Interesting stories

hey,



Always when moving to a new place, many things happen in the first weeks until things settle down. I got to visit a bit of the city (had trips of even 1h30' and I was still in Istanbul ;) ), went to some parties, getting more and comfortable with the job, meetings tones of people and so on.



But there are always some experience that stand out of the crowd :)



1. Hairdresser. I decided to get a haircut and went alone to the closest one to the place I live. I went in, said "Merhaba! Do you speak English?" the answer came straight away "Of course my friend!". I got on the chair and tried to explain that he should leave abt 2 cm and at the back to make it natural and I was showing him with my hand. I asked "Do you understand?", he said "Of course I understand my friend!". Next thing he does he takes the machine and starts to cut it very-very small at the back so for a few second I didn't see what he was doing. When I did it was too late, he was making me bold :P



2. Taxi. When coming around 1 a.m. from the airport I decided to take a taxi and I went to the taxi that was closest to walk to. I didn't know that I should have gone to the 1st in the qeue not to the 3rd as I did. As soon as I got in, all the taxi drivers (about 20) came to my driver and started arguing with him. I deducted that they were angry with him that he accepted me and didn't send me to the first one. As he was stubborned they started screaming, heating the car, took the keys of the car and came to me and asked me to go out of the car. I told them I wanted to go with this car and that I don't want to go to the first one. One of the drivers got really angry, that was unacceptable for him, pulled me out of the car and pushed me towards the first car ... Finally I went with the first car and I learned a lesson which is valid for every culture: "don't fight it, play by their rules and forget about what was normal for you". From now on I wil go to the first car ... :)



3. CEELDS (Central & Eastern European Leadership Development Seminar). After 5 years of attending tones of conference in all possible roles the time came to try a new role: external :P

So I was given the opportunity to attend this conference as representative of Microsoft together with Emel and deliver a workshop on "Information, Communication and Technology". We also attended the World Cafe and as you imagine there were people all the time asking about what I am doing at Microsoft, why Vista is not good, why is Microsoft doinf Community Affairs and many-many more ... It was a lot of fun, of course many of the questions I couln't answer but it felt very weird ... one of the OC members came to me wanting to ask me something and started with "Mr. Rosca ..." and I reacted spontanuously "WHAT??!?! Please call me Daniel" :)



Oh oh!



For now things are going well, I like the job, I like the city and I met interesting people :) and today I got my residence permit until Feb 2009! I am a local now!!! :D

Of course, pictures on facebook :)



Hasta la vista!

arrivals & departures

2 weeks already passed since I came to Istanbul and it feels like yesterday, as usually time flies so fast ...

Today, my predecesor at Microsoft left Istanbul after almost 1 year spent here; I could feel his sadness and of the ones that have been his friends here; it is maybe the most impressive intern-goodbye I have seen and couldn't help thinking of all the people I have left behind or that have left me behind.

The first times it seems funny but after a while it gets annoying ... all the time moving on and all the time needing to join a new social group among others. I have to admit that these days it is one of the things that is bugging me the most as it is already the 5th time I get to a new place (from Caransebes to Severin, to Timisoara, to Brussels, to Warsaw and now to Istanbul - just to count the places where I stayed for more than 2 months).

I wouldn't be surprised to find among all the AIESECers out there who travel the world and oftenly change places the same feeling of frustration that departures/arrivals bring. Of course moving from one place to another has positive sides as well, one of them is the fact that you meet amazing and so diverse people, I only wish I could gather them all for a beer one night somewhere, sometime ...

To all those special people out there, I would like to tell them that I miss them all !!! And I really hope we keep in touch! Come and visit me in Istanbul!

Last 3 months

I am in Turkey, the country I first heard of during history classes in primary school. The classes where not about how friendly the Turkish people are or about how beautiful Istanbul is. They were about the constant wars Romania had with Turkey (Otoman Empire) and I remember I hated them cause they conquered us and they represented a constant threat throughout centuries.

It is time to forget that, we are living in the 21st century and it is surprising how things have changed, Turkey is one of the first countries to have joined NATO, wants to join EU (Romania is already there :P), and is probably the most modernized muslim country (also highest GDP). Istanbul is the 4th most populous city in the world (at least this is what Wikipedia says :) ) and companies like Microsoft have their regional offices for Middle East and Africa here. Turkey, like Romania, are going through major economic developments and is a very lively place (at least Istanbul is).

If u read the last post u will see that it was from November 2007 and I was in Warsaw doing an internship at Deloitte and I was undergraduate :). In this time all these things changed: I had a great time in Poland but I left after just 3 months and in January 21st I graduated!!! YEAAAH!


Now I am Turkey for a second internship and my nomadic life goes on, travelling and discovering new places it got into my blood and it seems I simply can't stop moving from one place to another ...


The intership is with Microsoft in the Community Affairs field, more...



More ... soon ;)



Of course, pictures on facebook albums :)