Useful (and funny) advice for Exchangers

We all have to deal with some cultural shocks when living in a foreign country. And we all need little tips to help us get through, take what we got and make the most if it. Today we are posting some useful (albeit funny) advice from one of the AIESEC members, who is currently enjoying an internship in Ukraine. Read it carefully, keep them in your mind:

1. Wear your passport at all times, you will meet alot of cops;
2. While in AIESEC play mime alot it will help you so much here;
3. Start doing stuff, do not wait for others;
4. Do a “Free Hugs” t-shirt, you have no idea how efficient it is;
5. Although is kinda rude, ask for the age of the of the girls.
6. Try your best to not get in a taxi by yourself ; it can be very expensive.
7. Keep in touch with as many traines as you can, they will help you 100 times more than anyone else;
8. Go visit other places only with trainees, it is so fun to try and find a hostel in a town where almost no one  speaks english.
Hope that these were useful. Thank you, Bogdan, for sharing. :)

Goodbye Janet!

Hi! So, do you know what happened this morning at 10:30?

Our trainee from International Kindergarten, Janet, bid us farewell and headed back home, in Hong Kong. We’ll sure miss her a lot and we would really like for you to get to know her a bit through what she wrote. :)

So, here is Janet!

“Ni Ho, I am Janet, but please call me So Hiu Yan! =] I come from Hong Kong, China. I belong to the LC, Chinese University of Hong Kong. I have already been in Iasi for about 1 month and will stay till the end of August. So, we still got plenty of time ~

I am enjoying every bit of life in Romania because it gives me the chance to lead a very different life compared with that of Hong Kong which is everywhere hustle and bustle, somehow suffocating. Yet, meanwhile, it takes a good balance between amusement and working in my kindergarten. I sometimes feel challenging in my work but the smiles of the kids are always rewarding! I believe this will definitely make up to one of my most important memories in Romania.

Lastly, I really want to say it is so nice to meet you all because you guys are always so welcoming! Peng Yau!

PS In Cantonese, Ni Ho means Hello and Peng Yau means friend =]”

Janet with the children

Janet

A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. :D

From left to right: Jose, Janet, Jacqueline and Jessy-all International Kindergarten trainees. :)

Learning circle!

Yes, it’s time for another one!

But this one over here is a bit special, we think. Why? Because we wonder, what is it like to be a “Foreigner in a foreign country”. Do you want to find out?

Then join us Saturday, 28th of August, 17:00 at Libraria Carturesti.


Hello again!

So, we have trainees and trainee buddies. And what is the better way for you to get to know our trainees than through their buddies’ eyes?

Should we give it a try? :D

Okay….This is….

……Jakub Ratislav. He is from The Czech Republic. Here is what Simina-his trainee buddy wrote about him:

He is a very intelligent guy, with great taste in music. A very good company, you can practically talk about anything with him. He is very interested in culture and wants to know all aspects of Romania, not only the most famous aspects of the country… but to know things about what I call “the simple” Romania, which is more authentic, I would say

He also has AIESEC experience, now being the OCP (coordinator) of Recruitment in AIESEC Prague, so he is a “little treasure” in our LC at the time as well , not just for Summer GROW.

Oh yes, he takes a lot of photos, too. Good ones, in my opinion.

I guess anyone would say that after spending 5 minutes around him. He is indeed a great person and I’m glad I got to know him.

From left to right: Simina, Jakub and Karolina-another trainee on the GROW program


…..Ander Allas is from Estonia. Simina wrote:

“At first Ander gave me the impression of a very serious type of guy, and he seemed a bit stiff. But after we talked to get to know each other I noticed that my first impression was starting to fade away really quickly.

He is a very smart person, interested in history and politics… I guess it’s no wonder he’s studying International Relations at the University in Tallin.

Apart from that, he is actually very funny and that’s what I didn’t expect from him. He can always bring a smile to your face.

Although he is an Exchange Participant, he knows a lot of stuff about AIESEC and he is a great match for the Summer GROW programme.

You would be surprized of how many things he knows, so never pull back from a conversation with Ander.

All in all, I’m really glad I got to be trainee buddy for these guys. they’re nice to hang around with and have a good time. Smart and funny, who would have thought? ”

E from Estonia :P

Trainee Fever -Introducing… Learning Circle!

Hey there! Want to hear some exciting news? Well then imagine what would be like to have in your city people from all over the world, open to talk to you about their customs and traditions: wanting to be your friends! Want to know things about our trainees? Well, we have a treat for you! Read and enjoy the article below. Courtesy of the Incoming Exchange department: written by our dear Madalina Ungureanu.


Projects can get tiresome and there are times when you might lose touch of what your purpose is. It’s not always about meeting deadlines and reaching objectives. Sometimes you have to think more about the people that are part of the same team as you; and when internationals are part of your team, then you might want to do that more often.

Try imagining exotic Puerto Rico with a pinch of Poland and Czech Republic, a dash of Estonia, spiced up with Taiwan and Hong Kong, on top of which you add a drop of Russia and some Holland. What do you get? The perfect recipe for internationalism, all covered by interested Romanians that came to find out about cultures so different from ours.

This is what happened on Monday evening, 9th August, in Carturesti. We were 11 internationals from 8 countries plus 15-20 more Romanians talking about customs and holidays from our countries. But this was a learning circle that was a bit different from the rest that we had in the past, by the fact that it was open to the public. So we didn’t have only AIESEC members that might have already been used to the multicultural environment, but also some pupils from Grow and other students from outside the organization.

We talked for about two hours and we found out that traditions mean different things to each of us, some valuing more personal traditions that arose in each person’s family, and others thinking of traditions more as social events that bring people closer together. I learned that Dutch people like to party very much with each occasion that they can get, and cherish a lot the time spent with their friends, I learned how Puerto Ricans celebrate not only their holidays, but also the American ones due to the big USA influence; I learned how Russians are quite patriotic and celebrate events that are important to their country’s history; I learned how Chinese people focus more on spending time with their families and commemorating their ancestors on the Chinese New Year and spend time with friends on the Western New Year… and so many other things.

… Martisor, Three Kings Day, Chinese New Year, special Estonian customs for Easter and Dutch Queen’s Day were all subjects of the same evening. It was a night where I felt internationalism maybe more than any time.

There was laughing, sharing and tea… so different people from so far away countries.

Yes, we do have conferences and trainings and parties and so on… but we also have people… amazing people, each with their own stories to tell and the thirst for knowing and sharing more from and with the others. We have great opportunities to know so many countries just by staying at home and talking to the ones who choose to travel here.

What’s so special about Poland?

GREAT NEWS!

Sanda Babiuc and Ioana Gavrilescu, two members of AIESEC Iasi are going in Exchange in Krakow, Poland! They will be interns at the Towarszystwo Przyjaciół Dzieci Orphanage.

I sent each of them an email asking them how they feel that in a week or two they will be going in exchange in Poland.

And they said…

…Sanda

“Hey dear :)

Sorry for answering so hard, but I was away from town.

Exchaaaaaaaaaaaaaange —> I am very excited and I can’t wait to get there!! I think that when I board the plane, my heart will shrink a lot :) ) I hope I’m going to make it a great experience and be a good ambassador of AIESEC Iasi.
Have a lovely day!

Sanda”


…Ioana

“Hey!

So nice you asked me :X you made me think a bit more about this :) )

Well I am very excited! I can’t wait to see how it is when I get there, when I meet all the other trainees and people from AIESEC Krakow. I can’t wait to see how it is at work.

I will be working with little children from an orphanage and I am a bit nervous because they do not speak much English , but very little from what I understood. This will be one of my roles actually – to teach them English. And it is hard to do something for them, to  motivate them, play self discovery games and help them when they do not speak English.

That’s why everyday I think of games and activities that would suit them.

All in all…it is the first time when I leave home for such a long time so it will be a bit hard…but I know for sure that I’ll be another person after this experience.  To do something for children with problems, inspire them and at the same time live to the full in an international environment….what can be more perfect than this? :X

I’ll keep you updated with impressions when I get there and I am sure they will be many and very beautiful.

Heh, I think I wrote a novel…but the simple thought of going and living this experience makes me dream at a complicated novel, full of action and symbols ;) ) Life changing indeed!

Kisses!

Ioana”

News from Poland!

Hello there! We promised more of Sanda and Ioana gone in Exchange in Poland, Krakow and here it is!

“We have been Exchange Participants in Krakow for three weeks already and it’s more than awesome!

Still, while we sit to write this, we cannot find words to express how wonderful our experience has been. Time passes quickly as we enjoy every moment. We might not have believed it before, but Exchange is indeed a feeling that cannot be described unless one has lived it.

Krakow is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe- you should definitely put it on your Must See list. We can never get enough of walking and sensing the age of the buildings or old streets. This city is full of life and we have embodied its soul into ourselves.

The work at the NGO brings us as much excitement and joy as the city itself. The staff is very welcoming and we feel like part of a family there. Working with the kids takes you to another world; one where smiling and laughing all the time is a rule. They give us so much love and treat us as special guests. We draw, play football, create quizzes, organize competitions, teach them about our culture and simply engage ourselves in any activity that puts a smile on their innocent faces. Seeing them grow attached to us as days pass by is one of the most fulfilling emotions one can ever experience.

Furthermore, after work, we have so much fun! Making new friends has never been so easy! Distance now holds a completely different notion for us as we have seen before us just how small the world is.

Romania, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Turkey, Spain, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, and China- we have all united as one for a common goal, under a common experience.

We were told that Exchange is about people who want to make the world a better place and now, we see just how true it is. Exchange is a challenge that after going through, you can only count what you gained.

So when will you pack your things to join us in Exchange?

Lots of love from Krakow!!!

Sanda & Ioana”


And if you still crave for more we have a little surprise for you! Scroll down. You will not be disappointed!

Exciting Exchange News

Hello there! Last time we proudly introduced to you a new matched member. Remember Bogdan Rusu?(yes, the handsome hunk from the picture above). Well he likes to keep us updated. And we are glad to present to you fragments from his amazing experience!
How would you like to be in his place now? :)
So, let’s start in the beginning… I was born in a small city in the North-East of Romania… HAHA just joking :D
My NEW beginning… Let’s start with me stepping out from the airplane into the Vienna airport. Familiar path, after a previous trip here and two months spent in this dream city, so my one-night stop in Vienna, finding my way to Paul’s place and then wondering around on my own was a breeze. Nice places, cool people – I was sorry to only spend such a short time there (though it was time well-spent, I met the new Austrian MC :) ). But I’m going back there for a weekend at the end of July, to see some old friends, so I’ll catch up shortly.
Now, let’s go back to the true start of this message: the beautiful city of Linz, Austria. A small piece of Heaven here on the Danube river, a green oasis where everything (including the job) feels like a nice vacation. The same Austrian infrastructure, well-built and easy to use every step of the way, allowed me to march straight next to the dorm room where I would be staying. There, I was greeted by a very cool guy that came to greet me at the tram station and show me where I’d be living. His name is Vishant, he’s from India and, as I would find just moments later, he’s also my colleague in the office of the company that i’m working for right now.
Let me tell you a bit about the 3-star dorm that I’m staying in :D The rent here is more than one third of my salary, but to be honest it’s worth every single cent!! I have a room at the 4th floor (out of 12) in one of the newest buildings in Linz, at the edge of the city, with lots of green everywhere and the mountain less than 50 meters from my window (clean air, almost no cars in sight and trees everywhere, as you can see in the attached photos). The dorm actually functions like a 3-star hotel (including a reception desk at the entrance, very cool), we have cleaning staff that take care of the rooms, a neat basement with washing machines, dryers and ironing that we can use, table soccer games (which are especially popular now during the World Cup :D ) and so on. My room also has a kitchen (though not every room has one, I got lucky :D), and everywhere almost everything is ran on sensors and/or automated timers (lights in the kitchen and bathroom, the bathroom sink, the electric cooker etc) – so a small heaven for a techno-geek like me :D And now, I saved the best part for last: we have a huge pool and a gym which are accessible to guests of the hotel – so I’ll learn to swim in no time :) So, it’s just a very cool way of living, little things that make your life a lot less stressful.
Ok, so much for my new home for now. Going to work my the first week here was a breeze :) my two new friends – Vishant, that I already told you about, and Filip, this great guy from Croatia – are also AEISEC interns staying in the dorm, and are working with me at the same company, so I had someone to show me around since day 1. Really nice, considering that it’s a 50-minutes ride from there to work so you’d get bored to death without someone to talk to… We’re planning to find some shorter way soon, and are even considering buying a scooter to go to work… :) Work is fun – or, it will be, once I actually get started with doing something useful :P For the moment, my project is in the specifications stage, so there’s no actual work to be done for the now – they just gave me some documentation to study and showed me around the company. Even the work here seems like a vacation – the company is also at the edge of the city, so it’s light traffic and pretty green everywhere, plus that Fridays here are a half-day of work so that weekend starts earlier than I was used to :D I’ve met my colleagues here, I think all of them speak English – which is a really cool thing – and they’re all nice people and interested in the interns’ well-being. Surprisingly enough, there are a lot of girls here doing programming and development :)
Good, so that’s that… I didn’t yet get the chance to visit any major tourist spots – although Linz has a tone of those!! I’ve spent my first two weekends wondering around, buying some stuff for my new home, getting used to the layout of the tram and bus lines and catching up with some work. So, needless to say I have a lot of visiting to do – one of the first things on my agenda will be to go in a boat on the Danube :D Then of course, visiting the Ars Electronica center as well as other museums and places of interest. It’s gonna be a busy internship for sure, so expect more posts like this one in the following weeks and months! And of course, lots and lots of photos :) For the moment though, I’ll just let you admire the view that I wake up with every morning here :D
That’s all for now, folks! Best wishes from Linz, my new piece of Heaven!”

You could be the next one!

more »

Exchange Blog is Back!

Welcome to the new and improved version of AIESEC IASI’s Exchange Blog. What treasures are you bound to found here? Stories and updates about great people who matched and signed in for the time of their life, or stories about trainees that came to us to spice out our lives with their smiles and their knowledge. Story of the week?

His name is Bogdan Rusu and he is one long-term AIESECer. 4 years in AIESEC and tenths of people who consider him as “one in a million”. After working with us he has finally decided to complete his experience by leaving for exchange. His enthusiasm was revealed in a mail sent to our local mail address. We’ve posted it here wishing good luck to those who fall into his steps.

“I am continuously smiling since 5 o’clock.”

On the street, this evening, as I was walking from my job place to the AIESEC headquarters, everybody was looking at me suspiciously because I had the wide smile of a crazy Child, hit by the train of happiness. The reason is simple: I had just taken the last step in my matching process: “the interview” with those from the Linz enterprise, from Austria, the city on the Danube  that will be my house in the next year.

And if you’d only know what kind of interview it was! I had prepared myself for it the entire

weekend – for two days I felt like I was in College again: studying, with my eyes scheming through the courses, to remind myself of some notions that I hadn’t worked with for three years; I was a little bit nervous about what they were going to ask, how will it be, if they will test me, if they will ask me tricky questions for who knows how many hours…

At five o’clock I talked to them for 5 minutes. “Bogdan, you say that you have worked in Java before?” Me:”Of course!” My future manager:” Perfect! That means that we are waiting for you here. If you want to know something more about the city or the company, let us know. Beside we will set things up with the AIESEC local from here, and we are waiting for you on the 28th.

The thing that I hadn’t bet my cards on it, and that seems that are happening, both on TT(technical traineeships), and I suppose on MT(management trainer ship) too is this: those who will  interview you, although your managers, are more often than not, less prepared that you. If you have been selected to join AIESEC and leave for a certain domain, be sure that your evaluation and your selection process were tougher and more objective than the interview you’ll have to sustain with your TN taker, and that you are prepared for the area you’ll be working on.

Right now, I am overly excited and I wanted to share those feelings with you. I hope I’ll hear a lot more of you in the following period, at least as anxious to start this great experience. Thank you, AIESEC Iasi- the generations of members that I had worked with and by whose sides I have formed myself, because, beside the time I had invested in this organization,  I had received back knowledge, experience, friends. On 26th June I’m leaving for Austria, but I will keep you updated with details about my experience, pictures, videos and interesting stories. I have to follow new dreams, face new challenges and make new beautiful memories.

I embrace you all with the firm promises, that, although in a different country, I’ll stay close to AIESEC Iasi.”

Good luck, Bogdan!

Greetings from Afghanistan

La multi ani de Ziua Romaniei!

Voi scrie acest e-mail in romana pentru ca, acum mai mult ca niciodata ma simt roman, alaturi de soldatii nostrii din baza militara NATO, din Kabul !!

Dupa doua luni in care nu am auzit vorbe romanesti, cu atat mai putin sa intalnesc persoane din Romania, iata ca de 1 decembrie 2009 (dupa o luna jumate de negocieri :) ) am sarbatorit Ziua Nationala a Romaniei alaturi de 40 de romani, care m-au facut sa ma simt ca acasa… pentru aceasta zi, militarii nostri au facut 1500 de sarmalutze ca la mama acasa, ciroba radauteana, si fasole cu carnaciori. Au ramas americanii, germanii, francezii, turcii si toti ceillati cu gura cascata cand au mancat din bunatatile noastre cu specific romanesc.

Mi-am pus o dorinta cand am baut pentru prima data vin fiert anul asta, in pahare de apa plata (sub acoperire:):) … am savurat o cana de cafea facuta la filtru (made in Romania), am vorbit romana in grai moldovenesc cu sh si tz, si m-am bucurat sa vad ca romanii nostri sunt uniti peste hotare si ne reprezinta tara asa cum se cuvine.

Care este probabilitatea ca intr-o tara mult prea indepartata sa intalnesti 5 oameni din orasul in care ai copilarit ?..mult prea mica dar iata ca aici totul este posibil.. Am facut clubul botosanenilor ..”We are form Boston city, yeyy !!”.

Dar nu in ultimul rand sa intalnesti un roman care a auzit de AIESEC si care, ma asteapta de Craciun sa dansam Lele …

Felicitari AIESEC Iasi pentru premiul pe Exchange, eu simt cu adevarat ca il meritati !!

Sunt mandra ca sunt roman !!

Category: eXchange  33 Comments