Now this is something to create a huge vacuum around someones rear end. I caught a cold.

Occupational health care nurse told me that it is a real epidemic around the office. The warning signs were all there already, but still some people had the nerve to show up, coughing and sneezing around the office. Why can’t Finnish people understand that they will infect the whole office instead of getting a medal for working when they are sick?

I should be going in a week. Oh bugger.

Tags: flu, oh bugger, ways of working, why I wanted a change

I got my Indian visa and flight tickets today. The visa was granted for a year and allowing multiple entries to the country. The embassy charged 141 euros for the visa, but luckily I didn’t have to pay for it.  Now I can’t think of any travel issues besides the ones I can do all by myself, so I will be going in two weeks.

Power socket adapters, check.

Passport, visa, tickets, check.

Credit card and a toothbrush, check.

Can I go now?

Tags: practical stuff, travel, visa

A weather camera in Oulu this morning:

Weather camera in Nallikari, Oulu

No, that is not fog, it’s snow on the lens. I don’t care what people tell me, I think it’s cold and I don’t like it. Especially when its wet, heavy and jumping at my face on high velocity.

(Yes, yes, I know. I shouldn’t use “don’t” or “it’s” in writing.)

Tags: weather, why I wanted a change

I got the confirmation of the flights a moment ago and here’s how it looks like (stops in between omitted):

December 4th: 0700 OUL – 0125 (+1) BLR
January 17th: 0325 BLR – 1705 OUL, all local time.

I also found some more information on Diamond District. Looks nice!

Tags: accommodation, diamond district, luxuries, practical stuff, travel

The Engineer invited me and my girlfriend for a dinner tonight. I suppose he is going to cook something traditional Indian food, but that we will not know before evening. The interesting point of the whole setup was the question he asked me this morning:

“Should I ask our project manager if the dinner tonight is ok?”

I guess it is customary in India for companies to regulate employee behavior more accurately, but it never crossed my mind that it could reach beyond working hours also.

Maybe it’s the strict hierarchy that requires almost paranoid control over your team members, who knows?

In other news, I got the confirmation for my trip this morning. The boss of my boss (or his boss, something like that) finally gave his Seal of Approval, so my days left counter is correct. Next we wait for the travel company to confirm the reservation and the Indian embassy to grant a visa for me.

Edit: the truth was a bit different from what I described above. The actual question from the Engineer was not actually about our project manager, but my girlfriend. He got confused with the names (they are somewhat similar) and was ashamed of asking again, for he thought it would be an awkward situation to admit forgetting someone’s name. Only after we left the “official” environment to have a cup of coffee he could correct the mistake.

I think there is still something special about the situation. It’s not the control freakiness of Indian managers, it is the way mistakes are handled. I would have expected him to correct it as soon as he noticed, but instead he wanted to wait until we are out of the regular working environment. I am not saying it’s a bad thing, just interesting since I am used to a different approach. I never thought of our office space as a formal place, but I guess it is exactly that for him.

Tags: colleagues from India, culture, food, hierarchies, practical stuff, travel, ways of working

I received more information about the apartment this morning. The rental company told me that I will have everything I asked for, including my “nice to have” items. This means that I will have my own kitchen, air conditioning, DSL, fridge, laundry service, double bed, a dishwasher machine, housekeeping services and a swimming pool. The pool may or may not be common to all apartments in the district, but it is still great news. I am quite pleased on how this turned out, assuming that the overall quality of the apartment is acceptable.

Now all I need to do is to hire a chef

EDIT: Some pictures from Diamond District

Tags: accommodation, diamond district, luxuries, practical stuff

Today was my (hopefully) final visit to occupational health care before the trip. The nurse gave me booster shots for Hepatitis A+B and Japanese encumbrance, along with a pack of medication I might need during my visit. The pack included two different brands for diarrhea, two dozen of pills for malaria, some painkillers and the basic stuff for treating wounds and scratches.

In other news, the house rental company in Bangalore has found an apartment for me. I have not yet received anything accurate, but it is located about 4 kilometers from the office and has some fancy restaurants nearby. Shopping places are also around. (See the place in Google Maps)

Only 21 days and my almost-totally-confirmed flight from Oulu takes off from the airport. I should get a countdown widget to my blog.

EDIT: This is how it looks like in a satellite:

View Larger Map

Tags: accommodation, medication, planning, practical stuff, vaccinations

I got the first proposal for flight schedules today. If the people in Bangalore agree, I will leave Finnish soil on fourth of December and return on 17th of January. The first flight will leave Oulu at 07:00 and the plane is scheduled to land in Bangalore at 01:25 the next day. Considering the three and a half hour time difference between Finland and India, the total duration of this journey adds up to 15 hours. The return flights would leave Bangalore at 03:25 (!) and land in Oulu at 17:00, suggesting a 17-hour session of flights and changes.

Spending time during the travel could be an issue, so I have been searching for some games on the E90 communicator. My old 9300i had Nethack, but unfortunately I could not find a decent S60 version. I will have to think of something before December.

Tags: practical stuff, travel

Last week was a real roller coaster for me. Showing The Engineer around was quite a hectic job since almost everything in Finland was new and exotic to him. On top of all regular (to us) things, like a lot of forests, temperatures close to zero and so on, the first snow came on Friday. I don’t remember the last time with so violent blizzard-like first snow, so The E got exactly what he came here for.

I got my invitation letter from Bangalore on Friday and immediately filled the visa application. All it requires now is two photos and a letter that explains the essentials of my trip. After that the application and my passport must be sent to the Indian embassy in Helsinki, which will return the passport if a letter with sufficient stamps is provided. Otherwise I would have to personally visit the embassy in order to get my passport back.

I have done quite a lot of research regarding India already, but there is still a lot more to learn. There are things that cannot be learned by reading, but the cultural shock might be a little milder if I prepare myself well. Another way of adjusting would be to find some familiar things that I can take with me, either in my backpack or in my mind. Those would be music, books, foodstuff, exercise and other such things I’ve gotten used to in Finland.

I am still waiting for information about accommodation on my visit. It has now been two weeks since my query for an apartment, but nothing has come up so far. I hope this is not another thing that has been forgotten somewhere between other tasks…

Maybe I’ll give them a reminder just in case.

Tags: accommodation, colleagues from India, culture, practical stuff, visa, weather