Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Yes I know it has been a whole month since I left However, in that time it is hard to express in words exactly how many things I've been doing and experiencing.
Going back weeks and weeks to start with the initial journey I will commence this with the plane ride over. I'll attempt to leave as much work out of this as possible as many people won't really be interested in reading about the ins and outs of getting a program (and Support Center for that matter) off the ground.
Well August 4th was my last day in Seattle and from there, I took my very frugal plane ride towards India. In the interest of saving a few bucks ($1500 to be exact) I seem to have opted for the flight to India with the most possible stops. Yes, I know that they could have thrown in a few more for good measure but not too many more would really be possible. I haven't even tackled the layovers. I flew from Seattle to Vancouver at 10pm, August 4th and proceeded to begin my first layover 5 hours. My plane to Hong Kong was 13 hours long and thus commenced my second layover 8 hours this time. I spent it whiling away the hours re-reading the 4th book of Harry Potter trying, wishfully, to extend my reading pleasure and not come to the end of the 5th book too quickly. (I am about 60 pages from the end of the 5th book as of last night). I was pleased to meet a very nice woman from New Zealand/England who was also stuck on a long layover such as myself. We chatted, discussed, read and took turns watching each other's personal belongings for the necessary bathroom trips. This was also the last taste of Starbucks I will have had until the current moment. I don't foresee another cup o' the java (seattle style) until oh October 18th sometime in some airport on Christopher and my way back to the
"homeland". From Hong Kong I flew (or more likely the pilot flew the plane) for another 7 hours through Bangkok to Mumbai (you will know this as Bombay but since the British have left the Indians are returning the cities to their original names which results in all of the cities now being known by two names and can be a barrel of misunderstandings for someone like me). Arriving in Mumbai at 8:30 pm, I had the last of my 8 hour layovers was to be had. At least I had the trip from the International Terminal to the Domestic Terminal to await my flight which left Mumbai for
Bangalore at 3:00 am. I'm not sure who in their right mind schedules a flight at 3 am but there I was sitting with a bunch of other unfortunate souls not unlike myself waiting for that silly flight.
Without much ado the JetAirways flight came and we arrived in Bangalore. I have to say that JetAirways is one of the most professional and, on top of it, airlines I've ever flown. Not more than 10 minutes up in the air and we had the candy basket passed around; we were served
breakfast, drinks, etc. and it was only a 1.5 hour flight! I spoke to many nice people during the journey however, as it's been so long since the flight my poor memory is failing me at the moment. I'll move from the flight to my first endeavor in India arranging or in this case RE-arranging my housing. My "landlord" was there waiting for me and kindly picked me up and drove
me to his abode which, at that time, was to be mine for the next 2 weeks. Vinay (a seattle friend) had so kindly helped me find Mr. Gosh and his apartment to rent. I had been very concerned with finding economical accommodations and to have them within walking distance. As well, I had been specific in wanting my own area and bathroom.
***
I would like to preface this description with the following disclaimer. I have never traveled for business let alone travel while working for the big M (Microsoft) and really had no concept of the 16 hour days I would be pulling and still am at times. Mr. Gosh and his wife are very kind
people who, I think, really wanted to have a cultural experience as much as I did However, I have since come to realize that traveling for Business is actually much different than traveling for cultural experience.
***
Upon arrival, however, I learned the malleability of information communicated and, as I'm coming more to understand of the culture, the misinterpretation of information not only from a comprehension standpoint but what the person listening thinks is the right thing to do. As I
walked in the door they took me past the guest quarters and in to THEIR living quarters (they felt that I would be less lonely that way.) I was to stay in their only daughter's former room, who was now away from college, which was just off the kitchen and common area. At this point, as much as I had wanted my own area, I just wanted a bed and figured that I'd deal with it in the morning. I slept for about 3 hours well slept really wouldn't describe my experience as their
house was directly under the flight path and there were regular flights of 777's thundering over the house almost hourly. When I was ready to go to work, Mr. Gosh had offered to take me. He had told me that he knew where the address was and that it was not far. This wasn't actually true we drove around for 30 45 minutes looking for the address. By the time we found it it was 10 am and I was very sure that I was not going to be able to walk to and/or from work. It was a little overt 3km (a 5 k is 3.3 miles I think).
Well I went to work there was much to do and not much time to do it in. But, as I said work discussion will be taken off line I'd be typing for days and still wouldn't do it justice let's suffice it
to say that it is a very intense, trying, demanding, challenging, stimulating, invigorating and rewarding experience! It is one HUGE learning curve and I'm up for the challenge! Well to round out the Housing experience the first day was still not over I determined that I would be working all day and called the Gosh's in the early evening to ask them not to wait dinner for me that I'd be home around 9ish. At this point, keep in mind that I haven't had sleep in about 3 days. Luckily I found that MS is providing transport for us back and forth to work. When I arrived at the Gosh's at 9:45, I found them sitting at the kitchen table asking me why I was so late. They had kept dinner waiting for me and I was to sit down and have dinner with them. I ate dinner mulling over my realization that this was not going to be the ideal living situation for me. During the same dinner they began telling me how Mr. Gosh had given up going on a business trip so
that he could be here while I was here. I knew I had to get out ASAP. The next day at work I had Merlyn (a wonderful Admin. Assist.) arrange a room at the hotel nearest the office until I could find better accommodations. After work, I had Joy (the Head of transport) come with me to collect my things, haggled with Mr. Gosh who felt that I should pay for the ENTIRE 2 months and zipped off to my new digs the Royal Orchid Park Plaza Hotel! AHHHHH Peace and Quiet! at only $75 a night. Well It was temporary (2 weeks temporary) and I'm now staying at a
sister hotel, the more economical Central Park. It's a little farther from work but with transport taken care of it's not bad at all especially not since I come in to work at 6 am and leave well, right now it's 8 pm!
With lodgings under control, I'm feeling much more settled I finally unpacked! Ahhhhhh! There's so much to say I'll try to write more tomorrow night after class. I could stay all night typing but it's been ages since I've had more than 5 hours sleep and that is sounding really good right now. As well my sore thighs need a rest in the bed! I've now had 2 Bharat Natium classes this is one of the traditional Indian dances and it is done entirely in a squat position! My first class was last Thursday and my second yesterday Maybe by October, my legs will have stopped aching
Well I'm headed back to the Hotel now! a little Harry Potter and a Lot of Sleep! YEAH!
Going back weeks and weeks to start with the initial journey I will commence this with the plane ride over. I'll attempt to leave as much work out of this as possible as many people won't really be interested in reading about the ins and outs of getting a program (and Support Center for that matter) off the ground.
Well August 4th was my last day in Seattle and from there, I took my very frugal plane ride towards India. In the interest of saving a few bucks ($1500 to be exact) I seem to have opted for the flight to India with the most possible stops. Yes, I know that they could have thrown in a few more for good measure but not too many more would really be possible. I haven't even tackled the layovers. I flew from Seattle to Vancouver at 10pm, August 4th and proceeded to begin my first layover 5 hours. My plane to Hong Kong was 13 hours long and thus commenced my second layover 8 hours this time. I spent it whiling away the hours re-reading the 4th book of Harry Potter trying, wishfully, to extend my reading pleasure and not come to the end of the 5th book too quickly. (I am about 60 pages from the end of the 5th book as of last night). I was pleased to meet a very nice woman from New Zealand/England who was also stuck on a long layover such as myself. We chatted, discussed, read and took turns watching each other's personal belongings for the necessary bathroom trips. This was also the last taste of Starbucks I will have had until the current moment. I don't foresee another cup o' the java (seattle style) until oh October 18th sometime in some airport on Christopher and my way back to the
"homeland". From Hong Kong I flew (or more likely the pilot flew the plane) for another 7 hours through Bangkok to Mumbai (you will know this as Bombay but since the British have left the Indians are returning the cities to their original names which results in all of the cities now being known by two names and can be a barrel of misunderstandings for someone like me). Arriving in Mumbai at 8:30 pm, I had the last of my 8 hour layovers was to be had. At least I had the trip from the International Terminal to the Domestic Terminal to await my flight which left Mumbai for
Bangalore at 3:00 am. I'm not sure who in their right mind schedules a flight at 3 am but there I was sitting with a bunch of other unfortunate souls not unlike myself waiting for that silly flight.
Without much ado the JetAirways flight came and we arrived in Bangalore. I have to say that JetAirways is one of the most professional and, on top of it, airlines I've ever flown. Not more than 10 minutes up in the air and we had the candy basket passed around; we were served
breakfast, drinks, etc. and it was only a 1.5 hour flight! I spoke to many nice people during the journey however, as it's been so long since the flight my poor memory is failing me at the moment. I'll move from the flight to my first endeavor in India arranging or in this case RE-arranging my housing. My "landlord" was there waiting for me and kindly picked me up and drove
me to his abode which, at that time, was to be mine for the next 2 weeks. Vinay (a seattle friend) had so kindly helped me find Mr. Gosh and his apartment to rent. I had been very concerned with finding economical accommodations and to have them within walking distance. As well, I had been specific in wanting my own area and bathroom.
***
I would like to preface this description with the following disclaimer. I have never traveled for business let alone travel while working for the big M (Microsoft) and really had no concept of the 16 hour days I would be pulling and still am at times. Mr. Gosh and his wife are very kind
people who, I think, really wanted to have a cultural experience as much as I did However, I have since come to realize that traveling for Business is actually much different than traveling for cultural experience.
***
Upon arrival, however, I learned the malleability of information communicated and, as I'm coming more to understand of the culture, the misinterpretation of information not only from a comprehension standpoint but what the person listening thinks is the right thing to do. As I
walked in the door they took me past the guest quarters and in to THEIR living quarters (they felt that I would be less lonely that way.) I was to stay in their only daughter's former room, who was now away from college, which was just off the kitchen and common area. At this point, as much as I had wanted my own area, I just wanted a bed and figured that I'd deal with it in the morning. I slept for about 3 hours well slept really wouldn't describe my experience as their
house was directly under the flight path and there were regular flights of 777's thundering over the house almost hourly. When I was ready to go to work, Mr. Gosh had offered to take me. He had told me that he knew where the address was and that it was not far. This wasn't actually true we drove around for 30 45 minutes looking for the address. By the time we found it it was 10 am and I was very sure that I was not going to be able to walk to and/or from work. It was a little overt 3km (a 5 k is 3.3 miles I think).
Well I went to work there was much to do and not much time to do it in. But, as I said work discussion will be taken off line I'd be typing for days and still wouldn't do it justice let's suffice it
to say that it is a very intense, trying, demanding, challenging, stimulating, invigorating and rewarding experience! It is one HUGE learning curve and I'm up for the challenge! Well to round out the Housing experience the first day was still not over I determined that I would be working all day and called the Gosh's in the early evening to ask them not to wait dinner for me that I'd be home around 9ish. At this point, keep in mind that I haven't had sleep in about 3 days. Luckily I found that MS is providing transport for us back and forth to work. When I arrived at the Gosh's at 9:45, I found them sitting at the kitchen table asking me why I was so late. They had kept dinner waiting for me and I was to sit down and have dinner with them. I ate dinner mulling over my realization that this was not going to be the ideal living situation for me. During the same dinner they began telling me how Mr. Gosh had given up going on a business trip so
that he could be here while I was here. I knew I had to get out ASAP. The next day at work I had Merlyn (a wonderful Admin. Assist.) arrange a room at the hotel nearest the office until I could find better accommodations. After work, I had Joy (the Head of transport) come with me to collect my things, haggled with Mr. Gosh who felt that I should pay for the ENTIRE 2 months and zipped off to my new digs the Royal Orchid Park Plaza Hotel! AHHHHH Peace and Quiet! at only $75 a night. Well It was temporary (2 weeks temporary) and I'm now staying at a
sister hotel, the more economical Central Park. It's a little farther from work but with transport taken care of it's not bad at all especially not since I come in to work at 6 am and leave well, right now it's 8 pm!
With lodgings under control, I'm feeling much more settled I finally unpacked! Ahhhhhh! There's so much to say I'll try to write more tomorrow night after class. I could stay all night typing but it's been ages since I've had more than 5 hours sleep and that is sounding really good right now. As well my sore thighs need a rest in the bed! I've now had 2 Bharat Natium classes this is one of the traditional Indian dances and it is done entirely in a squat position! My first class was last Thursday and my second yesterday Maybe by October, my legs will have stopped aching
Well I'm headed back to the Hotel now! a little Harry Potter and a Lot of Sleep! YEAH!
Saturday, August 02, 2003
Hello everybody. This is my first post to my new weblog. Right now, I am busy trying to get ready for this trip to India. And this is on of the tasks on my list. I'm hoping to keep you all posted on my adventures this summer. Hope you enjoy reading a little bit about life in India. Post more later!
