A trip to the FRRO - day 2

Thursday I was told that I had to register in Noida. In the morning I were so lucky that my roommate that are working in Noida offered to drop me at the sector 15 metro station. Where I meet with 2 of my Indian friends, who know Noida much better than me, and had agreed to helping me find the ploice station where the Noida FRRO are in. From the metro station it took less than 10 min before we arrived at the police station. So we went in and found the right office, there were already foreigners waiting in the office. After a few miunts there came a man who was the guy that was recieving the applications. There were 2 others in line before me, the first lady needed some more papers from what I understood, and the second one were registrering late, which means  later than 14 days after arrival, so he was asked why he was registrering late, and was send away.
Then it was my turn, the man looked at all my papers, asked a few questions to my friend in hindi, then he asked me a few things. My friend was told by the man that I do not have to register until I come close to staying for 180 days. And if I leave the countrie I will have a new 180 days where I do not have to register when I come back to India. I left the office a bit confused, and called my boss to tell him what had happend. He immidatly said, oh then are here on the same conditions as me, the man in the office gave you the right message. So apparently I do not have to register for now anyway, but I do need to find out wat I should do if I end up staying more than 180 days without leaving the countrie. So maybe at some point there will be another series of FRRO posts. But I had read what the FRRO officer in Noida told me on one of the web pages, but I had also read something els, so I went to the FRRO office just in case. I will try and find out about this by talking to the AIESEC guys at IIT Delhi, I hope they know.

A trip to the FRRO - day 1

During the last few years I have heard a lot of stories from people that had been in contact with the FRRO, including my own experience in Calcutta. I needed to register with the FRRO within 14 days of arrival when I plan to stay more than 180 days, and since I do not know when I will go home on holiday I thought it would be better to just register within the 14 days to be on the safe side.
To do this on a business visa it requires a lot of diffferent documents and most of them in 3 copies, I already knew this before leaving Copenhagen, so I tried to take copies of all the documents I had before I left, so that I might not have to go out and get all of my things copied once I arrived.
Then last week, I spend a lot of time trying to get the last documents sorted out, so that I could be ready and go to the FRRO office. Monday and Tuesday this week I had my first real days at work. on my internship and Tuesday evening before leaving the office I got the last things printed and copies or at least I thought it was the last things, but Wedensday would make me know much better. After work and dinner Tuesday I spend some time sorting out some of the documents I had made copies of, so they all would be in the right order and easy to give to the personal at the FRRO.

This morning (Wedensday) my plan was to get upearly because I wanted to fill out the registration form in at least 1 copy before I left home. Just because I would feel much more comftable knowing what to write in the different boxes. I ended up not leaving the house very early in the end, by 9 I were on my way out the door, and I went to the metro station to find an auto rickshaw that could take me there. The first guy asked for what I thought was too much Rs. 70 so I tried to find another one, which I soon regretted because the next 3 auto's that I aksed did not know where the FRRO is, or the Hyatt Regency ( the Hyatt is used as a landmark, to find the right part of Delhi) Then the 5 guy I stopped knew were the Hyatt were but asked for Rs 80 I ended up saying yes, because I really neded to get to the office and by the time I had found the 5 guy it had taken me 30 min. just to get an auto. So I gave in an paid the higher price, if I had been able to talk any of them into using the meter, most likely it would not have cost me more then Rs. 60.

The actual drive to the Hyatt was not too long, around 15 min or so. But once I got to the Hyatt I still had to find the FRRO, which proved to be easier said than done, but after some time walking back and forward around the Indian passport office and even calling my colleague to try and see if he could help, I asked a security guy, that sked some other guy, who told me I needed to walk to the end of the street and turn left, so that was what I did, after walking for 5 min or so I started to think it might be the wrong way, so I asked an auto guy who said just go straight, I did that and all off a sudden there were a big blue sign that said FRRO. Big relief finally I had found the office, complex then I just needed to find the right entrance to the FRRO, this went rather smooth. At the entrance there were a desk where a guy took my passport and noted my name in a book and a lady gave me a number. I got number 38, and it was only around 10.30 so I could imagine that it would be a long day waiting.

Because I still needed to get the registration form, and I did not see any around, I decided to stand in line for the reception inside the FRRO office and ask the guy for the form, After 10 min or so it was my turn, he asked what visa I had and started checking my papers asking  for different things. At some point he asked for a contact letter, a letter with the company adress stating that I would be working there. I did not have this because most of my documents have been made at the headquarters of the company in Hyderabad. So this I needed to get and he also looked at my adress proof, and realized that since it is a Noida adress I have to register at the Noida FRRO, not the Delhi office that I were in on Wedensday. So I left the office, called my clooeague to try and have the contact letter made, I also talked to my boss, and they promised that they would made the contact letter. Therefore I went  to Barista cafe and relaxed, and had an early lunch. After words I went to an internet cafe and got the document that my boss had send my printed in 3 copies.

The plan for thursday is to go to the FRRO in Noida and try to get registrered there with all of my papers. So the tail of the visit to the FRRO will continue. Until the FRRO officer told me I never knew there was a office in Noida too, but it does make sense since Delhi and Noida belong to 2 different stats.

Dinner by the road

Last night I went with some friends to this entrepreneuer event in Delhi, it finished around 22 so before we got out of there and were on our way it was a bit late to go to any restaurant for dinner. So we ended up stopping at this roadside restaurant where we had dinner.

You should not ask me the names of what we had, I do not remmeber, but I know we had some sort of Roti (an indian bread) and 2 different dishes with Mutton (goat meat) and 1 dish with chicken. Here are a few pictures of the food.

  The food was a bit spicy but also good :-)

Arrived well in New Delhi

I arrived well in New Delhi on Friday morning. I left Copenhagen Thursday at 12, after chechking in and before going through security I had a cup of cofee with my dad and a few friends to say goodbye. From Copenhagen I flew to Doha and had a layover before I flew to New Delhi. The flight got just around 1 hour late out of Doha, but since my scheduled arrival was at 03.15 local time, it did not mean that much that we got delayed, also because my final destination was New Delhi.
Entering the new part of Delhi International airport was great, it is big, there are lot of stores, there are more deske at the immigration. All in all it is just a good new part of the airport, I really really like it. :-)
The temperature here in Delhi is very high compared to the aprox. 16 degrees there were in Copenhagen when I left. Tuesday it was 44 degrees here and because of that this has become one of my new best friends.

An ac, almost where ever you go here they have AC, and that is good, because I am not use to the heat at all yet. I really hope I will get a bit ajusted to it with time.
Eventhough it is not monsoon season here yet, there are still mosquitoes, and if there are one in the whole neighborhood it will find me, so this is a picture of some of my other new friends.

Odomos is a mosquitoes repellant, all out and the other thing is something you can put in the plug and then it works like a mosquitoes candle does.
In my packing madness I decided in the last minute to bring my flash light, as just in case. So far I have beenquite pleased with the fact that I did bring it, it has already been used, since power cuts more or less is a daily thing here. One reason being because it is so hot and everyone puts on their AC, and sometimes that is more than the electrical network can handle.
Where I am staying right now the backup battery is broken, which means that all light, AC and fans stop working during the power cuts. If the battery was working as it should the light and fan would be able to work for atleast a few hours during the power ctus. And since the power cuts most of the time do not last so long,  the battery is very useful. This is a picture of the batery in the house where I am staying right now.

Difficulties in finding the first job

As I have mentioned before I graduated in May of 2010. After this and even before I were looking for a job, because I knew it would not be easy. But after months of job searching, I started in a course that should help me to get a job. This is after Danish law called (aktivering). Before this course I had the oppertunity to take a 6 weeks course more or less of my own choice, I decided to take a SAP course, since this is a program that is widely used within my field of work, so I hoped this could help improve my resume.
While I have been sending applications to relevant jobs, I have also joined a few different forums, and posted on the India sites that I was looking for a job, to try something different, and because I could see myself trying out to live and work in India.
At some point midt in November it paied out, a company that needed a danish teacher/translater contacted me, and it looked very good, I even got the first version of the contract. But then at some point around christmas it ran out in the sand, and I have not heard from them for months. So even a guy replied to one of my posts and asked for my resume, I did of course send it to him.
Now that has resulted in a internship with the youth organization AIESEC in New Delhi, India. I am so excited to start, I will join in the middel of May, so I have started the preperations for leaving the small cold countrie in Scandinavia. There is a chance that this could turn out to be an adventure of a life time, so why not, when I can not find a job in Denmark, maybe this is the only chance I will ever get to do something like this.

The adventure of refinding my creative side

As many others I did creative things like sewing as a child. But some months back I decided that I wanted to start a hobby project for the first time in over 10 years. The reason, one of my very good firends were having her first baby, and I wanted to make something special as a gift for her and the baby.
Together with another friend of mine I decided that a patchwork blanket would be a good thing, and since it was going to be for the baby, it would just be a small one. So after a few months of sewing, cutting, getting help from my friends grandmom I finished the blanket just more than 2 weeks after the baby were born.
I started up with this - some cardboard and fabric

Some pictures during the sewing process, where I first sewed the fabric to the cardbord and then sewed it all together, to the blanket.

And ended up with this result

Right now I think there is a chance that I will get hooked to making things with patchwork and I am already thinking about the next project I can do. For now I am considering to make a bag, if I can find a template that I like. 

India July 2010

In July 2010 it was time for a holiday, after I finished and defended my master thesis and could call myself Master in Supply Chain Management.
I really needed a holiday, and decided that India were the right place to go since, I were sure the weather would be good. In Denmark that is not a given eventhough it is July. This time the trip would go to Armritsar, Dharamasala and sightseeing in Delhi.
I had wanted to see the Golden Temple for some time, and finally I had time. It was a beautiful as I had imagined, and the ambience at the temple grounds were fantastic. I am that kind of a person that just like to be in temples, churches and mosks. Even though I have been brought up in a christian socierty, In my family we have never gone to church every sunday or just once in a while. Unless there are special occasions like weddings, babtishmes, Christmas or something like that. But the special feeling there are in a temple, church or mosk facinates me. The fact that it is a holy place to someone els gives the place a special meaning. I like to hear, read talk aout other religions, to broaden my view. Because I feel this way I always try to see a lot of different religious places when I am travelling. The Golden temple was no different, and then up top of the it is just so pretty. I would like to go again, since I were only there during the day. It could be great to go there sometime around sunrise and sunset. Below you can find a few pictures from the Golden Temple.

The day after we went to the Indian/Pakistan border, where there every night is a show. When we got there, there were different entrences for men, women and foreginers. To go into the foreigner section the security want to see your passport, so it is a good idea to take this when going there. And also carry as few things with you as possible, because it is mandatory to leave your bag outside. I were glad that I wore pants where I could put what I had of value in my bag into my pockets. Sometimes it pays off to travel light when going to see things in India, because you can be asked to not bring your bag/purse inside. Here are a few pictures from the show.

There were so many people that it were hard to get pictures without other people bloking the view. But these 3 pictures are some of the best ones I have from that day. I like the second one it really gives an idea about how packed the "stadium" were. Before getting to the actual "stadium" there were several security checks, where men and woman had to be in different lines. In situations like this I would sometimes wish that I were able to speak and understand some hindi. But it is never a real problem, since you can just do what the other women are doing and then it always works out. :-)
After a few great days in Armritsar the trip headed with a taxi to Dharamasala, home to the Tibetan exile government and the Dalai Lama. We arrived the day before his birthday and were able to go into the temple and look at all of the decorations and preparations that had been made for the celebrations the following day. It was all very beautiful.

We stayed in Dharamasala for a few days, enjoyed the weather and the sights. I am a very big fan of the Indian hill stations, and have been lucky enough to visit a few of them. Here are a few pictures from the area.

We also went to see a waterfall in the area, this is a few pictures from the walk there and the waterfall.

After the days in the north we headed back to New Delhi. Here I got to see of few of the ights that I did not see during my first real sightseeing trip in Delhi in August 2008. I also got to see the Lotus Temple inside this time, along with the Humayun's Tomb and the Indian Parliament.

To finish off this post I want to share some of the great mountain view pictures I took during the trip to the north.

This was the end of my holliday and I went back home.

London 20-23 of May 2010

Just after I defended my master thesis in May of 2010, I decided that I needed a small holiday. One of my friends from IIM C now live and work in London, and since I have only been there 1 time, even though it is very close this were a perfect oppertunity to go for a few days. I did not to that many things but I did a little sightseeing, and just spend some time with my friend. For me there is something about being able to relax and forget about all of the worries when I leave my home. I did not take a lot of pictures in those few days but here are a few from Hyde Park.

I had a great few days, the weather was nice, I did a bit of shopping and meet up with my friend.when he was done with work. I just really needed to get out and experience something after working for quite some months with my master thesis, finally handing it in and defending it. This was my gift to myself for finishing my master education at CBS.

Snow in Copenhagen

During the last few vinters we have had quite a bit of snow in Copenhagen, so here are a few of the pictures I have taken.
I am one of those people that like that the seasons change here in Denmark, but after some time I get bored with snow, and cold weather and start wishing for spring and summer. But here summer do not last for so long, and it can be a bit cold too. A good summer day here is around 25 degrees, sunny with out a lot of wind. A cold winter day would be a lot of snow and between -5 and -10 degrees, but here the chill factor playes a bit part of the weather, since we almost always have a wind and often a strong one. Here are the promised winter photos.

England 8-12 Swptember 2009

I decided to take a little break from writing my master thesis and go and visit a friend from IIM C in England. I had only been to London 1 in my life and never any other places in England, so the fact that one of my friends were living in the north of England, just made it easy to decide to go for a few days.
He has his won car so we had the oppertunity to drive a bit around and see different things, a few of the things we saw was, Lake District, Blackpool, Manchester.
I really liked the nature in Lake District, and at some point it could be fun to go back and do a bit of hicking in that area. Here are a few of the pictures I took there.

We also went to Blackpool, for me it is a bit of a strange city with the carnevals and all, but it was a fun experience to see all of it. Also since it was my very first visit I did not know what to expect. Here are the pictures I took.

All in all I had a great few days, where I were able to relax and get some energy restored before I went home and worked more on my master thesis. For me this was the time to do it since, I knew I would not have the oppertunity to take an impulsive trip when I first got a job.