Shower Fun

Check out the buckets in the picture, this is usually how they bathe here. When my shower did not work in the first place, where this shot was taken, I had to use this method to clean. Certainly made me feel that I was not in Canada anymore.

Ideal Beach South of Chennai

Here is the beach that I went to a few weekends ago. The weather wasn't that great but was nice to get away for a bit.

A month in India

Hi All,

It is so hard to believe that it has been a month since I was last able to enter any new stories here. I have been doing well and have had a positive impact on the job although some days it seems tough. I have been able to see a bit of the city and the surrounding area. I had an afternoon at a beach resort south of town and have been able to get some shopping and reading done. I have a few pictures to add to show a few of the things that I have seen and will tell a few of the funny stories as well.

One evening while I was being driven to work the Driver asked if I would like some music played while we traveled and usually it is Indian music which is fine as it is better than riding with only the car horns to be heard. He then proceeded to put in a CD of English music. Most of it was older songs with quite a bit of country and then there was a song that the voice sounded familiar but I couldn't quite place it until I realized that it was William Shatner. I had no idea he had an album and all I can say is that it was not his forte. I really had to laugh at that one.

As I was reviewing chats a while ago one of the agents had some small talk with the customer and when asked how the weather was he said, "it is very hot, I am half baked." I had to do a double take on that one and later in the evening the program they use to chat was not working so we had an improptu meeting that I explained a number of the things that I was seeing and brought up how the agents deal with small talk and the one that made the comment talked about it and we all had a good laugh when I told him what half-baked means in North America.

I hope that my pictures of the road give a sense of how crazy it can be here. Although there are 3 lanes painted on the road, there are usually at least 5 vehicles in that space at any time. It makes most lights that are here feel like the start of a motocross race as all the bikes work their way to the front to beat the cars off the line. I will have to try and get a picture of this sometime.

There are shrines and temples everywhere in this city and one evening my car had to swerve around a huge group of people that were all on the street infront of one of the shrines. It was not on one of the main streets and was very crowded. I spend at least 2 to 3 hours a day getting to and from work and it can vary depending on traffic and the route that is taken.

Well am off to a nightclub called Dublin this evening, they call it an authentic Irish Pub but from the sounds of it, is more like a regular dance club like Boomers or the Mix. I am still trying to see about getting to Agra and as I have 2 months to go should have time.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoy the pics.

Shawn

Moving and moving again

Hi everyone,

Has been a bit since my last message but have not had a lot of opportunities to get to a connection that will let me enter posts here. The first hotel that we were put up in we have now moved from to a nice area of the city but as of tomorrow morning we are moving to another location that is to be our permanent residence for the duration of our stay. I may still be heading to Kochin and Mumbai in the future but have no information on that so far. I have a number of good stories and pictures to add and once I am settled will make sure that I am able to get more onto here. It seems that the weeks are going so fast and yet it is like I have been here for months and only just arrived. There are only a few English channels on the TV and it is funny to see some of the movies that they do show that are all edited for content. As for work, it has gone well so far and I enjoy working with the people that are in the program. I ended up having to give an improptu lesson to the agents on Tuesday when the software did not function but it was received well and hopefully they will use the advice I have given them. Well am off to bed as it will be an early one tomorrow and a long day as well with moving and then work. I still have to get to a store to buy treats for everyone as it is the custom here for the birthday person to treat everyone. Looks like I will just buy a big bag of choclates to share. Hope all is well for everyone and hopefully will have more time soon to add some of my little adventures of this amazing journey.

Working and the Weekend

Settling into the hotel is nice, the A/C is doing well to keep the heat away. I try to get a bit of sleep but getting used to the sounds of the area takes a bit. The drivers use their horns for just about everything, honk to pass, honk that you have passed, honk to turn, honk to get people out of the way. At least it isn't too loud in my bedroom but is very bright even with the shade down. At 4:30 I get a call from Shobana, she is the coordinator for transition teams and my primary contact for now. I find out that I will be working on the Symantec Live Help program with Dave and that they would like us to come in tonight, by the way this is the same day that we arrived in Chennai so is Wednesday and a car will come to pick us up for 7pm. At 7, the driver informs us that he is to take the women to Velachery as well. Unfortunately Jody and Mayette had gone off to look for something to eat and an Internet Cafe. The driver does try to find them and we end up leaving a note for Jody to call Ashok about her contacts. Dave and I get driven to Velachery and are very impressed with the building but the security is so tight to get in that it gives Dave and I a bit of a problem but we are able to finally get to reception to reach Shobana but she is out of the office and I did not realize that I could get them to call her on her mobile. Just as we are leaving for the Padi office where Dave and I will work from Shobana arrives and will meet us there.

After a long drive to the office we finally arrive and are taken up to the 8th floor of the Americorp building to meet with the Live Help team. There are so many people to meet and so many names to remember. Dave and I have to get computers set up as well as workspaces that allow us to connect to the work network so that we will be able to help the Live Help team. We find out that they have only started Live Chat since mid March and have a number of issues to overcome to make the Chat experience good for the Symantec customers. We head back early this night, around 1am back to the hotel and while we are at the office, Shobana treats us to dinner at the cafeteria that is a few floors below where we work.

We work nights here so usually during the day we are sleeping. When we get back to the hotel we meet Jody and Mayette, who had got the message and did head into the office to meet their contacts as well. This is starting out as a very exciting adventure. Jody is working with a language trainer from the US who has invited us to go touring on the weekend.

The weekend comes and we begin our tour later in the afternoon to allow us to be able to sleep a bit with the late nights. We start by heading to Saint Thomas Mount, this is a church on top of the hill that the Apostle Thomas is said to have been slain and is also the site of the mass that Pope John Paul had when he visited India in 1986. The views from the hill are incredible and we even go inside the church while there is a service but it is in either Latin or Tamil, both languages I do not understand so we leave and are off to the next stop. This is to another small church and is the site of the cave that Thomas hid in when being hunted by the locals. Behind the cave is a spring that legend has began when Thomas hit his staff on the rock and it split bringing forth water. The water is only said to flow during the dry season.

We now travel to the Saint Thomas Cathedral and see the burial site of Thomas and also the beautiful architecture and stained glass of the church. There is evening Mass so we do not enter the church but do see the small museum that is in a building behind. We then head off for dinner. First we go to Zamas, a Spanish Tapa house but find that children are not allowed and one of the couples coming to eat with us has an 8 month old boy. Ron met is wife Helen in China and they have a cute little guy. We also meet a friend of Lori's as well as her fiance Log. With Ron unable to join us we find another lounge that will allow us to meet together and we head off. It is nice to have some western style food and company.

For Sunday we get a cab to take us to Spencers Plaza, that is a large mall that many people go to. It is so busy as this is the one day that most Indians have off. I end up getting two pairs of pants as Mondays are white shirt, black pants for Formal day at work. Dave also gets a pair of pants and Mayette gets an outfit as well. We find a Subway and have a bite to eat before heading back to the hotel.

Although there are ATM's all over Chennai, very few will allow us to access our savings accounts to get money. After a few days of trying I find that I can use my Visa so am constantly transferring funds from my savings to my credit card to get some money. Needless to say, this has been a very busy weekend and certainly something to write about.

Leaving on a Jetplane

We arrived at the Kelowna Airport just after 4am and waited to get checked in. Judy was just ahead of me in line and the staff for the flight had not yet arrived. My two bags were just under the 50kg allowed and got my tickets prepared for the journey ahead. Mayette and Dave arrived a bit after us and we were all checked in and ready to begin. A group photo before clearing security and on with the journey. Poor Mayette, her brother had worked in a factory that built blasting caps and had played on her Nintendo DS. This triggered a complete search of all of her baggage in the Kelowna Airport as well as a while cleaning all of the games with a special wipecloth to remove any residue. Jody also found out what was allowed as liquids in her carry on but at least was able to get them to her family and not have to throw all of her items away.

We arrived in Seattle after a short flight and got breakfast together. We are all so excited to begin this big adventure. I still do not know what program I will be working on but that is fine. I am up for anything. The wait in Seattle seems to take forever but finally it is time to board the flight to New York. All we get on this flight is a little snack and most of the entertainment services require you to pay for them. We make good time across the continent but then get stuck in a holding pattern due to some thunderst0rms in the New York area. The hour and a half we had in New York slowly dissappears and when we finally land our Mumbai flight is mostly boarded and waiting for us. Thankfully it is only a few gates away and as we approach the gate are rushed onto the plan. We do have a bit of a delay before leaving as one copilot was not able to fly and the airline had to get another pilot. This flight has a lot of extra seats and I get a center section to myself. All four of the team are in aisle seats that form a small box near the rear of the first section of economy class. The New York flight had been full and cramped.

What a long flight, it is over 15 hours in the air and makes us land in Mumbai almost 25 hours after we leave New York based on local times. I end up watching a few movies and try to get a bit of sleep but it is hard in economy to get comfortable enough to really get to sleep. We arrive in Mumbai and find that only Mayette got all of her bags with Jody, Dave and I all missing a bag each. By the time we sort this out we miss our flight to Chennai and have to figure out how to complete the next leg of the journey. Finally we head to a hotel that has an Internet connection so that we can get in contact with the office to arrange a flight to Chennai. The hotel is fine and we also order a bit of food before we have to leave in a few hours to catch our new flight. I am amazed at the number of porters that want to help you and charge for it even when you are not asking for assistance. It can make you feel very uncomfortable to have such aggressive requests for tips. I really need to read my Lonely Planet on what are acceptable tips.

We leave at 7:30 for the domestic airport and it was a fairly costly 5 hour stay at the hotel but so worth it as we were able to freshen up a bit before getting through to Chennai. The flight to Chennai is nice and I got the window seat so can look at the landscape as we cross the Indian Subcontinent. When the flight attendants do the safety briefing before taking off, I thought I heard them say "Knock on wood and kiss your ass goodbye" when talking about the airbags deploying when speaking in either Hindi or Tamil. Needless to say, when I told the others of the team we all had a great laugh.

We arrive in Chennai, and Jody and Dave get their bags right away and I fear that mine are all lost but it is just that they are on another cart and finally arrive. Phew! There is a Sutherland driver waiting for us and we get through a throng of people waiting at the exit and into the car waiting for us. Now we get to really experience driving in Chennai. It is like a motocross race with the lines on the road only being guides as it shows three lanes but there are easily 5 or 6 vehicles wide. The drive to the hotel does not take very long but we find that the road in front is under construction and makes for a bumpy ride into the hotel with the front gate blocked and we end up taking a back entrance into the hotel to drop off our luggage. I have no idea how the driver is going to be able to back out of the lane as it had a few very tight corners. We get put up in two separate apartments, with Jody and Mayette in one and Dave and I in the other. The air is very hot and the air conditioners have to work overtime to cool down the rooms. But at least we are here and the first part of our amazing journey is over.

And We are off

Hi all,

Sure took a while to finally get posted again here. I have had to go to an Internet Cafe that is near the hotel that I am staying at. It has been fairly warm here and dry. Although it is monsoon season, that is mostly on the west coast. It is extremely dry in Delhi and after two weekends here it has been a very different experience. I am doing fine though and now on with the story of my adventures here in India.