drain, by the time it got to the last topic I was chatting with the new hire beside me. You just can't cram it anymore in you brain if you have to listen that long.
not so much complaining of course. I have come to accept that I might probably really be overworked in this next chapter of my life. no, actually i shouldn't say overworked. I should say: STRESSED. I know for sure that the amount they will be paying me at this job will be well worth for them in terms of what they pay me. add to that, my friend/colleague who got there first tells me the past few months of his stay there has been short of hell, because of the pressure and the workload.
being in my work for quite some time tackling different areas and working with different companies, I would say I've learned quite a lot already with regards to company culture. For one, I know that multinationals who pay higher demands more from their employees, like what happened in my previous work. and being with the company I've been to for the past almost 3 years, I've learned to be relaxed with what I do. There've been very few hectic periods for me, and very little reasons to stay longer than the standard working hours. Not to brag of course, but I know that I do my job well. I manage my tasks well and I know the ins and outs of what I do.
then comes a new environment with new people to work with new challenges to overcome. I feel excited, but at the same time, I feel some anxiety over expectations. I want to build my career in this company, I know I should bear this in mind. because I will conquer this.
of course, first I have to get through 4 more days of being a sitting duck in a room.