On Sunday morning, one of our friends had an emergency come up, so I ended up baby-sitting for her two boys-aged 9 and 2 1/2 for a bit. I called a friend of mind to ask for suggestions on where to go and he said he would take us somewhere to entertain them. I assumed that he would bring his car, so I was quite surprised when he showed up with just his bike (motorcycle). Let me take a minute here to explain that it is not uncommon in India to see whole families riding on the back of a bike-the parents and two or three small children all squeezed together, so I'm assuming that he didn't really think twice about planning it out that way. It was just a bit of a cultural clash for me because I never thought that I would end up crammed with two kids on the back of a bike. Even though I am jumping ahead in the story a bit, I should also point out here that my friend is a white American married to an Indian, and the kids reflect that.
We took the kids to a video game parlor which they seemed to enjoy. However, at a stoplight on the way home, I notice a guy on a bike ahead of us looking at me strangely. As we started to move, I realized that it was the youth leader from my church. :-0 Uh oh! Let's review the details to make sure everyone understands how bad this looks: First, I wasn't at church that morning due to the emergency. Second, I (a white American) am sitting with two kids (1/2 American, 1/2 Indian) and an Indian man on a bike, just like any Indian family. Third, I've professed to be single numerous times at the church. Additionally, I know that I'm not going to be at church the next week because I'll be out of town on vacation with Liz. I'm thinking that this doesn't look good at all. Will I ever be able to show my face again at the Madras Vineyard???
30 January 2006
Mocha
The Monday after Pongal was the day for final assessments for my mortgage batch. They were a really good batch overall and they all passed their final assessment. (For some reason, I seem to have better luck with my even numbered batches-and they were #6.) After class, they wanted to take me out to treat me, so we chose a new coffee shop that had just recently opened-Mocha. Mocha cafe is a chain here in India (I visited one when I was in Delhi), but the one in Chennai retains much of the feel of Java's or Spot Coffee in Rochester. It is located in an old house and one of the rooms-the bathroom-uses toilets as seats for one of the tables. They have also filled a bathtub with pillows for seating at another table. It's pretty cool! We usually end up sitting outside, though, so that we can smoke the hookah (yes, Pete, I've finally joined the club!) :) However, we didn't get one this time (I didn't want to shock the girls in my batch too badly!) It was the first time any one of my batches has planned an outing like this and it was really fun! They even got me flowers as well! Awww...! 
16 January 2006
A Day at the Races
This weekend was the celebration of Pongal, the harvest festival in Tamil Nadu. Pongal is a three day holiday with different celebrations on each day. It seems as if it is similar in nature to Thanksgiving back home with celebration time with family and traditional foods to eat. Pongal (the food) can be either sweet or savory. The savory form is traditionally eaten for breakfast around the year, but the sweet form is eaten on Pongal. It's made of rice, dal, & jaggery.
Saturday was the start of pongal. This day is literally the day to be thankful for the sun. We spent the day at the Madras Race Track, watching the derby. (This is not a normal way to celebrate Pongal; it was just a coincidence it happened on the same day.) Racing is not a big sport here in Chennai (apparently one person owns most of the winning horses here), but my friend's husband is a horse trainer/owner, so she invited us as her guests. We had a lot of fun, placing Rs. 5 (~10 cents) bets on the horses, even though my friend wouldn't give us any insider information!
Sunday was mattu pongal, a day of thanksgiving for the cows. I hear that, in the villages, the farmers give their cows a day of rest and decorate them with paint for the festival. I was disappointed not to see any of the city cows painted for the holiday!
Monday was kaanum pongal, a day typically reserved for visiting friends and relatives. Of course, we still had to work, so we were unable to join the throngs of people that flock to Marina Beach to picnic on the holiday.
Saturday was the start of pongal. This day is literally the day to be thankful for the sun. We spent the day at the Madras Race Track, watching the derby. (This is not a normal way to celebrate Pongal; it was just a coincidence it happened on the same day.) Racing is not a big sport here in Chennai (apparently one person owns most of the winning horses here), but my friend's husband is a horse trainer/owner, so she invited us as her guests. We had a lot of fun, placing Rs. 5 (~10 cents) bets on the horses, even though my friend wouldn't give us any insider information!
Sunday was mattu pongal, a day of thanksgiving for the cows. I hear that, in the villages, the farmers give their cows a day of rest and decorate them with paint for the festival. I was disappointed not to see any of the city cows painted for the holiday!
Monday was kaanum pongal, a day typically reserved for visiting friends and relatives. Of course, we still had to work, so we were unable to join the throngs of people that flock to Marina Beach to picnic on the holiday.
13 January 2006
Call Center Humor
I'm trying to collect various examples of call center humor. Here's what I have so far:
1.) The Onion: New Tech-Support Caste Arises in India
2.) The Humor of Melvin Durai: INDIAN ENGLISH: IT VILL BE WERY HELPFUL, YAAR!
3.) Conan O'Brien clip: Andy Blitz' trip to a Hyderabadi call center
If you can't see the humor in these, then you haven't had enough customer/technical support experiences to appreciate what we are doing here. :)
1.) The Onion: New Tech-Support Caste Arises in India
2.) The Humor of Melvin Durai: INDIAN ENGLISH: IT VILL BE WERY HELPFUL, YAAR!
3.) Conan O'Brien clip: Andy Blitz' trip to a Hyderabadi call center
If you can't see the humor in these, then you haven't had enough customer/technical support experiences to appreciate what we are doing here. :)
12 January 2006
Yes, Pete, the mistletoe is broken! :)
Liz and I took the Christmas decorations down this weekend. The cats are sad now that they don't have anything to climb on... :) It was actually a rather sad experience for me at least. When we bought all of these decorations, I remember thinking that we would be able to use them again next Christmas. We were in the mindset that we liked being here so much, we would be able put up with the company for another year. We had all of these plans of what we would buy for the next year and what we would change in the next year. However, as we packed up the Christmas decorations, it seems that this is not going to be the case. I don't think I can live with the proposed changes in the contracts, so I'm setting my expectations that I will have to leave here in March. It was rather subdued as we divided up what we each wanted to take back and talking about who we could pass the remainder onto instead of packing it up for next Christmas. I don't want to leave...but I don't think I can live with these conditions...
10 January 2006
Cultural Day
I've started training a batch for our new mortgage program, the company's first foray into the financial services industry. (Who would have thought that I'd be back working with financial stuff again??) Some of it is fun (training for a new program instead of the repetition of shooting out tech support batches), but some of it is frustrating (dealing with people who don't know the system and having to develop curriculum at the same time as teaching). The batch has been pretty receptive, however, to trying different things. They have a lot of pressure on them, being the pilot batch for the program, but generally they seem to be coping well.
I was proud of them: when auditions for our company's annual cultural show were announced, they managed to get together enough people for two entries into the show-one vocal performance and one fashion show-all in about two days. Luckily for me, the vocal group managed to get their performance together without asking for my help. I only required that they pick an English song, since they were in accent training. They chose "As Long as You Love Me" by the Backstreet Boys (appropriate since there were 5 guys in the group!) The fashion show, however, was a different story! When I asked them (3 guys and 3 girls) what they were going to do they all looked at me blankly. Somehow I managed to choreograph a few moves for them. (Luckily, I remember watching various fashion shows at the Basant Festivals, sponsored by the Indian organization at RIT!) I was a bit nervous because some of them seemed to have trouble remembering the routine.
The show was actually very good-although a bit too long! Liz and I got there early in the morning so that I could practice with my group a bit before it started. We did a run-through, practiced walking a bit, but weren't able to practice with the music that they had selected. ("One Love") Throughout the day, Liz and I were able to see people from the various programs that we had worked with showcasing their talents, which was great! My singers went on right after lunch. They surprised me by dedicating the song to me-and I was extremely touched by that. Unfortunately, the fashion show was one of the last events. Due to time constraints with the stage, they cut the fashion shows' allowed time in half. This turned out to be a benefit to my group. They all managed to remember their cues (for the most part) during the first few positions or at least cover it up when they forgot. And it did look pretty good (if I do say so myself). Again, luckily for me, they didn't get to the part where they had wanted me to come up on the stage (like the designers or hosts of the shows have to). :) 
I was proud of them: when auditions for our company's annual cultural show were announced, they managed to get together enough people for two entries into the show-one vocal performance and one fashion show-all in about two days. Luckily for me, the vocal group managed to get their performance together without asking for my help. I only required that they pick an English song, since they were in accent training. They chose "As Long as You Love Me" by the Backstreet Boys (appropriate since there were 5 guys in the group!) The fashion show, however, was a different story! When I asked them (3 guys and 3 girls) what they were going to do they all looked at me blankly. Somehow I managed to choreograph a few moves for them. (Luckily, I remember watching various fashion shows at the Basant Festivals, sponsored by the Indian organization at RIT!) I was a bit nervous because some of them seemed to have trouble remembering the routine.
The show was actually very good-although a bit too long! Liz and I got there early in the morning so that I could practice with my group a bit before it started. We did a run-through, practiced walking a bit, but weren't able to practice with the music that they had selected. ("One Love") Throughout the day, Liz and I were able to see people from the various programs that we had worked with showcasing their talents, which was great! My singers went on right after lunch. They surprised me by dedicating the song to me-and I was extremely touched by that. Unfortunately, the fashion show was one of the last events. Due to time constraints with the stage, they cut the fashion shows' allowed time in half. This turned out to be a benefit to my group. They all managed to remember their cues (for the most part) during the first few positions or at least cover it up when they forgot. And it did look pretty good (if I do say so myself). Again, luckily for me, they didn't get to the part where they had wanted me to come up on the stage (like the designers or hosts of the shows have to). :)
05 January 2006
Happy New Year!!!
...and Merry Christmas while I'm at it! :) Liz and I managed to have a nice Christmas here, even though we were both missing being at home for the holidays. On Christmas eve, we went to a midnight mass, where we were pretty much able to keep up with the service (well, except for not catching on to the kneeling part!), even though neither of us has a Catholic background. Christmas morning, we got up and began to cook an American-style lunch. (Which actually turned out pretty well. It made me think about attempting to cook here every now & then.) Raghu came over, we all opened presents, ate, and headed over to the apartment of one of the other American trainers for a party. All in all it was a good day.
Now that it's a new year, it's time to look to the year ahead. First, we need to take down the Christmas tree, especially since the ornaments are already dusty and the kittens have now decided to use it as a jungle gym. :) Secondly, it is time to start evaluating what I'm doing here, if I'll stay for another year, and what I'll do if I don't stay for another year. Supposedly our contract renewals start on the 10th of this month. The word on the street is that there are 8 things different from our old contracts (not that those were adhered to that well anyway), but I'm betting that the changes are not going to be ones in our favor! *sigh* All I can do is wait and see... Waiting is always the hard part: too many questions start running through my head! Do I even want to stay? Yes, I love being here in India, but working for this company can even take the joy out of that at times. But what will I do when I get back to the US? Go back to school and get a degree in education? Or, do I apply to teach in another country? What is the appeal: Teaching? India? Or specifically, teaching in India? I was hoping that this year in India would clarify things a bit for me...but right now I feel just as confused as when I left. :)
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