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quot;It has been a great experience.quot; That is how Joost Van Schijdel and Linda Hemerik, a Dutch couple sum up their stay in Chandig...

quot;It has been a great experience.quot; That is how Joost Van Schijdel and Linda Hemerik, a Dutch couple sum up their stay in Chandigarh.

Linda thinks, 8220;the experience of living anywhere in India and Chandigarh has been fabulous and has tremendous advantages. It lends you a a fresh outlook towards life. One often wonders why we are doing things the way we do them in Holland, when they can be done in a different way to achieve the same goal.8221;

Joost feels 8220;it is not hard to get used to the overall leisurely lifestyle in Chandigarh. As Linda says, where she would do a hundred different things in Holland, in Chandigarh she does only one thing. Shopping for a week8217;s groceries takes just two hours and a chat session with the shopkeeper is always welcome.8221; Linda adds, 8220;Chandigarh is an extraordinary city which offers you so many facilities. Compared to what I have seen of India, the quality of life here is much better. There is a lot of greenery which is so relaxing. We are lucky to be based here.8221;

However, she also adds what every foreigner says at some stage of their visit here. 8220;You learn to accept a lot. In the beginning, there were many frustrations, because we wanted to move in and couldn8217;t, because the house wasn8217;t ready. When we did move in there were still a lot of things to be done. People wouldn8217;t come on time or wouldn8217;t show up at all.8221; She believes that getting angry, just wastes energy and acceptance is the key word here. 8220;With time, you are pleasantly surprised to see things go the way you want them to. This is also a learning process.8221;

Joost also enjoys his work here as Controller Finance, for Max GB. 8220;I am very happy with the existing working culture. Apart from the hierarchical culture that exists in nearly every organisation in India, it is comparable to one of the most competitive sites in our international network. Where most people feel that helpers are a great advantage, Linda disagrees. 8220;It is very difficult to get used to having people you don8217;t know around you all the time because we are so used to doing things ourselves8221;.

Linda feels that life here is no different from the west. People are friendly to the extent of wanting to know things, but it is equally difficult to make friends. 8220;First of all if people haven8217;t been abroad, the cultural difference is too vast and not many people are keen on getting really close. But all in all, the experience is great 8221;, says Linda.