AIESEC International Blog

Are you wondering how’s life in the AI office when only half of the team is here?
Well, this week I had some of the best meetings, some of my best realizations and some of my best achievements in my work with the non-corporate sector.

First of all, instead of two meetings that I originally planned I had four (one conference call with UNESCO, one meeting with Spiros – friend of Petroula, expert at EU funds; one with Gabitza about our non-corporate contacts in the Education field that I am managing, one with Eva Varga, my Hungarian mentor in non-corporate relations) and besides that the AI Management Team meeting was also extremely productive while we approved the grants to be submitted in the coming months. Basically I presented the potential grants, the Management Team gave feedback and ideas on how to polish these grant applications, and in addition we came up with twice as many great innovative ideas than the ones I presented!!!! I got sooo excited! I felt like sitting down immediately and doing all those things at once, at that very moment!!!
Also, another priority of mine was to sort out an old application of the Tempus programme of the EU that was done by a University and with AIESEC participating as a consortium member but we didn’t get involved in it until now. So, basically the money is already there, the application has been selected, it’s just the matter of offering our work to the consortium.
And guess what work is needed from AIESEC in this Tempus project? To develop online MBA courses about IT!!!! And as the AI IS team is developing a new global IS system right now, it clicked!!! …. Isn’t this something that the AI IS team is already doing? Isn’t their experience and learning as big as an MBA course about developing a new IS system in a global organization, effecting over 95 countries? Also, through this new IS system all organizational subsystems will be measured, which was not the case in the past! Are we aware of what kind of huge thing we are doing now in the AI IS team???? All of us got extremely excited about the idea!!!!
And during my other meetings not only have I received inputs to my work but by now I am more clear than ever on the direction of the global non-corporate area on a long term basis. I don’t have all the answers but after my meetings last week I know where to find the answers. And it’s such a great feeling that the direction we (my predecessor, Geta and I) took – somehow, unconsciously – was right! And another cool thing: all the things that I’m doing in the non-corporate area will contribute to my other favorite area of work: Financial Management Subsystem of AIESEC – in other words: how to achieve that the global organization (including all MCs and LCs) is financially sustainable? And I think some of the answers came last week…

And the cream on the cake was my study trip to Brussels on Friday.
As AIESEC International got selected as member of the Dutch Anna Lindh Network, I got invited to a study trip to Brussels to meet the Belgian Anna Lindh Network and learn together with them.
The meeting exceeded all my expectations!!!!
I have made the name of AIESEC extremely well-knows, I got the chance to make a 3 minute presentation about AIESEC in front of 10-15 NGOs that have a huge interest in the EuroMediterranean region, and of course I put an emphasis on our activities in the Middle East, the challenge of diversity and cultural dialogue between the Western and Arabic world, and after my presentation several people proactively approached me. :) E.g. a man from a University in Palestine said that he wants us to establish AIESEC in Palestine. And by the end of the discussion I invited him to AIESEC Symposium, too, which is a one day event, organized by AIESEC International, to be held in Cairo in February 2007.
Also, I could talk to the VIP guest of the day – Gianluca Solera, the global network coordinator of the Anna Lindh Foundation, who came directly from Egypt to Belgium. And besides the fact that he heard my AIESEC presentation, I shook hands with him afterwards and told him about the Symposium and that we were applying for a grant to the Anna Lindh Foundation. And even if we don’t get the fund, we would like to invite him to the Symposium because we believe we can contribute to achieving the objectives of the Anna Lindh Foundation – most importantly: dialogue between cultures, multilateral cooperation and exchange of people between cultures.

Also, during the day I had the opportunity to talk to some senior people from the EU and get to know more about their internal structures and priorities.
Of course we can see all these things on their website as well but the website is sometimes very complicated and it’s not that easy to find the relevant information, so it was extremely useful to hear the EU priorities from the mouth of such senior people.
And two of them were from the Middle East and Gulf Working Group where they prepare the agenda for meetings between the representatives of the countries of this region, and they confirmed what we unconsciously felt - that there is an extreme need for cultural understanding and dialogue between Western and Arabic/Islamic cultures these days.

And in the same time it confirmed for me that what AIESEC is doing with its initiatives in the Middle East is absolutely brilliant, we should focus a lot more on the topic of diversity in our organization and with our multicultural activities we are writing history in AIESEC – shaping the future of the world and truly moving towards piece and fulfillment of humankind’s potential – the ultimate vision of AIESEC.

Having been traveling till now through Ireland, Belgium, France, Republic of Macedonia and Greece I’ve seen many similarities and differences in these country realities in their external and internal environments but each of the visits had as well a very personal impact on me:

• In Ireland the MC team managed to leave me with a very strong emotion towards Irish culture while having only 1 Irish person on the MC.
• Belgian visit reminded me of the beauty of family traditions and marriage.
• My time in Paris made me realize that Paris is a city where I want to live at some point of my life for some time.
• Republic of Macedonia re-connected me with spirituality while being in centuries old monastery by the Ohrid lake.
• Greece was a place where I discovered the importance of balance between relaxation, having fun and working hard.

Each sentence for each country is a symbol I want to carry with me throughout my life. They are not something new but they are some fundamental things about life which I identify myself with. All the numerous things that put together my identity as a person are there with me always but nevertheless every moment of reflection enables me to realize what really matters and how I fit into the big picture of life.

It has been really interesting times for discovering myself and as well discovering AIESEC. Throughout these visits I’ve developed a dream and I wanted to share it with the rest of AIESEC.

What if the entire membership of AIESEC (the 20 000+ people) would genuinely understand AIESEC and connect to it?

What if all these people would go through a life changing experience in our organization?

I’ve been asking myself a question - what AIESEC really is? You might be wondering why should an AI director ask herself such a question… or thinking to yourself “Hellllo!!! Haven’t you read the Identity Toolkit?”

Sure I’ve read the Toolkit and attended I don’t know how many AIESEC Identity sessions and delivered quite many of them as well. But this is not AIESEC. AIESEC is what our members live every day, it is what I live every day and it is what you live every day. But which AIESEC are you living? How often do you think about it or enable other people to think about it? Is it the AIESEC described in statements that constitute AIESECs Identity? Or are you one of the hundreds of aieseccars who have never met an intern? Are you maybe one of the aieseccars who never met his/her MC? Are you one of the aieseccars who have never attended any AIESEC conference? Are you one of the aieseccars who have never been asked “what did you learn”? Are you one of the members who had to say about their LC after an Identity session “well, it looks like we are not AIESEC”?

I’ve been rediscovering AIESEC every single day. And it is something really beautiful.

Something unique. Something exciting.
Something life changing.

Which is the AIESEC you are living?

Last week was Diwali , ask any indian what it means

Basically, What is Diwali :
Diwali, also called Deepavali (Sanskrit: दीपावली) is a major Hindu festival that is also very significant in Sikhism and Jainism. Known as the "Festival of Lights," it symbolises the victory of good over evil, and lamps are lit as a sign of celebration and hope for mankind.

Read more here

But for AI 06-07 it was more beautiful, I was able to organize a small celebration in my room with team members joining in.

We had some great time which involved people being dressed in Indian clothes

All room being arranged in festive spirit of Diwali with more then 200 Candles in my room, all room lit up with light

Awesome Indian food and desert (this time it was not common white milk balls) AI members know what I mean

And followed by watching a Bollywood movie together with team “Lagaan” , the movie subtitled "Once upon a time in India", is an award-winning movie made in India, and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The plot of movie is on situation of India in per-independence era (1853) and some interesting tournament of Cricket.

This was awesome chance as team got not just glimpse of Bollywood but as well the crazy sport we (me, Amit and Ryan) play in office, popularly called as Cricket

Man I can very gladly say, this was diwali when I didn’t missed the fact that I was not in my country, and it is all because of all guys who came,

Thanks guys , you gave me a beautiful moment for life time

Abhi :)

The first month of country visits has been flying by so fast, and after the next stop in my country visit (Malaysia) it is hard to believe that I would have been on 6 visits!

Some of you may not know that I spent 6 years living in Indonesia while I was growing up. My parents were teachers, and I had the chance to live in Jakarta, experience a completely different reality to my own, learn Indonesia and start to even think in Indonesian. While living in Indonesia I traveled to Singapore several times, and this country visit was my first time back in Singapore (at least more than just a transit that is) since my high school years in Indonesia.

Singapore was a little bit different to what I remember it. I recall on one of my journies when I was younger in Singapore that I got in trouble for chewing the gum I had brought from Jakarta, and then become obsessed with all the different fines you can get in the country. This time around I hardly noticed that at all (except for the No Durians sign which I found somewhat amusing after Sharon pointed it out to me). The other thing I associated with Singapore was staying in fancy hotels and spending lots of money. This time around the fancy hotels were out (although I still did spend beyond my budget :P), and I got an amazing chance to see Singapore at least for a little but through the eyes of someone who actually lives there.

Read the rest of the post at http://ryan.nomadlife.org/.

From the series... you never know what's the next challenge one has to face ...:)


So, yeap... I might not need to go this year to countries that everybody would associate with a hard visa process .. as I am coaching Germany and UK... BUT ... as usually, the easiness in getting a visa for the UK is only an assumption... Please read below:)

Yesterday, after having collected any possible document there is about myself, my work, my friends, my mom and my dad... and made copies, and made the online registration that I needed to print ... made photos... EVERYTHING!! in order to apply and take my UK visa... there I was in front of the UK consulate ... waiting in the pointed place for waiting in front of the iron gates ....

WHEN ...

A blond guardian lady came to greet me and asked for the printed appointment, printed application forms, photos and all.. just to let me get in the courtyard in front of the consulate... Now, as I said, this was not a problem, BUT .... then the fatal question came: Young lady, do you have any mobile devices with you (eg.. mobile, ipod .. etc ... NOTE!! It was obvious I had some as my headphones were silently laying around my neck ;) ).... ???????????

I am like... yeap, I do... both a mobile and an ipod!! But, since I read on your website that we are not allowed to enter the consulate with them, I supposed there is a place to leave them at the gate ... RIGHT???

Well.... NO!!!! NO !!! NO!!! You are not allowed to enter anything with them.. you will stay in the street young lady and go back and make another appointment (which takes 3 weeks and I need to be in the UK just next week!) .... IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!

So, after an exchange of a few checking question whether I could leave them anywhere.. I get the point the lady would really not leave me go for it!! PLUS at the end of this.. she tells me: Young LADY you have 15 min to find a solution or NOTHING!

Tic tac toe :) So, I had to do something.. right?! I spotted some houses around (of course, I was in probably one of the most residential places of Amsterdam.. imagine that?!) and went towards them.. when I heard the guardian yelling at me that I AM NOT ALLOWED!!

THEN ... GOOD ! I WILL FIND OTHER SOLUTIONS! Among which ... imagine this?! :

- ran into a psichiatric hospital and decided to trie my luck there.. as they are probably used to random people:) Well, probably they were so used that they thought I am nuts!! So.. they refused and looked strangely at the rushed young lady with a mobile and an ipod in her hand asking for them to keep it for a while.. and that I will come back... RIIIIIIGHT?! - 5 min left

- a 4 stories high business building... where I chose a random name of a company and went for it... Of course, no one inside.. not even a secretary or any information desk... !! Random! So then I started searching around the rooms of the house for a living soul:) ... And I did find: A DOG! And then some people who did not even seem to notice me running around their business venture :D:D ... Finally I jut grabbed one guy, rushed my story upon him (3 min left) and he finally decided ... OK!!

Now.. FULL of pride and happiness I ran back to the blond lady.. posing myself on the shown spot and smiling my amazingly large smile of victory!!! :D

After this ... things went smooth until when I had to go back and take my stuff from the random guy, that I did not even know the name of!!! (smart ;)) ... when I am greeted by a beautiful note on the big building :

'If you are the girl who left us her mobile and ipod... we are out for lunch.. go to address xxxx .. we are there!!'

GREAT!! The chance of busting into another random house in the most residential neighbourhood of Amsterdam!! So I did!!:) Went inside .. searched again around the rooms (seems people in that area are not really bothered by opening their door without asking whom you are and then leaving you the open space to visit their house!!) ... And found the entire company sitting at a table, having lunch... :D Where, of course, there was FORTUNATELY also my random guy who decided I am funny and I deserve help:)

Well.. that's it!! I got it!! and visited a psichiatric hospital, one business center and another random house ... FOR A VISA!:D

Who would have said, huh?

Love you all ... it's a crazy autumn indeed!
Gabiza

Here is an e-mail that we received from Habib about his experience in Senegal. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did...

Habib, thanks for these lines... Keep sending us glances of your discoveries and adventures.

Cheers,

Dey

____________________

The AI office is every day more empty as more people are leaving for country visits and sales trips. In my case, soon I will be the only habitant of our side of the office with Ieva, our Branding CEEDer.

We read the posts of out teammates and wonder how would it be if the wether was nicer... After a great summer we have the typical weather that people consider "Dutch" weather, meaning... cold, rain, wind, rain, rain, cold... And the heater was not working! Good news, is that after a while without heater, Dama has fixed it. We won't suffer from cold inside the office anymore... And we can have a big smile after her funny mail.

Another 5 days, ending 22 days of country visits when leaving Hong Kong, and some people ask me if it is getting repetitive.

Hell no! It is like relearning AIESEC, myself and life every 5 days during these visits. One might say that my visit in Hong Kong has been one of my most efficient. Upon arriving at the airport our first topic was covered within 5 minutes :P. Hong Kong was astounding, I had heard so much about the skyline of Hong Kong but seeing it exceeded my expectations. Every thing is up, a jungle of buildings, signs that hang out across the streets, and so many people. It is hard to imagine that anyone could rest in this city that always seems to be alive. I did something that would be impossible in the Netherlands, I went shopping for a cellphone at 11pm at night! (Still early in Hong Kong though I suppose).

An interesting observation I found was in discussions with Antony, a former HK trainee who came to my LC in NZ when I was LCP. He talked to me about his life right now, and how people work so long and so hard to get their apartment and their car, and enjoy the things I would take for granted in NZ. It is easy to see why the AIESEC members I interacted with are so ambitious, as in Hong Kong life (as it is with their skyline) it seems to be either up or out. My appreciation for the HK work ethic has grown even more after my visit in the territory.

Read more on http://ryan.nomadlife.org/

Currently sitting in Belgrade MC office (we missed the train to Bratislava and spent one additional day in Serbia :) I wanted to take a bit of time to reflect on the amazing experience that I had as a 1/2 chair (Mairi was the second 1/2 :) at EuroCo 2006.

The conference has happened near the lake close to Ohrid town in the Republic of Macedonia, one of the most beautiful and spiritual places I have been to, where you have more churches than there are days in the year and one of the oldest lakes in the world that is impossible to describe, you have to see it to know what I mean :) The place itself was very calm, peaceful and inspirational and for sure added to the outcome of the conference together with great OC work and hotel staff.

But about the conference, I spent amazing time working with great facilitators, Zuzka (conference manager) and Mairi (1/2 half of the chair) ... I have rarely seen so much passion, innovation, energy, commitment and willingness to do virtually anything that they have shown during the conference for the benefit of the delegates. A team of great individuals that have never worked together but yet created an unforgettable experience for everyone involved and for themselves as well. All at the only conference where LCPs from 2 GNs (WENA and CEE) meet together to share, network, create and get inspired.

Big thank you for the facis, OC and brilliant OCP :), delegates and everyone else, it was amazing to share the experience with you ... I am taking a lot of inspiration for the rest of my country visits from talks, smiles, kind words, challenges and sparkles in your eyes. All of you are the ones to thank for it. And special message for the the delegates ... good luck for all the beautiful things you have in your mind that are about to happen and remember, no one is more prepared, ready or able to do them than YOU. Can't wait to hear the news ... :)

Jarda

P.S. We all have the same sky, but do we have the same horizon? :)
P.P.S. Next country on way to Baltic Energy is Slovakia, will keep updated ...

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Love from the ER team

I'm now writing from Panama having just been in the Dominican Republic (went there after Spain) and Puerto Rico.

Though some of you might be thinking...WOW Araz is getting sun...actually it's the rainy season so it has been quite wet. Though the sun comes out during the day there is always some period of rain once, twice, or more times during the day.

Another thing I have learned in this region is how regional trade barriers are falling and markets are progressively opening through trade agreements currently being discussed. It is a great time for AIESEC to be here, especially in supporting entrpreneurs in expanding their products/services to all of the countries in the region. Many of the sales meetings I went on with the MC teams was focused on how AIESEC can support this trend towards increased trade links and business competitiveness.

Dominican Republic

It was great to be in the Dominican again. The first time I went was in 2000 and I was in the northern part of the country, so it was certainly a different experience to be in Santo Domingo and to be there with AIESEC.

AIESEC has so much potential in the country and in the Carribean in general. I met with some partners that are so passionate about AIESEC. Plus for three years there has been a great partnership with UNICEF; dream traineeships for anyone studying international development/social work.

As a result of all the meetings I unfortunately did not get to go to the beach...(see below)



Ah so beautiful!



The old city in la Dominicana.

Puerto Rico

Next to Puerto Rico! I did not really know that much about Puerto Rico and what I discovered was:
a. It's part of the US, but it's not part of the US. Everyone has US passports, but they're not really US citizens. The American flag and Puerto Rican flag always have to be flying at the same time. So it's this mix of Latin culture, spanish speaking people with American style shopping centres and lots of people speaking English really well.
b. The old city of San Juan is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It's this old Spanish architecture, tiny winding streets, pastel colours and blue blue ocean...so beautiful.



Dorys (MCP - Puerto Rico) and I in the old city after visiting with the Department of State (look at the ocean!!!)



The VP PD (Janeth - originally from Mexico) ran an induction session where the new members were introduced to the competency model. This is them sharing their thoughts on the competencies, how they feel it relates to their personal goals...it was so cool to interact with these new members and see how excited they are about AIESEC!

Central America South (CAS)

On to Central America South (CAS)! During the year the MC is split in the two countries (Costa Rica and Panama) so I met the MC in Panama (the Costa Ricans came down to Panama). Panama is beautiful!!!

As part of the country visit I chaired and facilitated at their conference called MAX (Managing the AIESEC Experience) a conference exclusively dedicated to increasing the skills of members to manage the core work. SO COOL!



Juraj (former MC Czech Republic, current VP X) and Monica (VP PD of an LC in Costa Rica - UCR) facilitating a session the learning environment in CAS.



My first experience chairing/facilitating in an outdoor plenary room (there were no walls) :) We were staying at an Eco Resort in the hills of Panama.



Iguanas!! Imagine sitting having a discussion and one of these walks right by you. At least they are vegetarians. :)



With all of the delegates of the conference.

Next stop...Peru!

Another 5 days and another country, this time it was the amazing Japan! I feel like the luckiest person alive to be able to go through this experience and share it with you all :).

5 days, 4 cities, a couple of bullet trains, more subways and trains than I can count, more vending machines used than I have ever used in a 5 day period before, and all in all a fantastic experience.

I started my trip in Japan by visiting the West Region of Japan, visiting both Osaka and Kyoto. On my first evening I attended my first LC meeting in a long time, attending the meeting of the KGLC. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of talking about the @XP in the context of both the individual and the organisation, and was amazed that for many it was their first presentations that they had ever had entirely in English. Thank you so much KGLC for your hospitality!

To read entire post visit http://ryan.nomadlife.org/.

Greetings all from the wonderful city of Kyoto, Japan. As I sit on my train traveling to the next city I am visiting in Japan, I wanted to share with you my experiences in Korea and Taiwan.

My journey in Asia Pacific has begun and I couldn't be more excited. I touched down in Korea on Sept 30, and from then till now I have traveled to more places I imagined I could in 13 days, eaten more foods I thought I would in a lifetime, and talk so much I am amazed my voicebox hasn't given out on me. But seriously, it has been an amazing experience so far, and it has only just begun.

After arriving in Korea I was picked up at the airport and taken directly to an MCP election. An experience to say the least to be jetlagged, yet so pumped with energy at the same time, and listening to an election process entirely in another language (until that is I asked a question of my own) with translation being given to me at the back of the room.

Read more on http://ryan.nomadlife.org/.

Second post from my journey, sitting in Nis, Serbia, tired but happy about the 4 full days of working hard with the MC, LCPs and others, partying, discovering new words like rakija, stomaklija, etc., walking streets of Belgrade, looking over where rivers meet, dining in the oldest pub in Belgrade and listening about Serbia, its history, culture and most importantly getting to know its people and spirit... Great times :) I have always been thinking about what can be done in such a short time, but I have discovered that if the right approach is chosen, a lot can be the answer :)

Today and yesterday I have attended an info meeting for people interested in AIESEC, one in Belgrade and one in Nis, it was like coming back five years when I joined AIESEC in LC Prague, unconscious about what will come. A lot has happened since that time, and I have discovered among other things that AIESEC (and life:) is about looking, not giving up and enjoying what one has and goes through, and that there is always something to find if one looks hard enough :)

Tomorow early morning hopping on the bus to Skopje, looking forward to seeing all the WENA and CEE LCPs on EuroCo ! Anyone that is coming, be sure it will be a blast :)

Further news to come after the EuroCo time is over ...

Jarda

Currently sitting on a bus to Belgrade wanted to take a minute to reflect on the amazing time I just finished in Hungary. I have flown to Budapest on Saturday and spent a very full week talking with the MC, LCPs, LC coaches, GN board and finally attending the enterCEE conference.

The time spent was really great, I have enjoyed working with the MC to support their efforts and I appreciated their enthusiasm, energy and clear vision of what they want to do. It was great to work, discuss, share and party together, I hope some of the ideas I left behind will mean a difference for AIESEC in Hungary.

The enterCEE conference as a crucial point of the programme was very inspiring, Ines, Eva (chair) and the entire faci team and delegates; all of these people make the conference a success. It was very pleasant to be there and see how the programme is progressing and see, meet and talkto the people from 17 CEE countries that will actually be taking this forward. It is very important for CEE to come out strongly and make enterCEE successfull, building up 1st generation of entrepreneurs for CEE can begin :)

Budapest is a very beautiful city, I have enjoyed the beautiful river, parliament, buildings, bars, food, drinks, people and great salami that I love from childhood ... Need to come back once more for sure to explore places I have not seen ...

The experience of jumping into the country, working hard, discovering people, culture, focusing on achieving the goals and endless number of powerful conversations and all of this within few days is simply mind blowing and it is exciting to know that more is coming. Will keep the blog informed :)

Jarda

Hey there guys,

My first post on the AI blog.. actually my first post on any blog :) .. But, it's certainly something worth sharing!

I am now in the middle of the Strategic Autumn Meeting in AIESEC Germany as I am their country coach this year. We are more than 300 people from all over Germany and the world, all of us in a position of leading either our local teams or our national teams or our global teams.

And throughout the last days I've realized one simple thing back and again, though I think one of the most important ones for the impact that each of us can make without having to recite or learn by heart any super mega millions of papers, trainings, etc.

How many of us have at least once lived something in AIESEC that was extremely cool! A team that we loved being in, an event that we adored taken part in, a sales meeting in which we succeeded to achieve what we were there for and even more, a selection process in which we selected people who are now TLs, LCPs, MCs, MCPs etc... ?

Each of US, has at least one really great story that we have lived!! What about using them?

What about making sure that we really understand why our stories have been beautiful, SHARE that in any context, any opportunity and make sure to Re-CREATE at least the same beautiful story for the people we are working for?!

Try this in your next national or local conference, meeting ... in your next talk to your team mates or members etc. Try putting people together and sharing their best stories and what made those best stories so great and you will see the power of it!! Just as I can see it here in SAM each and every day ;) And there are stories that I have lived maybe even 5 years ago, about my incredible team experience in my EB term in 03 -04, maybe about the times when I was an OCP of a project that later on was actually categorized as a P-BoX etc. ... or stories that maybe I did not personally lived, but I made sure to listened to others and record them ;)

A beautiful story.. is a beautiful story and brings impact no matter which reality you are in!

Cheers to everyone,
Gabiza

This is the copy of a mail that we in AI received from Michelle (VP Communications) in our ai-social list.

I wanted to share it with you all because it is part of that amazing magic that is to be in AI. Yesterday we had African dinner prepared by Habib before going to his country visits. Last week we had also dinners from WENA, CEE, China and India, Latinoamerica and AP!!!

It is just a blessing to be in this team... To be in AI...

Are you planning to be part of AI one day?

Cheers and enjoy the mail :)

Dey

_________________________________

Hey all,

This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada. That means not only that we get a long weekend (Monday is a holiday) but on Sunday traditionally we bring the entire family together and have a huge turkey dinner with many delicious side dishes of about every vegetable you can think of. Its one of my favourite times of the year, first because the food is amazing but also because it’s the time of year when all the leaves are changing and its so beautiful outside (I’ll have to find some photos to show you what it looks like).

Anyways I would like to share my Thanksgiving with you guys so I am going to be cooking a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night. Unfortunately I can’t cook a turkey (I’ll improvise with chicken) but I will make all the other traditional foods we eat on that day. It’s a lot of work but tastes really good and will make a big meal for many people. If you are interested in coming please let me know so I can plan the number of people. It is actually easier to cook for more people :)

Happy Thanksgiving,
Michelle

P.S. I’ll need help from a “cooking team” so if you’re interested in enrolling in that I’d be greatful :)

P.S.S. Our new CEEDer, Ieva (photo and message from her to come) will be arriving on Sunday morning (yes this Sunday) so she will be there as well.

EBBF conference attendance

In the weekend of 21-24 of September Jeanne and I had the privilege to attend one of the most inspirational conferences. The participants represented all the environments from business, governmental, NGO and students. The topic was extremely interesting and addressed the “Purpose of business” which is getting more and more present on different organizations’ agenda.

Actually, our main roles reflected especially the last part. I was part of one of the panels talking about the “Purpose of the business” as it’s perceived by our generation. It was a moment that reminded me one more time the relevance that AIESEC plays every day. Then Jeanne introduced AIESEC to the audience, this being the only presentation that took place during the whole conference. It was a sign of appreciation of the activity that AIESEC is running!

Going back to Rotterdam, I felt like after an AIESEC conference. Maybe that was because of the relaxing atmosphere, of because of the great discussions that I had with everyone there…Or maybe it was because of all the AIESEC alumni that I met there and that are making a difference in the field that they chose. It's hard to say why, but for long time I will have the memories and the most genuine feeling of happiness.

I do encourage everyone to attend as many external events as possible as they keep us more connected with the world outside us.

My first visit to España has been amazing! I’ve been here for one week so far and I’ve enjoyed every minute; I know I’ll be sad when I leave…

During my visit to Spain I've been chairing and facilitating at the Input Meeting. We’re sitting outside of Madrid in a beautiful hostel surrounded by trees and sunshine. Input Meeting is the conference that kicks off the year for AIESEC in Spain.

Some things about Spain that you might not know:
- People in Spain all speak differently from eachother. The accents are almost entirely different. Plus it’s different than the Spanish from Latin America. Speaking Spanish here has been fun and challenging for me!

- The people in different regions of Spain all have different cultures. The perspectives that people have and the way they act is even reflected in the way members interact with eachother. This reminded me a lot about Canada; how we’re tied together and yet each have our uniqueness.

- There is lots of fish in this country! For seafood lovers; definitely come to Spain.

- This country is GORGEOUS!!! I had no idea it was this beautiful here so I was pleasantly surprised!

Some things about AIESEC in Spain that you might not know:
- The MC team is KICK ASS! Their motto is, “It’s now…or NEVER!”. They are so committed, so talented, and so passionate about making a revolution in AIESEC in Spain.

- The members I’ve met here are so amazing! They have a lot of plans for this year and I'm sure they will achieve what they want!

Some highlights from the conference:

Olga (MC VPX – former MCP in Greece) ran a session for delegates to personally connect with identity in a creative manner. Here’s what some of them created!



A picture of us during planning!



The MC 06-07 team with me…at the end of the conference the whole plenary was hugging, jumping, and singing the song by the same name!



Viva AIESEC en España!!

This is the update we received from Pinar, Director of Strategy this morning on our way to MMM (our weekly Monday Morning Meeting!). We thought she was on her way to Armenia, but the visit was changed at the last minute. Here's her story:

“...[After her visit to Armenia was delayed] she talked to Georgia to be in Batumi (Second biggest city in Georgia) LC recruitment conference as they asked her before to support. They happily accepted it. So she decided to fly to Georgia. But she couldn’t find a flight ticket because it was too late and she had to take the bus. So she has been in a bus for 14 hours.

For now she’s waiting for sun to rise to cross the border. By the way here in the border she heard that Russia has sent thousands of soldiers to Georgia border two days ago because of something. She hopes that it wouldn’t be problem. Her worry is not about security her worry is about president to be busy with this stuff and cancel the meeting with her. She will call them tomorrow.

All these things couldn’t disappoint Pinar! Because she was a girl that nothing can stop when she’s striving for an achievement. “ :)

Our Directors are off travelling in the AIESEC world. Watch out for the Director Country Visit coming soon to an AIESEC office near you. More updates soon to come!