Job-hunting in Sydney and Arrival in India

I arrived in Sydney on the Saturday and soon settled into Big Backpackers. The following number of days were strange. Finding a job was not an easy task, and the jobs available seemed far from ideal. From talking to others, many were commission based. It also became apparent that it would take a little while to start a job, by which time I would have wasted away a good proportion of time sitting idle in Sydney.

On Wednesday, however, things moved forward. I attended an interview for a job; albeit a job I knew almost nothing about. The interview went smoothly, and I was informed that training would start on Monday. However, I was still told little about the job, when it would start, or if I would be paid for the training period, and I had to ask questions to find out about the pay and the details of the commission side of things.

I spent the next couple of days wondering if it was all worth it, and finally, on Friday, I made up my mind; it wasn't. And so on Friday evening I made a phone call, and by Saturday afternoon I was in mid-air and heading north. At two in the morning local time I landed in Delhi, India, and the final section of my journey began.

Everything seemed to happen so quickly. In a flash I had replaced the Sydney Opera House for a dark, humid and daunting Delhi. I felt a little lost with no India guidebook, although I had done a small amount of research on the internet back in Sydney. Part of my research warned me about the problems of taxi driver scams for newcomers to Delhi, something I was particularly wary of in the early hours of the morning. As I expressed my desired destination to my taxi driver, I was over precautious. Taking on board every letter of my online advice, I stated firmly where I was going and even took down the number plate of the taxi. However, these overly precautionary measures only seemed to frustrate my taxi driver and his English speaking counterpart, but nevertheless I arrived at the backpacker location I desired with no problems. It was a dark and narrow alley with a few lights paving the way to the hotels.

Going to sleep that night seemed troublesome for some reason, despite it now being four in the morning. Maybe it was the heat and the jet-lag, or maybe just culture shock was hitting in. Naively I thought that culture-shock would be a thing of the past after nearly eight months on the road, but that night I felt unsure, and I wasn't even quite sure why.

In the morning, however, things changed. I walked out of my hotel at about midday to embrace what the dark empty narrow street would throw at me in daytime. What it threw I didn't expect; a bustling array of shops, vehicles, Indians and tourists rummaging through the streets. It's incredible what a difference eight hours and a bit of daylight can make. Although this was the moment where culture shock could have hit, I now felt much more comfortable. This is what I was travelling for; culture. While Australia and New Zealand had been fun, you can't beat the fascinating sights, sounds and smells that Asia brings around every corner. In Australia and New Zealand you have to spend lots of time and money transporting yourself to a place of interest. In Asia, all you need to do is open your eyes. India is certainly no exception. It feels good to be back travelling somewhere like this again - and if anything I think this is reflected in the increase of enthusiasm and passion in which I write this blog.

I haggled myself a copy of The Rough Guide To India (plus a copy of The Hobbit) yesterday, and now things are beginning to clear up. I think I shall spend today exploring the area known as New Delhi.