Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Just to recap for those at the back, this is everyday tit-for-tat
I'm conquering the packing. That's good news. And it seems like I'm going to have plenty of room, so that's even better news.
In case you didn't really know what is going on, my work is sending me to India for two months. This has happened once before, earlier this year, when I went for 10 weeks. I go over to train and coach customer service representatives in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad's a city of around four million people or so, and it's becoming an IT boomtown. There is a special section of the city called "Hitech City" where all of the big companies are: Sun, Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, etc. There are several compounds of incredibly futuristic buildings there which house multiple companies. I work in one of those buildings, which is surrounded by armed guards. Outside, of course, there are cattle and water buffalo roaming around. So it's pretty surreal.
My work puts me up in a nice hotel and pays for most everything, so I'm free to get room service and poolside service and such. I can also get my laundry done or a shirt pressed or whatnot. There's cable TV... well, it's not so up-to-date but every once in a while there's a good movie on, and I can always watch National Geographic or Animal Planet or something. There are a couple of music channels, including MTV and Channel V, which play a lot of Indian music, a bad selection of American stuff, and some good British music. I also get wireless internet access, which is great compared to the dial-up I'm used to at home... except for when their network goes down, which is fairly common. Not to mention the blackouts that occasionally occur.
Most of the time I'm there I enjoy myself, but I do get lonely. I have Indian friends but we don't get a chance to see each other outside of work very much. I spend a lot of time at the pool, although maybe not this trip, as we're in the monsoon season now (though Hyderabad doesn't get too much of the rain). I am bound and determined to spend some time at the gym this trip. I have to get in better shape. The "Delhi Belly" I get from some of the food helps me to lose weight, although that's not too pleasant either.
Anyway, I'm kind of looking forward to this, as it will be a nice, fairly stress-free break from my real job. I do enjoy being pampered a little bit by the hotel staff. On the other hand, I'm going to miss Victor and my friends a lot. One good thing about the internet is that it allows you to communicate daily with people who are halfway across the world. I rely on email and AIM a lot while I'm over there. If you're not too busy, dash off a quick note to me every once in a while so I'm not too isolated, ok?
I'm conquering the packing. That's good news. And it seems like I'm going to have plenty of room, so that's even better news.
In case you didn't really know what is going on, my work is sending me to India for two months. This has happened once before, earlier this year, when I went for 10 weeks. I go over to train and coach customer service representatives in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad's a city of around four million people or so, and it's becoming an IT boomtown. There is a special section of the city called "Hitech City" where all of the big companies are: Sun, Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, etc. There are several compounds of incredibly futuristic buildings there which house multiple companies. I work in one of those buildings, which is surrounded by armed guards. Outside, of course, there are cattle and water buffalo roaming around. So it's pretty surreal.
My work puts me up in a nice hotel and pays for most everything, so I'm free to get room service and poolside service and such. I can also get my laundry done or a shirt pressed or whatnot. There's cable TV... well, it's not so up-to-date but every once in a while there's a good movie on, and I can always watch National Geographic or Animal Planet or something. There are a couple of music channels, including MTV and Channel V, which play a lot of Indian music, a bad selection of American stuff, and some good British music. I also get wireless internet access, which is great compared to the dial-up I'm used to at home... except for when their network goes down, which is fairly common. Not to mention the blackouts that occasionally occur.
Most of the time I'm there I enjoy myself, but I do get lonely. I have Indian friends but we don't get a chance to see each other outside of work very much. I spend a lot of time at the pool, although maybe not this trip, as we're in the monsoon season now (though Hyderabad doesn't get too much of the rain). I am bound and determined to spend some time at the gym this trip. I have to get in better shape. The "Delhi Belly" I get from some of the food helps me to lose weight, although that's not too pleasant either.
Anyway, I'm kind of looking forward to this, as it will be a nice, fairly stress-free break from my real job. I do enjoy being pampered a little bit by the hotel staff. On the other hand, I'm going to miss Victor and my friends a lot. One good thing about the internet is that it allows you to communicate daily with people who are halfway across the world. I rely on email and AIM a lot while I'm over there. If you're not too busy, dash off a quick note to me every once in a while so I'm not too isolated, ok?
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