Last Friday night, I attended a dinner gathering with my former company.
This dinner was funded by the remaining bonus from the previous CIP award. Everyone decided to use it as the dinner expense. The attendees included the main project members from our department, supervisors, the plant manager, and colleagues from other departments who had helped us adjust our direction along the way. Altogether, it just filled one table.
When a former colleague first messaged me on Line to ask if I wanted to join, I hesitated for a long time. After all, I had already resigned, and I wasn’t a main person in charge of that CIP project. Work was really busy back then, and I only attended two or three discussion meetings, offering some ideas and opinions. I felt I hadn’t helped much.
But later I heard that the plant manager and other department supervisors all hoped I would come, so I finally joined with thick skin.
Honestly, the feeling was quite special.
Everyone chatted as naturally as before, as if I had just taken a short break and returned. No one became distant because I had left, nor did they make overly polite small talk. Instead, they kept urging me to eat more and kept serving food onto my plate, smiling and saying, “It’s rare for you to come back to your old home—eat your fill today.”
In that moment, I felt truly moved.
Although I had only stayed at that company for nine months and didn’t feel much sense of belonging when I left—spending most days just adapting to new work and a new environment without much time to build interpersonal connections—going back after leaving and seeing those familiar faces and familiar ways of chatting suddenly made me realize that those nine months had quietly become a resting place in my life.
Last year I also went back to the company before that for their Mid-Autumn barbecue. Since I had stayed there for four years, the feeling of “coming home” wasn’t surprising. But returning to the electronics company where I only stayed nine months made me realize that a sense of belonging doesn’t entirely depend on how long you stayed. Instead, the memories of working together and enduring busy days together gradually settle after you leave.
Now I’ve moved to another new company. It’s only been two weeks, and I’m still getting to know people and adapting to the environment. Many things still feel unfamiliar, and I don’t have much sense of belonging yet. I wonder how long it will take before I can smile and say “our company” the way I did at the dinner, instead of referring to this new place.
I think a sense of belonging isn’t something that appears on the first day. It grows little by little through daily interactions. I hope I can gradually find my own sense of belonging day by day.