Soon I will settle in

I'm currently in a hotel room in Mumbai and finally have a few minutes to myself. For the past few days I've either been travelling (between Pune and Mumbai, from Helsinki to Mumbai, etc), in meetings, or at dinner with business associates. Constantly working! At any rate, I have lots of comments already to make about India. But first, shall I finish (finnish?) up with Helsinki before getting into my comments on India?

As I said earlier, last saturday I went tot he market in Helsinki. Besides the vendors selling directly from their boat, the other key thing I noticed were the mushrooms - specifically chanterells (sp?). Mushrooms are very popular in Finland, as is mushroom hunting. People head out into the forests and pick mushrooms. Clearly though, there are plenty available at the market if they don't want to make the effort! Although it was raining at the market, everyone was out buying their market items, and ignoring the weather.

Later that day I went with a colleague for lunch at a place called Memphis. I was a little confused by their menu selections, as they all had New York themes (Bronx Burger, Manhattan Fries, etc) and nothing about it seemed very Memphis-like.

On Sunday I went to a friend's place for a bbq. The weather was amazing... blue sky and sunshine! Very chilly though. Her house was in Espoo, Helsinki's close neighbour to the west. It felt like being at a cottage - the houses were spread apart, there was lots of rocks and birch trees and the air smelled fresh. We also caught a movie. It would have been good, if they had done some editing!

Alrighty, on to India.
First thing is first, I completed my third drug free flight of the year (my first two were to Boston and home again). This wasn't the entire trip to India though, just Helsinki to Amsterdam. I popped a pill when I realized the plane carrying us from Amsterdam to Mumbai was a Northwest Airlines plane, and not a reliable KLM plane. I was sad about my decision when they brought around the drinks, but the drugs are fun too!

It was originally planned that I would stay in a hotel for the first little while of my stay, but it looks like I'll get into a serviced apartment tomorrow when I return to Pune. The place is within walking distance of the office and in a nice residental area. We took a tour of the place yesterday to ensure it would be okay. The building itself has 3 restaurants, a bar, a lounge area, a pool on the rooftop, a gym and a bakery. It feels like a hostel, except I'll have my own room with a kitchen, and instead of young people it's all people visiting on business. Okay, not terribly hostel like, but good chances I can meet other long term foreign guests. While we were getting the tour, the salesperson was sure to show me the Battleship boards they have available in the lounge - that was the deal closer.