Our first Week in India

Our first week in India is over. The days were full of beautiful moments, some surprises, smaller challenges, sports and a lot of fun!

The journey was excellent, such a business class flight makes you forget many strains and we could finally relax after the intense preparations. A few tears continued to flow, but by the time we finally reached Bangalore, they had dried.

Immigration then went surprisingly quickly. It is important to have a pen handy: You have to fill out a small registration form and pens are not provided at the airport.

Our luggage also arrived very quickly - at least six pieces of luggage. The seventh item then had to be searched for. At 3:30 a.m. we had everything together and could leave for the hotel.

Just a few hours of sleep later, I'm off to the office for my first day of work. My colleague Prashanth is already waiting for me. Gradually, other colleagues from the team join me.

Since I'm not changing jobs, but only locations, the first day is not particularly exciting, but rather relaxed and pleasant. Time flies and after tea in the afternoon I finish the day.

In the evening we have dinner at Andrah Kafe. The restaurant is located across the street from our hotel. I have been here several times with colleagues. It is quite simple, but you sit outside in the fresh air, the music is at a tolerable volume (which is not the case everywhere) and the food tastes very good.

Thursday goes by pleasant and also Martin has no problems. In the evening we go to the big gym in the hotel and run away from our jetlag. After a short dinner we go for a walk.

On Friday we drive to the apartment. Martin sees the apartment for the first time on site and likes it a lot.

We also have an agent here from the company Global Adjustments, Murali Krishna. We are very happy about that. He not only takes care of the apartment search and related issues, but also everything that has to do with the first organizational issues; for example SIM card, language courses and bank account. Murali is always available for us and we trust him. Without him the process of arriving would be much more difficult!

Friday evening I want to invite my colleagues to dinner. We go to Palette, a trendy restaurant near the office. Here, we enjoy beer and snacks, until all of a sudden the music is turned up and one by one the guests in the restaurant join us on the dance floor. Martin and I have a great evening - dancing, laughing, having fun. The DJ plays one Bollywood hit after the next and the masses dance. Martin and I are also in the middle of the crowd.

Saturday we have breakfast with a colleague of Martin and a friend in a cozy little café. There is muesli with yogurt and fruits, my German stomach does somersaults with joy.

Afterwards we go for a walk in Cubbon Park. This seems to be a normal activity here and we enjoy the pleasant peace and freshness between the huge trees.

What we enjoy less is the one and a half hour drive back. The traffic here is really fascinating. We definitely don't know so many cars, scooters and tuktuks honking, humming and squealing from Germany.

In the evening we meet with my colleague Prashanth and his family. His niece is currently studying in Germany, we already know her from our Go and See trip in September. Over Christmas she was on a family visit in Bangalore, on Monday she flies back to Germany into the cold.

The evening is very different from the previous one, but just as nice: we sit in gardens of a club, drink, eat and chat.

In India, some people have a membership in a club. There people meet, play games, read the newspaper and exchange ideas. Membership is relatively expensive and there is a waiting period of ten years or more. FC Bayern can still learn from this 😉 In this beautiful ambience, we enjoy the mild Indian winter night - with a pleasant 17 degrees.

Sunday we are pretty tired from the week so we relax at the pool. In the afternoon, we pull ourselves together and go to the mall next to the hotel. There is a store here - similar to depot in Germany - that sells decorations, home textiles and tableware. Here we hang around for a while.

Because we are expecting guests soon, we also look for bed linen. As soon as we are in front of the shelf, a very friendly salesman helps us. He pulls out one piece after the other and shows us one alternative after the other. After a while we understand the principle: you choose a comforter with a pattern you like. You can then buy pillowcases and sheets to match. Over the blanket itself comes no more cover, the blanket is simply washed after use. But that day we don't buy anything yet as moving into our appartement still is some time away.

Nothing really exciting happens on Monday. Since Martin is still busy in the evening, we don't go out to eat together, but I get something at the Spar supermarket around the corner. Originally I wanted, for example, noodle soup, which you can pour hot water, but I do not find. So I buy French cheese spread, a cucumber, toast including a toaster and we make a picnic in the hotel room.

After that we go to the gym. I fool around a bit on the treadmill and - twist my finger. This little stupidity leads to my first hospital visit in India the next day.

Tuesday morning I wake up. My finger kept hurting overnight. In the morning it is swollen after all. After it swells rather than shrinks during the day, I decide it's time for a new experience: my first time in the hospital.
 
So much up front, my experience is entirely positive and, as expected, my finger is not broken. The doctor said I will probably survive. Well, he doesn't know that I have to cross the street again on the way to the hotel ;-).

We have already experienced so many beautiful and exciting things, observed new details and mastered smaller challenges in just one week. Our colleagues and everyone we are in contact with here are helping us and preparing us for a great time. We are very excited to understand more of the country and culture!

We have made it through the first week and morale remains high. But that is about to change. Moving into the apartment is more complicated than we had hoped. Trouble before the keys are handed over.