The amount of paper was not overwhelming, they just needed the digital copies (this is unheard-of sometimes even in Finland, that a digital copy of something would suffice!) of the recommendation letters from Indonesia plus the scan of the identity card of the person who wrote the letters, our tickets there and away from the island, and the receipt that we had paid the visa fees.

But of course, there’s a catch. The visas are only valid for  60 days, and our training takes twice as long. What this means is that we need to renew the visas while there, but the good thing is, we have the dive school people to help us with the process. Having natives to help you is a huge bonus, and I’m pretty sure we’re not the first ones to extend their visas while in the country.

Talking of embassies, the Finnish honorary embassy in Indonesia is in Bali, so in case of emergency there’s help to be had. Not that we plan to have cases of emergencies, we plan not to have any.

Not too long now…

It’s not all bad. The ‘hotel’ we’re moving to is Oakwood, where Heikki stayed before moving in to RT Nagar. They have a swimming pool and a gym, and the best restaurants are in the same building. (sushi, anyone? pasta, pizza…?) They also have a net connection, which is always a plus. (geek? who, me?) We have a bit less than a week there, and then it’s back to the winter wonderland of slush and darkness. Here’s hoping Finland gets more snow soon, so it won’t be so damned bleak.

And then we get to live in other people’s houses once again. Hopefully not for too long, and hopefully not in the same place for the whole time, but chances are we won’t be setting up our own home there – chances are that we’re gone before that.

So what to do meanwhile? Thus far I’ve sewn myself two shirts and read an innumerable amount of pages on the ‘net. I’m planning to stitch up a pair of pants while I’m at it. I’ve also played on the Xbox, drunk countless cups of coffee and chai and learnt some yoga. Three sessions to go before take-off. I also managed to get a crick in my neck so that my head wouldn’t turn to the right during the weekend. Luckily it’s heaps better already. I expect to do some serious swimming now that I have the chance and read some more, on and off the net.

… and try not to stress about things I can’t affect. Just chill.

I’m writing this in one of the pay lounges of Hong Kong international airport since our trip arrangements are a bit less than efficient: the flight from Philippines landed at 15:10, while the connecting flight leaves around 22:20 – more than seven hours later. Not having to spend all that time on the benches near gates was well worth that 500 Hong Kong dollars (around 40 euros). Nice armchairs, electricity outlets, free internet access, drinks, food, showers and massages should make the wait much less painful.

I’ll post some photos later, but here’s a teaser:

I think it’s a sweetlips, but I may be completely wrong. Please let me know if you can identify the species

Edit: my second guess would be striped dogface pufferfish, but still not sure. I’m not exactly brilliant in biology, so help me out.

It’s my last five hours in the civilised world for quite a while. No drinkable tap water, no 3G connections, no peaceful open spaces without hordes of people and, what personally hits me the most, no closeness and companionship of my dear wife. Luckily I have my friends, diving trips and Skype to help me stay sane.

Thunderbirds are go!

My Indian contact has been arranging my accommodation for more than a week now, with less than outstanding results. The preliminary reservation was for a serviced apartment in Koramangala, further away from the office than Diamond District. Seasoned readers may remember DD being biblically remote from anything, but that’s not all: my contact person for the apartment would be from the same company that I had problems with before. Yes, they did something about it, but to me it looked more like a show and I don’t want to take the risk. So I asked him to find another one.

Well, no.

It doesn’t seem to strike anyone that I may want different things than some other expat, so I got told all over again how other families have had trouble with “other apartments” and “they do well in this one“. It may be that some people like it in the middle of nowhere, but I want to live close to the place I go to five times a week, especially when traffic conditions are as horrible as in Bangalore.

We’ll see if the message goes through this time and I get to live somewhere even remotely acceptable. I would like to see some results before I leave Oulu tomorrow evening.

Edit: some e-mails later I got what I asked for, so I’ll be having a studio apartment closer to the office.

I also wrote a couple of rental agreements today and it seems that I will have some extra income during my visit in India. Still I would need some extra for my apartment loan payments in Finland, and it sounds like transferring money from India to EU can be a bit tricky. I hope to find a feasible solution when I get there.

Apart from being really tired, homeless and dirty, all is well for me. Tomorrow is practically the last day of work in Finland for me. I have the coming week off from work and I’ll spend it by having an utterly biblically fabulous Wappu once I’m still here. Hopefully I can keep my feet unbroken this year

This actually isn’t the first homeless Wappu for me: some years back I gave up my apartment before the celebrations and moved in to the new one after all the parties and other mandatory ceremonies. This year I’ll take it easy and just relax – I’ve already seen all the wild  stuff of it.

Now I’ll try to clean up this place, make it ready for the next occupant and find myself a place to stay. Does anyone need a digital TV box for cable network?

I have quite a lot to handle for my move, but I’m still on top of things. Visa application are almost on their way, travel dates are almost fixed, flight tickets are almost confirmed and so on. I still need to rent out my apartment, rent out my bike, plan my packing, attend a funeral and so on, but all in all everything seems to be going on as planned. We’ll see when the first catastrophe strikes…

In case you need me in the end of May, here’s where to reach me:

View Larger Map

I also got the promise of Malarone for malaria medicine (the first thing the healthcare tried to give me was Lariam, which is not very effective and has huge side effects), so all is good. Not that Bangalore would be an area where malaria is a problem, but it’s good to have the pills in case of travelling. And travel – it seems – we will.

It’s hard to concentrate on my job at hand as I’m still halfway in India in my mind. Yes yes, it’s hot and crazy and chaotic, but theres a certain Something to the country. I’m waiting for the move very enthusiastically, it’s going to be a huge adventure.

Talking about the move, it seems it’s possible I’ll have my own set of transportation for my stuff to Blore, which is nice. Not that I’m taking much with me, but the mere essentials will take some room. Later on I’ll post a great deal of stuff that will be for sale / given away, as soon as I make up my mind what to take and what not to take. I would like to take my futon with me, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it to drag it all the way there and back again.

Can’t really believe I won’t be going until September, but then again summer comes and is over before I know it. Waiting is like sitting on a pincushion… of vaccines…

Air France has served us well so far, and the very first trip as a married couple has gone beautifully. This is of course saying less than 24 hours into the trip, we’ll see what happens later on.

They say all sorts of things about travelling with your loved ones, but this time I think it’s pretty easy.

At this phase I’m just watching the third movie for the flight, sipping on some white wine (Couleurs du Sud Chardonnay 2007) and waiting for what’s yet to come. Bring it on…

The difference is that this time I’m here with my darling wife. We’re some two hours from Bangalore and it’s been about 13 hours since we left Oulu airport. The total duration of the transit from door to door should be somewhere around 16 to 18 hours, depending on conditions upon our arrival. I’ll be really surprised if our luggage survived not one, but two really short transfers in Helsinki and especially in Paris. I now understand why Charles de Gaulle airport has been nominated as one of the worst international ones in the world. Somehow the frenchies manage to make simple transfers so complicated I would rather solve differential equations instead of doing hasty transfers in CDG.

I hate the fact that I will have to post this only when I get back to Finland, but I really don’t have much choice. My server update went horribly wrong just a couple of days before departure, so this post will be hopelessly late. I’m seriously considering a move to a web hotel.

I blame global warming.

It’s a pity that Bullet Classic is not available in India.

All in all, I’ll start off to Bangalore in less than two weeks. Then I’ll pay a two-week visit to Oulu, pack the rest of my stuff and that should be it.

There are some things going on behind the scenes, but there is no confirmed information available yet. I’ll get back when there is.

I also got to know that the contract draft has been approved and it should be on the way for my approval. I should have it in my hands during this week, so the previsit is still possible during the planned time frame. I’m not holding my breath, but there’s the slight maybe in the air. We’ll see in a couple of days.

As it seems that I am actually going to India, I had the courage to do some longer term plans also. According to current calculations it takes until September 2010 and we should be off to have a diving vacation of at least three months in Thailand. I can hardly wait.

Take a typical Indian IT worker with a couple of years of experience and mark his/her salary with x. Then take the Finnish equivalent of the Indian worker, fly him to India and pay his salary with all the allowances. Remember that the Finnish guy has to support his apartment back in Finland and his wife is unemployed for the whole time. Now add all these expenses together and have a guess: can this possibly cost more than x?

Yes, the answer is just as obvious as you think it is, but apparently not for everyone. Seems like the salary offer has taken the whole Bangalore department by surprise and with their pants down. There are half a dozen Finnish expats in the building already, all the relevant people know the ballpark of my current salary, but still they somehow manage to dodge all possibilities to have even a faintest idea of the expenses. How the hell do they do that?

While the Indians run in circles with their asses on fire, I sit here like a duck and just wait for it. The last official information I have received is that the salary offer has been sent for review to the Team Leader & co. on 5th of March, and I was told it will be handled “ASAP”. Their “ASAP” is now two days short of two whole weeks, during which I have been asking for information several times, but received nothing but excuses and vague promises. Open communication my clenched buttocks.

And as if this wasn’t all: I’m almost certain that when I do receive an offer, it will be a heavily stripped one with reduced salary and benefits. Even though they surely know I can’t be ripped off in this, I’ll be damned if they don’t try to do that. It’s not their own money, it doesn’t take anything away from them, but still they have to try and strip off every luxury I am entitled to. The vast majority of Indians don’t seem to have any understanding about the diversity outside their own confined space, let alone the requirements a typical European has for his living. Somehow it just doesn’t compute for most of them that someone could want something different from their desires.

So here I am, with nothing in my hands, but even that isn’t the end of this story. I know that my deal is crucial for our business, so I have no concerns about the trip being cancelled. What drives me nuts right now is that our department in Finland is undergoing a re-organisation and there are tons of interesting positions available for internal applicants. I would immediately apply to several ones if the India situation wasn’t on. Even now I’m tempted to apply and forget the whole expat thing since it all seems to be so difficult for the Indians.  On the other hand, here’s my fifteen minutes in the spotlight to help them do a decent job in the future. Right now it just seems like teaching an elephant to scale walls.

It’s been a month now since the Team Leader initiated the request for my expat deal. Since then the request has been all around the company, from my manager to a guy who reports directly to the VP (or such) of the Corporation. I received confirmation of approval last week and felt a huge relief since the matter would be in the hands of the External Consultant from now on. Finally something would be happening!

Bollocks.

The EC seems to be rather competent, but unfortunately it is not enough. The process of writing a contract involves several parties from India, all of which seem to handle matters in a not-so-timely manner from my point of view. At the same time these particular people are the ones who want me to hurry up with arrangements in my end, manifesting attitudes that do not exactly motivate me to do my best. I suppose it’s better to adjust to the “Indian way” of working already and stop giving any deadlines to matters I can’t completely do on my own. Let the processes take their time and stop pushing the envelope when it’s as futile as with these people. If they don’t want to act promptly, why should I?

The initial wish from the TL was that I could move in the beginning of March, but it turned out to be a dream not coming true. My next guess was that it could be done by 1st of April, but all these delays tell me already that it is not going to happen at this rate. Therefore I have decided not to manifest any dates from now on and just float along to see when I finally land a foot on Indian soil. Until then I will live like I was never leaving.

By the way, there’s a how to -page for potential visitors in Bangalore while I’m there. The page is written in Finnish, but I can also provide translations if needed.

I’ll write again when there is something new to report. I hope to have some news soon.

I arrived at the airport a little over two hours before departure, only to again find out that I’m early. The security staff on the entrace looks really scary with their AK-47s and commando-style headwear, especially when some of them take shelter against the cold by wrapping scarves over their heads. Add in the sand bag bunker on the roadside and you could imagine arriving on a terrorist training camp of some sort.

During check-in I found out that I had been hauling a total of 34 kilograms of luggage with me all the way from the hotel. No wonder I feel a little fatigued and my muscles ache. I think I succeeded in distributing the weight pretty well, since my hand bag with its two extra kilograms was accepted without scrutiny (is that the correct word in here? Maybe it is now). Finally I was charged 60 euros for two kilograms, although my check-in overweight was more that double of that. Thanks to the friendly airline worker for that.

— (Some 10 hours later in the German airspace)

Ah, the bloody air travel organizations and their overenthusiastic security paranoia. I have to admire the amount of irrational and completely useless rules they have introduced since 9/11. The goddamn Germans nicked my whiskey bottle in Frankfurt, even though it was properly sealed and bought from a certified tax free shop. The problem? It was sold, certified and sealed outside EU.

The bottle is exactly the same, the sealed container is exactly the same, the price is at least almost the same, but still Ms. Sauerkraut-Nussbaum could not allow me to take it with me in the cabin. Being in a hurry already, I couldn’t check it in, so I had to leave it there. Another 50 dollars well spent, goddammit.

I took everything out of my generous 45-minute transit time and bought a new one. I’m still pissed.

— (Just now)

So I’m back in Finland and trying to adjust to the cold again. It seems like I won’t be here for long since the top management has already approved the resources for my expat contract and the guys in Bangalore are already working on the arrangements. It may be that I will be celebrating my birthday in India already.

Coming to Goa was definitely worth it, but I’m not sure if I want to do it again. I’m less than fond of the atmosphere of cheap entertainment, tourist herds and people trying to live directly on my expense. If I was coming back, it would be with someone special an during low season, probably still somewhere outside these tourist centers. I now remember why I don’t like them.

So back to Bangalore for two weeks, after which I am heading towards Oulu to see my loved ones. It is great to be out around the world, but being here alone becomes less and less appealing as weeks go by. I hope to have someone with me the next time I travel somewhere for a longer time.

— (about two hours later)

I just arrived at the airport in a hurry, only to find that the flight is delayed by one and a half hours. So instead of running to the plane I will have plenty of time before they even start boarding. The security checks seem to be there just for the show, at least by the standards of European ones. The amount of metal I have in my bag is something equivalent to a mid-sized aircraft carrier, but no one was even remotely interested to see what’s really inside there. Or maybe they have better X-ray machines than us.

Finding the gate with some much time was easy, but I could have run into trouble if I was in a real hurry. The announcement told me that the right gate is in the first floor, but it took me a while before remembering that the Indian definition of “1st floor” is actually “the first floor above ground level”. To me this is already the second floor, but I guess I am the one who has to adjust here.

Goa airport is about as small as the one in Oulu, with less than ten gates and no apparent terminal borders. Still the amount of announcements exceeds the frequency I have gotten familiar to in places like Frankfurt and Arlanda, both at least ten times the size of this one. Unfortunately all the echoing around the building makes them difficult to understand, so mostly I just try to spot familiar names and codes from the noise.

I could easily say I have already written more than enough, but one more thing is bouncing around in my mind. As I write, I can’t help of thinking about the variety of clothing the locals present. Colorful sarees, jeans, semi-formal wear, monk robes (a monk on a Bullet looks wicked crazy), kurtas, brand clothes, everything is there. I am currently watching a guy walking around in formal suit trousers, skin-tone shirt with a couple of buttons open, a turban on his head and bright white skating shoes, all in one. Maybe not the most stylish combination, but definitely a bold one – and why not, if you want to?