Arrival in Anand

Our flight (Emirates Airlines) arrived in time in Ahmedabad. Both flight legs (stopover in Dubai) had been without any problems. The first flight (7h long) had a very nice flight entertainment system where one could choose between probably several hundreds of movies, played individually from start. Food was excellent. Also the luggage had arrived well. The Indian immigration control office made some jokes when he checked my passport: “ How is Boris Becker? Steffi Graf?” They obviously do not see many Germans arriving here in this region.

Ahmadabad Airport is quite small - even Leeds-Bradford looks big in comparison.

We wonder if there actually is someone to pick us up—we had called yesterday and had been told that there would be a driver with a car. And indeed, he is there, with a 4x4 vehicle with two seat benches. We are 6 people, plus the driver—4 squeeze into the back bench, two of us in the front next to the driver.



Leaving the airport, going through some outskirts of Ahmedabad. My first view of India. A mixture of bright colors and poverty. Little tents with blue plastic foil roofing, providing shelter for people along the street. Some slum-like huts, and in between a few temples. Colorfully dressed women walk around.



Our driver honks a lot, but this seems here normal, just as a warning sound to others. It takes more than an hour to drive to Anand, where we will stay for the next 2 weeks. In Anand we realise that in the rush of the arrival at the airport we had forgotten to change some cash. Our driver stops at a ATM machine where we get some money – works fine.

Anand appears similar to the parts of Ahmedabad which we had seen on our way, just the town is a bit smaller. We stop at the guest house of the University. A building looking about 30 years old, somewhat run down. But that seemed to be with all the buildings: they appear as if they were built, and then forgotten. No paint job, no fixing of deteriorating stucco.



The sun shines quite high — no wonder, we are around N 22 deg latitude. Warm and humid, but not unpleasant. Everyone gets their individual room. But no internet is there. There is a phone plug, but no eithernet or WiFi. This will be a problem... The rooms are for students, and some of them are very spacious: like little studio apartments, with a lounge area, working desk, and a double bed. Obviously this is for double occupancy. I am luck to get one of those larger rooms - some of the other rooms are only about half the size. The bathroom is a bit weird: Shower is just in the middle, no curtain, next to the toilet. One just stands there and switches the shower on. The water is supposed to flow into the corner with the outlet in the floor, but it remains standing in the middle. The toilet is also unusual: Instead of flushing, there is only one water beam coming “up” (similar to how it is in Japan). No hot water comes out of the shower: instead there is a small run-through water heater in the upper corner, and a fosset on the ground: one has to collect hot water with a bucket, then use it during the shower process. There are two large buckets and two smaller plastic cups in the bathroom - one has to figure out how to use them.

After a brief freshen-up, we meet with the organisers from the university (about 500 m foot walk distance) and have an introduction, plan the two weeks ahead. A few schedule changes. Then we have lunch: very good spicy sauces, with rice and some kind of baked stuff. After that, we walk towards the stores and buy some bottled water. This appears to be a MUST for western visitors, as we are not used to the things that are in the normal tap water here.

In the streets there walk many cows around – and stray dogs.

This will be an interesting experience here!

Getting life organised - bank account

In order to settle in, several things need to be organised: I need a bank account, a mobile phone, and a car. The rental car is too expensive - I intend to buy a cheap used one.

But the very first thing is to open an account so my income can be deposited, and I can buy things without paying this additional 2-3% credit card fee.

But opening a bank account seemt to be uite a procedure here in the UK.
In the US, you can go to a bank, sign a few forms, and you leave with a debit card, a pile of checks, and the knowledge that you can use your account right away.

In the UK, this seems to be different. My first inquiry at a few bank branches resulted in an interview being set up at a later time. At one bank, however, I could immediately set up the interview. It took about one hour until the formalities were entered into the system. A copy of my passport was made, I had to proof my employment, salary, and residence.
For the latter, I had to come in the next day again to bring a printed letter from my employer, stating my residence.
Well, now I just have to wait for one week until I can get my debit card, credit card, and checks.

Next step is to get an insurance number for the National Health Insurance. I got the address and phone number. First I thought that I could easily do this over the phone, or maybe over the internet. But this was a wishful thinking: I will have to go there in person. An interview will be scheduled in a few weeks, and I will have to call next week again to schedule this interview, because the relevant person is out of office for a few days.

I expect a similar situation with driver license and car permit... which I will tackle some time soon.

The first day in the UK - at my new post

The day after my arrival, my first action is to go shopping at the Morrisons Supermarket which just a few minutes away to walk. They do have a nice selection on various food items, so I get the stuff that complements the items provided by Graham and Cath. Typical food seems to be: pies and pasties.

The weather is warm and mild. A few first initial meetings at the faculty.
A tour around a few campus facilities.
Then in the afternoon the start of the staff development festival.
A presentation by Eddie Onbang.


In the evening there is an event on the famous Headingley Cricket Field.
An important game was on - but I have no idea about this game or the rules. But I learn the most important rule: that it usually rains heavily when such a game is on. And it does indeed: it began to rain heavily, and a thunderstorm soaked the ground.
The game was postponed, and instead the dinner was served early.


Later on the BBC news, the reports come in about the horrible events in New Orleans.