Spring Break: Beach, Backwaters, and Beautiful Indian Scenery

Ty and I just returned from an amazing trip in Kerala for our Spring Break.  We're now officially 2 days into our last term in B-school...which is insane to both of us!  It's a bittersweet time though, as we're loving our experience in India but realizing that we won't be seeing our Duke friends again during the MBA experience (soon after though, we hope!)

On our 10-day trip through southern India, we visited Cochin, Allepey, Varkala, and Munnar - all amazing Indian locations with different environments, scenery, and vibes.  See some of the pics below, and PLEASE let us know if you're traveling in the area, as we'd love to offer suggestions. We traveled by planes, trains, government and private busses, houseboat, taxis, and auto-rickshaws, tried new Indian cuisines (and found some traveler-friendly spots with real coffee and Western food as well!), and took in the wildly diverse sights, sounds, and, yes...even smells, of this part of India.  The travel bug is alive and well in both of us!

Starting a Business...To Be Posted Soon...

Many apologies to the Dukies organizing the blog project, but my "Starting a Business" post is postponed due to our Spring Break and the fact that my ISB colleague and teammate who is starting her own business is currently in Seattle, presenting her business plan to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (she's obviously a rock-star!)  Radhika has agreed to talk to me more in detail about her business venture, and I'll post after her return to India. 

Stay tuned!

Communication Tidbit: "The Bobble"

So for all of you Indian readers, you'll have to weigh in on my observations of what the exchange and international students at ISB have taken to calling "the bobble."  Never before did I think to write about this confusing gesture/communication technique, but then - twice in one day - I used the bobble!

The term "bobble" likely originated from the scary baseball park souvenirs/dashboard toys in the U.S. - the bobble-head dolls.  However, in India, the communication technique is much older than the weird American toys (as nearly every Indian I've met here seems to use it rather frequently.) The motion is something between a "yes" nod and a "no" shake, but it also has this added bounce and all-over-the-place wild motion of the head.  As the recipient of the bobble, it's hard to know whether the bobble-er is agreeing, disagreeing, listening without judgement, or perhaps making fun of you.

Just as the attentive Fuqua students nod in class as a sign of intent listening and information digestion (even when spacing out completely), the ISB students bobble!  It's completely amusing and can push me to the brink of hysterics when I'm especially bored.  However, when giving a presentation to the director of marketing at a local company this week, I realized how unnerving it can be to have no idea what your audience is thinking!  What is this bobble?...and how has it invaded my communication too?! :)

Alright...feedback please, Indian friends!