I started my last post apologizing for the span between my post, which was 3 months, well not quite sure what to say when 9 months go by...ummm, I was busy re-acclimating and catching up on American tv and the new items on the Taco Bell menu--you buy that??
Like past posts, starting with some call-outs...obviously everyone's b-day's, but a couple "big" events I wanted to call-out.
CALL-OUTS
December - My cousin Cory kicked the big "C"...Cory you're awesome!! Love ya!
January 30th - Jen & Ali's wedding (my cousin Jen get's hitched in Mexico)
As I said, 9 months have passed since my last post, and the more time that passed, the more I debated about whether I should even bother writing another post. I felt like I needed a 'conclusion', or at least share some final thoughts on my experience in India, which is after all why I originally started my blog--otherwise it would've kind of felt the same as when they ended the TV show Heroes...just not right.
As you can tell from the title of this post, returning back to the US/Seattle wasn't really what I expected, and hasn't been without it's speed bumps. As cheesy as it may sound, before I jump into my transition back home, which happened in November, I want to 'reflect' a bit on my time in India & overall thoughts on India / my experience.
INDIA...the GOOD & the BAD
Like past posts, starting with some call-outs...obviously everyone's b-day's, but a couple "big" events I wanted to call-out.
CALL-OUTS
December - My cousin Cory kicked the big "C"...Cory you're awesome!! Love ya!
January 30th - Jen & Ali's wedding (my cousin Jen get's hitched in Mexico)
As I said, 9 months have passed since my last post, and the more time that passed, the more I debated about whether I should even bother writing another post. I felt like I needed a 'conclusion', or at least share some final thoughts on my experience in India, which is after all why I originally started my blog--otherwise it would've kind of felt the same as when they ended the TV show Heroes...just not right.
As you can tell from the title of this post, returning back to the US/Seattle wasn't really what I expected, and hasn't been without it's speed bumps. As cheesy as it may sound, before I jump into my transition back home, which happened in November, I want to 'reflect' a bit on my time in India & overall thoughts on India / my experience.
INDIA...the GOOD & the BAD
The #1 question I've been asked since I returned is "How was India?"...or some variation of that question, such as --
- What was it like living in India?
- How does it feel to be home?
- Do you miss it...or Do you miss the food?
- What was your favorite thing about living over there?
- It must have been great, right? (I love this one--they're actually telling me it was great, and just asking for confirmation, ha, ha)
I knew these questions were going to come, and they aren't difficult questions to answer--so I'm not sure why I have to think about how to answer them when I'm asked. Perhaps it's because I'm trying to determine if folks asking really want to know...or if they just want the 'short and sweet', and not always completely truthful, response--"India was great...it was hot and food was spicy." Kind of like when someone asks "how's it going?"...do people really want to know, or are they just being polite.
And I'm not saying that the folks who've asked me those questions are asking only to be polite, but I do wonder how honestly I should respond--do I say "India was interesting and it was a great experience" or do I say "It was a difficult place to live and I question my decision of moving there every day"? I usually pick something that falls in between the two responses. Hyderabad (India), like any place you live, had its positives and negatives...and I like to try to focus on the positives over the negatives, but it doesn't change the fact that it was a very difficult place to live.
I do realize that this was a great opportunity, and the past couple years living & traveling in/around India allowed me to experience things I never could have imagined...and meet some amazing people, which I'll never forget. Some people have never traveled outside the US, let alone lived in a foreign country, so I'm grateful that I was able to do both, as it really has given me a different perspective on life, other countries, people, etc. OK, enough of this zen/Buddha/touchy-feely crap...let me sum things up David Letterman style with Top 10 lists.
Top 10 Things I do NOT miss @ India - (not in any special order)
Things I Miss @ India - (not in any special order)
Returning Home
I moved back to Seattle in early November and part of me was thrilled to be home, but at the same time my "transition" back wasn't what I had expected...and I guess I just assumed that it would be, or feel, different to be back.
It's tough to verbalize it, but perhaps me returning to Seattle and moving back into my condo and returning to my old work team made me think that I would pick right back up where I left off--with friends, volleyball, an actual social life, etc. But that didn't happen and something that a work colleague said to me while I was India kept popping into my head, which was:
'When you return home, you may think to yourself that everything has changed and things are different...but when you look a little closer and really think about it, your friends are probably still working at the same job, going to the same bar/restaurant down the street, making the same weekend plans that they were before you moved to India...so it's not your friends or your surroundings that are different--it's you that is different.'
And she was right...I realize this is going to sound crazy, and completely egocentric, but a small part of me thought that things would have frozen and time stopped when I left...and then started back up when I returned. Obviously that's crazy to think that, but while I was in India there were certain things I looked forward to doing again when I returned, and certain people I looked forward to seeing, however, hanging out with old friends felt strange and left me asking myself if I had changed that much that we didn't click any longer as friends...and that I didn't want to go out to the bars on the weekends like I used to. I don't have an answer, and maybe it's just getting older, but I'm try not to think to hard about it and just go with the flow.
Friends aside, I thought transitioning back to work on my old team (different role), would be smooth as silk...instead, at times it made me question whether it was really worth it to go work in India for almost 2 years, only to return to the team I was on before my assignment. I feel that I learned a ton during my time over there, and managing/working with individuals who were primarily all from India was a growth experience in it of itself...but that doesn't change the fact that many of my colleagues/peers/direct reports may see me as the same individual who was on the team 2 years earlier.
And boy does this sound like a "woo's me session", and I realize it's just my perception and it was my decision...an I do think returning to my old team was a right thing for me to do just coming off a pretty big change/adjustment. I'm still figuring the work piece out, but aren't we all?? It has been great to reconnect with many of my work colleagues again...and I do have to share some pics from a manager/team offsite I attended in Alaska, as well as our big team trip in May, both of which were completely amazing - (click following link to view pics) Alaska - Alyeska Resort and here are a couple pics from San Diego (we were having a White Party on the beach) -
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So it's time to wrap this blog up and close out on this post...I don't have any deep thoughts to leave you with, and if asked the question, "would you do it again?" I can't say I have a definitive answer...so basically you're getting nothing from me ;-).
I do want to thank all of you who stayed in touch w/ me while I was in India, and especially those of you who followed and read my blog posts--I hope you got a feeling for India seen through my eyes and I want to thank all the folks in India who were extremely welcoming and made me feel right at home.
Take care & signing out!
Keith
I do realize that this was a great opportunity, and the past couple years living & traveling in/around India allowed me to experience things I never could have imagined...and meet some amazing people, which I'll never forget. Some people have never traveled outside the US, let alone lived in a foreign country, so I'm grateful that I was able to do both, as it really has given me a different perspective on life, other countries, people, etc. OK, enough of this zen/Buddha/touchy-feely crap...let me sum things up David Letterman style with Top 10 lists.
Top 10 Things I do NOT miss @ India - (not in any special order)
- No dryers / having to hang my laundry - dryers were few and far between (I never realized how important fabric softener was when you don't have a dryer!)
- Public restrooms, and more specifically, the uncertainty of whether there would be a toilet or just a hole in the ground (I gave up on expecting the toilets to have toilet paper after the first month).
- No concept of lines, or waiting your turn - sometimes I mistook this for being rude, or having poor manners, but it's just a way of life I guess.
- View on Homosexuality - If you happened to catch Macklemore perform on the Grammy's you'll agree that we've come a long way as a culture in accepting homosexuality...but believe it or not, there are still countries where being gay is illegal. Being gay isn't easy at times, but it's part of who I am and it was especially difficult in India...and probably the biggest reason why I could never live there.
- Spicy food!! - I admit, I'm a big wuss when it comes to spicy food, but there's 'spicy' and there's 'India spicy'--even when I asked for something with little/no spice, it was usually too much for me.
- Caste system - I realize that laws have been created to discourage discrimination based on caste, but based on what I observed, it's still very prevalent...and it's sad to think that b/c someone is born into a certain caste, they will most likely never move out of that caste.
- Environmental Awareness - there were parts of India that were some of the most beautiful places I've seen, but the fact that individuals on the whole, wouldn't think twice about littering and/or using their lands as a garbage dump. I'd also add poor qualities of pollution control from their vehicles here as well.
- Charged differently b/c I'm white/American - I never got used to this--whether it was a ride on a Tuk-tuk or buying something at a roadside stand, as soon as they saw the color of my skin, they said "Cha-ching".
- Checking water bottle caps - when I first arrived in India someone gave me some real good advice about the water...1) don't drink the water from the tap & 2) make sure when order a bottle of water that the seal isn't broken. I already knew about the 1st one, but the 2nd one was a surprise--apparently some places will just refill a water bottle with tap water and try to sell it as bottled water. This actually happened to me twice...so it's nice to not have to worry about that any more.
- Not knowing WHY - I had written in several of my past posts about times that I got angry, or sometimes just laughed, because rules/procedures were being followed without knowing 'why' they were being followed.
Things I Miss @ India - (not in any special order)
- My co-workers/team - I do not think I would've lasted as long as I did in India if it wasn't for my co-workers, and specifically the team I managed. I can probably write an entire blog post just on reasons why they are so great, but being the modest group they are, it would probably only embarrass them. I'm serious when I say that I wish I could have brought each of them back to the US with me to be a part of my new team. Whenever I question whether being a manager is worth all the BS I have to deal with, I just think about my old team...their work ethic, willingness to accept me as their manager, their creativity and sense of humor--and the list goes on and on. They made me want to be the best manager I could and I'm very grateful to them and will never forget the CRT and/or the extended India HR team. Sharing some fun pics from an HR Learning Week, which happened to also be my last week in India...as well as this video my old team made for me.
- The 'Merica Posse - overall, the people of India are so welcoming and friendly, but it was still difficult to make "good" friends over there for several reasons...and I thought that may be an issue for me, but all I needed was the 'Merica Posse (that's a term Dave coined) -- Joe, Dave and Roy. I realize I haven't done a great job at staying in touch, but I want each of you to know that I really miss hanging out with you guys and I smile/laugh every time I think about hanging out with you guys--whether it was an outing to Hyper City to go grocery shopping, going to see a US movie and getting scolded for chewing gum or traveling to Thailand (so many funny things about that trip). You guys are awesome and I really do hope that we'll stay in touch and continue our adventures.
- My "alone" time - in the 2nd most populous country in the world (>1.2 billion), believe it or not, I miss my alone time. Now granted, sometimes to enjoy my alone time that meant going for walks at 2 am or spending an extra long time in golf course pool, but there was a certain peace, or serenity I found at times while living in India. It's hard to explain, but it's almost like I had escaped my "real" life in the US and just enjoyed being removed from many of life's distractions. I also felt a sense of pride in having taken this assignment and moving out there on my own. It's funny to think back to my moving to Seattle in 2007 and how nervous I was about starting over in a new city on my own...and then to compare that experience to me moving to India--well, let's just say that now I feel like I can do anything.
- The SUN - I got a glimpse into what folks in San Diego must feel like day in and day out...sunny weather 360 days a year (or so it seemed like that). For those of you who know me well, you know how much I love being in the sun...kind of like how Superman gets his strength from the sun, I get energy from it. Unfortunately with the sun, came the heat most often and I do not miss sweating simply walking from the garage to my office building.
- Cost of Living - Now granted, there were some things that I way overpaid for in India--like the $10/box of cereal that I was buying for months until Joe pointed it out to me and totally ruined it for me :-). But on the whole, things were just more affordable in India...and that includes travel, which is the next thing I miss...
- Travel Destinations - I was going to say "Ease of Travel", but unfortunately I never encountered traveling in India, or around Asia, as "easy". Thinking back, I'm still amazed that I wasn't thrown in jail at least once while traveling through the airports in India. The things I said to some of those security guards/cops, well let's just say that my mom would not be happy with some of the things that came out of my mouth. But all that aside, the ability to travel to some AMAZING places in Asia for a long weekend is definitely something I will miss and wish I would've taken even more advantage of while living there. Here were some of my favourite trips and pics: (click following links to view pics) Thailand - Bangkok & Phuket , Nepal , Dharamasala , Singapore
- My Work - This is something that I don't think I would've had on the list if I had created it immediately after I returned to the US, but the combination of what I'm doing now and what I did while I was in India--it's definitely made me appreciate the opportunity I was given. I won't bore you with all the details, but the amount of responsibility I felt I had, and the potential impact my job could have on the company, was huge! I recall feeling a bit overwhelmed my first week out there and thinking "what did I sign up for? Did I get in over my head?", but I'd like to think that I rose to the occasion and that I was successful in my assignment. I definitely felt a feeling of satisfaction as it relates to my work/job that I hadn't felt before...and I hope that I'll feel it again.
- Naan & Dal Makhani - I don't think it's a big secret that I didn't really take to Indian food...I'm sure eating Subway for 18 months for lunch clued my old team in, ha, ha. But there's no question I will miss my Naan (Indian bread) & Dal Makhani (India's equivalent to chili in my opinion). I'll still never forget my first month out there and how I discovered naan and dal while staying at the Westin, and thought how great it was that I found Indian cuisine that I loved AND was healthy...or at least I thought it was healthy. I was ordering dal at least 3 times a week for dinner and loving it. I thought that because it was made with lentils, which are good for you, that it had to be healthy. Well it wasn't until I went into the office one day and my co-worker/friend (Mamta) says "Keith, are you gaining weight? Your face is getting fat." I was a bit surprised to say the least and I think I said "Mamta, you don't tell someone they're getting fat..." and then we laughed about it and I said "Really? I've been working out at the Westin and have been eating pretty healthy--having Dal Makhani 3 times a week." That's when I found out that besides lentils, Dal is made with butter and cream...and not just a little butter and cream, but a LOT! So needless to say, I had to cut back on my Dal. (Mamta I miss you!)
So although I don't think I could ever live in India, I am glad I took this opportunity to go outside my comfort zone--the experience was definitely an adventure and wish more people could experience something similar.
Returning Home
I moved back to Seattle in early November and part of me was thrilled to be home, but at the same time my "transition" back wasn't what I had expected...and I guess I just assumed that it would be, or feel, different to be back.
It's tough to verbalize it, but perhaps me returning to Seattle and moving back into my condo and returning to my old work team made me think that I would pick right back up where I left off--with friends, volleyball, an actual social life, etc. But that didn't happen and something that a work colleague said to me while I was India kept popping into my head, which was:
'When you return home, you may think to yourself that everything has changed and things are different...but when you look a little closer and really think about it, your friends are probably still working at the same job, going to the same bar/restaurant down the street, making the same weekend plans that they were before you moved to India...so it's not your friends or your surroundings that are different--it's you that is different.'
And she was right...I realize this is going to sound crazy, and completely egocentric, but a small part of me thought that things would have frozen and time stopped when I left...and then started back up when I returned. Obviously that's crazy to think that, but while I was in India there were certain things I looked forward to doing again when I returned, and certain people I looked forward to seeing, however, hanging out with old friends felt strange and left me asking myself if I had changed that much that we didn't click any longer as friends...and that I didn't want to go out to the bars on the weekends like I used to. I don't have an answer, and maybe it's just getting older, but I'm try not to think to hard about it and just go with the flow.
Friends aside, I thought transitioning back to work on my old team (different role), would be smooth as silk...instead, at times it made me question whether it was really worth it to go work in India for almost 2 years, only to return to the team I was on before my assignment. I feel that I learned a ton during my time over there, and managing/working with individuals who were primarily all from India was a growth experience in it of itself...but that doesn't change the fact that many of my colleagues/peers/direct reports may see me as the same individual who was on the team 2 years earlier.
And boy does this sound like a "woo's me session", and I realize it's just my perception and it was my decision...an I do think returning to my old team was a right thing for me to do just coming off a pretty big change/adjustment. I'm still figuring the work piece out, but aren't we all?? It has been great to reconnect with many of my work colleagues again...and I do have to share some pics from a manager/team offsite I attended in Alaska, as well as our big team trip in May, both of which were completely amazing - (click following link to view pics) Alaska - Alyeska Resort and here are a couple pics from San Diego (we were having a White Party on the beach) -
So it's time to wrap this blog up and close out on this post...I don't have any deep thoughts to leave you with, and if asked the question, "would you do it again?" I can't say I have a definitive answer...so basically you're getting nothing from me ;-).
I do want to thank all of you who stayed in touch w/ me while I was in India, and especially those of you who followed and read my blog posts--I hope you got a feeling for India seen through my eyes and I want to thank all the folks in India who were extremely welcoming and made me feel right at home.
Take care & signing out!
Keith
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Simon, Bennett, Ken and I with our tour guide "H" (I couldn't remember his name, so I just called him "H")
