Blogging again

12 months have passed and I am reaching the end of my experience in Belgium ... I am becoming quite nostalgic about leaving.

It is for the first time in my life when I don't know what I will be doing in 2 months from now and where I will be. A whole new begining is in front of me, I am ending my AIESEC career, I am not a student anymore, I am most likely leaving Belgium and even more likely I will not be in Romania for the upcoming year. I am searching for an internship :)

I really had difficulties deciding for which internship I will apply and it took me almost 3 months to decide and finally applied for one.

On one hand is the uncertainty, on the other hand I am feeling something totally new ... total freedom! I am a free man: no formal commitment in 3 weeks from now, no girlfriend, financial independency, no class to follow or to go back to (except that I need to solve an exam and my thesis but I am relaxed about it) ... it is an interesting and shocking feeling as I never been in a similar situation before. I always had some sort of dependency on my school, my parents, girlfriend, summer job, AIESEC term, something ... now I am a free man!!!


Since the last post on my blog I had some unforgetable experiences, I am sure I will never forget them! I will share 5 with you:

BELDS - I was conference manager of the first Belgian Leadership Seminar and I learned by doing it more than I learned in a whole year. The seminar was ment to make delegates reflect on themselves, look deep inside, define how they see themselves as leaders and inspire them to take action in their life. It was a great conference and things went on great! I had great people next to me including chair, facilitators, agenda team, OC, delegates and guests! Trully unforgetable!

My sister's wedding - she is 26 now and become Mrs. Alina Paven. Memories from our childhood together came back and I realized that for the past 7 years we have been away from each other. During the wedding I invited her for a dance and got to speak a bit about life and how time flies. She looked great in the white dress and happy with her husband :). I can't forget when we were alone in a room in our parents' house waiting for the groom to come and steal her and take her to church and City Hall to sign the marriage papers ... she was so nervous looking out of the window to see what is happening. I will always remember these 2 moments being together with my sis on the day of her marriage.


Trip to Ireland - finally getting out of the continent and really feeling something very different than everything I can find on the continent. First of all, for me, Ireland is a beautiful country and I got to see a bit of it's landscape - it is exactly as I was picturing it: green hills, endless shore, chili weather. The people there are very different, always in a good way :)

"Emerging markets" conference in Switzerland - 3 things immediatly came in my mind: "No business", discussions about Romania and Appenzell.
“We don’t play well, we just play loud!” is the humble comment of one of the members of the "No business" band - it's members are well known teachers at probably the best German speaking Business School in the world, top researchers in their field. These guys were unbelievable!!!! It was like a dream hearing them play Marylin Manson, Guns'n'Roses, Oasis, RHCP and other famous rock bands. Can you imagine some of your best university teachers giving a rock concert in the lobby of your university in front of you while you and your colleagues are drinking beer, smoking and cheering them up?!?!? What an unforgetable feeling!
During those days I attended a lot of sessions about Eastern Europe and a lot about Romania. I got to know a totally new perspective about my country and strengthen my conviction that is the place where I want to have impact. We are going through hard and exciting times, all normal and all in all going in a positive direction, of that I am sure :)
Appenzell - a piece of heaven, surrounded by nature, cows, big-tall mountains, reflecting, enjoy ing the landscape, the wind, the sun and writing postcards to my friends :)


RockWerchter - the best thing I did in Belgium, unleashing energy and something hidden within since teenagehood when I was a long-haired rock listener. There is nothing like live music from great bands: Faithless, Metallica, Muse, Keane, Chemical Brothers and others.

You can take a look at some of my recent pictures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?id=503656679

Until next time I wish you to live happy moments!