We're having an absolutely fabulous time here in Bangalore this week. Today, I think, has been the best day so far. First, folks were much more relaxed in the training (both presenters and attendees), so that made a marvelous difference. We were told that word of mouth is getting the message out about the training such that everyone wants to attend. But, behind the work, it was just a good day for meeting people, having good discussions on how I can help them, what they think about the future of the company, and so on.
Oh, and more important than anything else, we had a true South Indian dinner that was absolutely phenomenal! :)
We ate at a restaurant called South Indies tonight. One of our local sponsors took us out, promising us a wonderful time, guaranteeing a truly Indian culinary experience. We were not disappointed! We finally received spicy food (nothing has been too spicy for me yet)! Our sponsor ordered for us, selecting specialties from all the states/regions within South India. It was a great time, chatting informally, eating well, and just having a good, relaxing time.
The Indian people truly are friendly and inquisitive, making this a genuinely wonderful experience. I don't know if I could ever convince my wife to move here, but I think this would not be all that bad a place to begin an international career. I spoke with the local office head, who's American, about health care, and he said that once you learn the system it's adequate. This is a good thing, I think, and something I'll be discussing when I get home (since we've planned to move out of the DC metro in about a year, when she finishes her MS).
We had one piece of bad news today: our driver is sick and in the hospital! He's been an excellent resource and very artful in his navigating. We called for him earlier this evening and he said he was coming, then suddenly called back a bit later and said that he couldn't make it and that he was sending a different driver. This fellow who didn't speak any English showed up in this tiny car. We were very concerned. Luckily, our sponsor had his own car and lived past where we're staying. So, we dismissed the driver after speaking with our original driver. A bit later, our local housing host called to see if we were ok and explained that our regular driver was ill. So, hopefully he'll be ok soon.
Ok, so I thought I'd give you one quick picture to look at. This is one of the many trendy AOL India (aol.in) posters I've seen around the area. They're very cool! According to Ian, it is traditional for all the bridesmaids to get together with the bride and paint on her, such as depicted in the picture. There was a specific name for it, but I'm now drawing a blank. At any rate, I found the picture quite striking. Several of them have been striking, in fact. :)
Last thing before I crash for the night... since we had a meal and good conversation with our sponsor, I asked him about the head bobble. He said that it is essentially nodding yes, but more in a "I'm processing or thinking about what it is you're saying." He said a traditional "yes" nod will be used when something is completely understood, while the bobble will be used when something is mostly understand, but not completely. This is good to know such that when providing explanations, we can now tell through non-verbal communication whether or not the listener truly understands what is being said.
