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

Applying a business visa to India is not that complicated, but it requires a great deal of accuracy. I have gotten the impression that the applications are thoroughly examined in the embassy before issuing the visa. I better be careful in order to avoid iterations in the application process.

The visa application must include various data such as name, titles, passport number, office locations, contact persons in both countries, travel dates and so on. In addition there is a requirement that an invitation letter, written on a paper with company logo, is issued from the Indian office. Luckily our Bangalore people have experience with invitation letters and are already working on it.

An interesting point in working with India is that they are very strict on titles and hierarchies. The office assistant only replied to my e-mail when I included some of her superiors as CC to the message. It seems that they need the approval from above before doing something, and informing their line manager at the same time is an effective way of acquiring implicit consent from them.

Today is my graduation day, which means I will get my diploma in the afternoon. It is the final barrier that has been holding me back, but now it’s gone. I am free to leave whenever I (and the Corporation) please.

Tags: practical stuff, studies, visa