A walk around the workplace is also a trip back in time. The office is where colleagues meet, work and bond. But it is also a time capsule, a place where the traces of historic patterns of working are visible everywhere. The pandemic has heightened this sense of office as a dig site for corporate archaeologists.

The most obvious object is the landline phone (固定电话), a reminder of the days when mobility meant being able to stand up and keep talking. Long after people have junked them in their personal lives — less than 15% of Americans aged between 25 and 34 had one at home in the second half of 2021— landline phones survive in offices.

There might be good reasons for its persistence: they offer a more secure and stable connection than mobile phones, and no one worries that they are about to run out of battery. In practice, the habit of using them was definitely lost during the pandemic. Now they sit on desk after desk, rows of buttons unpressed, ring tones unheard. They witness those who are in low spirit.

Landline phones were already well on their way out before covid-19 struck. Whiteboard charts have suffered a swifter reverse. These objects signal a particular type of pain — people physically crowded together into a room while a manager sketches a graph with a marker pen and points meaningfully to the top-right-hand corner, giving requirements never to be satisfied. This manager is still making graphs but is now much more likely to use a PowerPoint. The crowd is still being tortured (使痛苦) but is now much more likely to be watching on the screen. The office still has whiteboards, but they are left in corners and the charts on them are slowly yellowing.

Real archaeologists need tools and time to do their painstaking work: brushes, shovels and picks. Corporate archaeology is easier; you just need eyes and a memory of how things used to be. But you also need to be quick as more and more work places are revamped for the post-pandemic era. Now its time to take a careful look around the office: you may see something that will soon seem outdated.

When I found out I was moving to India, it was beyond a nightmare. It was something I couldn’t even imagine. The impression I had of India were only based upon a few summer visits to my grandparents, filled with heat, pollution and dirt. Even though I was only six years old, I know this would be a complete change from my comfortable life in Maryland.

During my first six months in India, my expectations were met almost exactly. I hated my new apartment; I missed my school and friends back in Maryland, and I was sick of all the dirty marketplaces that filled the streets of New Delhi.

After those six months were over I finally realized that I was going to be in India for a while. I knew that I had to start making the most of my new life. It was then that I became completely involved in my school. My school, the American Embassy School, was filled with international students: Europeans, Australians, Chinese, and Americans just like me. But they all welcomed me with open arms. It was amazing to be among such diverse students, who had such incredible experiences to share.

Now, when I look back at my time in India, all I can think about is how fortunate I am to have had such a wonderful experience. My move to India not only allowed me to see a completely different side of the

Dubai’s Museum of the Future, named as one of the 14 most beautiful museums on the planet in a list by National Geographic magazine this July, opened in February 2023. It promises visitors an immersive (沉浸式的) experience that uses technology to represent art and encourages guests to imagine what the future could be like.

What are the exhibitions inside?

Five of the seven floors are main exhibition spaces, each designed to look like a futuristic film set. The museum takes visitors on a journey to the year 2071 and creates scenes of what the future could be like in topics such as outer space resource development, ecosystems and bioengineering, health, wellness and spirituality.

How to get tickets?

Entry to the museum costs Dh150, but is free for pre-school children, persons with disabilities and citizens aged 60 and over. Half price for students.

The tickets are on sale on the museum’s website www.motf.ae.

General rules of the museum

●   Visitors are allowed to take photos and videos for personal use, except in the exhibitions that are labeled as the “special exhibition galleries”. Flash photography is not allowed.

●   Selfie (自拍) sticks are not permitted.

●   Guests can bring their own food that can be eaten in garden areas. No food or drink is allowed in any exhibition.

●   There are restrooms on each floor of the museum.

●   Free Wi-Fi is available.