Diversity

For about 10 days I moved from the dorm to a flat. I like it a lot, has bosphorus view and it is moder and big. I almost lost count of the nationalities of people I shared for a longer period the same room or flat: Romanian, Greek, Serbian, Columbian, Chinese, Canadian, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Slovak, German, Tunisian, Nigerian, Hungarian and now I am living with Turkish and Argentinian. That makes me pretty international eh? and actually few things surprise me, even if it different I take it as normal.

For example: Turkish flatmate doesnt drink alcohol :) and he prays 5 times a day. The Columbian was taking shower with his underwear on. The Greek was sleeping so much :P. The Serbian was oftenly singing hip-hop songs. The Slovak was a cleaning freak, washing all the dishes. The German was ironing his shirts very often. The Nigerian was very willing to share food ;). The Tunisian was oftenly smoking shisha and smoking in the toilet. The Chinese were drinking warm/hot water instead of "normal" cold water. And so on, and so son ...

At work I interact with very diverse people from all over Middle East and Africa and again I can notice some traits. The Africans (except North Africa) are always busy. The Israelians are very demanding and they argue a lot. The Arabs are quite demanding and action oriented. The Turks ... oooh! the Turks!! no comment! :D

I am not trying to put people in boxes, I am past that phase but I am enjoying all these differences.

Now I cannot see myself living in a place where there is just one type of people, that speak only one language and do things in a similar manner. Then I would feel I am in a box. Diversity is something I embrace and am becoming dependent on it.

Generally I think people should get out of their box and be open towards others, learn to accept them, not judge them, be willing to change, think how they are perceived by others, make more compromises, be sensitive to the things which are important to others etc etc. I think globalization is something affecting everyone's life and there is no way to avoid and I don't think we should. Opposing it will not bring anything good. Of course going to extreme is not good also, adopting all American life-style is not the way forward, values, behaviors, traditions must be kept as well. It is the people who have to become more open-minded.

On Sunday I had Easter and even though I am not into religion I miss the traditions from Romania. It is already the second Easter I spend in a different way, away from home. But I went to a restaurant and ate lamb and then boiled eggs and break them hehe! Though I was not in the same place with my family and friends, we spoke, over the internent and phone :)

All these experiences havent made me less Romanian. They made me more global citizen :P and I love it! And they dont conflict :)

Check this nice picture, expressing diversity. It is toothpaste from Turkey, Ukraine and China. Cool huh?

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 :)

Value in life

By working in Deloitte I got in contact with the “value creation” philosophy which I like and I decided to explore it further through my thesis called : “The role of management consulting in long term value creation for companies. Case study Deloitte”.
It is related with sustainability and meaning for companies’ stakeholders. A company that explores a temporary need in the market and makes good profits for 2 years is not considered valuable. A company is valuable if it’s core activities can bring profits for shareholders and value for the other stakeholders on the long run.

I read more and one thing came to my mind: the way companies make value is more and more documented while the way people create value in their lives is not, or at least I haven’t heard of such a science. And this is a topic I am really interested in: how people create value in their life, how do they create happiness for themselves. And I started developing my own perspective on the topic … I have identified 3 things which made me so far and I believe will make me happy in the future as well.

One of them is having tight relationships with people; though I enjoy meeting new people and creating bonds, the relationships that make me happy are the ones based on strong ties, respect, trust and complementarity. I realised that the past 16 months I have been unstable, moving from place to place, created bonds but now I am not in the situation to enjoy them.

The second one is to do things I am really passionate about on a daily basis and I realised AIESEC gave a lot of it, I was passionate about the things I was doing and I could chose what I did. Nowadays is different, with most things I do I am not connected through passion, and still searching for it.

The third category of things that make me happy is short experiences like going on a boattrip, skiing, admiring a landscape, seeing something beautiful, having a nice chat, eating something really good, hearing a good joke etc. In this sense this year has been so enriching: my systers wedding, travelling to Dublin, Paris, Munchen, St. Gallen, Gdansk, Bialystok, Gent, living in Rwanda for 18 days and so on.

I believe once people realise what makes them happy they’ll continously want those things in their life more and more and remove the non-value-adding aspects of their life. It’s a matter of realising and then of really wanting, taking decisions and standing up for them.

Nowadays I am again in the position to think of what I’ll do next after this intership, I see again the options and taking my time to take a decision.

Next time I will tell you more about Poland and its people, it’s a very interesting country, as a starting point just consider its history in the last 70 years …

For recent pictures, please check facebook http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=503656679

Do widzenia! :P

First days in Poland

My first true corporate experience together with a second considerable cultural experience have started and for sure I am in the “honey moon” phase, I like very much the people I meet around here, I enjoyed trying Polish beer & cuisine, visited the city and at work I feel I am learning a lot.

I am doing some things I never did before and that is exciting for now: I attended a 4 hours meeting without break in Polish, I am travelling each morning for 25-30 minutes to office, I am shaving every 1-2 days, I am wearing suit almost every day, getting into the management consulting mindset and discovering how a highly professional and reputed company is working.

The highlist so far have been meeting so many nice Polish people and getting acommodated with the business world. I attended 2 business meeting, one for 4 hours with a Polish client, it was me and 12 Polish people and a sales meeting with potential client. Besides that I got to work on a Commercial Due Diligence project with 2 colleagues, attended induction and knowledge management trainings.

In the first days I lived in a student dorm and on Monday I moved in an apartment where I’ll live with interns from Germany, Tunisia and Nigeria.

It’s already the 5th time when I start all over from the beginning to build friendships and a social group around me, I am getting used to it and is getting easier and easier.

Back home. Garana & Trei Ape trip

On the 18th of August I left Rwanda after 3 rounds of hugs and "See you!" with my friends from Rwanda :)



I now have 3 perspectives in my head of the world: my native country - Romania, the second is Belgium and now Rwanda (though 18 days is not enough to have an overview).

In terms of development and wealth I was critical about Romania most of the times cause I was usually comparing it to countries like Belgium. But now I realised that even though conditions are hursh in Romania we are doing well, we are daily benefiting of some things which for others (in Rwanda for example) are not available for most of the populations. By GDP per capita from IMF, Belgium has 37200 USD (15th place), Romania has 5600 USD (65th place) while Rwanda 261 USD (170th place).

Rwanda is a fantastic place, I really felt like being on a different planet because of it's culture, history, people, landscape, social, political economical situation and so on. What I am finally trying to say is that living there for just 18 days has been the most intense learning experience for me as human being and realizing that Romania is actually OK is just one of them.

I am not trying to say Rwanda is a bad place, no way!!! On the contrary, it's a good place to go to, I would go there over and over again. I actually recommend everyone to go, I had a great time there and felt totally secure.

Since I came back I got to rediscover Romania, went to Bucharest, Sibiu, Timisoara, Arad, Drobeta Turnu Severin, my grandmothers, visited family, met almost all my good friends back home, stayed longer with my parents, followed news, went shopping, saw some natural beauties (caves ...) and more.

The time to commit again has come and this time is an internship in Poland in a well-known consulting company, Deloitte. I'll be introduced in the field by doing research, making proposals and so on, for 3 months it will be interesting for sure, I am looking forward to start when time will come, October 1st. In the meanwhile I am worried about the formal clothes I need to wear so I already got more shirts, ties and soon more suits will come

Pls check pictures from Romania on facebook :) http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=503656679

keep in touch!

Things I’ve never lived before

In 2 days I am living Rwanda … except the things I already mentioned before in the past week I went through amazing moments.

One of them was the second national conference ever done by AIESEC in Rwanda which I chaired. We came up with a Rwandese word to name it “Haguruka!” which means “Stand up!”; as delegates we had Rwandese members but also international delegates from Uganda J ; facilitators were MC & 3 national support team members and some of the delegates from Uganda. For most delegates & facilitators was their first AIESEC conference so it had to boost their spirit and motivation to work in AIESEC. The venue was the Univesity’s classes, on Friday we only had the Opening Plenary, on Saturday we started around 10 and finished at 6 p.m., on Sunday we started at 2 p.m. in order to allow people to go to church in the morning.

I did a lot of back up work and out of 14 hours of agenda I delivered 8 as just 4 other people had knowledge to deliver a session. The atmosphere builded up througout these days and at the end we had a beautiful closing plenary with traditional Rwandese dance, a role-call from Ugandan delegates, sugar-cubes, unveiling the secret friends and finally having a “Haguruka!” dance. The members liked it a lot and are very motivated while I had the most energy-consuming and emotionally demanding experience in my life.

Something I really didn’t expect was to hear & see the people from Uganda very shocked of the big differences between their country & Rwanda … I initially thought they are very similar …

On Tuesday I went for a visit to Gisenyi, probably the 5^th most developed city in the country, a place locally known for its touristic attraction. It is on Kivu Lake and has a nice beach but not a lot of sun J as it is close to a big vulcano which I could see at distance after rain. While walking with my companion along the lake we were attracted by some nice houses and planes landing and taking off we could see ahead. While walking in that direction we were surprised to find a barrier, it turned out to be the border with Congo!!! We had to go back as we didn’t have our passports with us so we asked for a place were we can have a drink on a nice terrase and we were recommended to go to Goma, in Congo, the city we were heading just before. As we couldn’t go there we went to “Tam Tam” a place next to the beach where we were the only customers. I ordered a beer and I got a 72 cl one, another time I ordered an Amstel and the waiter brought 2 as they consider it too small (33 cl) so they bring 2 of them J

On the 15^th of August we were still in Gisenyi and it was a holly day, Saint Mary, so normally people were not supposed to work but go to church. At 5 a.m. we were waken up by the Muslim prayers from the mosque just across the street we were staying. We went up the hill on the path many locals take every day, we found a lot of banana trees, poor houses, small goats and children screaming “muzungu!” when they saw me; for sure there weren’t a lot of white people on that hill before. Just some hours later we were in the most fancy place in town, Serena Hotel, and the difference is huge, for 1 night here you pay the amount a person up the hill would live from for 2 months probably.

The landscape to Gisenyi is impressive: poor villages and cities, a lot of banana, mango and avocado trees, tea, potato, cabbage and coffee plantations, hills everywhere you look, people on the streets, vulcanoes and volcano rocks. All these together with impressive 4x4 cars, commercials for banks, Guinness or mobiles.

For photos, check my 2 albums from Rwanda: http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=503656679

See you sometime, somewhere!

The present of Rwanda

I just read the whole article on Wikipedia about Rwanda and realized what an incredible history this country and region has.

For sure I’d like to know more about the reality of the country and I just realized that living in Kigali only is not representative for this country, almost 90 % of the population lives in rural areas and 60 % of the population under the poverty line. It’s hard to perceive these things when everyday I go around a large city with commercials of mobile companies and fancy drinks. Most of the times I eat I go for a buffet so all the people there can take as much food as they want and they actually do it, their plates are always topped.

Today this country is peaceful and calm, like after a storm I’d say … that quiet! I went to the Kigali Memorial Centre, a modern-equiped museum that tells the story of the Genocide that took the lives of 1 milion people in 1994 … I can’t really perceive how this could happen just 13 years ago in the country I am now travelling in. But 1994 was not the beginning and was not the end; other hundreds of thousands of people were killed before in Rwanda and Burundi (a country that shares a common history over the past century). Moreover, after 1994, around 3 milions were killed in the first and second wars in DR Congo involving Rwanda, Uganda, Angola and Zimbabwe – the backbone being the same for the events in Rwanda.

4-5 milion people died because of some foreigners’ decisions and policies implemented for Rwanda … how sad is that?!

Nowadays Rwanda is growing at a good rate and has just joined a regional union of East-African countries. In the meanwhile African countries are aiming for unity through the African Union which will bring member countries closer and closer. An Indian teacher also told me about Japan’s initiatives in Asia for a closer collaboration among Asian countries.

Rwandese people are said to be shy, respectful, calm and honest. The country is recognized for it’s low corruption and high involvement of women in the country’s affairs – 49 % of the Parliament’s members being women – the highest rate in the world!

There are so many more things to say from my experience here, I’d just like to thank you for reading until here! I am glad to share things about Rwanda with you, it’s a story we should all know and learn from.

I will soon post more … I am chairing their second national conference and next week I’ll be travelling around the country hopefully seeing vulcanos, beautiful lakes and wild animals in a national park.

10 days left …

How different can things be ....

I am now for 4 days in Kigali and it’s more shocking and enriching from cultural perspective than 13 months in Belgium. In just 4 days I found out so many differences that I feel I am living on a different planet. Let me tell you some of them …

On Friday I attended a “Career Day” event – the biggest organized by AIESEC in Rwanda so far – and I noticed some things. One of them is the protocolar environment around the event; for example the university has a group of students who are part of “Protocol” which are doing reception and socializing with the important guests of the event; sometimes they are asked for events outside university like the ones organized by government. Another one is the way students reacted when a company was saying that they want to recruit graduates and they are interested in the students present there; students were cheering and claping J. The morning session lasted for 3 hours without break and almost no student left the room in this period …

Now I really feel like sharing about today which is one of the most shocking days I ever had. First of all at 10 I was supposed to have a meeting but because the person was sleeping we only had the meeting at 1:30, with a small delay of 3h30’ :D. Next to that at 2 I was supposed to have a meeting with the MC but we only started at 3, a small delay of 1 hour :D. As you ca imagine time here has a different meaning J

Furtheron, in the evening I went for dinner with Julius (former MCVP in Uganda now doing an internship in Rwanda). We went to a restaurant and when we arrived we realised there was a wedding happening but we could still take a table and have dinner. So I ordered … banana chips (meaning fried bananas in the same way as potatos) with fish brochette (frigarui) and Maracuja juice (passion fruit juice) while Julius ordered rice with vegetables. The waiter brought 2 brochettes on a plate, the rice on another plate, the banana chips on another plate and 2 empty plates, one for me and one for Julius. We only ordered 1 brochette but he brought 2 in order for my companion to have one as well and the rest of the food was on different plates … here they really encourage you to try the food of the other person you are with J. Another interesting thing is that if you just ask someone “are you hungry, do you wanna go and eat?” means you are inviting that person for dinner and you need to pay for him/her as well.

About how weddings happen here … first of all when a couple decides to marry the parents of the girl will ask the boy some things (objects, animals. etc) as payment for the girl. If the boy manages to bring all those he’ll most likely have the approval, if something is missing he will get a “fine” so he’ll be asked to bring even more to the girl’s family. Once that is settled it comes the financial part of the wedding, the event itself is free for all the guest and you can expect uninvited people to show up. In order to cover part of the costs the couple makes wedding meetings before the wedding itself where they invite friends/relatives/colleagues and they present their plan for the wedding and ask them to contribute in order to cover the budget. Once this is settled the wedding takes place and usually ends around 10 p.m. Once they are married there’s a very low chance they will divorce! Since I was so excited about the wedding I wanted to take some pictures but I was hold back by my friends telling me that it’s not OK to take pictures if I’m not a guest; furthermore it’s not OK to take pictures of the government’s buildings or people I don’t know …

So we left the wedding place and went to a cool terasse and ordered an Ugandan beer. Here is some other cool facts about drinks in Rwanda: they call Fanta any sort of soda drink so in case you want to order a Cola you need to ask for a “Fanta Cola” and the bottle has 30 cl. Beer you can find in bottles of 33, 66, 72 cl while watter in bottles of 56 cl!!!

Now let’s talk about beauty … here has a slightly different meaning. For a man an important characteristic in order to be considered beautiful is the height, the taller the man, the better, women appreciate that. For girls big hips is a good thing, contributes to beauty =))

People also talk different … instead of saying “I’ll give you a missed call” or “I’ll beep you” they often say “I’ll flash you!!!” They pronounce “word” and “world” in the same way, idem for “walk” and “work” so many times I am confused of what they mean J

In order to relax a bit I wanted to play some pool but again I had some surprises: the white ball is smaller than all the others and the holes are smaller than the ones I am used to …

Just imagine myself doing something, anything; it will most likely be different from the way I’ve done it before. Seeing all these differences I am wondering if I’d be in the situation to stay here if I’d adapt to this whole new way of doing and perceiving things. In case all the things are not enough for you to understand how different things are you should know that even white people look at me in a different way, like I am the weird one for them!!!

I’ll keep you updated!

From Nyamirambo, Kigali

Dan – Muzungu

first impressions from Kigali, Rwanda

At the time I am writing is 11:34 p.m. which for Rwanda is very-very late. At 6 it gets dark and people usually go to sleep around 10-11. Kevin just told me that people here don’t party too much and the drink we had yesterday can be called a party.

I am fascinated by the surroundings, the way the things look, the way people are and behave. I am staying at Kigali Hotel which is OK but in order to understand what OK means you should know that for having a warm bath I need to go with a bucket and get water from a heating machine and than poor it with a cup on me, the shower has only cold water. I already knew about this, Vincent told me and he also told me that he got used to it J

Today I changed money, bought a SIM card & an atlas of Rwanda (my first negotiation J ), had my first Rwandese meals. The food is very tasty and I can feel is natural – tomato really tastes like tomato, eggs really taste like eggs, chicken really tastes like chicken (just like I remember from childhood when living in the countryside with my grandparents). Some unusual things poped up in my plate though: raw bananas, avocado, pumpkin and another vegetable I never ate before J

For Wednesday I had a buddy, Ahmed, he is Muslim (4 % of population) and he lives just 500 meters from my hotel. He was very kind and helpful throughout the day and he is a very interesting person, in his last year at university, previous involvement in youth organisations.

I also had my first meeting with Kevin and even though it was short we agreed on some things for the next days. Tomorrow I wake up at 7 and go with him at the university to prepare for Friday – their biggest event in their 1-year short history.

As taxi I used motorcycles today and I liked it very much!!! Some other cool stuff: prices are not fixed for many of the products (you need to bargain), they have cars with wheels on both left & right, internet is very-very slow ...

The best part so far was my reception at the airport, I never felt so welcomed in my entire life. Around 20 members were waiting for me for almost 2 hours as my plane was delayed, I shaked the hands of the girls, touched 3 times my side-forehead with the boys (their traditional way of greeting), listened to them singing in a chorus “The lion sleeps tonight” and “welcome to Rwanda, Daniel!” – I was so-so-so impressed by them, they were so friendly and enthusiastic about singing and meeting me J.

After we took a taxi and went to the School of Finance and Banking where we had a small get to know and drank juice – Coca Cola products made in Rwanda, it tastes differently and also the botles are different. I got to explain them about the MC flieces & dog, that I am not from Belgium but from Romania. Finally we went to the hotel where I spent my first night.

In just 30 hours so many new things happen, I am a bit overwhelmed but looking forward for the days to come J

Here are some pictures from these 2 days http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9856&id=503656679&pwstdfy=95e4f04eaea4b5b3298dafed334df6fe

PS: while walking on the streets some people call me Muzungu and they scream after me - it means white man.

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!

From December on

Well ... 3 months to write down in some words: I can manage!

Some of the things happening

Sports: in this 3 months I practiced squash (more than 5 times), volleyball (once), tennis (once), skiing (2 days in Romania). Now I think I am already in a better shape, some pants that didn't fit 3-4 months ago are fitting again

Romania: I went there for 2 weeks in January: I loved meeting the people there, my good friends, warm and kind. I miss you guys!
I also had reintegration shocks: I got really angry when I was about to plan something with someone and than he/she was saying "We will talk later/tomorrow", but I got over it, this is the way people are, no stress, we have time and space :)

Muntele Mic (Small Mountain) - I went there with Mada for 2 days, it was a blessing, I got so relaxed and full of energy. Definitely skiing is the sport that is most beneficial for my mind and soul :P

My collection - I have a cool new passion: collecting small figurines and objects. So far I have: Maneken Pis, Marsupilami, 2 smurfs, The Atomium, a hedgehog, a pig, Nemo, fowl + male, DHL van, man on top of cab, Daffy duck with gun, a compass, 2 castagnete, a shell with candle, bracelets from India and Palestine, a "Fish" card and a Greek thing which I don't remember how it is called :)
I already have some next targets - pieces that should definitely be part of the collection: Eiffel Tower, wooden shoes (i only have huge ones) and the mascots of the 2008 Olympic Games in China. Next days I might receive an Egyptian pharaoh :P


ME: I was busy figuring out how I am, which environments I like and so on. I got to very interesting conclusions.
First is that for me it is a lot about people: I make new friends very hard but the ones I have I cherish them and want to be close to them.
Second: I have changed since I am in Belgium from very oriented on results and achievements to people and human relations.
Third, fourth, fifth ... many small and big things. I even retook a test I did 1 year ago to see how I have changed and the changes are obvious ...

Many other things happen: Christmas dinner with Belgian family, MC vote of confidence, EB elections in my LC, NatCo, NYE party, visit in Durbuy, PAI elections, meeting my family and living with Mada for more than 3 weeks :)

I am keeping this post general and neutral since I don't like sharing very personal things with a keyboard and a screen ;)

Some pictures:


New Year's Eve Party, dressed in clothes from Senegal and sombrero, Mada with a blouse from Congo and Andries with Arabic clothes.

--> in my room

at NatCo in a chat about entrepreneurship ... in medicine, in politics, in educational system, in cooking :P

pictures from the last 2 months

Take a look at my newest pictures

For the first time I am showing a movie


WOWOWOW!
In the last 3 days I saw 3 times on trams (twice in Gent and once in Bruxelles) adds with Romania "Simply Surprising"!!!!

I made a picture with one of them!
















In the 5 months since I came to Belgium I "develop" a nice belly so now I am on diet :) , trying not to eat late in the evening. Of course that during the day I am doing my best :D






dreaming of a jambon coming from the ceiling






























I didn't change that much :D

The road ahead

I feel I am changing ... every day ... :)

I also feel the need to balance my life, to be busy with other things like reading, watching movies, getting back to people I care about, thinking of the future etc.

In the last 2 months (since I last posted) I have been challenging myself, appreciating more what I used to have in Romania, trying to understand how Belgian people function, understand better my feelings and ... again ... thinking of the future.


I realized that if I follow a certain path after the MC year it will take me on an unique road of my life. There aren't 2 of a kind!
Some things will happen if I decide to stay in Belgium, to return to Romania or to go for a traineeship in Brazil or Austria. The same if I choose to stay in AIESEC or join another organization. The same if I join real estate, IT&C, banking or consulting industry. The same if I choose HR, finance, CSR, production, logistics or sales department.

Of course I am trying to figure out where I went to get in the end which is again interesting :) Depending on this I will choose the industry, the orgzanization, the field of work, the country, the city ...

The process is very interesting ... I love it!!! I feel so alive!!! I am deciding the next years of my life and I will take responsability of my decision no matter what!

Now, an interesting perspective I got from a research of a HR Belgian guru. He is saying that between 23-25 to 30-35 you should be guided by what is interesting for yourself and give yourself the opportunity to try whatever you want. Around 30-35 make a well-thought plan and give the best of you, you will have enough experience to know you want, enough skill and confidence to succeed. This way you will reach 60 achieving something in life, happy with the diversity in your life ...
It sounds like the T-leadership approach on life-long term ...


The road that keep me busy these days ...


Soon I'll put some pics and share some interesting experiences ...

Important things happened

I haven't posted a message for more than 1 month.

Since then many things happened and managed to be really busy. It was actually the busiest time I ever had.

So, in my usual style I will tell you the main highlights:

Attended IC in Poland. Amazing personal experience to be in the same place with people from 100 countries, all smart and wanting to change something about the world. So much positive energy ...

Romania was recognized as the best country in developing leaders in the whole AIESEC network by being awarded the Global Excellence Award.





MC & NTT planning - done!!! ... Now we are delivering on them!

Kick Off - my first national conference in the role of a MC member. Everyone is looking up to us and expect great things ... actually a lot is in their hands and brains. Anyways very interesting :)




I finished the design and printing of the marketing materials for recruitment. I think they are looking great and will have the desired impact. Here they are:

Romania will become an EU member starting on the 1st of January 2007. It is official so let's be happy about it! An important page in our history is being written.

Steaua finally made it to the Champions League and won their first game in Kiev with Dinamo, 4-1, that was unbelievable!!!




At IC, the people coming from Timisoara made me a surprise of which I am still very touched: they gave me a big candy heart :) You are worthy persons!


The most important personal thing which makes me very happy: my new girlfriend ... Mada!








Voila!

Before going to IC

The monster conference:

550 delegates

200 and more Business Leaders all around the world

95 Cultures represented

64 Congress Committee Members

10 entire days of exciting and challenging sessions

http://www.ic2006.pl

This is one conference I always wanted to go. I heard of it for the first time from Anca who was CC in Calgary, Canada in 2002 than Victor went to Serbia in 2003, 2004 was in Germany, last year in India and now Poland, finally I am going! I'll be there in 3 DAYS!

I am glad and feel privileged I am going there, I think is one of the most amazing things in this world a young person of my age can go to. I have a very good feeling about it, especially about the "Solidarity for the future" theme for the conference.

I'm thinking to post messages during the conference, I'll see if I have time.

Have the best day ever, every day!

Update today!

There have been already 15 days since I last posted.

Since then some things have changed and happened:
- We finalised transition so now I am really in CHARGE
- transition party was great and I was accused of making the cocktails too strong, some important people got drunk ;)
- I have started working on some strategy and I find the first challenge of changing the mindset from a local one to a national one ;) That's exactly what I wanted
- I finally have a room for myself with bed, cupboards and chair :)
- started doing sports: jogging and went for a 25 km biking trip
- In Belgium the weather is finally normal meaning it rains a lot and temperature is usually under 25
- visited Bokrijk Museum about old Belgium life














- bought wooden shoes, size 29 ;) = 43









- went to Standard Liege- Steaua Bucharest footbal match on Wednesday. 2-2 but I am sure Steaua will go through to the Champions League after 10 years :D



- new Romanian trainees arrived: Irina and Bogdan. I was counting the Romanians I met so far that have a connection with AIESEC: 10 + random ones :)

- last bu not least, got my first almost 1000 euro salary. You know what they say: first milion is hard to make :D

Until next post, all the best!

25 days already

I am in Belgium for already 25 days, time is flying like crazy.

In this rhytm September is just around the corner and the real craziness will start with recruitment, conferences and so on.

Since last weekend:
- transition-transition-transition
- cooking sarmale for the MC team - they were really gooood
- saw the parade on the Belgium National Day
- visited a cousin on Sunday
- had NTT planning meeting
- went to AIESEC ULB barbeque
- went shopping on Saturday and visited the Atomium (2nd time), Chinese pavilion and Japanese Tower
- proactively took extra responsibilites and became OCP of MC transition party ;)

My B-day

On Friday was my birthday :)

Some special things about this day:
- just after midnight I got a "happy birthday!" call from alis
- Mada send me a very nice present by email
- I got "Happy B-day!" emails from people I didn't expect :)
- when I arrived in the MC office, colleagues started singing "Happy B-day"

I gave some thought to this event, turning 23 and I realised I am really young, in a period when I can do or start doing whatever goes through my mind.

Furthermore, these weekend I realised to things about myself which make me really happy, you know, some self-discovery things :)

In the afternoon, I went to Rotterdam for the AI transition Party so actually my B-day party was with a lot of strangers but still I felt good. I missed having dear friends with me!

As a present: pictures from this 16 days spent in Belgium and The Netherlands ;)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dan_rosca1/my_photos

Sa visam frumos!
Dan