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June 30, 2005
500+ realizations in June and still COUNTING!
A dream for many is today a reality! The first month to cross 500 exchanges since we have tracked realisations!
The good news doesn't end here, as we have crossed 2000 exchanges in the first 2 quarters of 2005. Historically, Quarter 3 is the biggest quarter so we can easily expect to cross 4000 by a big margin at the end of 2005!
Congratulations to everyone involved in making this happen! Lets open the champagne bottles!Heres to incredible exChange Xperiences!
Best Regards,
AIESEC International
The good news doesn't end here, as we have crossed 2000 exchanges in the first 2 quarters of 2005. Historically, Quarter 3 is the biggest quarter so we can easily expect to cross 4000 by a big margin at the end of 2005!
Congratulations to everyone involved in making this happen! Lets open the champagne bottles!Heres to incredible exChange Xperiences!
Best Regards,
AIESEC International
Posted by Oriana Torres at 22:06 | 0 comments
June 29, 2005
TODAY IS PETROULA'S NAME DAY
Ans she brought chocolates to all of us to the office :)
THE CELEBRATION OF NAMEDAYS IN GREECE
by Gary Van Haas
Namedays are a special and important part of Greek life because the very names themselves go back to the very beginning of Greek culture. Coming down to us through the ages are the marvelous names of heroes, saints and mythological figures such as the mighty Herakles, Odyessus, Alexander, Socrates, Plato, Constantine, Helen and many many more. Of course they go on, and on and in fact, many of them have changed little over time and are still used today.
For instance, the name 'Ioannis' is the derivative of 'John', and 'Maria' the root for Mary. All these names and more are all derived from the original Greek.
In the beginning of the Greek Orthodox religion, these celebrations were mainly observed as 'saint's days, but later became individual 'namedays'. All in all, namedays now are considered much more important than a person's actual birthday. In most cases, it is a tradition now in Greece, that when a person has a nameday, he or she gives a party where refreshments such as coffee, cake, liquor and hors d' oeuvres are offered to friends and acquaintances alike. In the work place, it's a little more subdued, but the nameday person still offers something like sweets or cakes. With small children, the nameday becomes a more of a celebration where a festive party is usually given, which continues every year up until about the age of twelve.
During a nameday, it's always a good idea to call your friends to wish them 'chronia polla', or 'have a good year' as a sign of appreciation, and at this point in the conversation, your friend will usually let you know if he's having a nameday party or not at his house. If he is and you are invited, whatever you do, don't come empty handed because it's customary to take along a gift. Usually a box of sweets, flowers or a plant will do. In some cases, you can even have the plant delivered if you can't get to the florist. Another good idea is to bring along some wine, liquor, or a more personal gift if you wish, depending on how well you know the person.
In business it's always good to remember namedays as a sign of mutual respect for bosses and workers alike. In fact, many business people these days send telegrams to associates and clients on their nameday as a way of keeping up good public relations. All in all, namedays are a fun and charming aspect of Greece which are celebrated with more flare in the small towns and villages.
THE CELEBRATION OF NAMEDAYS IN GREECE
by Gary Van Haas
Namedays are a special and important part of Greek life because the very names themselves go back to the very beginning of Greek culture. Coming down to us through the ages are the marvelous names of heroes, saints and mythological figures such as the mighty Herakles, Odyessus, Alexander, Socrates, Plato, Constantine, Helen and many many more. Of course they go on, and on and in fact, many of them have changed little over time and are still used today.
For instance, the name 'Ioannis' is the derivative of 'John', and 'Maria' the root for Mary. All these names and more are all derived from the original Greek.
In the beginning of the Greek Orthodox religion, these celebrations were mainly observed as 'saint's days, but later became individual 'namedays'. All in all, namedays now are considered much more important than a person's actual birthday. In most cases, it is a tradition now in Greece, that when a person has a nameday, he or she gives a party where refreshments such as coffee, cake, liquor and hors d' oeuvres are offered to friends and acquaintances alike. In the work place, it's a little more subdued, but the nameday person still offers something like sweets or cakes. With small children, the nameday becomes a more of a celebration where a festive party is usually given, which continues every year up until about the age of twelve.
During a nameday, it's always a good idea to call your friends to wish them 'chronia polla', or 'have a good year' as a sign of appreciation, and at this point in the conversation, your friend will usually let you know if he's having a nameday party or not at his house. If he is and you are invited, whatever you do, don't come empty handed because it's customary to take along a gift. Usually a box of sweets, flowers or a plant will do. In some cases, you can even have the plant delivered if you can't get to the florist. Another good idea is to bring along some wine, liquor, or a more personal gift if you wish, depending on how well you know the person.
In business it's always good to remember namedays as a sign of mutual respect for bosses and workers alike. In fact, many business people these days send telegrams to associates and clients on their nameday as a way of keeping up good public relations. All in all, namedays are a fun and charming aspect of Greece which are celebrated with more flare in the small towns and villages.
Posted by Oriana Torres at 12:52 | 0 comments
June 24, 2005
Isnt it cool
Possibly the newest Local Committee in the world, AIESEC Lahore, Pakistan, has an LC Blog. Best of luck to them, and AIESEC Pakistan.
Posted by Tom Gara at 12:54 | 4 comments
June 22, 2005
??: Who stole Mr. Froggy?
Conversation in AI office:
Amit:
Who stole Mr. Froggy?
It was on my desk and now its gone!
This is unacceptable. Return it now or face the fury of the X Corner...
Chris:
You even didnt realize it is gone until I reminded you. Dont pretend you care right now!
Amit:
I wonder what was your motivation in reminding me about poor froggy???
YOU TOOK IT!!Don'tnt even try kissing it to turn it into a prince... remember you need a real princess to kiss a frog.
Chris:
Your froggy left you since he knew you hated him! Amit, time to confess your crime!
What will be the end of this story? Is it Chris who kidnapped poor Mr. Froggy? Does Amit really stop loving poor thing and get rid of him? Is it true that Mr. Froggy is charmed prince who waits for kiss of real princess?
Real soap opera right from global office...
Amit:
Who stole Mr. Froggy?
It was on my desk and now its gone!
This is unacceptable. Return it now or face the fury of the X Corner...
Chris:
You even didnt realize it is gone until I reminded you. Dont pretend you care right now!
Amit:
I wonder what was your motivation in reminding me about poor froggy???
YOU TOOK IT!!Don'tnt even try kissing it to turn it into a prince... remember you need a real princess to kiss a frog.
Chris:
Your froggy left you since he knew you hated him! Amit, time to confess your crime!
What will be the end of this story? Is it Chris who kidnapped poor Mr. Froggy? Does Amit really stop loving poor thing and get rid of him? Is it true that Mr. Froggy is charmed prince who waits for kiss of real princess?
Real soap opera right from global office...
Posted by Romas Mažeika at 20:05 | 6 comments
What a weekend - What a trip
What a weekend…. what a weekend. I think it was one of the best weekends of mine in the last period. So relaxing, so much fun. Life is great :)
Amit, Liv, Ludek, Zeno and me rented a car and we went to Arnhem, Nijmegen and Dusseldorf. We started our journey Saturday morning and we went straight to Arnhem.
Click here to read more ....
Posted by pixi at 09:00 | 1 comments
June 21, 2005
An AIESEC mom: visiting AI kids the 2nd time
Have you ever lived far away from home then get surprise visits from your parents then feel that you have to present the best of your life for them to be assured that you’re in good hands? The initial reaction might be letting them go immediately and saying that they don’t have to worry about anything. However, for someone that’s living thousand miles away to get such visit, I really cherished that moment where I had the opportunity of showing my mom what AI life is all about, the European culture and lifestyle and the people that I value the most.
Sometime September 2004, my mom had a conference in Germany & Spain so she decided to drop by Netherlands for a few days. Same thing again this year, she went for a conference in Sweden(this time with my sister) then they are able to stay for a week this time. Apart from cooking for her AI children, I think she enjoyed the most getting to know some people in depth even just for a few hours. Either it was through a trip with Cliff to the wax museum, or a simple discovery with Lele, Luis & Elisa that they actually have Filipino basic with so much similarities in the Spanish language.
None of my statements would be able to capture it the best than with the letter she sent for everyone in the AI team below:
To my dear AI children,
It was a great opportunity to see you once again. It was my pleasure to share with you my Filipino dishes of chicken caldereta and vegetable chop suey. But did you know that the secret was in the preparation of the ingredients? Who chopped the chicken? Who peeled the potatoes? Who diced the vegetables? The Monday cooking team! And while doing so, weren't they doing it with gusto, with some sips of wine. It was no surprise then, that the group of about 20 AIs, also partook of the food with gusto.
With the changing of the guards in AI, I wish all of you success in all your endeavors. May you continue to have a balanced life. Remember always that your parents love you and support you in all your undertakings. Our prayers are always with you.
Warm hug and kisses to each of you.
Love,
Mommy Vilma
Posted by Liv at 14:27 | 5 comments
June 20, 2005
African Director "POXED" out of action
The last one week has been a greatly challenging week for me, being struck down(sounds biblicky) by chicken pox. I guess the quarantine for me was the difficult part more than the actually pox. Isolation is damn difficult...now I know how guys on solitary confinement feel...and this is despite having my own laptop with internet right by my bed. It just ain't the same...I'm sure I'll die if I have to go to prison (not that I'm planning too though, but again who knows...)
Funny thing about the sickness though was that anyone I told I had chicken pox all asked the same standard question like it was planned "Didn't you have that when you were a kid?" and ofourse I had my well-rehearsed and ever faithful answer "NO"... It worked everytime...
Anyways, the whole experience has been a good one for reflecting and thinking and I come out of it with one vow...I am not spending any evening, till I have to leave Rotterdam in the next 6 weeks, in this room EARLY if I can help it...hope I can find people willing to spend the evenings with me...New and Old teammates I am counting on you...
Should be bouncing out of bed and back to work in the coming days...
Funny thing about the sickness though was that anyone I told I had chicken pox all asked the same standard question like it was planned "Didn't you have that when you were a kid?" and ofourse I had my well-rehearsed and ever faithful answer "NO"... It worked everytime...
Anyways, the whole experience has been a good one for reflecting and thinking and I come out of it with one vow...I am not spending any evening, till I have to leave Rotterdam in the next 6 weeks, in this room EARLY if I can help it...hope I can find people willing to spend the evenings with me...New and Old teammates I am counting on you...
Should be bouncing out of bed and back to work in the coming days...
Posted by Longman at 02:23 | 3 comments
June 19, 2005
Summer weekend & Brazilian Lunch
This weekend was the final long-looked for sunny weekend, with incredible 30 degrees and no clouds in the sky which ensured a great start into the weekend. Rotterdam was crowded with people in the streets enjoying the sun and their ice-cream.
Most of the AI 04-06 spent their afternoon at Oostplein where the new rented appartment is. Lele (SSGN Director on AI 04-05) our Chef cook created a great Brazilian meal for lunch which she invited both AI teams for. It was a really chilled Saturday afternoon with nice chats, Backgammon, laughter and great food.
Most of the AI 04-06 spent their afternoon at Oostplein where the new rented appartment is. Lele (SSGN Director on AI 04-05) our Chef cook created a great Brazilian meal for lunch which she invited both AI teams for. It was a really chilled Saturday afternoon with nice chats, Backgammon, laughter and great food.
The afternoon continued for some people at the lake closeby or in some mentorship meetings in some street cafés.
Lots of visitors at the Brazilian Lunch. On the picture you can see from the left, Sarika - Rajiv`s sister and currently a trainee of ABN Amro, Anne Marieke from the MC of AIESEC the Netherlands, Manish, Geta, Mike and Chris of next years team and Marije, MCP of AIESEC in The Netherlands.
Chris from China and Marije from the Netherlands. Both were MCP collegues last year. Chris will be Director for the AP GN next year.
We reached the dessert phase with three different kinds of desserts, the final one was a special chocolate cream which needed to be prepared individually by everyone and then given to another person ;)
Brazilian Lunch originally uploaded by moko
The evening we all met back again to celebrate into Tacos Birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TACO !!! with Dudok´s famous dutch apple pie and some drinks before we headed to a Bar to coninue the celebrations and partying while dancing all night long to "dutch style" every 30 sec changing songs and music styles.
Posted by Moko at 14:06 | 1 comments
The final count down...
Thursday we went out to take the official pictures for the anual report, just some 100 meters away from the office. At the end of the entire long ritual of photo shooting in formal suits etc we finally did what some of us probably always felt like doing when passing this way, climbed up the big huge tree right next to the bridge. We had good laughter but for those few minutes when Venky took the pictures it was special and I am sure everyone was in his own silent special moment. When looking through those pictures in the evening it felt like June 2006 already and like looking back. I will miss you guys, also the ones which were missing on the tree ;)
Posted by Moko at 12:39 | 1 comments
June 17, 2005
Latinos kicking ass
These some Latin American sounding squeeling and cheering in the office right now. AIESEC in Latin America has just been accepted for an US$80,000 grant to fund development traineeships in the region, through the Explora program.
This kicks massive ass, but I don't know so much about it. I'm sure Orianna will fill you all in about it soon.....
We are most definitely in the money!
This kicks massive ass, but I don't know so much about it. I'm sure Orianna will fill you all in about it soon.....
We are most definitely in the money!
Posted by Tom Gara at 16:38 | 1 comments
June 16, 2005
AI Transition Party 15th-17th JULY!!!
Hey all, we are pretty excited in the office during this transition time. Today we are taking the Annual Report Pictures, which seems a very cool moment, since we haven't been dressed all together with nice clothes since IC!!! hehe..
Well, just as general intro, the transition Party will happen from 15th till 17th of July!!! Please download this document to get to know more about it!!!
And if you are ready to participate, REGISTER HERE!
Wait for more communication soon!!!!
Cheers!
LuisRe
Well, just as general intro, the transition Party will happen from 15th till 17th of July!!! Please download this document to get to know more about it!!!
And if you are ready to participate, REGISTER HERE!
Wait for more communication soon!!!!
Cheers!
LuisRe
Posted by LuisRe at 23:24 | 1 comments
Since Arthur had this AI blog set up, I have been meaning put a posting on it. But, as one of my AI colleagues famously quipped - the difference between people who blog and people who don't is that - people who don't blog, don't know what to blog about.
I have been a part of the AI transition process 3 times in the last 2 years. Each one of the last two times has left me with a strong impression and has challenged my understanding of leadership, of AIESEC’s role in society and many others beliefs significantly. Needless to mention, the last two weeks have been a lot of fun and the upcoming 6 weeks promise to be action-filled too.
The things planned for next weeks are: Internal Audit, External Audit, Supervisory Group Meeting, Steering team meeting, AI 05-06 strategic and operational planning, preparation for IC 2005, Transition Party, outgoing team days amongst the normal day-to-day functioning of the office. This is an exciting time to be a part of AI!
From the upper-right corner of the AI-Office,
Rajiv
I have been a part of the AI transition process 3 times in the last 2 years. Each one of the last two times has left me with a strong impression and has challenged my understanding of leadership, of AIESEC’s role in society and many others beliefs significantly. Needless to mention, the last two weeks have been a lot of fun and the upcoming 6 weeks promise to be action-filled too.
The things planned for next weeks are: Internal Audit, External Audit, Supervisory Group Meeting, Steering team meeting, AI 05-06 strategic and operational planning, preparation for IC 2005, Transition Party, outgoing team days amongst the normal day-to-day functioning of the office. This is an exciting time to be a part of AI!
From the upper-right corner of the AI-Office,
Rajiv
Posted by Rajiv Chandna at 17:38 | 0 comments
VK and Matt sign the final papers and thus confirm a 50,000 Euro partnership with UBS for the Finance Learning Network! Master Vaibhav has struck again.
Posted by Arthur Josephson at 10:50 | 2 comments
June 15, 2005
About Wireless
Well, seems that from our Transition House (exactly rooms 64 - 66) we also can get wireless signal ... thanks to one of the neighbours or whatever ... In general that is pretty cool here, you randomly have wireless conection in really unexpected places :)
Posted by Oriana Torres at 01:01 | 0 comments
June 13, 2005
Wireless Brussels burger joint blogging
Kshama and I are in Brussels right now for some meetings. I found free wireless internet inside a fast food burger place in Brussels South train station, and for some reason I feel the need to share this with everyone.
Expect more cutting edge liveblogging of menial Brussels milestones in the coming days. Strength and Honour, people.
Expect more cutting edge liveblogging of menial Brussels milestones in the coming days. Strength and Honour, people.
Posted by Tom Gara at 12:11 | 2 comments
June 10, 2005
The incredible first 10 days! (from Chris)
With the idea of taking responsibility my own learning as well as others, I might as well share my learning and feeling coming here, though it has been just 10 days. And it will be a 14 months term!
Quoting on Manish's MSN nickname - AIESEC International, the place to be!
The exposure an individual can get on personal development, positive influence, burning world issues, strategic agenda is incredible once you physically start your AI transition from June 1st.
It has been my 10th day here. Life is very hectic (at least for me personally) because we are driven by a fairly tight transition agenda day in and day out - 9am till 6pm. Afterwards, we have AI team sports and team dinner (as Tom has introduced). Plus, Friday night we have team social event for drinks or movies. Also we have sunday learning activity - someone from the team bring up a topic and host/facilitate discussion around this topic on a sunday afternoon. Lunches are usually mentor-mentee talks, catching up with 'old friends' who you meet again here in the office, catching up more with individual transition, etc.
I personally feel there are lots of things different comparing working on MC level and AI level.
1) The point of view we look at the development of AIESEC
My perspective is a lot more neutral compared to a month back as an MCP. Things don't work out black and white for this organization concerning a 57 years history and 91 countries' realities. Everybody carries their own opinions and background to the discussions around history and strategy. Thus I am always exposed to all different opinions and it challenges me to form my own opinion. Even though, again, using what Rajiv says, I only pick up one shade of grey instead of being black and white. The 'pros vs. cons' discussions allow us to see through things more objectively.
2) Time management
When my life is completely driven by the transition agenda, (as much as a 'control freak' i used to be ;p), I am always struggling to have more time with myself, digesting what I've learnt from the sessions or what I need to think through before a certain session. Also time for catching up with friends who are not here and parents. While the delimma is everyone tends to spend more time with the team or people in the office after office hours to have more personal interaction. When Brodie emphasizes that the life habits of this year usually forms from the very beginning, I am more concerned of how to manage time in a better way and be disciplined to stick to it.
3) Heaps and heaps to learn
39 people with 39 different life stories, documents of the last 57 years - imagine how much time it takes to absorb information through reading, working together or conversations?! Plus, there is a delimma between what is my interest and what is important for me to excel my role. Time is limited as always! ;-(
It is my first time living abroad. The Netherlands is far from similar to China though my feeling is not that different from leaving for Beijing from Shanghai one year back. I guess the point here is instead of quickly adapting myself into a comfort zone, I'd rather understand how broad my comfort zone can be, how stretchable it is, how I live in an uncomfortable zone.
Definitely, I appreciate the rich learning and development environment I've never been in so far which is a great stage for the 20 individuals to leave our own marks throughout the coming 14 months. Stay tuned for more AI members' sharing!
Quoting on Manish's MSN nickname - AIESEC International, the place to be!
The exposure an individual can get on personal development, positive influence, burning world issues, strategic agenda is incredible once you physically start your AI transition from June 1st.
It has been my 10th day here. Life is very hectic (at least for me personally) because we are driven by a fairly tight transition agenda day in and day out - 9am till 6pm. Afterwards, we have AI team sports and team dinner (as Tom has introduced). Plus, Friday night we have team social event for drinks or movies. Also we have sunday learning activity - someone from the team bring up a topic and host/facilitate discussion around this topic on a sunday afternoon. Lunches are usually mentor-mentee talks, catching up with 'old friends' who you meet again here in the office, catching up more with individual transition, etc.
I personally feel there are lots of things different comparing working on MC level and AI level.
1) The point of view we look at the development of AIESEC
My perspective is a lot more neutral compared to a month back as an MCP. Things don't work out black and white for this organization concerning a 57 years history and 91 countries' realities. Everybody carries their own opinions and background to the discussions around history and strategy. Thus I am always exposed to all different opinions and it challenges me to form my own opinion. Even though, again, using what Rajiv says, I only pick up one shade of grey instead of being black and white. The 'pros vs. cons' discussions allow us to see through things more objectively.
2) Time management
When my life is completely driven by the transition agenda, (as much as a 'control freak' i used to be ;p), I am always struggling to have more time with myself, digesting what I've learnt from the sessions or what I need to think through before a certain session. Also time for catching up with friends who are not here and parents. While the delimma is everyone tends to spend more time with the team or people in the office after office hours to have more personal interaction. When Brodie emphasizes that the life habits of this year usually forms from the very beginning, I am more concerned of how to manage time in a better way and be disciplined to stick to it.
3) Heaps and heaps to learn
39 people with 39 different life stories, documents of the last 57 years - imagine how much time it takes to absorb information through reading, working together or conversations?! Plus, there is a delimma between what is my interest and what is important for me to excel my role. Time is limited as always! ;-(
It is my first time living abroad. The Netherlands is far from similar to China though my feeling is not that different from leaving for Beijing from Shanghai one year back. I guess the point here is instead of quickly adapting myself into a comfort zone, I'd rather understand how broad my comfort zone can be, how stretchable it is, how I live in an uncomfortable zone.
Definitely, I appreciate the rich learning and development environment I've never been in so far which is a great stage for the 20 individuals to leave our own marks throughout the coming 14 months. Stay tuned for more AI members' sharing!
Posted by Jingwei at 18:22 | 1 comments
The science and economics of Team Dinners
One of those "only on AI" things that you soon find out about after starting on the team is the incredibly complicated, unique, and somehow well functioning team dinner system. Its been around for quite some time apparently, and despite feeling like the product of a little too much time spent in front of flipcharts designing the perfect end-to-end shared eating systems and processes, its actually a really cool way to solve a fairly important problem - how to have 15-40 people eating cheap decent food each night of the week in a fair and equitable way.
Here's how team dinners work.
Each night, there is a cooking team, and a cleaning team, usually made of about three people each. The teams cycle so that over one week, everyone cooks and cleans once. Each day, anybody who wants dinner that night puts their name down on a list. At the end of the day the cooking team takes the list, works out how many people they are cooking for, and goes shopping for all the stuff needed to make a giganto sized dinner for all these people.
The cooking team cooks up a storm, everyone else just arrives at the usual time with all the food ready, eats, then either hangs out for a while, or leaves. The cleaning team cleans up.
Here is where the AI complexity management comes into play. The cooking team gives the receipts for the shopping, along with the list of everyone who ate, to Cliff, the AI team accountant and Philosopher-King. Cliff compiles all these receipts and eating details, and crunches the numbers down to produce a monthly statement of who owes how much, and who is owed money (imagine you bought 60 euro worth of shopping for a team dinner, and also went to 4 team dinners which you owe 4 euros per dinner for. Then you are owed 46 euro). Cliff crunches all these numbers down to a convenient single figure per person, either positive or negative, and then collects or distributes money accordingly.
The system kicks ass, because in an environment like this, where everyone is working really hard, often long hours, you always know there is the option to enjoy a great home cooked meal, that costs practically nothing, and 4 nights of the week, you arent the one cooking or cleaning. It is especially good during transition, when up to 40 people are in the office each day, with more than half still getting the hang of the whole life/work balance. Also, its a great way to take advantage of the big diversity in cooking skills that you would expect in a team made up of more than 15 nationalities, and easily double that number of countries lived in. You will always be anticipating what is coming each night, unless it is the night when Arthur is cooking, in which case you can pretty easily predict that Chicken Tonight will be on the menu.
Its still pretty damn AIESEC though. Who else could turn a buch of friends cooking for each other into something requiring the formation of 8 rotating teams each week, spreadsheets with complicated expense calculations, and a ratio of at least two reminder emails per dinner. We can, thats who, but I still love it.
If you are ever dropping by Rotterdam and in search of a great home cooked meal including dessert and drinks, for 3-4 euro, then drop by a team dinner and enjoy real living AI culture. Bon Appetit!
Here's how team dinners work.
Each night, there is a cooking team, and a cleaning team, usually made of about three people each. The teams cycle so that over one week, everyone cooks and cleans once. Each day, anybody who wants dinner that night puts their name down on a list. At the end of the day the cooking team takes the list, works out how many people they are cooking for, and goes shopping for all the stuff needed to make a giganto sized dinner for all these people.
The cooking team cooks up a storm, everyone else just arrives at the usual time with all the food ready, eats, then either hangs out for a while, or leaves. The cleaning team cleans up.
Here is where the AI complexity management comes into play. The cooking team gives the receipts for the shopping, along with the list of everyone who ate, to Cliff, the AI team accountant and Philosopher-King. Cliff compiles all these receipts and eating details, and crunches the numbers down to produce a monthly statement of who owes how much, and who is owed money (imagine you bought 60 euro worth of shopping for a team dinner, and also went to 4 team dinners which you owe 4 euros per dinner for. Then you are owed 46 euro). Cliff crunches all these numbers down to a convenient single figure per person, either positive or negative, and then collects or distributes money accordingly.
The system kicks ass, because in an environment like this, where everyone is working really hard, often long hours, you always know there is the option to enjoy a great home cooked meal, that costs practically nothing, and 4 nights of the week, you arent the one cooking or cleaning. It is especially good during transition, when up to 40 people are in the office each day, with more than half still getting the hang of the whole life/work balance. Also, its a great way to take advantage of the big diversity in cooking skills that you would expect in a team made up of more than 15 nationalities, and easily double that number of countries lived in. You will always be anticipating what is coming each night, unless it is the night when Arthur is cooking, in which case you can pretty easily predict that Chicken Tonight will be on the menu.
Its still pretty damn AIESEC though. Who else could turn a buch of friends cooking for each other into something requiring the formation of 8 rotating teams each week, spreadsheets with complicated expense calculations, and a ratio of at least two reminder emails per dinner. We can, thats who, but I still love it.
If you are ever dropping by Rotterdam and in search of a great home cooked meal including dessert and drinks, for 3-4 euro, then drop by a team dinner and enjoy real living AI culture. Bon Appetit!
Posted by Tom Gara at 14:24 | 8 comments
June 09, 2005
The great Taco rebranding
For anyone who knows Marty Taco Bosman, since arriving in Rotterdam he has begun a major rebranding initiative. No longer is he to be known by the old, forbidden name, that begins with "M" and ends with "arty". He is now Taco.
To be more accurate, he has always been Taco. His real name is Taco Louis Martin Bosman, and he was always known as Taco, until moving to Australia and getting a great deal of grief from his merciless schol friends about his name, which, apart from being a well known first name from Northern Holland, is also the name of a popular Tex-Mex delight. In the face of this Taco torment, he reverted to Marty, although on the inside, he has always been Taco.
So now, starting a new year here in Rotterdam, Taco is the name for The Director Formerly Known as Marty. Its causing a fair bit of trouble, especially for us fellow Australian's who have been knowing him by his former name for almost 5 years now - but we are all working hard to ensure a future where Taco can be Taco.
Taco enjoying a day of complete freedom to be called Taco.
To be more accurate, he has always been Taco. His real name is Taco Louis Martin Bosman, and he was always known as Taco, until moving to Australia and getting a great deal of grief from his merciless schol friends about his name, which, apart from being a well known first name from Northern Holland, is also the name of a popular Tex-Mex delight. In the face of this Taco torment, he reverted to Marty, although on the inside, he has always been Taco.
So now, starting a new year here in Rotterdam, Taco is the name for The Director Formerly Known as Marty. Its causing a fair bit of trouble, especially for us fellow Australian's who have been knowing him by his former name for almost 5 years now - but we are all working hard to ensure a future where Taco can be Taco.
Taco enjoying a day of complete freedom to be called Taco.
Posted by Tom Gara at 15:08 | 4 comments
June 08, 2005
First week in Rotterdam
Even if it is rather a personal, diary-style sharing, feel free to take a look at my impressions and some pictures (thanks Romas) posted in my blog recetly.
Offline Blogging, the new option
(...)
Now I am here, sharing a little bit some experience so far! Only one week, but still many other to come to keep challenging my worldview. I must DO THE DISCLAIMER, that if I found time to blog AGAIN, is not exactly because the CRAZY TRANSITION AGENDA LEAVES PARTICULARY A LOT OF FREE TIME TO BLOG!, I guess I am able to blog because I just took a laptop home and am writting all this OFFLINE, so that I hopefully can just post it tomorrow - so if you are reading it, is because I managed :) !
(...)
Offline Blogging, the new option
(...)
Now I am here, sharing a little bit some experience so far! Only one week, but still many other to come to keep challenging my worldview. I must DO THE DISCLAIMER, that if I found time to blog AGAIN, is not exactly because the CRAZY TRANSITION AGENDA LEAVES PARTICULARY A LOT OF FREE TIME TO BLOG!, I guess I am able to blog because I just took a laptop home and am writting all this OFFLINE, so that I hopefully can just post it tomorrow - so if you are reading it, is because I managed :) !
(...)
Posted by Oriana Torres at 13:47 | 0 comments
Taco's first day back at school (transition)
AIESEC International and the work so far...
Liv, one of the old team members kept saying this phase was like ‘back to
school’ and I guess she was right… it’s been a lot of discussion based
activities and so forth for the transition phase. I haven’t minded that
though… I’ve been through a few transitions now already so that’s cool. I
got told my responsibilities the other day and I’m quite excited about them
actually. Some good traditional activities to do with my countries in
Western Europe and North America (WENA) regarding country consulting etc.
But then there’s responsibilities around expansion in the network and the
Energy Learning Network which is super cool too. At any rate, so far it’s
been quite a good experience. I’m finding I don’t’ have much time in the day
though at the office to get things done as sessions occupy much of my time.
Ah well… (to be expected) :)
Liv, one of the old team members kept saying this phase was like ‘back to
school’ and I guess she was right… it’s been a lot of discussion based
activities and so forth for the transition phase. I haven’t minded that
though… I’ve been through a few transitions now already so that’s cool. I
got told my responsibilities the other day and I’m quite excited about them
actually. Some good traditional activities to do with my countries in
Western Europe and North America (WENA) regarding country consulting etc.
But then there’s responsibilities around expansion in the network and the
Energy Learning Network which is super cool too. At any rate, so far it’s
been quite a good experience. I’m finding I don’t’ have much time in the day
though at the office to get things done as sessions occupy much of my time.
Ah well… (to be expected) :)
Posted by Taco_Bosman at 12:00 | 0 comments
June 06, 2005
Transition liveblogging
Victor Lowenstein, President of AIESEC International 1961-62, schools the AI 2005-06 team on how it is and how it was....
Posted by Tom Gara at 10:48 | 0 comments
June 02, 2005
Vaibhav and Petr have started their victory transition out of the AI office--- in China and HK. Here they are with STJU in Shanghai.
Posted by Arthur Josephson at 10:12 | 0 comments