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We have returned from our adventure in India and I can't explain the feelings that I have for the US and for all the wonderful things we are blessed with.
India has given me a completly different view on life and view on things that we tend to complain about. Anyone that I hear complaining about the government (even though the US government has done a lot of stupid things in the past) or complain about how much we pay in tax's, I just want to YELL out, go live somewhere else. I want to tell them that they have no idea how lucky we are to have what we have. Just the ability to drive to a grocery store and purchase food is an amazing thing. We forget that we have smooth roads, organization to our driving, laws that help us be safe, the ability to get food that can be stored for longer then a day on our shelf, a car that we can drive that has AC/heater, and a clean environment, just to mention some of the things that we tend to ignore as we focus on our daily self fulling duties. We are so self centert in the US. We have no Idea what people have to do to get food for the day.
The majority of the world's peoples daily goal is to have enough food to keep them from starving. They go to work to have food. We go to work to have all kinds of toys and comforts that most people in the world don't even think about. They don't even know what to think about becuase if they knew how lucky we are, they would be blown away.
With all that said, it is very easy to get sucked into survival mode in the US and start focusing on all the things that we think we need to have. Just to have a family that loves us, a house to be in and enjoy each other and a job that provides for the family is enough for us to be satisfied in life and happy.
So anyone that reads this and is thinking about what life is about and what they need next, just take a step back and relax and count the blessing that you have. Becuase they are many, even if life is not exactly what you thougt it would be like. Be thankful for your health and the great country we are blessed to have.

Front page of CNN

NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- Wild monkeys attacked a senior government official who then fell from a balcony at his home and died Sunday, media reported.

New Delhi Deputy Mayor S.S. Bajwa was rushed to a hospital after the attack by a gang of Rhesus macaques, but succumbed to head injuries sustained in his fall, the Press Trust of India news agency and The Times of India reported.

Many government buildings, temples and residential neighborhoods in New Delhi are overrun by Rhesus macaques, which scare passers-by and occasionally bite or snatch food from unsuspecting visitors.

Last year, the Delhi High Court reprimanded city authorities for failing to stop the animals from terrifying residents and asked them to find a permanent solution to the monkey menace.

Part of the problem is that devout Hindus believe monkeys are manifestations of the monkey god Hanuman and feed them bananas and peanuts -- encouraging them to frequent public places.

Over the years, city authorities have employed monkey catchers who use langurs -- a larger and fiercer kind of monkey -- to scare or catch the macaques, but the problem persists.

Work..

Well now spending time in India and spending most of that time at work I have been able to really understand what the work enviornment is like here and what is expected by the employees.
1. The employees do expect a lot. The industry here in India has created this idea that the employees deserve all kinds of perks just for showing up to work. The employees get transportation provided to and from work, food while they are at work (most of the time I hear from the employees that it is not good) and they also expect parties and other benifits along the way. It is not the employees fault however it has created a very fine line as to what should be given to employees becuase they come to work and what you can do to show appreciation for their hard work and dedication.
2. I have had a couple of leaders in the company that I work for tell me that they want to move up in a company becuase they believe that the higher they are in a company the less work they are required to do. since I have been here in India, this is one thing that I am trying to show to the employees that this concept is not true. Michelle and I have called this view as the "THE GRAND MASTER" idea. Once a person becomes the grand master they are able to sit down in their chair and just shoot out commands to all the other workers. Now that sounds like a fun job.
3. It is vary hard for the employees to know that I dont play faviorites or I am out to get certain people in the company. The CEO in India (who is Indian) said it best..."You kiss up and you Shit down". I just want to yell out to work hard and prove that they should be promoted rather then hear why they should be promoted. I have employees come to my office and tell me why they should be promoted. I always respond by saying, then show me.

Overall I have learned a lot about what to do and what not to do. It has been a great experience for me out here. It has been pretty hard being away from corporate and trying to know what is going on and to keep people updated there about what is going on in India. I think that most companies that have an offshore site, like to know that things are going well. Other then that it is kind of out of sight out of mind. One of the things that I have tried to do is to keep the company informed of things that are going on here. It will be good to be back at headquarters so I am able to show my face and know everything that is going on.

Start the countdown

It is official, the family leaves in 21 days and I now have my flights reserved and ready to take off. Michelle and I were trying to figure out the most appropriate song for us leaving India. We are still debating our choices. One that seems to be fitting is "I'm leaving on a jet plane".
The kids are now even talking about going to their "NEW HOME" (they have called our Draper house this since we moved from Keller TX). Bryce and I were talking about who was going to be there in Utah waiting for him, his responses consisted of "POLLY (the cat), and NATHAN (our frined that we meet here in India that has returned to the states). I think he is just so excited to return to his house with space and the ability to go outside and not have a million (or a billion) people starring at him, pinching his cheecks and saying that he is so cute.
Chase is going to have a hard time adjusting becuase at his school here in India he is the center of attention. He gets all the special treatment so the school can show off their multi-national school to the local Indians. He played one of the Hindu Gods in a school festival and this week he is another Hindu God in a play. He has had some great culture experiences and I would have to say he may know more about it then Michelle and I.
Michelle is ready to go home and be around her family and frineds. She is also excited to be able to go to the grocery store and get deli lunch meat, go to Panda Express and eat all the fresh salad she can.

Thoughts of the day

Living in India has been a very unique experience. Doing business here is also something that is very different then that back in the US. It is amazing how someones culture can change the way they work and interact with employees. Not just the culutre effects someones personaility but their life expereinces. The majority of the employees here in India make the money for their family (family as in Father, Mother, brothers and sisters). Becuase of this employees feel that they are deserving of a lot of things from the company. My thoughts seem to be all over the place today but this is probably the hardest thing to explain in words.

Holidays

If there is one thing that India does right is their holidays. It seems that everything shuts down and it is a great big party with lights, food and fun. The next couple of months here are referred to as the Holiday months as there are many holidays. Each one of them are exciting in their own way. The common theme is FUN. Today is the celebration for one of the main Gods, Krishna. Everywhere there are pictures and status of him. All the temples are decorated with lights and colors in the celebration.

We are learning a lot about this culutre and how different it is compared to the US. It is a great experience for us all but I will tell you that we are sure excited to get back to our comforts and our friends and family. It has been a lot of up's and down's here and sometimes it is nice to just have a foundation that you can always fall back on.

Today we also went to doctor for Michelle and the baby. We had an ultrasound done and found out that we are adding another boy to our family. Here in India it is illegal to tell the sex of the unborn child to the couple. However, Michelle asked the doctor if she needs to start buying dresses and the doctor said to just buy another matching shirt (Chase and Bryce were with us and they had on the same shirts as each other). So now the challenge of finding a boy name that both Michelle and I like. Lets see what happens.

New to Blogger

I am new to this type of thing so it will take some time to get a hang of all this. I guess you can call me a blog dummy. Do they have a book called "Blogging for Dummies"?