Barakhamba Street

So my hotel in Delhi is on Barakhamba Street. Sounds strangely familiar.... ?

I was in the elevator heading up to my room after checking in and two gentleman from the hotel asked me where I was from. I'm always a bit hesitant to say the US, mostly because I've had some bad experiences in the past where people responded with their opinions about US foreign policy. Not that I didn't always agree with them, but for some reason I always felt so guilty, as if somehow I was personally responsible for the way the US government handled foreign policy.

But this time, when I said I was from the US, they both looked at me with bright eyes and said in unison, "Barak Obama!" I thought this was quite entertaining and we went on for a few minutes talking about the future of the United States.

I thought it was so interesting how these two guys from India really cared about who is the President of the United States, but I ashamedly have to admit that I don't even know who is the Prime Minister of India.

Always an adventure

Traveling always proves to be an adventure for me...or at least gives me a story to tell when I get back home. Sometimes it involves funny and entertaining stories and at other times, a bit more harrowing or nerve-rattling stories. Take my latest trip back to India for example (the one that makes up for my last trip which was thwarted by terrorists).

It started out all well and good with my flight leaving Portland just a few minutes late. What I didn't count on was my flight from San Francisco to Munich departing 15 minutes early, being completely booked and worse yet, finding out at the gate that I wasn't actually checked in for that flight (thanks to United's ridiculous codeshare policy that does not allow them to check you in for flights operated by other carriers).

So I had to wait until the flight was completely boarded and lucky for me, two people didn't show up for the flight! So after an 11 1/2 hour flight to Munich and another 7 hour flight to Delhi, I arrived once again to a foggy capitol city of India (pictured).

The adventure continues, of course, after I got into my pre-paid taxi cab to the hotel. After driving no more than 5 miles outside of the airport, the cab driver pulls over to the side of the road (and as those who have been in a car ride in India know, is not the safest place on a road), he proceeds to tell me that we have to wait 5 minutes for someone else to come take over his shift. Ironically, this just happened to be in the middle of my route. Or, maybe it was his way of getting a ride halfway to his destination. But so it goes...in India.

The adventure always continues....

Spring Travel Schedule

I'm putting the final touches on my travel schedule for this spring. It's going to be a busy season with more international travel, but I am looking forward to it.

In February, I'll be returning to India to make up for lost recruiting opportunities due to the terrorist attacks in November. I will also be making a quick trip up to Montana at the end of February immediately upon my return from India.

In March, I will likely go to College Park, Maryland, which is near Washington DC for a non-profit conference. I'm excited to add some new international travel to my recruitment schedule in March, which includes Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. Since I will already be in Europe, I've decided to stay an extra week and travel around. I'm still deciding whether to go to Turkey, Greece or maybe even Dubai.

In April, I have some regional travel here in Oregon and up to Washington for a conference for the Society of Women Engineers. This is always a fun conference full of hard-working women making their way in an industry that has traditionally been primarily male-driven.

To see our full recruitment schedule, including other locations where Willamette MBA will be represented, click here: http://www.willamette.edu/agsm/full-time/admission/meet.htm.