Steve Carney and wife Yolanda, who are from New Mexico, USA have been enjoying their stay in Bangalore.
This couple has been living in the City for almost two years and has only good things to say about the City. Steve, who works with the corporate services division of a multi-national company, says that he is enjoying his professional and personal life here.
This is the family’s first expatriate assignment. “Our concerns when moving to the City included those about accommodation, food etc. But Bangalore is a very expat-friendly city. And we were able to make friends very soon,” say Steve and Yolanda in unison. He adds that the couple was immediately able to mingle with people and find places to hang out.
Talking about work, he says, “I was in the manufacturing section earlier but when I came here, my work nature was different. This also gave me an opportunity to learn about other areas like R&D, labs etc.” He says that their stay in Bangalore has been an interesting journey so far.
Steve notes that the people in India have a high work ethic. “People are very committed here. One of my focus areas is keeping the work-life balance for people. The technical proficiency of employees here is outstanding,” he says.
Steve says that when he goes back to the US, he will keep the odd working hours in mind when he schedules meetings with Indians here. He says that the team he works with is a stellar one. “They have been working together for many years. For me, assimilation and integration was easy,” he says.
He adds that the infrastructure of the company, devices and the language used are all same compared to the parent company, which helped him settle down easily. “We transport employees to and from work and that was new for me,” he says.
For most expatriates in the City, time management has been a challenge at work. “We manage priorities. We give importance to the things that have to be done. The formula is to limit the number of things to be done as there are certain things which can’t be done,” he says.
Steve says that there is a lot to learn from here. “It was also interesting to learn how the bureaucratic system worked here,” he says. He adds, “I learnt that I need to have that work-life balance also. I made a commitment to my wife that we will explore Bangalore and the rest of the country too.”
The couple has travelled to Delhi, Mumbai, Agra, Goa etc and countries like Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, China and Maldives.
“We have been all across the City. Our favourite places in the State are Coorg and Kabini,” he says. For Yolanda, the sheer number of people in the City intrigued her. Yolanda and Steve love the weather here.
“I felt like I was cooking when I was in Delhi,” says Steve with a smile. The couple loves the greenery here. “I love the fact that there are mountain ranges so close to the City to explore,” says Steve.
He says that his biggest concern, when they moved to the City, was of being ‘an outsider’. “But I was extremely welcomed. I did not feel like I was part of a team. It was more like I was part of a family,” he says. Yolanda says that she has met people from various countries, in Bangalore, like South Africa, Canada, Cuba, Australia etc.
“I knew I was going to make friends with Indian people, but here, I also met a lot of people from across the world. People from other parts of the country have to learn and adapt just like we do and this confluence of cultures is very interesting,” she says. “The hardest part would be when we move back as we have settled well here,” says Steve to which Yolanda adds with a smile, “I will miss all the people I met here.”
