It's tea time..again...

So it's been a while since I last posted. I'll try to post more often (2-3 times a week).

I spent the first part of last week finishing off paperwork for my passport and I.D card. It's been quite the time consumer. Anyway, I started work last Thursday. Over the week I learned a lot of things about dressing like a professional in Sri Lanka:
1) You are expected to be clean shaven EVERYDAY
2) You need to wear a vest (I really don’t know why but everyone here points it out if you don't).
3) Also wear a tie..even if your co-workers don't (my supervisor called me out on this)

More importantly, I was assigned to Advisory Services which I am really happy about. Last week I spent my first two days at the largest chemical importer in Sri Lanka and now I’m working at one of the largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka. Over the next 3 months I will be working on 3-4 audits across a number of industries. The biggest thing that struck me about working in Sri Lanka is the pace of work. People work at a more casual pace here and the work environment is very relaxed. By the end of the day you've had 4-5 cups of tea and a very detailed update on everyone's lives outside of work.

I finished reading Ahead of the Curve this weekend. If you go to Ivey DO NOT put this book on your “To Read” list. In a nutshell, the book summarizes the HBS experience into two: 1) the case work (almost all the cases he described we’ve done at Ivey…Eric Peterson, Apple, Black and Decker etc) and 2) how private equity and venture capital are dream careers post-MBA. The next book I plan on reading is What Buddhists Believe by Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda. I’m not the most devote Buddhist so I figure it’s a good time to really understand what Buddhism is about. What Buddhists Believe is classic when it comes to “answer[ing] many questions which are asked about Buddhism by Buddhists and non-Buddhists.” Should be a good read.

Vesak, the holiest day in Buddhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ves%C4%81kha), is tomorrow . It signifies the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha (which happened all on the same full moon in the month of May..different years). This is the first time in 20 years ish that I'll be in Sri Lanka for Vesak. For the past week the city of Colombo has been decorated with white lanterns and Buddhist flags. Since I arrived in Sri Lanka everyone has been talking about Vesak so I'm really excited for tomorrow.
I have a four day weekend coming up (because of Vesak). I'll blog again post-Vesak.

This post was mainly a result of Hil complaining that she didn't have any bed time reading. So Hil here you go..and goodnight :)! (mainly to Hil but also to all of you who are about to go to bed as well)!