Saturday, September 18, 2010

9/18/2010 - Our First Gathering

Today was the first time our IBM Corporate Service Corps team (aka The Blue Tigers) came together to meet face to face.  It was great.  Everyone seemed to get along just fine.  There wasn't any uneasiness amongst any of the team members.  Obviously all the pre-work and weekly calls we held helped to break the ice even before we met.  

We met on a terrace our hotel has and our local coordinator, Kabi, explained the details of the program.  She then handed out our cell phones and we proceeded to put everyone in our contact list.   That alone was a challenge. After our debriefing and working with our phones, we set forth on a long neighborhood walk led by our local guide John.  He showed us where to exchange money, some good bookstores, restaurants, pubs, and shopping malls.  The hotel is centrally located.  If you look at a map of Bangalore we are right in the heart of it.

For lunch we ate at a place where our plates were banana leaves.  You basically put your curries on the leaf and proceed to eat them with rice or bread.  It was fantastic.  The hard part for me is learning to eat everything with my hands, even sauces.   I'll keep practicing.

When we returned to the hotel we got together as a group again (on the terrace) and shared life and work stories. Everyone brought something (food or crafts) from their respective countries.  We truly had an international meal.  Everyone hit the sack at roughly midnight to charge up for another exciting day  :-).  Below is a picture of the team working with the phones.  As soon as I get a coordinated group photo, I'll post it with names.  Later. ~Dan
First Meeting - Exchanging Numbers

No comments:

Post a Comment