NTS / ICPS 2008 - Amara - Photos

The Mexican fisherman

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.
Not very long, answered the Mexican. But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more? asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family. The American asked, But what do you do with the rest of your time? I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life.

The American interrupted, I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. And after that? asked the Mexican. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.

How long would that take? asked the Mexican. Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years, replied the American.

And after that? Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting, answered the American, laughing. When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions! Millions? Really? And after that? asked the Mexican. After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.

But that's what I'm doing today, replied the Mexican...

[via Dani!]

Photos from LTS

Faci at the International Cultural Preparation Seminar

The other day I was writing about my application for the faci team for ICPS, November 2008. Now it's official: I'm in! :D

But I'm not the only one, so here are the other facilitators:

• Alisa LOGOFATU [Romania]
• Zakhida ADYLOVA [Ucraine]
• Phuc DAO [Vietnam]
• Sami DAOUD [Egypt]
• Andreea VINCZE [Romania]
• Fuat Mert KAYA [Turkey]
• Ibrahim OZDEMIR [Turkey]
• Sanjaya GUNATILAKE [Sri Lanka]
• Daniel Lopez FERNANDEZ [Spain]

I'm already counting down the days until the conference and I also hope that all of us will have a great experience at Amara and the delegates will never forget this conference! ;o)

Faci at the Regional Training Seminar

For 2 years now, the first AIESEC conference for the new members of AIESEC Iași was the Local Training Seminar (LTS). This autumn, we're going to the conference with GICU, so it's my first Regional Training Seminar (RTS)! From the 6^th until the 9^th, you'll find me in Durău, And after that, I plan to have here some photos from the event.

And yes, together with Cătălina C. and Ioana P., I have been accepted facilitator for the delegates from Iași, at RTS!

Yet Another Induction Training

So right now we have 34 new, fresh AIESECers recruited especially for the exchange program...

Remember your first week-end as an AIESECer? Yes, you guessed it right: it's the one filled with the Induction Trainings!

I'll also be there, talking about AIESEC eXPerience. Here's the agenda for the 1^st and the 2^nd of November.

National Preparation Seminar 2008

The National Preparation Seminar (19^th - 23^rd of November) is the biggest conference in Romania, with an approximate number of 500 delegates. Besides being the biggest, it is also the most important as it has a definitive role in the development of AIESEC members that are entering Taking Responsibility, Leadership or Exchange stage.

NPS is structured on 3 tracks with different agendas, team of facilitators and objectives:

• National Training Seminar
  Delegates profile: first or second year students that have just entered AIESEC, and that are finishing their Intro 2 AIESEC stage (200 or more delegates expected)
  Agenda will answer the following questions:
  • What is AIESEC?
  • How does AIESEC have a global impact?
  • How can I take an active role in the organization?
• Leadership Development Seminar
  Delegates profile: AIESEC members that are entering Leadership stage, or that are currently leaders in AIESEC (100 or more delegates expected)
  Agenda will answer the following questions:
  • What is the impact that AIESEC can have?
  • Am I the person that would bring AIESEC closer to its vision?
  • Who am I as a leader?
• International Cultural Preparation Seminar
  Delegates profile: AIESEC mbs that are planning to take an internship in the near future; they may be new members, or members with more experience in AIESEC; Last year students or graduates of different academic backgrounds (100 or more delegates expected)
  Agenda will answer the following questions:
  • Why eXchange?
  • What can I expect from a foreign environment?
  • How can I have an impact globally through AIESEC?

Well, I also applied as a faci for ICPS, but in the last hour, my presentation video looked like this:

What do you say?

Going around Pisa

Today I traveled around Pisa saying Good bye!

Opera Software in Pisa!

A day after sealing the deal with AIESEC Pisa and accepting the job for the Universita di Pisa, while looking over myAIESEC.net, I saw this opportunity at Opera Software ASA (Opera is looking for a creative, skilled and passionate Web Designer to work with Opera.com properties and partner projects. [...] Salary in U.S. $4000).

As an Intern there, I would have gotten the chance to work with the very latest Web technologies in a company that cares about open Web standards. It was to late for me to apply, obviously! :(

Today I looked again, just to see the "news", and it's on hold now. Looking over some details about Opera, I found out about a nice event: Opera at Perl Workshop in Pisa Sept. 18-19! With this occasion, they are also making recruitment interviews. Only that on Monday, the 15th, I'm on a plane - destination România!

NTM: Open my eyes, uncover my ears and (next time) try harder!

Ceci n'est pas un stage

In 2 weeks from now I'll be already in Constanţa... so now it's a real race against time to get a chance as much as I can see of Italy! Saturday Siena and Sunday Piazza dei Miracoli again, only this time both my path and eyes were guided!

Still, since I entered the AIESEC office in Pisa for the first time, a painting remained in my mind: Le Domaine Enchanté - a painting that allowed me to get to know a bit of Magritte:

The way I understand it, I can say that Ceci n'est pas un stage...

A trip to Siena

A one-day trip to Siena, pictures included:

Preparing for take-off

Half of me wants to remain in Pisa, to enjoy the warm Italian weather, the time with the friends here, walking along the seaside with Nicolás and talking about...

Half of me wants to go home, to hug my mom and dad the way I never did before, to breathe Iaşi, to meet good-old friends, to re-enter a world of photography, to go to the countryside and forget about technology!

As for the "3rd half" of me is eager for a new start! To start the Master and to actually study for a change or to go in another internship, one not only to fill all the blanks left by this one, but also to force me to grow even more!

***

As for now, my room is for rent!... My airplane ticket is already taken (thanks to my Isa) for the 15th...

Spiagge Bianche, with Nicolas and Gennaro

Monte Serra

When during the day the heat is too much, you start heading for the mountains! So that's what we did too: we climbed from Tre Colli all the way to the top, until we reached the RAI antennas. Then we went down on the other side of the mountain, until Buti. Since it's still Ferragosto, at 6PM there was no bus to take us directly to Pisa, so we took one to Pontedera (think about Piaggio) and from there we took a train to Pisa.

Here are the pictures:

Money, money, money!

When it came to payement, I chose to open an account at the same bank that Università di Pisa (or at least the Dipartimento di Economia Aziendale) uses - Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Pisa Livorno. I took this decision so the time required for the money transfer would be shorter.

The fact is that on the 31st of July, almost two weeks ago, the money were sent from the University... and yesterday I was still complaining about not receiving my salary yet. That is after a month and a half of work. It looks that the bank workers also enjoy their holydays :-?

This question just startes getting answers inside my head! :D

Shopping List

Today I changed the supermarket! For me, when I'm trying to save as much as possible, the "relationship with a supermarket" becomes more intimate. So, I tried COOP and Carrefour, but:

• I only enjoyed Carrefour when I found a sales period. After that I just got lost in the diversity of products.
• I gave up on COOP for a single simple reason: they don't allow me to pay with a Maestro / debit card / carta bancomat. So since I didn't receive my salary yet, that is a problem for me!

So, today, I gave Esselunga a chance: I took the map and went to find it.

Esselunga S.p.A. is an important Italian retail store chain. Founded in 1957 by the Caprotti Family with Nelson Rockefeller, the company is now entirely owned by the Caprotti family through Supermarkets Italiani S.p.A.
It was the first supermarket chain in Italy and was the first to introduce on-line shopping and self-produced biological products.
With its 17,000 employees the company, had a €4.9 billion turnover in 2006. Esselunga controles about 9% of the Italian grocery distribution market.
Esselunga is entirely owned by the family and is not on the stock market. This fact, rare nowadays for a company of these dimensions, makes the chain even more particular.
It is ranked as the fourth most profitable company in the European retail sector (in proportion to its size) and it is Italy's 23^rd largest company.

[wikipedia]

Keeping in mind that I searched for reasonable quality at the lowest prices, here is a list of things I bought:

• 1l. of milk = 0.79€
• 10 medium eggs = 0.89€ (!)
• 1l. pineapple (100%) juice = 0.65€
• 20 slices of cheese (400g.) = 1.84€
• 2*125g. cups of yogurt = 0.59€
• 175g. Choco desert = 0.19€
• 400g. tomato sauce = 0.99€
• 1kg. mayonnaise = 1.99€
• 1l. oil = 1.39€
• 600g. cream = 1.17€
• 560g. ketchup = 0.65€
• 400g. of bread (5 cereals) = 0.89€
• 420g. olives = 0.99€
• 1kg. pasta (cravattine) = 1.39€
• soup ingredients = 0.99€

Next time I will go with Nicolás, because he knows this supermarket better. For now I am pleased: I took products till I could barely carry the basket and I paid 16.43€ for all of them.

Still, I'm eagerly waiting for the University Canteen to re-open on the 27^th: it's way better to have an entire meal for 2.5€ and moreover to forget about cooking and washing dishes! :o)

Lucca and the Wall

Today I went to Lucca with Isa... A city full of history! Too bad I completely forgot to recharge the batteries from my camera before leaving home! :(

Going South, towards clear waters!

Today I went with Nicolás, Gennaro and Tommaso to the seaside. Just that this time we went South, to find cleaner, clearer water!
First stop: Calafuria, the sandstone quarries
Second stop: Torre Mozza

From the train station to my house

After going to the train station with Isabela, I traced my way back home in some photos:

Worth mentioning are the paintings from Corso Italia and the Pasquale Santoro exhibition - Cieli / Skies - from Museo della Grafica (Palazzo Lanfranchi).

Aeroporto Galileo Galilei, Pisa

Since when I came to Italy I landed in Bologna, today - when my girlfriend arrived to Pisa - I took some photos of the Galileo Galilei International Airport:

Mar Tirreno!

I've promised a post in Italian, so - after more than one month - here it goes:

Venerdi sono stato al mare, a Tirrenia, per la seconda volta, solo che adesso sono stato veramente al mare! E vero che l'acqua non e cosi pulita come nel sud, ma per me va bene. Io sono abituato ad avere il mare a una distanza di ~8 ore con il treno, ma adesso, ad averlo a mezz'ora con il pullman, l'acqua non mi sembra più sporca!

La sola problema e che anche adesso sono bruciato dal sole di venerdì: cominciando alle 11:30 nella mattina, fino alle 4-5 nel pomeriggio, senza protezione solare, senza almeno un asciuga-mani, credo che per una settimana sarò fuori dal servizio! :D

Qualche foto, anche con Nicolas:

Piazza dei Cavalieri

The Knights’ Square (Italian: Piazza dei Cavalieri) is one of the most important landmarks in Pisa, Italy, and the second main square of the city. This square was the political centre in medieval Pisa.

Pallazo della Carovana, or Palazzo dei Cavalieri, with its proportions and beauty, dominates the whole square with a noble architectonic structures of the 16th and 17th centuries. Originaly it was called Elders' Palace, but when Pisa fell under the Medici, Cosimo I commissioned Vasari to transforme it. By order of Cosimo I, after the middle of XVI century, the palace became the seat of the Order of the Knights of St. Stephen founded by him to defend and protect the Tyrrhenian coast from the Muslim raids. It has a beautiful façade above the door, animated by elegant graffito decorations and ogival niches containing the arms of the Knights of St. Stephen, and busts of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Now it's a centre of education - Scuola Normale Superiore - the institute of higher education founded by Napoleon in 1810. The Scuola Normale is unique in Italy in that only the best handpicked students are admitted to its courses. As far as I know, there are only two of the kind, this being the second after the one in France.

Just in front of the double staircase of the magnificent Palazzo dei Cavalieri stands the statue of Cosimo I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. It was commissioned by Grand Duke Ferdinando I in 1596 to the Franco-Flemish sculptor Pietro Francavilla, who executed it in the elegant Late Mannerist tradition. The statue celebrates Ferdinando's father as the first Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of St. Stephen and is a civic symbol of the hegemony of Florence. The Grand Duke Cosimo is represented in the robes of Grand Master, standing on an high pedestal, in the act of subduing a dolphin, symbol of his domination over the seas. The fountain, in front of the pedestal, was also erected by Francavilla. It has a basin in the form of a shell decorated with two grotesque monsters. Unfortunately, the statue has been damaged in the course of time.

Another remarkable building in Piazza dei Cavalieri is the Palazzo dell'Orologio or Gherardesca, that was built in 1607 for the Order of the Knights of St. Stephen. The building was designed by great Vasari, who joined two separate medieval towers together by an arch, not to break the street. The arch content clock and beautiful small white stone belfry on its top. This building now used as library, was once used as jail.
Here is written a black page of the history of Pisa. In the 13th century, the mayor of Pisa, Count Ugolino della Gherardesca was accused of disloyalty and sent to jail together with his sons and grandsons. He was condemned to death by starvation (the story tells that he has eaten one of his children while in that prison). Like this all the male members of the Ugolino family where exterminated.

Status: work still in progress! ;)

Romania e si aici... si cu bune, si cu rele!

Prima dată când pentru o fracțiunde de secundă m-am simțit acasă, deși în Pisa, a fost când pe lângă mine a trecut o dubiță cu boxele la maxim - Paraziții.

Când am fost la Livorno, am avut surpriza de a vedea lipite pe tomberoanele din zona rezidențială "afișe" cu oferta ATLASSIB pentru transport România - Italia, în format A4. Interesant cum tomberoanele erau folosite ca și panouri publicitare doar pe latura dinspre case/blocuri. Ăsta da marketing target-at! :(

Apoi, a fost episodul în care directorul masterului pentru care fac acum situl m-a întrebat dacă mașina din curte e a mea... Și eu nu observasem că în acea zi, în față, era parcat un VW de București...

Weekendul trecut aveam ceva timp liber în plus, așa că am făcut o plimbare prin Piazza dei Miracoli, să mă pierd puțin printre turiștii. Așa urechea mea a reperat rapid câteva cuvinte românești... Poate sunt eu mai ciudat, poate dorul meu de casă se manifestă mai neobișnuit după 3-4 săptămâni în care nu am mai auzit limba română. Acționând după primul impuls, m-am îndreptat spre cele 3 domnișoare venite să vadă Turnul și le-am întrebat dacă sunt românce. Reacția? Mai, mai să nu îmi răspundă, de parcă se simțeau jenate să recunoască... Până după vreo 20 de secunde când se uită una urât la mine și zice: "Da, si? Care e problema ta?!?" Zic și eu ca omul că vroiam doar să vorbesc, că sunt plecat de ceva timp din țară la care... cică să mai caut, că e plin de români... 8- Nici nu mai vreau să comentez cât de dezgustat m-am simțit în acel moment, cât mi-m putut strica ziua în doar câteva secunde... Ca să îl citez pe Andi,

Ți-au reamintit de casă. Dacă erai în România și îți răspundeau în sictir treceai cu vederea. Așa... ți-au adus România mai aprope de tine; dacă cumva îi simțeai lipsa!

Apoi, cum mă învățasem să mai arunc câte un ochi pe plăcuțele de înmatriculare, am vazut și un Mini One, de Cluj.

Ieri... am văzut o Dacia Logan aici... unul dintre puținele taxiuri pe care le-am văzut în Pisa! :)

***

Am preferat de data asta să scriu în română pentru că o vorbă spune: rufele murdare se spală în familie.

Coaching weekend

This weekend, Vallentina - AIESEC Pisa Coach - came around for a coaching weekend. Really nice girl and flexible in ideas... at least while I took part at the meetings.

In the evening, we went for a kebab, and while we wre eating in a nearby park, I got the chance to see a domesticated polecat. Very charismatic creature, that was easely winning friends allover the place; including the following dog! :D

AIESEC Iasi: OGX News!

In the July '08 newsletter from AIESEC Iaşi there is a nice article about the outcoming of the Exchange Program. Here is an excerpt:

As far as Outgoing Exchange is concerned in May and June were introduced 35 EP Forms in our date base, from the total of 38 that are now available. Also, AIESEC Iaşi has six EPs that are matched: Alexandra Ristariu a friend, Marius Butuc, Nincic Gogu, Cristina Danila, Smaranda Calin and Florina Ungureanu.

• Andra Ristariu a friend..., a member that was recruited in October 2005, was accepted after a series of interviews and other formalities for an internship at KRAFT FOODS INTERNATIONAL in Vienna, Austria. The traineeship is on Accounting/Finance and it requires that, in 18 months the trainee has to assist the preparation of the financial plans for the EMEA region. This is the second traineeship for Andra who worked last summer for Tomsol Sp.z.o.o., Koszalin, Polonia in a project financed by the Leonardo program.
• Marius Butuc, a graduate from The IT University from Iasi and an OGX department member since November 2006 is going in a traineeship for about tree months in the Pisa University, Italy where he will have to develop a website for the Post University programs.
• Another AIESEC Iasi member, Nincic Gogu was accepted for a traineeship in a company from Warsaw, Poland - City Index Limited. Nincic is going to work for an year in developing a new project for this company, promoting and selling the products of City Index Limited.
• Smaranda Călin is going to work as an Project Manager for Microsoft in Copenhaga, Denmark. Smaranda will still be in the position of Teamleader of the CHANGE IT team, until the end of July where she will fly to her new workplace. Smaranda will take care that the members of her team will
  benefit from exchange opportunities as attractive as the one she is about to have.
• Soon, Cristina Danilă will leave for her new job in New Delhi, India. It seems that she is the only EP who wanted to go to an exotic destination. Cristina is going to work there for about six months for a five stars hotel, The Maurya Hotel from the cosmopolitan Indian town. She will work in a marketing department and she will have to maintain the connection between the hotel's foreign clients.
• Florina Ungureanu is the first member that was recruited in Spring and managed to get matched in a very short time. Her determination helped her to obtain a traineeship in Poprad, Slovakia. Starting with September, for an year, Florina will be teaching English to the 15-19 years old students from a Private Highschool.

These are the first EP members that got matched but there are lots of AIESEC Iasi members that are about to go abroad in the Exchange program. We wish the good luck and we hope that in the next months we will manage to come with great news from the Outgoing Exchange department.

Interviewed on Jurnalul de Est

After having an interview with Alina Grădinaru, today the final version of the article was published in the Jurnalul de Est regional newspaper. With a little help from Google Translate, here is a translation of the article:

Marius Butuc, fresh graduate, employed at the University of Pisa, Italy

The days in which the young graduates from the Faculty of Computer Science were leaving to work in America or other foreign lands for Bill Gates seem to fade. With small but secure steps, the perspective of those who graduate the Faculty of Computer Science of Iasi changes, in favor of local business environment. Many of ITs from Iasi see the opportunity of working for a famous company, in a foreign country, as a chance to show foreigners that Romania is not inhabited only by gypsies who go there to steal, but also by really valuable people. Marius Butuc is one of them: left to Italy to work for the University of Pisa through the AIESEC Exchange Program. There he has to develop the website that presents the Masters offered by a department of the University of Pisa.

Although a member of AIESEC Iaşi from 2006, Marius Butuc preferred to begin by engaging more in internal projects and to postpone his departure. "For me, my membership to the OGX (Outgoing Exchange) department of AIESEC Iasi - which I obtained in November 2006 - represents first of all a great development experience! Being in the last year at the University, I knew I am one of those that were supposed to leave soon. Thus I had the opportunity to gain an international culture without even leaving the country and, furthermore, to study how to transform difficulties in learning opportunities, which now helps me a lot! However, I was impressed by both all the serious work opportunities that I could get through AIESEC, and the life as an AIESEC Iaşi member", mentions the graduate.

The offer to work for the University of Pisa came only two weeks before leaving, and it was the ideal opportunity to prove not only the Italian language skills, but also the academic knowledge gained during the Faculty. "First I was looking in the database for a job in Finland or in the Netherlands, but since I already knew how to speak Italian, when I found the description for this job, I thought that I'd love to be hired and to continue to keep the contact with the University environment and even more, to work in a prestigious University such as this, in Pisa", says Marius Butuc.

In Pisa for three weeks by now, the fresh graduate still has to work for the University’s site until the 15th of September when he will return in Romania to lecture at the National Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, RoCHI 2008. "My first plan was that at the end of this three months traineeship I would get back home and start a Master, and then go in a second Exchange through AIESEC. But after I had the first presentation in front of the directional staff, there already was an idea of extending my working-period here, so there is a small possibility that home-made plans are going to change”.

"My plan is to get back, to contribute to local development"

The idea of working for an institution of higher education in Italy hasn’t messed with Marius’ brain, and in the future doesn’t see himself working abroad because, he considers, if someone truly wants to evolve, he can do it in Romania too. What he does is only to get the chance to know other ways of thinking and acting in order to improve his overall vision. He believes in the professionalism of young people like him and also believes in the Academic Center in Iaşi, represented by two strong Faculties on the IT&C side. When it came to wages, Marius Butuc chose to receive a full salary, that is, he explains, "a salary that I manage myself, of this money paying also my food and rent. I said that this way I can learn better how to manage by myself... this being one of the objectives that I’ve set when I came here. "

***

Once arrived in Italy, although this is the first time abroad, it didn’t took him much to accommodate to the people and the situation there. Starting with a particular set of expectations - part of them personal, while part of them gained during the training programs that he attended in AIESEC Iasi – most of them were surpassed, one by one. In his free time, Marius declares himself a tourist with a strong hunger for knowledge, one that does not leave home without his map and camera. In August, the fresh employee has a short vacation scheduled, when he wants to know Italy as much as possible, but he is likely to visit other AIESEC friends that are working in other countries too.

International Cooking Night

Tonight, Rafael invited me at his place, for a taste of brazilian cuizine! We have been 6 students from 6 different countries:

1. Brazil
2. Singapore
3. Canada
4. Etiopia
5. India
6. România

I didn't go empty handed, so I brought my bottle of țuică (that bottle on Izvorul Minunilor) on the table! I also drank Italian beer (Birra Moretti), German beer, and... last but not least: original cachaça and caipirinhia!

Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça, sugar and lime. Cachaça is Brazil's most common distilled alcoholic beverage. Like rum, it is made from sugarcane. Cachaça is made from sugarcane alcohol, obtained from the fermentation of sugarcane juice which is afterwards distilled.

[Wikipedia]

I really feel sorry that the Erasmus students are going away... :( And most of all I think I will miss Rafael, who helped me a lot!

Is there room for ambassadorship?

When I came to Italy, I knew a thing or two about what's going on... My VP OGX even asked me Are you really sure you want to go to Italy now?, but I thought that it was just one of Simona's akward questions.

The first day here, Michele asked me about how I feel about it, but after a very short chat, the conclusion was that if you are good, people are good to you and if you behave badly, the people around will not br that nice, no matter what country you are in or where are you from.

Then... when the house I was supposed to live in was all of the sudden rented to "some other guy that saw it first", I first raised my eyebrow.

But today I laughed my head off when I saw this:

Poor Roberto had second thoughts to translate what "ti buco" means... but I knew it...

The way I see it, it's just another media thing... I just hope that when I'll leave Italy, at least my friends here will be sure that not all Romanians are the same...

Capoeira Street Show

Yesterday I went for a pizza with Humberto. I was planning to see the Miss Pisa after that, but our travel started a bit with a walk on Corso Italia. There we discovered a capoeira demonstration in open-air:

After the show we went for a calzone, a beer and a granita... So that's how I missed Miss Pisa... And to think that maybe there were those beautiful women that people keep saying Italy has... :-j

***

To be honest, the Internet connection here is really lousy! And the ISP is called Fastweb... ha! Technology: ADSL... Yeah, it's designed to deliver more bandwidth downstream than upstream, but less than 10kbps upload?!? Pathetic!

Needless to say more, we will have to wait a bit till I'll finish the upload of a 116Mb video from the event!...

How to: Clothes hanger

Let's assume that you are in a forein country and you need to hang a shirt in your wardrobe, but you are quite low on cash. Here is a do it yourself solution designed and implemented today! :P

Quick trip to Livorno

Yesterday I went for a quick go-and-return to Livorno with Roberto and Juseppe-Daniello. From what I have been told, in the early days, there was a place where the thieves and the whores from Pisa were taken and, step by step, that place turned into the beautiful city that is today Livorno.

Map ©CastelliToscani.com

The only thing that I hated was that until the Mascagni Terrace, to get to the seaside you had to pay... for a very long strip of it.

Their City Park is very beautiful, having even several birds and animals there...

Maybe I will return one day to see it more in detail!

How to: buy a mattress cover

Well, this article is about how I managed to get a mattres cover (among other "new home" shoppings) whithout any prior knowledge:

1. Find the approximate size of the mattres: for that I used the string from my SanDisk Cruzer Micro
2. Find the approximate size of that string: I went to COOP Supermarket and searched for a small math notebook... Why? :D I remembered from elementry school that each sqare from a math notebook is 0.5*0.5cm, making in ~20cm tall. This way, the string is ~50cm long and the mattres ~1m*2m.
3. You might think that the products have the lables written in English also, like back home... c'mon, Italy is more advanced than România, right? Well, it might be, but there is no place for that much English! :(
4. Find an italian that understands and speaks English! I can bet this is going to be harder than you first thought! ;)
5. Finally draw the conclusion that the one you need is the Lenzuolo, 1 piaza, con angoli!

What can I say? It was a lot more difficult than I thought, but in the end I have achieved this great objective! :D

New place to stay!

I finally got a place to stay... after 3 days of phonecalls!

It all started with taking half of the day off from work. Then, I came to the University to make some other phone calls and after that looking at all the announcements from each floor... till I got to this one:

Changed the canteen, for a day!

As I'm broadening my horisons in Pisa, today I went to another canteen (mensa), the one from via Martiri, near the Piazza dei Cavalieri. I will probably make and post photos from this piazza in another day, because it is so beautiful that it requires a post of it's own.

This one is bigger, 3 levels high... I think I will come back here, since it's the only one opened for luch during week-end. :D

Pictures from il Gioco del Ponte

And today, the long-waited pictures from the Gioco del Ponte, when Tramontana lost only one game this year:

A walk in the sun...

Since it was very hot today, I went out for a walk... Just me, my camera and the map!

il Gioco del Ponte

Today there was the Gioco del Ponte an historical event held each year in Pisa in the last Sunday of July.

This historically evocative event, called Gioco del Ponte, consists of two distinct but both significant parts: the historical procession along the Arno river which is a huge military parade, and the battle, that takes place on the Ponte di Mezzo during which the two opposing teams give proof of their own physical strength in a strongly competitive atmosphere. Some sources try to date back this game to the classic antiquity. These hypotheses are not confirmed and it is more likely to be a local transformation of the Gioco del Mazzascudo, that from the XI to the XIII centuries was played as a simulated battle in the ancient Piazza degli Anziani, called today Piazza dei Cavalieri.

The game was played between single players, equipped with body armour, cudgels and shields. In the final day the individual battle was replaced by a general battle where the fighters where divided into two teams, respectively called of the “cockerel” and of the “magpie”. The first known edition of the Gioco del Ponte was held on the 22nd February 1568. The Old Bridge, now called Ponte di Mezzo, was the seat of the battle and the aim of the game was the conquest of a part or of the entire half of the bridge occupied by the opposing faction. The players of Tramontana and Mezzogiorno, were divided in a variable number of teams, of 50/60 players each. Each team had its own colours and banners. The participants taking part in the battle, characterised by a man to man fight, wore an armour, a helmet called "morione" and used the "targone" a large oblong and asymmetrical shield, with rounding extremities, made out of lime or poplar wood, over a meter long and weighing around two and half kilos which was also improperly used to attack.

The violence of the fight has always been one of the unchanged characteristic of this game. The desire for autonomy from Florentine domination and the growing competitive nature of the game caused Pietro Leopoldo to find the Gioco del Ponte obnoxious, so that after the 1785 game it was abolished and was interrupted until 1807, the only time when the game was played in the XIX century.

Gioco del Ponte was interrupted again for 128 years. It was organised again in 1935 according to the ancient historical traditions and after the Second World War, in order to avoid physical contact, a cart on rails to be pushed by participants was introduced.

The event is traditionally held on the last Sunday of June and also includes the historical parade with 709 participants. The Mezzogiorno and Tramontana Sides march separately, creating thus two parades of 314 participants each, but at the same time anticlockwise along the four streets running along the Arno river close to the Ponte di Mezzo. There is also a third parade composed by the Judges, that is 81 more participants.

More than remarkable is the scenographic effect of the participants Spanish costumes of the late XVI century, created for the edition of 1935 on the sketches of the art critic Fortunato Belloni, who got his inspiration from some prints of the Medicean age. The intensity of the effort that the twenty heavily-built men of each team put into the challenge is impressive. As in ancient times, victory goes to the team that conquers the Bridge by pushing the cart and all the opponents to the opposite end of the sliding rail.

The different teams of both Tramontana (representing the districts of St. Maria, St. Francesco, St. Michele, Mattaccini, Calci and Satiri) and Mezzogiorno (representing the districts of St. Antonio, St. Martino, St. Marco, Leoni, Dragoni e Delfini) fight in turn. The winner of the game is the side that wins most of the matches. Until 1996 if the challenge ended in a draw (three victories for each side), a final match was held to decide the winner between the selected best fighters for both parties. Since 1997 only six matches were held so that the final result could end in a draw.

Rete Civica Pisana

And here is a quick glimpse of how it is:

New place to stay... temporary

Today I was supposed to move to "my place", but it seems that it was givven to somebody who saw it before me... So, until I or the guys will find me some other place to stay, I will stay at Humberto's... very near of the Piazza delle Gondole. It's called this way because it's the place where the gondole were "partked":

It is also close to the Porta Garibaldi.

First day at work

Today I have started work! Nice office, great people, but I have trouble talking in Italian. I have to find a way to take some courses... Quick! Btw, here is how the Arno river looks when I get back from work:

Today I ate for the first time at the canteen. Now this was another little adventure! When I came here I knew that besides my sallary, I will have 2 meals free/day. At the canteen, students have a special card, with which they pay for the food, €2,5 for 1st, 2nd and desert. But to make the card, I had to go in another place, not at the canteen, as I've been told.

I went back to ask Lisa for directions, but then she tells me that I have to pay for the food, because she wasn't able to arrange so I would get it for free, but that they will raise my sallary with €150/month so that we will be eaven... So I went back, to eat for €2,5... I only think that the 1st was pasta al formaggio, but for the 2nd, I have no clue what I ate! :D The food here tastes better for me, and for €2,5 it's quite enough.

After work, I went with Rafael to buy a SIM, and the operator we chose in the end was Wind, so I can also call home at a bit lower rates. After that we went to a messy supermarket - PAM - and since last night I ate at Rafael's, I bought something to cook. I took him as "culinary advisor" and we bought Gnocchi di patate, Prosciutto Praga, and I found elsewhere some Brazilian soda: Guarana Antarctica: o original do Brasil!

Good food! :D

Codice Fiscale

Today I went with Roberto to make a codice fiscale, something that identifies you uniquely in Italy. This way, I was thinking what is more of the UID in România: the Cod Numeric Personal, or the serie/number of the ID card? :-?

I also need the codice fiscale to buy a SIM card here, but we couldn't find a shop around Media World where we could buy one.

Today I also went to see the house I will stay in: via Carnelutti 14. One room in an appartment close to COOP supermarket and my workplace. The bathroom is shared with another guy staying there and it would cost me €270 + the expenses/4 a month. The area is really quiet and filled with trees that are yet "exotic" for me! I like it!

After that, Rafael met a brasilian friend of his to visit il Campo dei Miracoli, where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is located. Since he invited me also, I tagged along.

And since everyone holds or pushes the tower, Rafael and I tryied to compete a bit:

Obviously, Rafael won! :P

How did Marius get to Pisa?

Today I flew for my 1st time; from București to Bologna. But there is a story behind this...

It all started yesterday, when I took the bus from Iași to București. I left from the Vama Veche station in Iași at 9PM and I arrived in Băneasa at something past 4AM. I have to tell you that it was one of my worstrides by bus, but only because of me. Maybe it was because of all the emotions gathered - 1st flight, 1st job abroad (1st time abroad too), 1st time leaving home for such a long period to manage all by myself etc. - but my stomach wasn't able to cope with all of that! :)) But I did make it to Băneasa:

I arrived there at ~4AM, but my flight was scheduled for 10:35, so I did get to walk around with my luggage and even see a beautiful sunrise:

Next, I had a first-hand first experience about check-in, I found out that I have payed for an extra luggage, that my luggage was a bit heavier than it was supposed to be, I past the frontier custom check, and waited to get in the plane.

In the plane I meet this young lady that was going back to Bologna, for work, and she was very "maternal" when she found out it was my first flight. I got good advice, not only the simple "Please straighten-up your seat, we are close to taking-off", I also learnt how to breathe better and why is it better so sit straight during take-off.

I also met Mircea who was also flying for the first time. He was going to the Isle of Elba, to his brother-in-law so, after looking on the map, we decided we could travel to Pisa together, since his Italian was even worse than mine.

After getting off the plane in Bologna, and being the last one to get his (heavy) luggage, the next stop was the railway station in Bologna: €5 for the bus! There I found very patient, understanding and English-speaking guy at the information booth. Did I mention that besides the tourists, there aren't that many people to speak (proper) English?

But I did get to buy my regionale ticket to Pisa. The route was:

1. Bologna (13:54) - Prato (14:59)
   
2. Prato (15:28) - Firenze Rif. (15:45)
   
3. Firenze Rif. (16:03) - Pisa (17:06)
   

There are some things worth knowing, at least for a Romanian coming to Italy:

• Even the Regionale, that as far as I know is the cheapest train in Italy travels at speeds greater than our Personal or Rapid or even Accelerat!
• That is why you have to use the subway to get to your line and not cross the railway lines (called binari)
• Trains happen to get late, just like back home...
• but... I was in Prato Centrale station and my train was supposed to leave at 15:28, but it was announced to be late. So at 15:15 I tought it would be nice to take a picture of the grafitti on the train.
  
  After taking 2-3 pictures, I was looking at my display and saw my train leaving! I looked at the train and... it was leaving! : But I got in the very next train going to Firenze and I got there in time... only for that train to be late 15 minutes!

In the end, I got to Pisa where Michele (former LCP, and my contact here), Humberto (LCP ellected) and Roberto (VP Talent Management) were waiting for me. After one day of travel, we went to the seaside, eat ice-cream, meet other 2 AIESECers, went for a pizza and beer, went to see Arno, the main river around which Pisa developed, ate another ice-cream etc.

I have to say that even if I might be more used to the pizza back home (plus for €8 we eat a bigger pizza and maybe have 2 beers) the ice-cream here is really the best I ever tasted! And yes, the beer is more expensive than back home...

For the night, I am staying at Rafael, a Brazilian Erasmus Mundus student that has joined AIESEC here, in Pisa...

Well, that's mainly the first day... And Italy is very beautiful and hot! :D

Officially Matched!

As of today, I am officially matched!

EP Form Details
EP Id: SN-Te-RO-IS-2007-1673
Raised By: EP Manager, E-mail: marius.butuc@aiesec.net
Exchange Type: Technical Traineeship
Name: Marius-Gabriel Butuc
Country: ROMANIA
Committee: AIESEC IASI

Matched to TN
TN Id: TN-In-IT-PI-2008-1210
Raised By: TN Manager, E-mail: michele_aiesec@hotmail.it
Exchange Type: Technical Traineeship
Organisation Name: University of Pisa
Committee: AIESEC PISA


Internship Dates
Internship Match date: 11.06.2008

Work Permit needed!

In February I've finished with my graduation project making my Diploma / BSc studies fully complete. After that, the next objective in my plans was an internship through AIESEC:

• Targeted technologies: PHP and/or Python;
• Targeted countries: The Nederlands or Finland!

First problem: To apply for an internship in the Nederlands, I need a Work Permit. To get it, I need to prove that

• I'm still a student - which I'm not, since I haven't enrolled for Masters yet
• the internship is mandatory for my graduation.

Well, then I thought I should broaden my horizon and also think about other countries... Today I found a very interesting JD from Germany, but:

Due to German regulations regarding salaries for interns, an official student
status is necessary to get the working permit and do a internship in the
country, so please make sure you can provide it before applying for the
traineeship.

I hate it!

Feeling Cultural?

I just received a video from Paul (our elected VP Comm. ;)) that reminded me of the days I joined AIESEC Iași. I remember that back then we had 3 trainees in Iași and I think I will never forget that cooking night when I personaly met them.

The video I mentioned is about A Mexican in România and made me remember many friends. Thanks Paulina!

Bonus: Here is a joke I enjoyed at ICPS 2008! ;)

ICPS 2008 Just ended

They say that a picture can say a 1000 words... Well then, here are even more pictures:

InterCultural Preparation Seminar

Well, it's ICPS time, yet again! This time we're going to the seaside, in Năvodari, at the Delfinul camp between May 1^st an 4^th!

It's going to be my first time at the seaside so I think it's going to be even more fun. The bad thing is that after this ICPS I will not be able to get the no-way!-you-must-be-kidding-me!!! reaction from the people finding out that I've never seen the see in my life. :D

The not so good news is that the weather in Constanta isn't going to be one of the best in that period... :-s

Too bad that even though there will be plenty of delegates at the Conference / Seminar, from some point of view, I will be alone... alone with the sea...

The Volunteer's Week

The Volunteer's Week (Săptămâna Națională a Voluntariatului) is now over. During this national event, every volunteer organization prepared one more more events during this week (April 14 - 20).

AIESEC Iași has contributed with a couple of free trainings for the volunteers, and also joined in at the march and at the exhibition from Sunday. Speaking of the exhibition, here are a few photos:

Well done Isa! Congrats for coordinating the events so well!

Career Days 2008

After we have seen the video and after attending Zilele Carierei 2008, it is now time for the outcome. Here is part of what I've seen: workshops, company presentations, recruiters... Full days, Career Days 2008... in a few images:

Jim Bagnola on Leading Teams

On May 13^th, in Bucharest, there will be an event on Leadership and Team Management: Leading Teams.

It was nice to hear Jim Bagnola, Senior Partner at The Leadership Group and the main speaker at the event mention AIESEC's role in activating leadership:

Failure #1: Marius vs. Talent Manager - 0:1

For a week now, I've started hunting for an opportunity to evolve both professionally and culturally. After my Leadership stage, now I want to go in eXchange! ...just that today I got an email saying:

Hello, thank you for the applications.

I take it that this person can work for only 20-24 weeks (april-october). As we discussed before we need people who can commit for longer periods than that, a few years preferably. I know that AIESEC has a maximum amount of months for the internship, so people having this maximum as their preferred maximum duration are the people we are looking for. Job requisites for under one year can be discarded in the future.

With best regards,
Christian XXXX, Talent Manager

OK mr. Talent Manager, than why is it written in the Job Description (JD) that the duration is preferably between 24 and 78 weeks?!?

Mr. Talent Manager, do you know that to discard means to throw something away: to get rid of something that is not wanted or needed? Is that the way to manage talents?

Too bad, you lost a guy (probably not a talent) that really is interested in:

• Web 2.0 development;
• Extreme programming and Agile development;
• Test driven development;
• PHP, MySql and AJAX programming.

Funny thing, until now I was only worried about not matching a JD on professional matters...

New Members!

Yesterday we had the Fist Meeting with the new members. Yet again I'm the buddy of 4 almost-ready-for-exchange new members! It was fun, even though I missed my First Meeting back in my days. I especially feel sorry for not attending the Party for the new members back then... I bet the October 2006 guys remember what I'm talking about! :D

Yesterday we also had plenty of roll calls, among them one very close to my heart: "If I Were Not Upon the Stage"...

Today I saw that it has quite of a history:

Earth Hour 2008

It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?

Beyond turning off your lights for one hour at 8pm March 29, 2008, there are lots of things you can do to make Earth Hour 2008 an even greater success. Here are just a few to get you started.

As AIESEC-ers, we should be the change we want to see in the world!

Beginning Leadership

Today I will pass on my Leadership position in AIESEC Iași. It might be seen as the ending of a leadership stage, but I'd rather see it as a beginning...

During this period of time I fount out more about what I don't know about leadership than what I do know... Funny feeling though... :)

Bebot!

Yeah... Good old times: LTS/LMS OC, in April 2007!

I remember Kyle teaching us the Bebot dance about a year ago...

Observatii demne de luat in calcul!

Suna gen: "u can't fire me... I QUIT!".

Stiu multa lume care s-a detasat de val si a ales sa faca (doar) ceva ce ii place in AIESEC... La fel cum multe controverse au ajuns la urechile mele...

Aseara am auzit ca pe subdepartamentul pe care il conduceam abia acum se vad rezultate, cand eu practic nu mai sunt... Nu spun nu, spun doar ca nimanui nu i-a pasat...

Dar sa las alta voce sa exprime:

hello @,

In primul rand doresc sa va informez ca sunt cat se poate de sincer (desi, nu prea ma caracterizeaza acest aspect in relatiile cu persoane relativ necunoscute) si in general in @ si cu @ am fost cat s-a putut de sincer pana acum! As fi vrut ca @ sa fie la fel de sincer cu mine ! Adrian Randasu (singurul care merita ascultat din @ - din pacate nu e DIN @)spunea la un moment dat intr-unul din training-urile sale ca tot efortul pe care il depui in mediul @ si toate energiile pe care le canalizezi inspre aceasta organizatie vor fi rasplatite... suna foarte bine atunci, pacat ca nu mai suna la fel de bine si acum... as fi vrut ca macar sinceritatea sa-mi fie intoarsa inapoi! De asta o sa va rog ca dupa ce terminati de citit acest mail sa mi dati un reply sau, daca doriti, puteti sa-i dati un forward sa pot fi sincer cu tot @!
La inceput eram foarte entuziasmat de acest ONG (desi am fost atras aici de prietena mea, eu crezand ca @ nu merita nici macar efortul de a ma prezenta la interviu dar... am zis ca merita sa incerc... si a meritat... mi-a oferit o experienta nemaintalnita pana acum... din pacate... negativa). Ideea centrala de la care am pornit a fost cea vehiculata de majoritatea dintre voi, cum ca @ te invata ceva mai mult decat facultatea, sau daca nu, macar iti da posibilitatea de a pune in practica. Mai tarziu, am observat ca ideea asta era impartasita de oameni care nu prea aveau tangenta cu facultatea... si din moment ce nu te duci la facultate, e foarte firesc sa ti se para ca in @ inveti mai mult decat la facultate! Faceti un exercitiu si voi si veti vedea ca am dreptate : invatati cat de mult puteti intr-un semestru la facultate, eventual sa luati note peste 8 macar, si veti vedea ca facultatea va ofera informatiile de care aveti nevoie, depinde de voi daca stiti sa faceti ceva cu ele.

Apoi... cred ca ar fi mai bine pentru @... si in general pentru orice ONG... sa fie o organizatie elitista... bazata pe CALITATE si nu pe cantitate... iata ca la LTS in toamna s-au prezentat 80 persoane aprox. din care vreo 70 au realizat atunci ca pana in acel moment ei nu se gandisera macar o clipa la persoana lor... la ceea ce inseamna ei... pentru ei. Ideea de unitate prezentata de voi la inceput a mers... si merge bine... dar merge doar la inceput daca nu e fondata pe ceva real... am ramas... scarbit chiar... sa vad ca intr-o organizatie in care... TEORETIC... se lucreaza pentru un set de VALORI... defapt se lucreaza pentru persoane, pentru interese, pentru petreceri, pentru "agatzat" ( sincer nu merge faza cu prezervativele de la LTS- sa NU o mai faceti... dati de la inceput o impresie... nu vreau sa jignesc pe nimeni... dar de la un om care iti ofera flori o sa te astepti ca acel om are macar o calitate din cele pe care le are o floare... dar de la o persoana care iti ofera prezervative...? )

Sa nu mai vorbim de TIME MANAGEMENT... de la primul training de acest fel am realizat ca @ nu are nicio tangenta cu asa ceva (doar persoana care tinea trainingul era reprezentant @ in acel moment , nu?). Din moment ce se prezinta in fata a aprox 80 persoane si recunoaste ca "nu are nicio legatura cu TIME MANAGZEMENT dar poate sa ne spuna cate ceva"...si mai afirma si ca e la filosofie in anul 4...si trateaza un argument de tipul : "timpul nu exista" cu atitudinea cu care trateaza biserica opera lui Nietzsche (pentru "connaisseuri"), in loc sa mi prezinte un contraargument logic.

Apropo de managementul timpului si de prioritizarea activitatilor... nu pot sa cred ca, o persoana care slujeste valori ca LIVING DIVERSITY sau ca STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE isi petrece 2-3 sau chiar 7 ore (nu pot sa inteleg asta, cum sa stai atata timp in sediu, eventual degeaba) participand la: sedinte care nu te incurajeaza si nici nu te ajuta la nimic, petreceri la care "bisericutzele" is evidente dinainte sa intri, LC-meetinguri la care se aplica geniala zicala" daca nu ne aplauda nimeni, macar sa ne aplaudam singuri". Nu pot sa cred ca in tot acel timp, acesti oameni "speciali" renunta la: a citi o carte, a face o ora de sport, a se plimba pur si simplu, A SE GANDI LA EI, sau mai grav la cateva cursuri/seminarii/sesiuni.

Sunt foarte multe lucruri pe care ar trebui sa le schimbati... reusita voastra nu ar trebui sa o masurati doar in cati oameni am trimis in exchange, cati bani am primit de la o companie pentru un proiect... ci si in lucruri care va vor ajuta pe o perioada mai indelungata decat aceste bucurii de moment, cum ar fi: o cultura mai bogata, maniere mai elevate, oameni care intr-adevar se specializeaza pe un anumit domeniu (ca nu inteleg pe ce domeniu te specializezi daca nu te duci 8 ore la facultate sau la sala de lectura sau sport si stai 8 ore in @ - cine iti mai garanteaza ce?).

Unul dintre lucrurile pe care am vrut sa vi le amintesc de la inceput este acela ca NU EXISTA NIMIC OBLIGATORIU IN VIATA ASTA! Activitatea @ este strict bazata pe voluntariat (sistemele de rewards&recognition nu pot fi aplicate in cazul in care pentru un proiect tu oferi maxim 3-4 premii in valoare de maxim 5 lei...). Stresul pe care l-ati creat dand mail-uri peste mail-uri considerand ca asa este mai profesional sau anuntand de zeci de ori un LC-Meeting care nu intereseaza pe toti in aceeasi masura sau subliniind cat de importanta este participarea noastra la un anumit eveniment nu a facut decat sa scada implicarea unora din membri (cel putin a mea). Sunt persoane in @ (majoritatea) care nu viseaza decat sa plece in afara (sa fim seriosi, cati demonstreaza kiar k ei fac totul k s fie cei mai buni pe domeniul lor sau ca ei pot schimba pe cei de langa ei - sau macar pe ei insisi). Sunt multe persoane in @ care nu au ce cauta intr-o organizatie bazata pe VALOARE. Construiti-va un ONG capitalist... bazat pe profit... eventual politic... bazat pe interes... acolo poate veti fi buni... dar in ceea ce priveste valorile... slabe sanse.

Tin sa mai precizez ca nu am avut nicio secunda intentia sa jignesc in mod vadit pe cineva... sunt observatii (repet OBSERVATII, si nu pareri) pe care le-am facut in mod general! Oricine are ceva de adaugat la aceste randuri rog sa o faca trimitandu-mi un mail si nu bazandu-se pe sistemul de "recomandare" din @, care am vazut si eu ca merge foarte bine (inspre rau, dar e si asta un mod de a merge).

Ce pot sa mai zic?... sau poate ca ar fi indicat sa ma opresc aici... pentru linistea mea!
Astept... sincer... mail-urile voastre!

Have a nice evening!
BUDDHA BLESS U
bbye

Exchange Stage

At this stage, you leave your country to work in a different country in an area of your background and/or you are passionate about. Working in a different country outside the AIESEC working environment can be very challenging and is an entire learning process on its own. This stage provides you the opportunity to be exposed to local issues but also to global issues through the interaction with other internationals.

This stage really will challenge you as you will be exposed to a totally different environment from what you are familiar with; you have the challenge of customising parts of your own learning process.

Why this stage is important for you:

• The experience of a successful fulfillment of the exchange process is a very unique experience.
• You gain an international experience that fits into your learning goals and also the organizational goals.
• You will have a close personal interaction with a new culture, broadening your horizon. The aim here is to provide you with relevant working and professional development, and to allow you to get integrated into the local culture as deeply as possible.
• You have cultural and socio-economic interaction which will provide you with the practical opportunity to create a holistic worldview.
• You will gain motivation about the possibility of change by driving change even in a small scale through a community involvement program.

This is my stage now; in every end there is a new beginning, so it is time to evolve now!

Spring Recruitment AIESEC Iasi 2008

Start ME

Smart Trainings for Achieveing the Right Talent for My Education

START ME, realized by AIESEC Iași during 15th of February and 15th of April 2007, is a training program for about 150 students in 10 high-schools, on themes of personal development and career orientation.

This had been thought as a non-formal educational platform which actions together with the traditional learning system and will be held in English by 4 trainees from AIESEC’s network. The program is structured in two modules. The first one contains themes of personal development like: creativity, public speaking, pro-activity, emotional intelligence, team work etc. The second one includes sessions of personal skills discovery, personality tests, and visits at various universities in order to observe the specific of each of them, the way of teaching, the courses, and also sessions of discussions with well prepared people from many domains in order to get a real image of the various professions.

The career orientation module had come to an end and about 120 students had meetings and discussions with students from various universities and with professionals from various domains.

Zorba, The African

Up to now, when it came to proposing a roll call (like for Iashington 2007), I usually came up with The evolution of dance:

Next time I'll have a different approach: the "african" version of Zorba, the Greek:

BRIO: Training program for students

More details [Romanian]

Career Days 2008 tease

It's already the 12^th edition! Check out zciasi.ro for more info! ;o)

Tech @IS Action Plan

OK, the Technology Team in AIESEC Iaşi started using Google Calendar for an ad-hoc Action Plan! Here's how it starts:

I give you: AIESEC Timisoara's blog!

Today Alen told me about the fact that AIESEC TM has a brand new blog, ready to be filled with information about the AIESEC way in Timişoara.

I also found out that they are in the middle of a nice teasing campaign before the spring recruitment and they really want to see some numbers in exchange! I really love to see this young and fresh enthusiasm, so I will also give a hand:

Another dot in IT

As the Technology Responsible in AIESEC Iaşi, I am also helping in the Brio: training program for students project. As the slogan says: "Play less, train more.", we want to turn it into a better version of the Training Centers from the previous years...

Synygy Europe, Iaşi branch is one of the local companies that we've targeted for a partnership in this project. Today I've contacted them through a former teacher of mine: Vasile Alaiba. Great teacher and a really special man!

This evening, Dan Gafiţeanu, HR at Synygy contacted me after talking to Vasile. Was I again mentioning something about dots in the title? At the beginning I didn't knew where did I knew Dan's name so well, but without being able to connect him in my mind to a real person... Well, Dan is an AIESEC Iaşi / Egypt Alumnus... and he is familiar with our Training Centers because he had a talk last year also at the Training Center at the Faculty of Automatics and Computer Science... where I was OC. Well, his talk was the only one I haven't attended at all, because of the OC errands... And I remember I felt sorry back then, because I was very interested in the "Work environment in a company"...

Tomorrow, at 12:30PM I have a meeting scheduled with him, to talk about the project... wish me luck! :P