similarities

The state of affairs at work strangely resemble the state of affairs in my country.
- The scale of operations too big
- Too much politics
- Power being misused
- Some great work being done at the grassroots - struggling to make them mainstream
- High level changes of government/ officials does seems to have no or little impact on the lower level of people
- Strange mixed emotions of hope and hopelessness
- There are no clear/straight solutions or answers to things. Everything has a strong connection to everything else hence very very complex
- Tight rope walking between modernisation and holding back of culture
- Bureaucratic
- Resistance to change
- Fighting issues that are a legacy
- Has a HUGE potential to be an 'exemplar'
- Has a lot of talented people
- Has a lot of untapped knowledge

humm...i never expected this.
finally, due to all of this, the 'progress' or 'advancements' (when made) are so slow that it earns no appreciation.

discrepancies

The 'design' orientation in and out of work are on opposite poles. Somehow dont fit together. I am amazed to see how much complexity is accepted and dealt with at work (when there are clear signs that we dont need to). On the other hand, outside of work, things seem to be well thought through, things are self explanatory, aesthetic, great examples of engineering and design coming together etc.
I dont get it!!!

One year in Deutschland

Yesterday I completed 1 year as a resident in Germany.
Time flies!!! It still feels like yesterday when I was getting ready to move abroad.

The last one year, has been the longest I have been away from home - living abroad. The last one year entailed some big changes - moving abroad, getting married...perhaps it is true when they say, "its good to move out of your comfort zone once in a while."
I did and I dont regret it.

Things could be better on the 'work' front, but by and large I have been enjoying living here :)