Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Not interested
There's a dumb guy that often comes into the shop. I don't know if he's deaf too.
The first time I 'talked with him', he got angry at me and left in fury. I didn't understand what he was trying to covey. He must be a quick texter, but started fumbling and got stressed. Its understandable I guess. The frustration of not being understood.
He left me feeling bad. I felt I had treated him bad, which of course wasn't true. I just don't have too good a past with hearing impared or disabilities, so I'm guessing thats where the guilt was coming from.
After that he's been in the shop quite a few times. Whenever communicating with him, I walk up to him and wait for his text. It works quite alright. He's got a friend. My guess is that he's adopted. He's also dumb I think. Seen them in other shopping centres too.
Today he came into the shop after me seeing him hanging out outside. One wierd thing I've noticed about him is that he never smiles. He's always grumpy. I always make the effort. Smiling and trying to help. But then again, I guess thats my job.
He was looking at a bracelet for guys. We established eye contact, and I saw him pull out his mobile. I walked over and he wrote a silly question, is this a bracelet or a necklace? Quite evident what it was.
This guy never buys anything. Atleast not from me. So I just hovered about in the shop. As you do. Indicating that I'm here to help if need be.
Again there was eye contact. I went over again. He still does fumble while writing texts. 'I hope you don't think I'm trying to pick you up. I was suppsoed to meet with a mate, but he hasn't turned up'. Thats that then. Mystery solved.
I can still see him outside the shop. Guess he really is waiting for his friend?
Fake fake time: 6:01 pm Tuesday, April 11, 2006
The first time I 'talked with him', he got angry at me and left in fury. I didn't understand what he was trying to covey. He must be a quick texter, but started fumbling and got stressed. Its understandable I guess. The frustration of not being understood.
He left me feeling bad. I felt I had treated him bad, which of course wasn't true. I just don't have too good a past with hearing impared or disabilities, so I'm guessing thats where the guilt was coming from.
After that he's been in the shop quite a few times. Whenever communicating with him, I walk up to him and wait for his text. It works quite alright. He's got a friend. My guess is that he's adopted. He's also dumb I think. Seen them in other shopping centres too.
Today he came into the shop after me seeing him hanging out outside. One wierd thing I've noticed about him is that he never smiles. He's always grumpy. I always make the effort. Smiling and trying to help. But then again, I guess thats my job.
He was looking at a bracelet for guys. We established eye contact, and I saw him pull out his mobile. I walked over and he wrote a silly question, is this a bracelet or a necklace? Quite evident what it was.
This guy never buys anything. Atleast not from me. So I just hovered about in the shop. As you do. Indicating that I'm here to help if need be.
Again there was eye contact. I went over again. He still does fumble while writing texts. 'I hope you don't think I'm trying to pick you up. I was suppsoed to meet with a mate, but he hasn't turned up'. Thats that then. Mystery solved.
I can still see him outside the shop. Guess he really is waiting for his friend?
Fake fake time: 6:01 pm Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Incredible India!
I haven't been blogging for quite some time now, so what better way of getting into the swing of things than to write about my 'home country', India.
This spring is my last semester at uni before the world is at my feet and I'm left to fend for myself. In all honesty, I still don't know what I'll be doing this time next year as there are many variables in play. One event I thought would give me some inspiration is International Day, about India, held by Bergen Chamber today. I have to say I'm left with lots of impulses from different companies and people of different backgrounds.
Norway has never been in the forefront when it comes to trade with India. It was therefore refreshing to see that they've finally woken up and are more proactive. The day was about companies in Bergen hoping to do business with India.
Here's a list of presentations held, and my thoughts on their messages.
Rolf Lunheim, anthropologist, NTNU
This man has strong ties with India and Rajasthan. After finishing his studies he moved to a remote town in Rajasthan where he worked on several projects for Norsk Hydro. There the local Brahmin 'made up' a story about how he was a reincarnation of a camel warrior.
In 1994 Hydro ventured into The Utkal Project together with Canadian Alcan, Indal and Tata which aimed to building a bauxite mine and an alumina plant in the Indian state Orissa (formerly Kalinga). This project soon turned into major fiasco and Hydro had to pull out. The project has later been taken up again, but I couldn't find anything substantial on the net.
I've never seen a Norwegian talk about India with the kind of passion he showed. He fascinated everyone with his colourful pictures and topics ranging from history, religion, philosophy, establishing a business in India, and the list goes on. In the break my sister and I got a chance to have a chat with him. Actually he approached us! He was a little worried he might have offended us, or said wrong, but I assured him that for an 'angresi-Norwegian', he knew quite a bit about the culture.
International Business
This is an annual project carried out in collaboration between Innovation Norway and twelve students attending the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH), and the Norwegian School of Management (BI). The last few years they've concentrated on the BRIC-countries and this year it was India's turn.
My uni is represented in the project, but the students at my campus were never informed, so I was VERY disappointed that I didn't get a chance to take part in this.
I've yet to read their report, but am really looking forward to it.
His Excellency the Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev, India's ambassador to Norway
This man is one joker! Last time i saw him was in October when Norway celebrated the centennial of the separation of the union with Sweden. Back then he seemed like a little Indian man amongst big western businesspeople. Today I noticed that when he talks, people listen and take notes! And the facts he presented were very helpful in painting a picture of the modern India.
Per Reinboth, Innovation Norway, New Delhi
Not all the presentations were equally good. Plus it's not his fault that everyone before him presented most of his material already. One good comment he did come with though that things are done differently in India, and that businesspeople should keep that in mind when doing business in the subcontinent. Hint hint!
Anders (Haakon) Lier, Cap Gemini, Vice President, Outsourcing Services
This guy was more interested in talking about how his company outsources than anything else. So yet another dull presentation.
'Man' from Norwegian Film Commission
This dude had to step in for Hans Otto Nicolayssen at a short notice, so it's not really his fault he was crap. At least they know that their completion Switzerland is actively marketing itself.
His Excellency suggested holding an award ceremony in Bergen which would bringing the whole industry. Not a bad idea at all. Plus marketing Bergen as two hours away from London is much better than marketing it alone.
Prakash Challam, Regional Sales Manager, Nordics & Benelux Infosys Technologies Limited
Infosys has a internship program called INSTEP. Last year there were 150 positions. The program is an excellent way of learning about an amazing company that's created lots of millionaires.
Svein Lang, Indian Consulate in Bergen
This man seemed very arrogant. I actually wanted to talk with him, but left it. The consulate opened in March, so I still don't know much about it. The most interesting topic he brought up was how he's working towards removing having to get a visa for companies wanting to invest in India.
The last point on the agenda was Hordaland's Export Price. This year it was presented by his Excellency and it went to, 'and the award for best film goes to...ahem, export goes to' Lerøy Seafood Group ASA. And for those interested in exporting salmon to India, the duty has recently gone down from 25 to 10 percent.
One of the most positive approaches I had today was by a woman that was in my accounting management class last term. We were supposed to work with her last term on a project, but two strong personalities in one group isn't a good idea, so basically she was thrown out. I'm not proud of this, but it was a joint decision. Anyway, she works for Innovation Norway and currently she's got a Norwegian client wanting to invest in India. Apparently this client is quite big too! But she was very hush hush about it all, so I don't know who it is. She asked me whether I was interested in a position like that, which I am, so I gave her my details. One of these days I'm expecting a job offer from in a big Norwegian company. Good thing for me she doesn't hold grudges! Either way, I don't mind being used. Hehe.
All in all, a very inspirational day!
Fake time: 7:37 pm Thursday, March 30, 2006
This spring is my last semester at uni before the world is at my feet and I'm left to fend for myself. In all honesty, I still don't know what I'll be doing this time next year as there are many variables in play. One event I thought would give me some inspiration is International Day, about India, held by Bergen Chamber today. I have to say I'm left with lots of impulses from different companies and people of different backgrounds.
Norway has never been in the forefront when it comes to trade with India. It was therefore refreshing to see that they've finally woken up and are more proactive. The day was about companies in Bergen hoping to do business with India.
Here's a list of presentations held, and my thoughts on their messages.
Rolf Lunheim, anthropologist, NTNU
This man has strong ties with India and Rajasthan. After finishing his studies he moved to a remote town in Rajasthan where he worked on several projects for Norsk Hydro. There the local Brahmin 'made up' a story about how he was a reincarnation of a camel warrior.
In 1994 Hydro ventured into The Utkal Project together with Canadian Alcan, Indal and Tata which aimed to building a bauxite mine and an alumina plant in the Indian state Orissa (formerly Kalinga). This project soon turned into major fiasco and Hydro had to pull out. The project has later been taken up again, but I couldn't find anything substantial on the net.
I've never seen a Norwegian talk about India with the kind of passion he showed. He fascinated everyone with his colourful pictures and topics ranging from history, religion, philosophy, establishing a business in India, and the list goes on. In the break my sister and I got a chance to have a chat with him. Actually he approached us! He was a little worried he might have offended us, or said wrong, but I assured him that for an 'angresi-Norwegian', he knew quite a bit about the culture.
International Business
This is an annual project carried out in collaboration between Innovation Norway and twelve students attending the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH), and the Norwegian School of Management (BI). The last few years they've concentrated on the BRIC-countries and this year it was India's turn.
My uni is represented in the project, but the students at my campus were never informed, so I was VERY disappointed that I didn't get a chance to take part in this.
I've yet to read their report, but am really looking forward to it.
His Excellency the Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev, India's ambassador to Norway
This man is one joker! Last time i saw him was in October when Norway celebrated the centennial of the separation of the union with Sweden. Back then he seemed like a little Indian man amongst big western businesspeople. Today I noticed that when he talks, people listen and take notes! And the facts he presented were very helpful in painting a picture of the modern India.
Per Reinboth, Innovation Norway, New Delhi
Not all the presentations were equally good. Plus it's not his fault that everyone before him presented most of his material already. One good comment he did come with though that things are done differently in India, and that businesspeople should keep that in mind when doing business in the subcontinent. Hint hint!
Anders (Haakon) Lier, Cap Gemini, Vice President, Outsourcing Services
This guy was more interested in talking about how his company outsources than anything else. So yet another dull presentation.
'Man' from Norwegian Film Commission
This dude had to step in for Hans Otto Nicolayssen at a short notice, so it's not really his fault he was crap. At least they know that their completion Switzerland is actively marketing itself.
His Excellency suggested holding an award ceremony in Bergen which would bringing the whole industry. Not a bad idea at all. Plus marketing Bergen as two hours away from London is much better than marketing it alone.
Prakash Challam, Regional Sales Manager, Nordics & Benelux Infosys Technologies Limited
Infosys has a internship program called INSTEP. Last year there were 150 positions. The program is an excellent way of learning about an amazing company that's created lots of millionaires.
Svein Lang, Indian Consulate in Bergen
This man seemed very arrogant. I actually wanted to talk with him, but left it. The consulate opened in March, so I still don't know much about it. The most interesting topic he brought up was how he's working towards removing having to get a visa for companies wanting to invest in India.
The last point on the agenda was Hordaland's Export Price. This year it was presented by his Excellency and it went to, 'and the award for best film goes to...ahem, export goes to' Lerøy Seafood Group ASA. And for those interested in exporting salmon to India, the duty has recently gone down from 25 to 10 percent.
One of the most positive approaches I had today was by a woman that was in my accounting management class last term. We were supposed to work with her last term on a project, but two strong personalities in one group isn't a good idea, so basically she was thrown out. I'm not proud of this, but it was a joint decision. Anyway, she works for Innovation Norway and currently she's got a Norwegian client wanting to invest in India. Apparently this client is quite big too! But she was very hush hush about it all, so I don't know who it is. She asked me whether I was interested in a position like that, which I am, so I gave her my details. One of these days I'm expecting a job offer from in a big Norwegian company. Good thing for me she doesn't hold grudges! Either way, I don't mind being used. Hehe.
All in all, a very inspirational day!
Fake time: 7:37 pm Thursday, March 30, 2006
Friday, March 25, 2005
marriage; love or arranged?
recieving texts from my sister (who is currently visiting london), it was certain that the topic of marriage would come up. of my marriage.
mum brought it up very casually indeed. would you like living in england? she knows the answer to this. i prefer home. home is norway.
growing up, my sister and I always envied indians in england. the food, the music, the clothes, the culture, the family (?) and last, but not least, peer indian friends.
being told we would one day be married off to someone in london was a good thing. we were too young. we did not understand what this meant.
love marriage has never really been an option, well not untill recently.
my parents have been having bigger marital problems than usual lately. i think this is what lead them to giving me the option.
summer of 2003 the story was completely different. one of our "missions" in england was to find my match, or atleast let everyone know we were looking.
it did not go too well. i made sure of that.
admittedly, i did not meet any of the two (three?) guys out of total free will. before i knew it, i had meet them. everyone kept telling me there was no pressure. that did not help me. the fact that these guys wanted to marry me after a 30 minute conversation did not help either. i felt pressured.
luckily for me there really was no pressure.
looking back on this now, i remember going into it with a fear. i feared having meet a couple of guys, and being "rejected" or "rejecting" them, my parents would come to a point where they would just want me to marry someone. soon.
good thing not all my paranoia thoughts do not come true.
i returned to norway. the topic has hardly come up since that summer.
i hate to admit it, but i have always been a romantic at heart, and therefore love marriage has always been the ideal. this romantics notion is a bit old fashioned thought, and maybe that is why it belongs to dreams.
these days i look at it much more practically. (much to my parents delight, i am sure!)
some time back i had a chat with a friend who told me about her cousin and how she had gone through somewhat the same emotions. atleast this reassures me that i have not gone completely mad! maybe arranged marriage is not that bad. that is the realisation i have come to lately.
apparently when a girl reaches a certain ages, she is willing to marry a guy cause he is decent. the fact that she may not have any feelings towards him does not matter. this is also how parents want you to look at it. this is what my parents hinted summer of 2003.
who knows, maybe by this summer i have "learnt" this and soon i will be moving to london. even though it is not home..
fake time: 1:58 am sunday, march 20, 2005
mum brought it up very casually indeed. would you like living in england? she knows the answer to this. i prefer home. home is norway.
growing up, my sister and I always envied indians in england. the food, the music, the clothes, the culture, the family (?) and last, but not least, peer indian friends.
being told we would one day be married off to someone in london was a good thing. we were too young. we did not understand what this meant.
love marriage has never really been an option, well not untill recently.
my parents have been having bigger marital problems than usual lately. i think this is what lead them to giving me the option.
summer of 2003 the story was completely different. one of our "missions" in england was to find my match, or atleast let everyone know we were looking.
it did not go too well. i made sure of that.
admittedly, i did not meet any of the two (three?) guys out of total free will. before i knew it, i had meet them. everyone kept telling me there was no pressure. that did not help me. the fact that these guys wanted to marry me after a 30 minute conversation did not help either. i felt pressured.
luckily for me there really was no pressure.
looking back on this now, i remember going into it with a fear. i feared having meet a couple of guys, and being "rejected" or "rejecting" them, my parents would come to a point where they would just want me to marry someone. soon.
good thing not all my paranoia thoughts do not come true.
i returned to norway. the topic has hardly come up since that summer.
i hate to admit it, but i have always been a romantic at heart, and therefore love marriage has always been the ideal. this romantics notion is a bit old fashioned thought, and maybe that is why it belongs to dreams.
these days i look at it much more practically. (much to my parents delight, i am sure!)
some time back i had a chat with a friend who told me about her cousin and how she had gone through somewhat the same emotions. atleast this reassures me that i have not gone completely mad! maybe arranged marriage is not that bad. that is the realisation i have come to lately.
apparently when a girl reaches a certain ages, she is willing to marry a guy cause he is decent. the fact that she may not have any feelings towards him does not matter. this is also how parents want you to look at it. this is what my parents hinted summer of 2003.
who knows, maybe by this summer i have "learnt" this and soon i will be moving to london. even though it is not home..
fake time: 1:58 am sunday, march 20, 2005
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
cd's from the library, a gift from god
i got hold of three cd's today. two that i'd already 'ordered', 'tank' by asian dub foundation and 'join me in the park' by nathalie nordnes. the last one was just something i picked up cause of the album name. i think it's a compilation of artists. i've never heard of any of them. 'jazzland remixed' its called. hopefully it'll be a pleasant surprise.
wierd thing though, the first cd i put in was nathalie. there's something about this album. i really like it. i've only heard some of it so far, but its so pleasing to the ear. one of the song's (open your eyes) has a edith piaf feel to it. probably not literally because i can't remember ever listening to any of her stuff. yet it does take me back. to the time before the war. do let me know any of you, if you've heard it.
the album seems so chilled, yet popy in parts. a nice mix i think. highly recommendable by my standards!
and i can't believe i still don't feel the urge to listen to adf. what's happening to me? or is it them? i choose to blame them. and yes, this does mean that i've yet to buy the cd! and i'm not even ashamed to admit it!
fake fake time: 10:20 pm wednesday, march 16, 2005
wierd thing though, the first cd i put in was nathalie. there's something about this album. i really like it. i've only heard some of it so far, but its so pleasing to the ear. one of the song's (open your eyes) has a edith piaf feel to it. probably not literally because i can't remember ever listening to any of her stuff. yet it does take me back. to the time before the war. do let me know any of you, if you've heard it.
the album seems so chilled, yet popy in parts. a nice mix i think. highly recommendable by my standards!
and i can't believe i still don't feel the urge to listen to adf. what's happening to me? or is it them? i choose to blame them. and yes, this does mean that i've yet to buy the cd! and i'm not even ashamed to admit it!
fake fake time: 10:20 pm wednesday, march 16, 2005
Thursday, March 10, 2005
negotiation course
i went on a negotiation course today, held at my university. it was rather good. most of the covered topics are found in 'getting to yes: negotiating agreement without giving in', but the course gave a rarely found view as the examples were based on norwegian companies. it was interesting to learn how many businessmen go into negotiations without any preparations at all. taking the potential loss into consideration, i find this very odd. these days with the profit margins being tight and potential new customers being few, negotiation should really be given the attention it is due. but then again, this might be just a norwegian phenomenon. what do i know?
fake time: 8:44 pm wednesday, march 09, 2005
fake time: 8:44 pm wednesday, march 09, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
vegetarian
i can't believe it. a guy at work is vegetarian. (i know i strongly dislike working there, but the people are really nice!)
apparently he's always been. his parents turned vegetarian after visiting india. how cool is that?
suddenly this guy seems much more interesting. just because of his diet.
another good by-product of work is finally finding out where the organic vegetarian resturant is. (does this mean i'll finally have my first soya burger? it sure does!) there are no other resturants/fast food places in the city so i'm totally excited about it. apparently they've got a broad variety, and it's supposed to be really good. i can't wait to try it out!
fake time: 6:42 pm thursday, march 03, 2005
apparently he's always been. his parents turned vegetarian after visiting india. how cool is that?
suddenly this guy seems much more interesting. just because of his diet.
another good by-product of work is finally finding out where the organic vegetarian resturant is. (does this mean i'll finally have my first soya burger? it sure does!) there are no other resturants/fast food places in the city so i'm totally excited about it. apparently they've got a broad variety, and it's supposed to be really good. i can't wait to try it out!
fake time: 6:42 pm thursday, march 03, 2005
answering machine
i don't exactly love my job, that's no secret. one good thing about it though, are the answering machine messages that i stubble upon. the best ones, according to me, are those made by childen. nobody likes an answering machine, but cute voices make them more bearable.
all i know is that i want one of those. my answering machine message is pre-historic (ie from spring 2001 or so!).
all i have to do now is have a kid...
fake time: 7:01 pm wednesday, march 02, 2005
all i know is that i want one of those. my answering machine message is pre-historic (ie from spring 2001 or so!).
all i have to do now is have a kid...
fake time: 7:01 pm wednesday, march 02, 2005
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
firm handshakes
guys are supposed to have firm handshakes. the firmness signals across a man of action. don't ask me why, but in my head it always has. it's my theory.
we finally had our english negotiation today. it didn't start off with introductions and handshakes as we already knew one another. on my side i had another girl. our opponent was alone. his colleague for the negotiation was at the hospital being operated on for a fracture or broken bone or something. apparently he'd been kidding around with a mate, fighting.
the negotiation went quite well. overall i think we got most of our points through. there was one point though, our opponent wasn't willing to budge on. suddenly he didn't seem like the sweet guy that had asked me for my number the week before. who had thanked me upon recieving it. the guy who had left me feeling guilty for not thanking him for getting his number. suddenly he was this lean mean negotiating machine.
in the end we had to give up because our other points were more important to us.
the negotiation ended by us shaking hands. that's when i realised i had underestimated him. the firmness of the shake left me feeling that he had almost broken my hand.
theory strengthened.
fake time: 8:21 pm tuesday, march 01, 2005
we finally had our english negotiation today. it didn't start off with introductions and handshakes as we already knew one another. on my side i had another girl. our opponent was alone. his colleague for the negotiation was at the hospital being operated on for a fracture or broken bone or something. apparently he'd been kidding around with a mate, fighting.
the negotiation went quite well. overall i think we got most of our points through. there was one point though, our opponent wasn't willing to budge on. suddenly he didn't seem like the sweet guy that had asked me for my number the week before. who had thanked me upon recieving it. the guy who had left me feeling guilty for not thanking him for getting his number. suddenly he was this lean mean negotiating machine.
in the end we had to give up because our other points were more important to us.
the negotiation ended by us shaking hands. that's when i realised i had underestimated him. the firmness of the shake left me feeling that he had almost broken my hand.
theory strengthened.
fake time: 8:21 pm tuesday, march 01, 2005
