AIESEC International experience in couple words

It has been a story of discovery and learning.

It has been a discovery of new cultures.

Having lunches with Colombian, dinners with Nigerian, night tee talks with Australian, shisha with Mexican, playing pinc-pong with Hungarians, working with Norwegian and rediscovering Russians. Getting to know Indonesian, feeling so familiar with Romanian, understanding American.

Having random and miningful talks with Ugandan, getting drank with Chinese and playing with Portuguese, Missing Canadian, having fun with Indians and feeling so proud of being Ukrainian.

It has been discovery of new countries.

Relaxing Netherlands, Incredible India, Special Belgium, Sunny France, powerful Germany, Big China, Beautiful Hungary, Sweden fairy tail and different Ukraine.

It has been discovery of new feelings.

Fulfillment from small victories, excitement from surprises, happiness of seeing sun and colors, anger of never having enough time to do things, disappointment with failers and persistence in getting things done.

It has been learning of myself, my values and my path.

It has been life of thousand peaces:  productive meetings, long discussions, arguments, laughing, sleepless nights, talks, long flights, challanges,rainbow, first snow, colors, team buildings, rendom jokes, big concepts, small victories, tears of missing someone, tears of feeling proud, warm, positive, chellanging, funny, different people, people united to fulfill the promise and unleash the future.

AIESEC International is a special experience, which cannot be explained it can be only lived...

Incredible India: Except and understand

I've just finished my first trip to the land of richest and one of the oldest history and traditions, land of diversity, happiness and colors, land of being rich having nothing and being poor having everything, -

INCREDIBLE INDIA.

Except and Understand: if you want to enjoy this country, you need to spend time to learn their culture and except the way it is, so different from what you could imagine.



I love it the way it is:
I like the food, Dal, Paneer with butter Naan and all those crazy spaces which make it so delicious and special.
I like my Indian friends driving through Delhi at night on full speed of the car, listening to Punjabi radio and singing songs in Hindi
I like to have conversations till the morning, just because you have so much in common
I like watching Indian wedding and compare it to Ukrainian traditions (surprise we have more in common you could ever imagine)
I like hospitality of Indian families and I understand why people behave they way they do
I like the holly spirit of Taj Mahal and craziness of old Delhi
I like Sari and Kurta suits

See you soon, India
Next destination Mumbai in a month. 

gym assignment, hmm sounds not like me

So, apart from all crazy things I've done last week, about which I'll write soon with pictures.
Today, I subscribed to the gym, super awesome and super expensive, brand which is known in all Europe David Lloyd -  http://www.davidlloyd.nl/en/home
Coming there feels really good, all entire atmosphere seems supporting to get there every day, so let me see :)

my trip to Den Haag

Last Sunday I spend visiting the most amazing town in all Netherlands, at least from what I've seen so far, - Den Haag. 

This strange combination of narrow streets, restaurants everywhere, lots of people sitting in summer terraces, beer, wine, feeling of summer, sea, beach and many many tourists. 

After visiting this town, I really understand why Queen is living there, its kind of "Queen place".

Just look at pictures (mine will be uploaded soon):

     

During this day, I manage to spend some hours at the beach, read a book and participate in some rock festival. I' must say they know how to make festivals, people getting crazy there, all from 3 years old to 60 years old grannies, who barely can walk. At the same time, the mass and % of garbage everywhere, made me feel proud, in Ukraine at any festival I have never seen so big mass, even after Sheshory, which took 1 week.

Keep on discovering Europe, next week going for Belgium for planning week, to the smallest town in Europe.

New books to read

Yesterday, spend an amazing day in Den Haag city, however it will be other story. During my little trip I bought 2 books, which I really hope to read this month.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (original title in Swedish: Män som hatar kvinnor – "Men Who Hate Women") is an award-winning crime novel by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson, the first in his "Millennium Trilogy."

At his death in November 2004 he left three unpublished novels that made up the trilogy. It became a posthumous best-seller in several European countries

This novel supplies a genealogical table for keeping track of the numerous members of the five generation Vanger family who are under investigation. "An epic tale of serial murder and corporate trickery spanning several continents, the novel takes in complicated international financial fraud and the buried evil past of a wealthy Swedish industrial family. Through its main character, it also references classic forebears of the crime thriller genre while its style mixes aspects of the sub-genres. 

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia is a 2006 memoir by American author and memoirist Elizabeth Gilbert. The memoir chronicles the author's trip around the world after her divorce, and what she discovered during her travels. As of February 2010, the book had remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for 158 weeks.

At 32 years old, Gilbert was educated, had a home and a husband, and a successful career as a writer. However, she was unhappy in her marriage and often spent the night crying on her bathroom floor. She separated from her husband and initiated a divorce, which her husband contested. She entered into a relationship with another man, but this relationship did not work out either. While writing an article on yoga vacations in India, she met a seventh-generation medicine man who told her she would come back and study with him. After finalizing her difficult divorce, she spent the next year traveling around the world. She spent four months in Italy, eating and enjoying life (Eat). She spent four months in India, finding her spirituality (Pray). She ended the year in Bali, Indonesia, looking for "balance" of the two and found love (Love

Cinema and movies

This week Rotterdam hosts Arabic movie festival, which I got a chance to visit today. Amazing atmosphere, cozy, and feels like at home in the cinema called  “Cinarama”.  The movie I got a chance to see, called “Cinecitta” or simply 7 by Ibrahim Latif, Tunisia.

Its really sincere comedy about 3 guys who wanted to make movie for the festival but didn’t get a grand, so they found other way how to get money, or simply to steel it from the bank.

Suddenly I remembered, all those great moments I’ve lived in Tunisia this February. Real Medina, small cafes, shi-sha and real mint tea, since that time everywhere I go I order mint tea, however I still didn’t find so good taste, as in Tunisia, those people really know how to make it special.

The other movie, I’ve got a chance to see last Saturday, “Mao’s Last dancer”, made me willing to visit China some days, at least to see how much this country has changed since Mao time. On the back of the movie shows quite good emotions, feelings and real life of Chinese people with all their fears, happiness, every day problems and all this combine with the main line of the movie of a guy who became professional ballet dancer, his love to dance, his love to parents and his love to American girl. It’s Just special, recommend to watch.

In Rotterdam, there are couple cinema places, one has discount if you buy a card for 1 month, it cost just 20 euro (price for 1 ticket 8,5 euro) and you can go as many times as you want, however movies there totally “popsa” stile, which I like but not more then couple per month. At the same time there is other cinema, which usually shows not that popular movies, but with the deep sense and big picture, but they don’t have any discount, trying to figure out how find something between.

Happy watching movies you like 

a bit of pictures from my new experience

Leaving Diversity

Management Team of AI 10-11

AIESEC International 10-11

and... my super and the best AIESEC Experience Team

Canoeing on Saturday

So, this weekend I did canoeing, with my new team, which was fun from the beginning of the story. 

Firstly we got there after an epic party last night, with some of us, for example me, took to seriously, so I just back home at 6 a.m. and had to be ready at 10 in the morning, which obviously didn't happen, and Hugo spend a couple of minutes near my door, trying to wake me up. 

The next challenge, was actually to survive to the place of interaction, with massive hangover.

And the last one, he he, to pick the "best" partner for this activity, which I also fail to make strategically, actually not me, as we were randomly picking up the names , and I got to one canoe with Camilo, which afterwords we realized it was a big mistake, as we came last one to the point, and had a lot of fun during the way for all people who were passing by :)

Thank's God, on the way back we changed the partners :) so I happily manage to get back almost the first one.

General feelings, its an amazing activity, we manage to pass 10 km, and i really thought I wouldn't be able to move my hands afterwords, but everything is really ok. Actually you can learn at least about one person in your team, having talks in the middle of the river for 1,5 hour.

I'm really looking for next weekend, and new cool things we going to make together:)

1st week of transition

We've went through AIESEC history session, which basically we had to make for our self: 7 hours, to read, explore and design a session for new members on AIESEC history, with calls to former PAIs, tons of docs, publications, pictures, ppts and videos. 

and the output, more then great, 1 h session, with 6 games and lots of lough in the office, looking at current AI team passionately trying to win from each other. 

This day brought a lot of fun in the office and 1st successfully executed task as a team, I'm getting more and more exited.

One more thing, today was the first time we set in our sub teams for 10 minutes to have a discussion, finally I saw those 4 amazing people, I'm going to work with near me, and thoughts came to my mind, Its must be an amazing year, having those guys around, and It will be in fact challenging year to lead, manage, execute, learn, perform and achieve

Where do you get your energy?

I get it from people. Talks, meetings, chats, observations. I just love people, but what even more, I like making people smile, then you feel proud of making someones life happier :)

Dear friends, Have an awesome weekend!

matching people talents with right positions?

Taking a few leadership experiences, I've manage couple selection processes trying to get people where they will be performing the best, so at the end of the day, you know how it works, you have some vision of the team, and then look at people who has applied, choose, mix, marge, divide etc. 

But I have never expected to be part of such a process from the other side, being recruited for position you were not applying. I must say it's really fun, and recently I was thinking why you actually tend to choose wrong position/role for yourself?  as usually there are couple reasons why you choose wrong position for yourself: 

1) lack of understanding of the role

2) you don't find role attractive enough (JD, money, benefits, experience etc) 

3) you underestimate your qualities and abilities (basically you don't feel you can even dream about such a role), and I think the last one is the worth, as if there will be no smart recruitment process you may forever stuck into lover level job offers.
This is conclusion which I made generally looking at different people and recruitment processes in different organizations.

now about my case, I was selected as a Vise President Operations, sitting on the transition you get to know more and more about your role in the team and generally how its reflect to external companies roles. 

Couple interesting facts I got to know, usually my role is called COO: Chief Operating Officer and there are couple possible models which define JD of COO:

1) the COO oversees all operational an administrative functions

2) The COO oversees all programs

3) The COO oversees all internal functions

So the case of my position, is 2nd model, which is in contrast with 1st one doesn't have administrative part. Basically looking at how AIESEC operates, addressing main challenges and risks it may face, making our product more competitive in the market, managing key partnerships and a huge part of the time managing a team responsible for each stage of AIESEC experience. 

And here is what I have found out:
"Carrying out this great scope of responsibilities tends to require a very broad skills set. It starts with the basics: great general management, project management, analytical skills. Then there is strategic planning and thinking, managing other to outcomes, guiding people so they take more than they think they can and are successful at reaching their objectives, and being persuasive."
and now goes a question, if I don't have all of those set of qualities, can I still be high performer on my role? and do I really need to be good at all those skills or its more about balance? and can I develop those skills in short or long run? if yes, what should I do?

So, if anyone knows something on this, would be great to rad your comments :0

First days in new "home"

Today is exactly 1 week seance I've moved to Rotterdam. Which gave an opportunity basically to see all the most important things here or at least almost all
So, here is my observations and filings:
1. This week there were no rain at all, even people told me to be prepared for rain every day, I'm still lucky not to see it on my first week.
2. I manage to visit 2 night clubs, and spend my entire salary I used to receive in Ukraine for 1 night, but yehh the party was just awesome.
3. I think I manage to eat in 10 or so cafes, having, pizza, pasta, tai food, traditional food, and many many more, so I'm already keen on my coolest places, where I want to come back, and those I really don't like at all.

As a normal foreigner here, I got surprised by # of bicycles this city has, that's impressive, but what is more important they really don't care how they look, until it has two wheels and can move you. Some of them so old, that My mother would tell me if see me on one of those, - you are not homeless to use it. But here is really doesn't matter, and next weekend I really plan to get one :)

Second big surprise, they have a market, by market I really understand this massive place where you can get food from farmers (in case of Ukraine from old babushkas), noisy, crowded, and really alive. So, every Saturday, you can find it in Rotterdam. i've been there yesterday, and its worth doing, you can bay massive verity of fruits and vegetables, so cheep (a lot of those cheaper then in Ukraine).

Today, I manage to see Ersamus bridge (this white one), huge park, take a bout trip and visit street with all flags :).
Keep on discovering Rotterdam.

Couple words about couple things

Rotterdam..
Interesting, if someone will want to read my blog in 20 years, will they get a logic what a hell I'm doing here (Rotterdam)? But this is not the topic of this up-date.
Shortly about important:

I started my trip on 14th of May, and it was quite long: I've stacked in Kiev airport for couple hours because of delay of my flight. Traveled to Hungary, and suppose to have around 2 h before my 2nd flight to Poland, however as my 1st flight delayed, the 2nd was waiting only for me, can you imagine me entering into the plain and looking at eyes of all those people? I arrived to Warsaw early evening and spend in the airport entire night (13 h), in the morning I suppose to take a flight to Gdansk, and yehh they found my luggage was 2,5 kg bigger than it's allowed, so I was re packing in front of line of people waiting to take a tickets.
But that was not the final adventure, in Gdansk (small polish city) they even didn't know my flight Gdansk - Berlin exist :) So it took me a while to prove that I'm on this flight and its actually going in 2 hours from this airport. Finally I got to Berlin. Thanks to Nastya Bilous, who took care of me.
I spend hm around 50h in Berlin, which allowed me to see couple of things and understand, - I want to see this city once again.

And then I suppose to take a train to Rotterdam, but no one told me I have to make 3 connections in the middle of nowhere in Germany and Netherlands.
The fanny thing about german trains ,they come quickly and they leave even quicker, so you have from 1 to 5 min to jump into the train and make sure you do it correctly, as usually there are 2 trains connected and there are special calculation system, which sure I didn't know :)

I'm here almost for a week, and I really enjoy, working all day and parting all night, I guess weekend I'll spend in a bad, just eating and sleeping.

I have mixture of feelings, which I don't know how to express -  excitement, curiosity, surprise,just feeling positively strange about my life and where it brought me.

Boundaries in our life's

Have you asked your self what is your boundary?

I was born in a village of around 300 people, I was going to school situated at the really end of the village, where amazing view of the river, fields and forest could be observed. I thought the boundary is there, where the forest and river ends. Then I got to learn in the school that rivers connects to bigger rivers, those to seas... I dreamed to see the sea, to find the boundary of the world, once I saw but people told me, there is another country on that side of the sea, so the boundary is there?
being a child I was searching the boundary of our planet... Growing up I started to search the boundary of my possibilities, starting new and new things, learning every day something new, I still keep in doing this.

And yes, I do have just one wish for my self, never find a boundary for my growth!!

the best...

Through all my AIESEC experience I've been experiencing, something what I could name as "the best". In a while, having five years of the experience, I'm getting more and more "the best" things into my memory book.
There are some events, people, decisions, actions, achievements, which I truly may name as those memorable, good to remember, good to keep and get inspiration from.

2010 is definitely the year for "BEST" moments when dreams come true.

January :
The best rest in hometown full of love and joy, with someone I really like )
The best horse ride lessons and lovely horses farm
The best new MC flat MCs ever were living with amazing view to the river and bridge

February:
The best experience of selection, reflection and self understanding
The best position I could ever dream about
the best cafe in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia

March:
The best faci experience
The best faci team
The best emotions and people around

To be continued ........