Work in Progress...

Work in progress

2009-03-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

So,the title of this blog can be a bit deceiving given that it is usually the instruction used when a site is under construction or something. That is not the case here- i have just been busy and yes, lazy. But no more I say! A lot has happened since i have been in Beijing, half of which i have already forgotten, because i have the worst memory. I guess that is one of the reasons I started this blog. That, and to keep my mother posted on what i was up to. And since i wasn't doing a very good job of updating the blog, she joined Facebook!

Anyway, 'work' will resume shortly!

Have a good day!

Olympic Weekend!

2008-08-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

As a big sports fan, I had always dreamed of attending the biggest stage for world sport - the Olympics. I watched the spectacular Opening Ceremony on TV- my favourite part was the way China's three-time gold medal gymnast Li Ning lit the cauldron at the Bird's Nest stadium. In my opinion this was as good if not better than the flame and the arrow gimmick at Barcelona in 1992.

I was hoping and praying that I would get to go for some Olympic events and my prayers were finally answered!  I got off work and rushed over to mum’s hotel from where we would catch a shuttle to the Olympic Greens. We had time to wander around the expansive Greens’ before our event started and the atmosphere was electric. There were thousands of people walking about, getting their faces painted, waving country flags, clicking pictures in front of the Water Cube and the other fantastic-looking arenas and just soaking it all in.

Each of the official sponsors had a center where one could learn about the company and its association with the Olympics, besides getting memorabilia and other fun stuff. We made our way through the crowds to the Coca Cola Shuang zone and after spending some time there refueling we headed for the first event- Swimming.

I was so excited that I accidentally dropped one of the tickets and didn’t realize it until moments later. I called out to mum to check if she had it and she didn’t and both are faces just dropped. We turned back to trace our steps only to find a small group of Chinese women just staring at it on the ground as if it was something poisonous or untouchable. They were probably wondering who could have been so stupid to drop a ticket down. I hurried over and picked it up and held it safely in both hands. Thank God for honest people in this world, it would have been tragic to have your hands on a ticket and then just let it go. We continued to proceed towards the Water Cube when we came across a group of people holding out signs for swimming tickets- thank God they didn’t find my ticket. :P

We entered the Cube and took our seats. When I got to know earlier that I was going for the swimming event I quickly checked out the schedule to see is Michael Phelps would be breaking any records that evening- unfortunately there were only heat events taking place. Although his 4*100 Medley was one of the heats, the reserve team was going to be competing to secure a place for the main team in the finals. I was a little disappointed but I soon forgot all about that once the swimmers came out. Seeing the 41-year-old Dara Torres secure a place in the finals of the women's 50m freestyle, where she later won and received a silver medal while holding back tears, was inspirational. I also got to watch Australian Champion Grant Hackett secure a place for himself in the finals- he too went on to win Silver. Every time a Chinese swimmer was competing the crowd went completely mad- I could not hear myself think during the Men’s and Women’s 4*100 medleys. What an experience!

Once the swimming got over we went over to the spectacular Bird’s Nest Stadium to catch a few athletic events. Two Indian runners were competing in the 200m Women’s Heptathlon heat and it would have made a nice story if they had qualified for the finals especially since it was Independence Day- but sadly it wasn’t a perfect ending. The stadium was packed with fans from all over the world. Since there are several events going on simultaneously, it makes it hard to follow one event- although the announcers and scoreboards do try to make it easy. After a couple of events we headed back to rest before another exciting day.

A visit to the Forbidden City was on the cards for the next day, after which we headed to the Workers’ Stadium for a football match between Belgium and Italy. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t support the Italian football team. I was one of a few people who were rooting against them during their World Cup crowning match 2 years ago. Luckily for me, this time there were more Belgian supports than Italian ones. It was barely 15 minutes into the first half when a Belgian was shown a red card- and to add insult to injury- Italy converted the penalty. But 5 minutes later Belgium leveled the score and that’s the way it remained until injury time of the first half- when Belgium made it 2-1! Belgium really held their own in the first half even though they were one man down.

For sure the Italians were gonna come out with all guns blazing in the second half and for the first few minutes they dominated, but the Belgians did not let their guard down. After a lousy tackle from an Italian player, the Belgian goalkeeper limped off injured. His replacement wasn’t in a long time before he had to stand up to Giuseppe Rossi, to defend the Italians’ second successful penalty shot of the match. Striker Moussa Dembele, who was having a great game, scored his second and Belgium’s third goal just five minutes later. By this time Italian tempers were flaring cause it was a do or die situation, the Italian desperation resulted in their goalkeeper getting sent off. Belgium held their nerve while Italy started to fall apart and after 5 minutes of added time the referee blew his whistle much to the delight of the Belgians and their supporters.

Many may say that this wasn’t the best Italian squad on display, but it will go down in history books as Belgium 3- Italy 2. And credit to the tiny country who was one man short for almost the entire game and still came out victorious. This was a great display for what it means to be an athlete - to try and try even if the odds are against you. To be honest I was not expecting 5 goals and 2 red cards at the start of the game, but boy what a match it turned out to be.

Earlier on that day, I found out that there was a spare ticket to the final day of tennis and I claimed it within seconds. Who would give up a ticket to such a hot seat! The women’s finals match had been carried over from the previous day due to rain- and that was a hard fought match between Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva. But the older Russian showed her experience by not getting as rattled as her younger compatriot did when points didn’t go her way. Safina looks like a great player in the making and is certainly the future of Russian tennis. But in the end Dementieva won the gold and completing the Russian treble was Vera Zvonareva, who took the bronze.

After a brief intermission the finalists for the men’s match walked in, Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez. All the Chilean fans erupted; surprisingly they seemed to outnumber the number of Spanish fans. Rafa took the first set, but the Chilean came back strong in the second. However Nadal proved to be too lethal and took the match in straight sets. He rejoiced in the same way he did after winning his two Grand Slams of the year- he fell to the ground, as almost in disbelief. It was a treat to be able to watch this Champion in action and win Olympic Gold, a day before he officially took over as the new Number One.

I was so engrossed in the match that I didn’t realize that they were going to have the medal ceremony for the women’s doubles, until out walked the Williams sisters. I am not a big fan of the sisters, but they have contributed a great deal to tennis and as a tennis fan I appreciate that. And once that was over, it was time for the medal ceremony for the men’s singles, and being a huge Novak Djokovic fan I went nuts when he walked out.  That really was the icing on the cake. Rooting for Nadal with a Mexican and cheering at the Women's tennis finals with a group of Russians, felt exactly like the Beijing Olympics' motto - One World, One Dream.

To me sport is more than just about winning and that is why I love it! It teaches you about life and its lessons. Commitment, hard work, sacrifice, team work, rivalry, integrity, success, failure, dedication, celebration, disappointment, so many emotions and values. Sport is an important tool which has been able to build bridges between people and nations and will continue to do so. Being able to witness athletes strive for success at the biggest stage of international sport will be a memory I will cherish forever.

China's Olympic Games

2008-08-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

By hosting these Games, China has taught the world many lessons. India would do well to learn some with the Commonwealth Games just a year and a half away for one, the games were always about "China" - never Beijing. This brought out an intense feeling of national involvement and purpose. That is why the organisers received hundreds of thousands of applications for volunteers from all over China - people who just wanted to be a small part of this proud moment for their country. Even if it was sitting at a drinks stall in the sweltering heat for hours or guiding lost tourists, the volunteers did it with a smile on their face and in their voice. They wanted to show the best their country had to offer.

China was also always ahead of its construction schedule. At one point, it was even advised to slow down as maintaining the new state-of-the-art stadia would cost a lot of money. Transportation facilities have also been extended, with several new subway lines built before the '08 Games. Getting around Beijing is now quite easy. There are detailed maps are available all over and most subway and buses have names and numbers written in English.

Sadly, most Indians don't even know about the 2010 Commonwealth Games, even fewer care. Hopefully, talk on how China has handled these Olympics will arouse more concern about how India is seen by the world in 2010. Let's hope that after the CWG, the world stands up and says, "Well done India".

Ni hao from Beijing

2008-08-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

The days leading up to my departure for Beijing had me very nervous and restless. It had been so long since I decided to go- but then I had those darn visa issues to tackle. I was so nervous about my luggage and getting through customs with all my saamaan- but it turned out to be easier than I expected especially since I had my mum’s colleague on the same flight- good way to begin the start of a new journey I would think! J

Beijing airport is big, clean and beautiful! Chinese people are very kind and polite- even at the toll gate they greet everyone that passes through with a ‘ni hao’ and send you off with a ‘xiexie’ and a smile- and they get hundreds of cars that pass through everyday! The route from the airport to the place where I am staying is really pretty- lots of greenery and lots of Olympic signage. J Due to the Olympics and the notorious Beijing traffic, there is a separate lane just for authorized Olympic vehicles- all that is stopping other cars from swerving into that lane is the Olympic logo painted on the tar. And even though normal traffic lines are long- not a single car will veer into that lane- which is pretty much empty. What discipline!

I finally met Sophie, with whom I have been in touch with for over a year- she showed me my apartment- which is awesome!! J She is such a wonderful person and I’m happy that I will finally have the chance to work with her. She has been so patient and understanding in dealing with my delay in coming for this internship- there were many times where she could have just said I think I am going to go with someone else this is taking too long, but she didn’t. I am so lucky to have company provided accommodation, cause I know finding a place to stay during the Olympics would have been such a mighty task.

I am really excited about work! Metrozine is a bilingual lifestyle magazine here in Beijing that features articles on travel, living, food, fashion, home & décor, events in Beijing etc. The atmosphere at work is great and my new colleagues are extremely welcoming. The CEO prefers to be called Po, (after the Kung fu Panda character) and he does bear some resemblance to the cute panda. :p But what I have noticed is that he is always one of the first to come into work and one of the last to leave- great to be working for a person with such a work ethic! He also arranged for one of the girls to teach me Chinese- classes are already underway! :P

It has been only a week since I arrived in Beijing but it already feels like home and I hope I can stay here for as long as possible.

Scorpions in SIbiu!!! :):)

2007-11-20T02:45:00.000-08:00

Yup... the Scorpions stopped by Sibiu for a free concert (yes! i mean free) as part of their Humanity world tour and we went. I am not a big Scorpions fan, i mean i only own one album that was played over and over again. I remember my mum and i trying to sing in the nasal way the lead singer does- much to my brothers anguish. :P

A local band, Compact, opened for the Scorpions, they too have been around for some 30 years. I really like their music and it was fun trying to sing along in Romanian! :P

Lunch at the Diaconescus'!

2007-11-20T02:21:00.001-08:00

We were invited for a traditional Romanian meal to Laura's place the weekend before last and it was lovely to finally meet her mum and dad. The meal consisted of five courses which started out with 2 salads (i ate both! much to the delight of Laura's mother, and mine i am sure!:P) We moved on to a pasta soup which was delicious.

After we were finished with the soup, Laura's mum called me into the kitchen to observe how mamliga is prepared and taking the cooking class was Laura's dad. It's pretty simple really, you need the corn mix, salt, water and a steady arm. The main course of Sarmale and Mamaliga were served with their respective accompaniments. (yum!!)

Once we were done with that we were treated to an assortment of chocolate desserts and were left with no more place for the final course. We decided to work on our presentations for the high schools and continue with our Sunday feast after that. The last course was one of Laura's mums specialities- cheese pancakes... need i say more!!:):) pofta buna!!:)

Scorpions in SIbiu!!! :):)

2007-11-14T01:09:00.001-08:00

pics for now.. post and video coming later...

Romanian Food!!

2007-11-06T23:53:00.000-08:00

pic 1 - hot chocolate
pic 2 - Chocolate pastry from Fornetti
pic 3 - Mamaliga with sour cream at Papaya
pic 4 - Fried Chicken and Cheese at Andos
pic 5 - Vanilla/chocolate ice cream (in sibiu)

I just want to begin by saying- I LOVE ROMANIAN FOOD!! :):)

The LC has made arrangements for us to eat at two places, the first is Andos, which is a fast food joint. You can order a mini menu which can be with fried or grilled chicken/cheese/fish, and that is served with french fries and cabbage and bread. They also have sandwhichs which is not very different from the mini menu because they put everything in the sandwhich, including the french fries.

The other one is Papaya, which serves up traditional food and everyday we get a soup, a main dish and dessert. The food is delicious and oh I have to add, Romanians love their meat, bread and potatoes, and whoever knows me knows that that is all I survive on (and chocolate) :) Two dishes that I love are sarmale and mamaliga, I have to get the recepies for them. For dessert we have a choice of Tiramisu, chocolate eclairs, chocolate cake, something that is like cheesecake but is not cheesecake, something that translates to dream in English and other desserts that fall under the category of heaven/angel food/food that can make you smile forever!

I had written out some goals for myslef before the traineeship, and since I am not the most adventurous when it comes to food, one of the goals was to eat something strange… and I did… Tripe soup! I know it’s a delicacy in many places, including Romania, but its not something I have never tried before and I think I bowl of it is all I can handle in my lifetime.

But Romania has to thank its neighbour Hungary for two culinary additions. The first is the franchise Fornetti- they sell savoury bread (like patties) with everything from cheese to chocolate to meat to jam. There is an outlet on every street in Brasov and there is always a queue of hungry people at the shops’ window. The other is Kürtöskalács, its a hollow, cylinder shaped pastry fried in open fire and coated in chocolate, cinnamon, cheese, coconut, honey & nuts and thousand island sprinkles.

A drink that you will find in most pubs (lucky me) is Hot Chocolate! The consistency is just right and most places serve it with cream and a chocolate cookie on the side!! Lets just say I am qualified to write about the Hot Chocolate in most of the pubs in Brasov! :P

More art from Rudy

2007-11-06T02:53:00.000-08:00

Pic 1- Andrei posing with his favourite one

Pic 2 & 3- More from Rudy's collection

Carpe Diem

2007-11-06T02:23:00.000-08:00

Pic 1 - With Nico, Jenny, Andrei and Ashley

Pic 2 - with Rudy

Pic 3 - 'The kings joker changing the light of the universe'

Pic 4 & 5 - Some of his other pieces of art.

One of the new recruits (from @ BV), Rudy, invited us to his art exposition, ‘Carpe Diem’ on Monday. I don’t know much about the subject but I appreciate a fine piece of art, so I thought it would be interesting. Besides, he told us he had chosen Queen and the Beatles as background music. :)

The evening started with the Director of the gallery talking about Rudy and how gifted he is for his age(22). Then Rudy stepped up for his speech and he also made a special mention of his three international guests! :) A friend of his was capturing every moment for a documentary Rudy is making about a day in the life of an artist. Yes!! Finally, my 15 minutes of fame! :P

Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t know much about art, but you don’t have to to see that this guy is really talented. My favourite was the one called (when translated into English) ‘the kings joker who is switching the light of the universe’. I loved the colours and the strokes used in the painting, there is a specific term for it, which I do not remember anymore.

After that we made our way into an auditorium to watch a short film. It started off with images of people praying from different parts of the world. (mainly from smaller towns and villages) I always get shivers when I see images that describe the enormity of the world, things like a grand waterfall or a gigantic mountain range and with the right background music that can be eerie. So that slowly flowed into scenes of tribes from Australia, South America and Africa dancing and performing their rituals. Something that struck me while watching the different tribes was that, we are all so similar yet we spend so much of time on needling out the differences that exist between us and arguing over them. I mean we all love our parents and want to be happy and want to protect the people we care about. Right!?

(For some reason I am not able to write exactly what I am thinking, which is frustrating)

Anyway, we had to leave before the movie ended, but the movie continues to show how civilization is slowly working its way into the unexplored and undiscovered parts of the globe.

Sibiu

2007-11-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

Last to last Saturday(27th Oct), Raluca (@ BV), her boyfriend Andrei, her friend Marcian, Jenny and myself visited Sibiu for a couple of hours. Sibiu was selected us the Cultural capital of Europe for 2007, so we just had to visit. Marcian was headed there for two photography exhibitions, so we tagged along in his car.

First impressions of Sibiu, well we only walked around the main city square, and i have to say it is very similar to the one in Brasov, from the layout to the colours. There are flags and posters on every street light reminding you that it is the cultural capital of Europe for 2007 . We might plan another trip there soon so i will have a more detailed opinion then.

As for the exhibitions, i really enjoyed them and discovered that i like photography exhibitions. :) There were quite a few Indian photographers featured there, which was really great.

more pics from sfanta ana lake 2

2007-10-31T03:07:00.000-07:00

more pics from sfanta ana lake

2007-10-31T03:02:00.000-07:00

Saint Ana's Lake

2007-10-31T02:53:00.000-07:00

Last to last Saturday, (20^th Oct) we took a road trip to Sfanta Ana Lake with Laura and a couple of @ Brasov alumni. The lake is situated in a crater that was formed by a volcano some time back. It’s a couple of hours outside Brasov and is a favourite picnic spot in the summer time. But since we won’t be here for the summer we decided to visit it in the winter.

While waiting for the bus to take us to where we were meeting the rest of the gang, we were approached by a fellow tourist. (I wonder what gave us away : P) He asked us where we were headed and us soon as he uttered those words I knew where he was from! I mean how could I get an Aussie accent wrong! : P After I inquired about that and he confirmed my suspicion, I told him where I was from. Immediately after that the conversation shifted to the recent Aus-India series and the trashing we received at home at the hands of the Aussies. Oh well, what can I say! :P

Our bus arrived and that ended our little chat, but it was nice talking to someone about cricket- it has been a while. We finally arrived at the point we were supposed to meet everyone else and after a quick pit stop we began our adventure. The car journey was hilarious, I mean any moment spent with Liviu and Andrei is a laugh out loud moment! Laura and I were just sitting at the back laughing away for most of the journey.

Romania is a beautiful country; and I am not sure how many adjectives I can use in one sentence before my sentence becomes grammatically incorrect, but it really is gorgeous. The colours of the landscape are breathtaking and inspiring. The winding roads that lead us to our destination were arched by trees of shades of yellow, orange and red.

It was around 7 in the evening and we were on the highway on our way back to Brasov and I noticed something very interesting. While driving at night in Gurgaon, the ‘universal’ signal for ‘dim your #@$%^ lights’, is flicking your headlights at the oncoming insensitive driver. But over here, if a car flicks their headlights at you, it means ‘look out, them cops are ahead’. What a difference, eh!?

Back to the road trip- Andrei was hit by a lightening bolt and came up with the idea of up pulling into the gas station and me talking to the clerk in Hindi. So we stopped at a gas station, Anca and Andrei went into the convenient store first pretending to be regular customers. I walked in a few minutes later trying hard to be this lost tourist who did not speak a word of Romanian or English. I was basically asking her directions to the sea side, which btw is the opposite direction of Brasov. She looked at me like I was a lost tourist asking her for directions in god knows which language and decided to call another person for help. They gave me a pen and some paper to draw what I was trying to say and I tried very hard not to burst out laughing. By this time the guys showed up at the counter to pay for what they had bought. I was trying every 70’s dance move that had to do with waves and water and then she finally said Apa. (water in Romanian) But that is as far as we got and I finally decided to walk out to the car. She saw us all get into the same car, so I guess she figured out we were in it together.

Anyway, it was a fun trip- a beautiful place and great company, I think in the end it is the latter that makes all the difference.

first snow :):):)

2007-10-31T02:48:00.000-07:00

One of my wishes for this trip was that I get to experience snow as I have never got the chance before. Everyone we (Jenny & me, she too has never seen snow) asked, said that we had a 50/50 chance and that we would be lucky if we did get a glimpse of it. But all that changed last to last Sunday (21^st Oct). 

It was around 10 in the morning and we were still recovering from clubbing the previous night (a completely different story altogether). I then received a message from Alessandra saying look through your window – I thought she was outside and wanted to wave out to us, since there was an AIESEC meeting happening in the office and you can see the office from our room. But I was still not ready to wake up and since I sleep on the top bunk I convinced myself to stay put. Seconds later I received a message from Corina saying it’s snowing; I jumped off the bed, drew the curtains and started to scream and shake poor Jenny!

After jumping around for a few minutes we pulled out our cameras and started clicking pictures, we were like little children all over again. Our next reaction was to call home and share our excitement with them. We then went to the AIESEC office and everyone was really happy that we got the chance to see snow.

Snow in October is not a common sight here but thank God for the unpredictable.

Skater Park

2007-10-31T02:32:00.000-07:00

n the new part of the city, amongst the high rise apartment complexes and corporate towers lies the civic center park. It’s basically a big park that includes a play area for children and there are pathways that run through it for people to run/walk. (their dogs) On the other side is the area where the big boys play, you have the chess tables for the slightly older gentlemen. Just adjacent to that is the playground for the slightly younger chaps, this includes a basketball court, a concrete football ground and the part that I like the most, the skater park! You can find in-line skaters, skateboarders and BMX bikers riding up and down their creatively designed {read as graffiti} RAMP!

One of the places we eat at is situated just a few minutes from the park, so at times we go there and watch in awe!

Now I am not the biggest X games fan there has ever been, but I have watched my fair share of Tony Hawk, Cesar Mora, the Yasutoko brothers and crew burn the ramp with their tricks.

The X games did not always receive the same kind of ‘publicity’ that some of the other sports did; in fact it was only recently that the X Games had its own category in the ESPY Awards. But I don’t think that bothered these athletes too much, they really love what they do, and that is all that matters! The reason I like watching the X games is because of the camaraderie that these guys share. On the one hand they are fierce competitors but they will always be the first to encourage and support each other. Whenever one of them attempts a new trick and manages to land it you will always find the others knocking their skateboards and helmets on the ramp in acknowledgment.

In the skateboarder park in Brasov, you find the same kind of comradeship. The only point of worry is that these guys don’t wear any kind of protection gear, no helmets, knee/elbow pads nothing! I wonder if their mothers know! : P

I wish I could try that one day!

World Citizenship

2007-10-18T00:59:00.000-07:00

We finished our first week of school last Friday. There are 5 high schools that are involved in this project and we meet each school once a week for about 2 hours. Each week we shall be talking about a different issue and last weeks topic was Communication and Feedback. We got off to a rocky start as the number of students that showed up was lesser than what we expected, but we were right back on track the next day.

I wasn’t quite sure of what to expect as I had never done anything like this before. Getting and holding the attention of some 20-30 teenagers, after they had had 7 classes through the day is not the easiest thing. You cannot act like one of their teachers but at the same time you cannot try too hard to fit in. They appreciate you being yourself and you have to be willing to let your guard down completely and put yourself out there. It usually takes me a while to warm up to people before I can bring out my wild side. : P In this case I don’t have time on my side, it is their time. But then that’s the learning, right?!

The students are very friendly and volunteered to show us around the city, go on treks and also invited us to play basketball with them. The students are quite confident of themselves and eager to learn. The feedback that we have received so far is very encouraging and rewarding. They think the project is great and very useful; they enjoy the games and movies we play and want to learn more about our cultures and our experiences. There are also a few students who want to join AIESEC!  woohoo!!

I really appreciate the fact that the students stay back after school hours to attend our session and even if they are half dead they don’t show it. Another point that I like is that some of them feel that they are not very fluent in English, which is not the case because when they start talking they do just fine! But the point is that they make the effort and that is what pushes me out of my comfort zone.

After I decided to accept this traineeship I never doubted my decision and each passing day is just another affirmation. My only wish is that it was longer!!

More Pics

2007-10-14T10:45:00.001-07:00

View of the old part of Brasov from the Black Tower, the new part is covered by the tree.
with a guy promoting Kiss FM and Laura in teh city square
with laura, alexandra and jenny
on a bench in the main park in Brasov

Bran Castle Pics

2007-10-13T08:54:00.000-07:00

Pics from our trip to Bran Castle.
Baturay, Ashley, Jenny and Dogukan

Red Indians In Romania

2007-10-13T08:40:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pics and videos...

AIESEC Brasov part 2

2007-10-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Pic 1- Corina (VP ICX)
Pic 2- Cata, Laura, Jenny, Ashley and Andy (LCP)

AIESEC Brasov Part 1

2007-10-13T08:28:00.001-07:00

Pic 1- Dan, Gabi and Adi with Beedis
Pic 2- Radu (being himslef) and Cata
Pic 3- Laura and Cata
Pic 4- Livia, Nico and Roxana

Global Village

2007-10-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

To the airport!!!

2007-10-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

The 'brotherhood' as they call themselves use this term when somebody says something stupid and really dumb!! it gets its inspiration from a certain cola ad!!

pictures

2007-10-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

coming soon....

Red Indians in Romania!

2007-10-08T08:36:00.001-07:00

I never thought I would see Red Indians in Romania, but I did... Twice… in the same day!!

They are a group traveling to various parts of Romania performing in public squares and promoting their music. We saw them outside Bran castle and then we saw them again the same day back in Brasov. I love their music and could listen to them all day, although I would prefer watching them perform, it really is an experience.

Bran Castle

2007-10-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

Bran is a short bus ride away from Brasov. It is famous for the Bran Castle also known as Dracula’s castle. We decided to visit the castle on Saturday and it just so happened to rain the previous night and that morning, but we decided to brave the cold and go anyway.

The castle is nestled on a hill surrounded by trees…pretty spooky!! : P The bit about the vampire biting, sucking blood etc is a myth, but there is a pretty gruesome story that is supposed to be true. It turns out this Vlad guy aka Dracula was an Emperor of sorts of the region. To punish thieves and criminals he would tie their hands and legs down {stop reading if you are squeamish} and take a log and drive it right through their bodies. Ugh!!

The castle looks big from the outside but the rooms inside are small and you often have to watch out for the low ceiling. Outside the castle you will find plenty of souvenir shops selling T-Shirts, magnets, paintings, mugs, key chains etc and you cannot come away without buying something. You also cannot come to Romania and not visit Dracula’s castle!

Global Village

2007-10-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was the opening conference for our project followed by global village. Attending this event were the students we would be teaching, some of their teachers, AIESEC Brasov members and alumni, a local radio station and a media company. Two Turkish trainees from the neighboring LC Ploiesti were also present. After we made our respective country presentations, our stalls were setup with the various items and goodies from each of our countries.

The girls loved the bindis and bangles. I had also carried packets of bhujiya, spicy peanuts and roasted moong dal and although they found the peanuts spicy they kept eating. They were curious about the beedis I had taken, but what sort of a teacher would I be if I encouraged them to smoke. : P

AIESEC Brasov

2007-10-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

The LC organized a welcome evening for us at one of the local pubs. We were greeted with a bouquet of beautiful flowers from the country side and a reception package with a sim card and all the other things a trainee would need to feel at home. There were quite a few LC members present and I also got to meet my buddies.

The entire LC takes ownership for the trainees and it’s not just the responsibility of one person/department, which is great. The girls are very warm and the boys are very protective, everyday we meet up with a bunch of LC members who show us around. Alumni are also very involved here, for instance, two of my three buddies are alumni. I am really glad I got matched to this LC, they are a special bunch not to mention very humorous.

Salut from Romania!!!

2007-10-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

It has been a little more than a week since I arrived in Romania for my 8 week internship and boy have those 10 days gone by quickly. I have never lived away from home for more than 14 days let alone in another country on my own, so I am a little nervous but also very excited.

My traineeship requires me to train high school students on the theme of Entrepreneurship and the skills you require to be a successful entrepreneur, like communication, leadership, team management etc. After my two months in Brasov, Romania I will be backpacking across France, Spain, Italy and Portugal for around 40 days. I hope everything goes according to plan but then I am also reminded of Murphy’s Law, what can go wrong will go wrong! I have my fingers crossed!

I flew from Delhi to Paris and had to wait in Paris for four hours to board my connecting flight to Bucharest and since it was early morning the setting was perfect to jot down my goals and expectations for the adventure that lay ahead of me. By the time I was done other passengers started to stream in through the check in gates. One thing that I noticed was that most people were not very fluent in English and only spoke in their native tongue and made no apologies for it, something different from India.

Many people who have been on internships or lived abroad had told me that a person becomes more patriotic when they live in a different country and I began to understand what they meant. There were a couple of other Indians at the airport and as we crossed each other we would exchange smiles and glances, almost whispering the words, “mera Bharat mahan” or something like that. {yes I know that sounds a little dramatic but its true!}

Anyway, so after a couple of hours and some spectacular views from the plane I arrived in Bucharest. Waiting for me at Otopeni Airport were Gheorge {alumni, AIESEC Brasov} three of his friends and his Mercedes with a sun roof, talk about an airport pickup!! : P The drive from Bucharest to Brasov is about 2 hours and some of the places you pass on the way make perfect postcards.

I finally arrived, after 11 hours of flying and 2 hours by road, at the place I would call home for the next two months. Laura aka my TN manager aka the person who matched me was waiting for me and it was nice to finally meet her after exchanging mails for almost two months.

Brasov can be divided into two halves, the old part of the city and the new. You can see the clear division and also get a nice view of the city from the top of the Black tower. We are staying at Memo, one of the students dorms in the old part. By ‘we’ I mean myself and the other two trainees who are part of the project, there is Jenny from Taiwan and Ashley from Armenia.

The people of Brasov are very friendly and warm and although they may not be very fluent in English they will try their best to help you. Public transport is very good but a lot of people choose to walk and I can’t blame them. The city is not very big so you can be sure to bump into someone you know on your way.

My pot of gold

2007-04-26T23:36:00.000-07:00

Well actually it's more like an tank with 3 goldfish and your regular goldfish-bowl ornaments.
Actually out of the three, the pedigree of two of them is suspect, which leaves me with a black gold fish in an aquarium with ornaments which dosent really give leave me anything in gold. So much for my Irish fantasy of my very own pot of gold!

But anyway, whoever said that fish are boring and don't have a personality - they are so wrong!! Chloe is the more energetic one who swims around as if the bowl contains coffee instead of water, quite a feisty little thing she is, bullying the guys. Bobo is this chilled out dude who floats around all day taking in the scenery of my room and the wallpaper on the back of the aquarium. And the latest edition is Moses, the black goldfish; the only one whose origins are legit. He is a lot slower than the other two, who dart from across the tank to grab his food. God knows what seas he will part if the need ever arises!

The pet store owner enlightened me on how new pet owners treat their fish like new parents treat their new born - running to him to help with the smallest thing. I must add he is very good salesman, considering we went to the store to buy a new fish bowl as the old one broke and we came back home with Moses, a mini aquarium, and all that bling to keep the fish happy. The fish seem to love this little strip that feeds little oxygen bubbles into the tank, it's like their very own massage chair.

I must confess before i got these 3 little guys i never really understood the fuss pet owners made over their pets. But i guess its like they say: You don't know it until you experience it. Right?

Actions do speak louder than words

2006-08-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since my last posting- I know. But I’m back now :)

The other day our dear CEEDer from China, Elaine and I were talking about people in general and then we narrowed down to a certain group of people -friends. That seems like such a normal, common word, something we may not give to too much thought to.

I have come across a lot of people who call every person they have ever had a conversation with a ‘good friend.’ Elaine told me about this system of levels that she has- depending on which level the person is, the correct amount of information is parted with or the correct amount of EFFORT will be put in, into making it a good one.

‘Actions speak louder than words’

That is a statement that I truly believe in. Friendship requires a certain amount of effort, effort = actions. Whether it is meeting someone for coffee or even just taking the time make call them up. Anybody can say the nicest and most flattering things, to make ones day. But the real test is being there for someone when we really need them, and not only when we have reasons to celebrate.

Something that I have recently realized, a good friend and a good leader have something in common. Both types are there for their friends/team-mates when times get tough, to help out, and are not just there to celebrate the success/victory.

I don’t know about most people, but I have met a few people, who when betrayed by a ‘good friend’, tend to lose faith in people and become cynical- to an extent I understand what their argument is. If a good friend can do that what would stop anybody else?!?!?! But Elaine told me that you are being unfair to other people you may meet, by simply putting them on the same level as ‘the betrayers.’ In doing so, you may actually miss out on something/someone who is a gem of a person. But then how do we know right?? That is something we need to figure out on our own- a friend won’t hurt you, time and time again. After all actions speak louder than words…

‘Listen – don’t judge’

2006-05-22T03:30:00.000-07:00

‘Listen – don’t judge’

Someone said this to me the other day, and it has been playing in my head ever since.

It was very good advice, not just because I aspire to become a journalist one day, but it’s also something I can and should use in life.

How many of us have had a conversation with someone, with having that person confide in us things that they would never tell anyone else, and not judge them?? Do we realize that the reason they are telling us their deep dark secrets is probably because they trust us and consider us to be a good friend?? And probably one way we can repay that trust is to not judge them or their decisions, and of course keep it to ourselves.

Is there a difference between judging and having an opinion?? I think so, a fine one, but yes there is- RESPECT. If we can respect someone’s choice and not ridicule it, there lies the difference. We cannot judge anyone for the way they think, for not having to live in the same circumstances; we may not understand their reasons.

I consider myself to be open and understanding, but I must confess, looking back now, I may have been guilty of crossing that fine line. A bigger mistake than that would be to actually continue to do so after I have realized it.

Starting Up!!

2006-05-20T04:35:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to start my own blog- but for some unknown reason i kept putting it off- until today.

A little about me, born in Bombay and spent the first 11 years of my life there, until we moved to New Delhi. I recently appeared for my second year university exams. My main interests are- music, travel, sports- esp football (watching not so much playing) cooking and of course AIESEC. I live with my mum and have an older brother who is currently working with AIESEC in China.

It is my resolution to blog regularly, and hopefully i will stick to this one. :P

Have a great weekend!