Closing in on just a tad more than a week to go before the adventure begins. Well, actually it's already begun for me. The truth be told, I wish I was just there already. I'm tired of waiting around and I don't really get much done. I just piddle away my days, cause I don't want to start any major project. I've finishing smaller ones and just cleaning up. Kind of nice. The more I clean up; the more I just want to throw stuff away. So I do.
My airplane tickets came via email the other day. Let me just say; it's going to be a long flight getting there. The first flight out of Seattle leaves on the 2nd at 11:30 PM! From Seattle I fly directly to Dallas on American Airlines. Then I zip north to Chicago, sit for a bit, and then head over to Delhi. The arrival time in Delhi is 5:45 PM on the 4th. So, not quite 2 days, but close. All of this is done in coach, with a slim chance of moving into business class. I don't get to keep my airline ID, so no chance of sweet talking my way into an upgrade! Bummer. I'll have to pay for it. Might do it though. One of the nice thing about my itinerary, is that it's all on American Airlines. I should have a better than average chance of getting my luggage all at one time when I step off in Delhi. Plus, I am taking my bike, so the bike fee is only paid once! Bonus!
Reports are in from guys already in the pipeline over there and they look good. Lots of sitting around doing nothing (going to drive me crazy) broken up by hours of paperwork and getting official looking stamps on everything. They like stamps. I think I'll take some with me. Might speed up the process. It seems that everything could be condensed from the 2 month training ordeal, into about 2 weeks of efficient planning of the schedule. But, I'm not going over there to change anything; just merge with the flow!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
The preperation process
Knowing someone in a foreign country before you decide to move there is one of the best things possible. They can feed you information about the country, what to bring, what not to bring, and what to expect when you get there. Thankfully, I know two people that live there that I trust to give me good advice for my preparations.
The process started on my own though. I was the first out of three guys to express interest in moving to India, but the last one to actually move. It's all part of my evil plan! Make them do the hard work and research, so I can just loaf around and relax. It's working nicely so far. Actually, I am really glad that they went first. The stuff that they have told me to do is stuff that I wouldn't have thought of until I was over there. Not a good time or place to try to get stuff done.
The preparation process has been fun at times and stressful at other times. The immunization process is interesting. The doctor did his best to scare me into thinking that I was going to get horribly sick and die painfully, or at the least just get sick with some incurable disease. Worried me for a bit, until I realized that hundreds of people go over there to live and are basically fine. Yeah, I'll probably get sick. Actually, I'm planning on it, but I have vaccinations for the big stuff now.
Transportation is another thing. I won't be driving over there, and the options of taxi, bus, or trains don't appeal to me greatly. So I'll be biking over there. Good thing that my friend in India is an absolute bike nut. Helps me out again! If I'll be relying on two wheels for transportation, then get some good wheels. So I did. Plus, I have spares for everything. Probably build another bike with the spares that I have bought.
Now for the shopping of clothes. I don't like shopping. Never know if I'm paying too much; is this a good brand; trying on different sizes; and stuff like that. Drives me crazy. I like to go in and then quickly out. Not in this case. However, REI has some of the best stuff and I don't mind spending the money to get long lasting and quality gear. They now know me by name!
A few years ago, while we were building our house, we lived in a fifth wheel trailer. It was small, cramped, and we didn't or couldn't have many things out cluttering up the space. It was nice. It made me realize that we have way too much stuff and living should be simple and easy. If you take away the pursuit of things and possessions, you end up with more time to do the things you want or need to do. What a concept. Unfortunately, after we moved into our house we fell right back into the American lifestyle of stuff and more stuff. Time for a change.
The process started on my own though. I was the first out of three guys to express interest in moving to India, but the last one to actually move. It's all part of my evil plan! Make them do the hard work and research, so I can just loaf around and relax. It's working nicely so far. Actually, I am really glad that they went first. The stuff that they have told me to do is stuff that I wouldn't have thought of until I was over there. Not a good time or place to try to get stuff done.
The preparation process has been fun at times and stressful at other times. The immunization process is interesting. The doctor did his best to scare me into thinking that I was going to get horribly sick and die painfully, or at the least just get sick with some incurable disease. Worried me for a bit, until I realized that hundreds of people go over there to live and are basically fine. Yeah, I'll probably get sick. Actually, I'm planning on it, but I have vaccinations for the big stuff now.
Transportation is another thing. I won't be driving over there, and the options of taxi, bus, or trains don't appeal to me greatly. So I'll be biking over there. Good thing that my friend in India is an absolute bike nut. Helps me out again! If I'll be relying on two wheels for transportation, then get some good wheels. So I did. Plus, I have spares for everything. Probably build another bike with the spares that I have bought.
Now for the shopping of clothes. I don't like shopping. Never know if I'm paying too much; is this a good brand; trying on different sizes; and stuff like that. Drives me crazy. I like to go in and then quickly out. Not in this case. However, REI has some of the best stuff and I don't mind spending the money to get long lasting and quality gear. They now know me by name!
A few years ago, while we were building our house, we lived in a fifth wheel trailer. It was small, cramped, and we didn't or couldn't have many things out cluttering up the space. It was nice. It made me realize that we have way too much stuff and living should be simple and easy. If you take away the pursuit of things and possessions, you end up with more time to do the things you want or need to do. What a concept. Unfortunately, after we moved into our house we fell right back into the American lifestyle of stuff and more stuff. Time for a change.
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