As I meander through daily rituals different then those I am accustom, I sometimes feel distressed and yet other times feel excited. Many times throughout the day I notice subtle differences in non-verbal communication, and I notice that I immediately judge whether I am comfortable with it or not. It?s like a reaction to a ball thrown at you. Some times you decide to catch it, and others you decide it best to dodge it. As I have now been in India for over 6 weeks, I continue to be surprised by small events throughout the day, but for the most part feel fairly comfortable here. With the exception of wishing friends and family were closer or more easily reached, I feel as if I am a part of this environment. The process of acclimating ones self to a new environment can vary greatly from person to person as I have seen with another expat I hang out with. He has been here much longer than I and is in a new stage of his experience, one of aggression and distaste for those things he is not accustom to. Interestingly, this process has been studied quite a bit and there is some interesting information out there talking about the ?culture shock? curve.

General definition:
http://www1.appstate.edu/dept/freshmanseminar/Faculty/Fac_Manual/Transitions/U_Curve.htm

Link that even shows the extended culture shock curve (incl. when going back to your home country)
http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/images/shock.pdf

The rules are out and no one is fighting to get them back. The baby bells will no longer be required to lease out their local lines to competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) at a predetermined ?wholesale? rate. The question now remains whether or not customers will be impacted. However, I don?t think we?ll see a dramatic change. CLECs never really took off. In every major city in the US you still only see one major phone company. The only competition that really developed was around the business customers, and the gov?t wasn?t concerned their. They were trying to decrease costs of ?plain old telephone service?. Survey California and find out how many people have local POTs that is not SBC, and I bet it?s less than 5%. Besides the wave of the future is wireless. It will either be cellular or WiFi or a combination of the two. I think there are enough ways to get communication services these days that it will not negatively impact the typical John Doe, which was all the government was trying to protect earlier anyway. Besides, we?ll all be making free calls to Tibet on our Skype phone anyway.

I?m still in India and likely will be for some time. It?s been a wonderful experience so far. I have met some very friendly people. The culture is warm and inviting and interesting to learn. It?s also very exciting to be intimately involved with one of the largest events of our time. Our grandparents and parents went through the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and now we too are seeing the next wave of work being distributed to new places on Earth. It?s fascinating to me. Many years ago the continents began to divide separating its inhabitants into diverse areas of the Earth with various climatic conditions that created very different cultures. Now, through technology we are coming back together. The continents feel like they are being bridged, and people are interacting with each other. Many of us grew up wanting to ?change the world.? We grow up seeing how wonderful the way the world could be but were very ignorant of the realities. We were optimists. Then as we grow up and experienced more of the trials and tribulations all of us face, we grew more pessimistic and it became less desirable to take on the daunting task of influencing change. Some of us continue on that journey, but most of us just find a way to live comfortably and enjoy our lives. This opportunity feels like one where I am able to ?change the world.? I have participated in recruiting events where I am the final interviewer having a large impact on one persons life. I have helped present knowledge on effective software development practices improving the skills of my global team members. And, others have trained me. They have taught me the joys of music in each moment, the passion of love for one another whether they are family, friend or neighbor. I have learned to respect the cows that wander somewhat aimlessly through the streets and even understand the struggles of the farmers with little water. Politicians try to affect change on our communities, our societies and our world, yet the true difference is made when each one of us opens our hearts and minds to one another and spends time to give aid and care for each other. I feel like each day I am here I am able to make a difference. While many back home are concerned about their jobs, I know that most of them find their way back to comfort easily, whereas folks here are struggling to survive and support their families. I can see the benefits to humanity first hand. I can see that world peace doesn?t come from Senators negotiating with heads of states, but with conversations between a programmer and a tester from different countries, on different continents and in different time zones. These conversations build the trust that is essential to all of us feeling safe amongst each other and allowing peace everywhere.