Category: Asia

I haven’t had much formal experience in interviewing people and no experience on the other side of the table in more than ten years, but today I found myself giving advice to job applicants. Karma, my office mate has advertised two positions in his rapidly growing business and I’ve been the only one around when… Continue reading Interview Consultant

I’ve spent the last few days comatose and the nights watching an industry webcast from the US. There hasn’t been much time for culture, or for action at all, but I have started reading the introductory book on Bhuddism. The first few chapters were a disappointment. They were about the life of Bhudda, but rather… Continue reading Buddha’s First Teaching

Marie just called me. I was lying in bed resting in preparation for an all night webcast seminar, so I was ready for the bad news. Anna, her predecessor, is coming back to Bhutan in a high paying consultant role. It’s not that we don’t like Anna. We all got on very well while she… Continue reading Marie’s Nightmare

Marie’s back. I should’ve mentioned that before, but I was on a roll of cultural diatribes. She got back on Saturday night and we’ve had a bit of time to catch up. It was her first time managing a team and she loved it. Despite the ‘Spider Solataire’ culture of Bhutan, she managed to keep… Continue reading Ethics Gone East

The sound of a siren dug its way into my work trance today. Actually, it didn’t take much. A siren is such a rare sound here. I think this was the first ever in my entire time in Bhutan. I ran to the window, trying to work out whether it was a police car /… Continue reading Siren

I’ve had enough. I don’t want to code any more. I’ve gotten to the point where I know that I can do almost anything, but I just can’t be bothered. I want to work on my books. I want to spend my evenings reading. I want to get out and be in Bhutan more. I’ve… Continue reading End of Coding

After a 5am ride up to Dochu La this morning, I was energised for a day of religion. OK. There’s very little connection there, but I did feel like heading into a bookstore for a look at some books on Bhuddism. I chose a couple of titles to help me overcome guilt at having lived… Continue reading Philosophy or Superstition

Marie’s due back tomorrow so I’ve been finishing all the domestic tasks that needed doing. She’s not going to walk in the door and say, ‘It looks like a bachelor’s house’ this time. – shelves all put up – balcony cleaned – washing done – living room clean and tidy – study clean and tidy… Continue reading Domesticated

Last year it generally rained at night, leaving beautiful sunny days. This year it’s been raining many days, but never too hard. Not much harder than what we called ‘Brusseling’ – the rain that hangs in the air like a mist. But a couple of times this year, I’ve felt the power of a monsoon… Continue reading Himalayan Monsoon

I was going to write about the monsoon deluge we had yesterday and the rubble and rubbish strewn around town as a result, but I changed my mind during dinner tonight. We were having the usual expat gripe / wow session about life in Bhutan and Nathan and Andrea kept telling me to shush when… Continue reading The other side