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India....
Okay, this is a long shot. But DH told me this weekend that one of the reason's his big boss was brought in is he is an expert on off shore development. From now until the end of the year, DH along with three of his colleagues will be getting a crash course as they decide if they should move some jobs there as a cost cutting measure.
So we talked about moving to India, Mumbai to be exact. I actually started the conservation stating asking if there was an opportunity. Well, there is potential for this to happen... early 2013 for 18 months, 24 months max. I told DH I would love to do that and after that we would move to the US in 2015.
I know it is a long way off, and may not even happen, but what an opportunity. Fingers crossed, please and vibes. I would love for this to work out.
Any INs in India??
Re: India....
Cool! Very good luck!
I'm not in India (never been, but would love to go). A friend from college is an FSO in Mumbai at the moment-- I'm hoping things work out (the dollar doesn't completely die) and I can get out before she rotates.
Anyway, again, best of luck for you guys... what a great opportunity!
Wedding stuff.
I think there's at least one IN in India because my BFF lives there and she asked me where he lives because she's in Bangalore. Can't remember her name though.
And FWIW, BFF isn't super keen on it.
We've been to HK and DH lived in China for nine months in 2004..... so we have an idea. I wouldn't want to live there for years, but I could do 18 to 24 months....
We definitely have INs in India. We have someone in Chennai, and I think we have someone elsewhere, but I suck at remembering screennames. As far as I know, we do not have any INs in Bombay specifically.
Ex-H's family is all in Bombay, so I've been a few times and spent six weeks there after my ear surgery. And yes, a lot of locals including my ex-ILs still call it Bombay. Some people say Mumbai, but almost everyone still calls the train station "VT" (as in Victoria Terminus) instead of Chathrapti Shivaji Terminus.
I have met ex-pats in Bombay when I was there on my own. They had a driver and a car with air conditioning, which I loved. Buses are dirt cheap but very hard to understand if you can't read Hindi script. Taxis are cheap, but they're dingy and almost never air conditioned, so you have to keep the windows down (and it is a smelly place a lot of the time). And they often try to cheat foreigners, so you have to have your guard up most of the time. They don't do the "drive around in circles" thing, but you have to make sure they use the (antique) meters and ask for the fare card that converts the meter price into the modern price.
I think living there on an expat salary could be a lot of fun, but there are definitely health concerns. I almost always end up with a respiratory infection after a few days in Bombay. I'm not sure how much of my experience comes from the fact that in China I lived as an ex-pat and in India I lived as a local, but I would take the health warnings much more seriously in Bombay than I ever did in Beijing. I have never been to India and not seen the inside of a pharmacy or doctor's office, and only one of my trips was for medical tourism.
The city has fantastic shopping and a vibrant cosmopolitan atmosphere. Hang around Leopold's in Colaba for a few mornings, and you'll have the chance to be an extra in a Bollywood film or TV show (chances are you could be scouted by my ex-cousin-IL as it were; I was once without realizing we were sort-of related). The growing middle class is clearly evident in Bombay, as are the ultra-rich and the ultra-poor. There are chic malls going up and high-rise luxury apartments for the Bollywood stars and business gurus, and there are still massive slums housing the lowest end of the economic spectrum.
Like China, it's one of those places that's still a bit "colonial." It's a crazy place to live as a local, but if you have the benefits of an ex-pat contract, it's inexpensive luxury. In exchange for the health risks and huge standard-of-living differences.
It's a long way off to be talking about this, but we would be on an expat contract. We would be in company, most likely gated housing with A/C and a driver. Full medical coverage for our whole family.
Basically, out of the four of them, DH is really the best placed to go and the only one who would. The next six months or so will tell us a lot. They are investigating the process for their division of the company -- the company, different division, does have an office there.
It will be interesting to see what develops. Thanks for all the info Gili!
I'm in India... but in the south. We live in 2 cities (Bangalore & Chennai). We travel to Bombay and Delhi a bit (actually, going to Bombay Sept 4 for a few days).
It's definitely a place you'd want to visit first before committing to a long-ish assignment. India isn't for everyone - yes, it's a fabulous place to visit and there are TONS of things to see and experience. But, living here on a daily basis is often times a challenge.
With that being said, I've been here for 5 years now and have settled into a routine that I am pretty comfortable with. I have been driving on my own now for over a year and our son was born here, too. My DH was born in Bangalore and has a large family business that he runs in both Bangalore & Chennai, so we're fortunate to have family support and live at a comfortable level (I'm not milking my own cows), which makes my time here quite easy and enjoyable.
I hope your DH gets this opportunity!
a girl from Hawaii, living the expat experience in India.
Brit's Luna is also in India, Chennai I think. It's weird you posted this...DH and I were talking about the exact same thing last night (expat assignment for a few years in India after this one completes). I think it'd be a great experience, but it'll be awhile before we hear anything.
Good luck, and fingers crossed for you!