Category: Countries

As Marie sat working last night, a big drop of water landed on her head. She looked up and found the ceiling wet and forming huge drops just above her desk. There was a similar patch over the bed and another just in front of the door. Our first thought was that the monsoon rain… Continue reading Raining In Bed

A couple of days ago, I was accosted by a young man on the street. It took a moment to recognise him, but his grunted gesture at my gho followed by a big smile and thumbs up as he moved past identified him as a man I met on my return from India. I was… Continue reading Happiness

Yesterday was a great day for cultural experiences. One of the topics that came up when talking to my friend at DIT was call centres. Bhutan sees the money made in India from outsourcing call centres for developed countries and wants to join the game. Naturally DIT is involved and the big one they’re working… Continue reading Doma-free Call Centres

I know I just posted a few minutes ago, but this is one of those days when interesting things happen repeatedly. On my way home, I decided to stop in at DIT to see my old friend the Associate Director. I’d helped him last year on the IT Showcase for the National Assembly and he… Continue reading Technology in time

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