Week 3. The half way point.

Training!

At the 2nd highest point in Southern India after 15 hours of travel time

The tea gardens of Munnar

Things are really picking up here in Bangalore. This week opened with me giving the first training session to the staff. I had written a program on beer knowledge and customer service which all our servers needed to memorize. I like to think it was a success. 90% of the guys showed up and took notes and there were lots of questions asked. I am now in the process of writing the next program for next week.

This week also marked my first brewery tours. This too was something that I needed to write and put together myself. After learning as much as I could about the brewing process I decided to start offering tours. So far it has mainly been me offering it to anyone that seems interested. As a result I have done 5 or 6 now. I probably should have written down a script for the first one so I had a plan as to what I should say. Instead (in true student fashion) I decided to wing it. It went surprisingly well. I could answer all their questions and they all gave me great reviews. And I learned loads about what works and what doesn’t, how best to present information, and what people tend to care about.

On a less work related note, this week I went to see some local bands. It was great to see a large vibrant crowd, excited about new music and not just the top 40 which is all I seem to hear on the radio over here!

The week also marked my first trip out of Bangalore; to a city called Munnar in the tea planting region of the country. I took a 15 hour bus overnight for a quick 3 day trip before heading all the way back again. It was an amazing experience to see a different side to India (rather than the very cosmopolitan Bangalore). The region is stunning with tea trees as far as the eye can see!

Well that’s all I have for now as I have to get to work.