Exams Countdown =)

Harry and Barry - a look behind the curtains

Soooo coool.... and sooo true...

Popping the Bubble

This weekend we popped the bubble. thanks for your contribution =)

I can post again

Now I can finally post again on my blog. So for a start, I will share some really nice songs with you.




Abriendo Caminos by Diego Torres and Juan Luis Guerra



Suenos by Diego Torres and Julieta Venegas



And Las Avispas by Juan Luis Guerra

Hillary vs. Obama

Hammerlied

2Raumwohnung - Wir trafen uns in einem Garten

Exciting times

After having to say goodbye in Spain I'm just one day in Switzerland and then off to Macedonia to the international presidents meeting. Really looking forward to it.

Here some music of the moment... Kanye West - Stronger




By the way. I made it through in one exam. So there is still hope =)

%*&?ç%&*%!!$£&* - DAY

ok, today was definitely a freaking day. really. here in short why:

- 2 exams - both really random and i had to invent stuff (hopefully i will pass them)
- i just got to know that I failed one of the exams (the prof told us that he didn't care whether we are native or not. he expects everything perfectly explained in the best Spanish ever. vale...puto....)
- this means i have to take another class in Geneva (which makes it not easier to pass all the exams including final exams in June.)
- no, it's not over. so far, these were all more or less my faults. but now comes something which is really not our fault. actually to get our marks we have to get a paper signed by the prof and three different secretariats - per faculty we are in. (this is a very different story than what they told us in the beginning how it works) anyways, this we can only do once they have our marks, which is not before next week. BUT, we all have to go back because university starts the week after and i am going to IPM.

WHY....????? I hate these days......

And just to top everything, when I went to the shop to get a bottle of wine (a reason for drinking can always be found...) this bottle was 3 times as expensive as written on it on the shelf but the queue so long that I really didn't want to go back and get another bottle....

Ok, tomorrow everything is going to be better, at least I hope so.

Something to listen to

I just found the mp3 file of the "Totemügerli" online. (Click on the link in the website to download it) This is a sketch with imaginary swiss-german sounding words. Really funny to listen to and some of the swiss people might even know it from their own childhood. And for all the others, this is how Swiss-German could sound if you have never heard it. And no worries, even for native speakers this story does absolutely not make sense, as most of the words do not really exist. =)

Franz Hohler, who invented the story

Sitting in the Library

I am just sitting here in the library, trying to find out many things about the European Union and Latin America... This is for my two exams I have left and which are going to be very freestyle. Meaning, you just go there and write whatever you know about the topic and then hope that the professor lets you pass. I'll know by tomorrow how it went, as I have my two last exams then.
And then there it is, my last weekend in Madrid. Really, this went far too fast for me to realize it. I have been here now for 5 months... It was a really good time. As it is all the times, there will be things I will miss from Spain but I am also looking forward to go back. At the moment I could not tell which one is stronger. Actually, I am now excited to go to Macedonia to IPM (international presidents meeting, where all the current and future presidents of the 103 AIESEC countries meet...). This will be for sure very exciting and the fact that there are more and more people elected president that I know already just makes it more exciting. Seeing them all again and meeting a lot of new people.
But before this, I have to write my exams and then to read through many documents for the conference.
Ok, another hour of working and then I can go for this "very delicious" university food. Might be meat, chips and salad again... With a lot of Oil. (As it is the Spanish habit to tell that olive oil is healthy oil of which you can therefore put a lot...)

Birthday in the sun

I just had to share this. Usually my birthday is in the coldest time of the year. I mean it's January. So when I was born there was loads of snow. This year I was celebrating my birthday in Madrid and was actually sitting outside in the park in the sun, in a T-Shirt. Here pics to prove it :)
Thanks again for the cake =)

And here specially for Nadine, so you know what I was "singing" the whole time:

Herbie Hancock, I thought it was you....

Love this intro.....

Things I want to do in my life

There are some things I really want to do in my life

- dress up and go to the Opera
- see the Matterhorn
- tell someone that I love him
- travel around Latin America
- keep my friends
- get new ones
- work for a company I really believe in
- go snowboarding in the Rockies
- get a tattoo
- do skydiving
- finish university =)
- have loads of talks with friends
- challenge myself in a very difficult period
- improve my Spanish
- go to concerts of bands which I like
- have my own flat
- cross the Sahara
- learn everyday something new
- invent something
- have enough money to live
- work in a foreign country
- become more patient
- climb a mountain
- step out of my comfort zone
- travel foreign countries with my partner
- do something nice without wanting something back
- learn salsa dancing
- go to the Oktoberfest
- work in a team
- sing a song
- ...

There would be loads more, but these are just some that come to my mind at the moment.

Song of the Moment: Lunik - Through your eyes

studying

Since about three days or so I finally started studying for my exams. And I am already fed up. More than with the stuff I have actually to read I am fed up with me. I just can not concentrate. There are too many things in my head, to many things I could do. Ok, I know, it's quite stupid to keep the laptop next to my desk and to chat with people. But it really means a lot to me to talk to friends that are far away and to be able to be somehow part of their life, to catch up with people I haven't seen for a long time. To search for advise and to give it. I want to enjoy my last few weeks here in Spain and to meet the people that are important to me.
I tried to work for some hours (or one hour) and then have a break where I can talk to people etc. But now I always have the feeling of being inefficient and not doing enough.... Man, eventhough I have been doing this studying for exams thing for the past years (actually that's the main thing I have been doing half of my life) and I still don't manage it...
Anyways, hopefully this summer will be the last time for a long time that I will have to study. The only thing is, to get there I need to work now... Ok, get your ass up and do something. At least one chapter more... Promise.

My new Team

Curious about the future

First of all, I want to thank all that were there for a very nice time in Switzerland, Barcelona and Madrid over the holidays. I really had a blast and will not forget the time so fast =)

In my past life there was probably never a time of so much uncertainty as there is now. It's something I usually don't like, but that's probably very good that I have to go through this. I am quite sure, whatever happens, in some time I will be able to connect the dots backwards.
Soon I will know more about all the things occupying my head. Things will be sorted out, others messed up, fears faced and probably causes lost. Then it will be the time to move on with all the things I got out of these quite troublesome but exciting times.
Life is an Adventure and I am very curious what it brings....

Music of the Moment: Guru's Jazzmatazz

L'humour français

I just love these sketches.... Trop drole...
Have a look at "les inconnus" and "Gad Elmaleh" on youtube.



also check the following sketches of les inconnus: les gosses, les branleurs, telemagouille, Manu and not to forget les pétasses and les préservatifs Européens.

Half time over

Everything is soo fast. I am now nearly 3 months in Madrid, which means, more than half of the time I will spend here. If I think back, it seems such a short time that I am here. But this is normal I guess. There have been many great moments so far. Travelling around in Spain to Salamanca, Cordoba, Toledo and Sevilla, all the people I got to know. Ira, the German gang from university, the mc, Spanish aiesecers and many more. I guess I have never been out so much as here. Ok, I am not going to clubs so often, but going for a drink or so seems to belong to the programme here. These are always the best moments of the day. Chilling, chatting and so on. I also really got used to the rhythm here, and it's actually getting difficult to go to sleep earlier than 3 am. Never mind, I’ll get used to the Swiss timing soon enough.
There have also been some challenges here for sure, finding a flat, my flatmate, dealing with the banks or just generally not always being able to express myself that well in Spanish and now sitting in the library and writing papers. So what, everyone has to do this, and at least I can do these here. Madrid, the place I still can go for something to eat after 10 pm, where there are sooo many people in the streets (even though the shops are closed) wearing wigs just because it's Christmastime and where they are having the ugliest Christmas lights I’ve seen (just for your information. Christmas lights in Spain use up as much electricity as a 50.000 people town in a year), but so what, that's Madrid. Sometimes you don't have to ask and just accept and enjoy it. And that's definitely what I do here.
¿Buenas, nos vemos en Madrid, no?

Pictures from India and Nepal

Today I found by "accident" some old pictures from my travel to India and Nepal in 2004. Here I now share them with you. Have fun watching them.
(There are much more pics if you click on the link below)

Sevilla

These days I am a bit lazy to update my blog. Updates will follow, but so far I'll just put some impressions from Sevilla, one of the most beautiful cities I have visited so far.

Another Regula :)

Champions League - Real vs. Olympiacos

This Wednesday we went to the Champions League Match between Real Madrid and Olympiacos Piräus in the Bernabeu stadium here in Madrid. Even though I am not this big football fan, but this is just a thing you have to do if you go to a football-crazy city as Madrid is. Even though the atmosphere was quite good; I was surprised that there was not more cheering. But maybe this has to do with the fact that Real anyways thought that they will win, what they finally did, 4:2. Here you have some impressions of the match. But in TV this is really different than if you are in a stadium with 80.000 other people and you are so high up that you nearly can't read the numbers on the back. Hehe. We will definitely go again to the next CL match in December.

Córdoba

Thanks to an invitation of my gene van flatmate Miriam, I could spend an amazing weekend in Cordoba in Andalusia, which is in the south of Spain. It was already great for the weather, as we could enjoy temperatures around 28 degrees, and this in mid October.
On Friday we went to a wedding of a friend of Miriam, which took place in the Alcazar (a former castle), which is surrounded, by a huge park. This gave me the possibility to have an insight to a Spanish wedding, where many people were crying, screaming ¡Viva! During the ceremony, the woman dressed in colourful dresses and all men with the obligatory sunglasses. It was definitively a very lively ceremony and I understand why there are so many people marrying in this city. (We saw about 10 other marriages).

The castle in which the wedding took place and Miriam and me ready for the ceremony.


The rest of the weekend we spent walking around in the small alleys of the city, discovering nice places far from the other tourists, drinking "Tindo de Verano" (my new favourite drink - basically just red wine with sparkling water) and chatting for hours.



On Friday we also went to the Cathedral of Cordoba, which is actually a mix between a mosque and a cathedral. It was first built as a church but when the Arabs arrived in the south of Spain, they transformed it into a Mosque. After the defeat of the Arabs in Spain, they transformed the building once again, this time back into a cathedral. The impressing thing is that they did not destroy the Arab construction, as this was done so many times, but they actually just built the cathedral in the middle of the Arab building. So you can see very catholic constructions, with all the gold and crosses everywhere in the same building, just some meters away from Arab influenced ornaments.

Some impressions from the Cathedral:

Madrid is great

This is just going to be a very short post whose main message should be positive. I know in the last few posts I was very negative. I was stressed because of not having a flat to live in, then about all the insecurities with the university and also because I did not have Internet at home.
Now all this worked out. I have Internet, thanks to Juan, I am getting used to the comunication style of my flatmate, I did my inscription for university, paid the fee and also got the confirmation from HEI. Today I also handed in my first paper in Spanish, had a presentation in one of the courses and generally feel like things work out.
Now I can dedicate my time again to going out, eating tapas, chatting for hours with Ira and Sarah, working on AIESEC stuff (which can be fun, really, I mean why would I do it otherwise), learning about Real Madrid to be prepared for the next Champions League match which we will hopefully watch in the Bernabeu Stadium, pick topics for my papers, try to speak more Spanish, maybe even do some exercises, right sports wouldn't be too bad, but maybe also cook again this really tasty "Rösti with Zürigeschnetzeltem" as we did last Saturday, get to know the best clubs in town, even better bars, do some shopping (if I have enough money), travel around Spain or at least in the region of Madrid, finish "kite runner" and start "don Quijote", watch "Cheroes" (Heroes but pronounced in Spanish), getting to know more people and places, short, to enjoy life.
Madrid is great.

Am I being too picky?

This is quite a weird story and I really don’t know what to think of it. Let’s start with the beginning. I just moved flat two days ago. I now live with a maybe 35 years old Spanish woman in this flat I was talking about some days ago. When I moved in, one of the first things I did was testing internet. But it did not work with the password she gave me. Never mind, I left for a weekend and thought that this would work out. Hoping to get internet as soon as possible as I am, you could actually say, addicted or rather dependent on internet. I need it for working for university and AIESEC, to communicate with my friends and family, to get information and to have some divertissement. Anyways, when I came home tonight, quite tired (as my classes lasted until 9.30 PM) and a little sick my flatmate asked me again if it worked now the internet. I tried it once (rather 100 times) again and it still did not work as my computer told me the password is invalid. She then called the company and was talking with them for 20 minutes. I did not understand everything they were talking about, but basically the outcome was that this very password worked for the person that was here before and if it did not for me then this is kind of my problem. They told me that this company usually has problems with Mac and that this is just the way it is. Which is a very good explanation for someone that spells wireless wrong when writing down things, which they told her on the phone. Anyways. I called Juan from the Spanish MC who really knows about computers. He offered me that I should send him the data of the router and that that he would try to find out some stuff. So far so good. Now came the point that irritated me. I told her and asked to note me down the data of the router. But she refused for security reasons and told me things like the password are only for her and me and for no one else. Wow, how nice is that, shows that she really trusts me. But I could not say much, was just speechless and being a little sick did not help me finding the good answer for this. I then took the paper with me that had my notes I made during the phone call, which had also her notes including her IP number or something like that. When I was than in my bed reading a bit, she came to ask me for the sheet so I thought that she wanted to copy something or anything like that. But no, she actually RIPPED OFF the part where she wrote things on and gave me back the part with my notes. Now I really don’t know what to think about this. I really think that she is very rude and I am really pissed of this. It’s not about the internet anymore but I can really not accept this kind of treatment. Or am I now unfair? Am I just being very picky on small things or am I kind of right? What should I do? What would you do in my place?

Spanish University culture

Here things are going fine. I am still waiting for university to start. I mean there is no problem for me not to go there, obviously. But still, it's weird if the purpose you went somewhere is still not there. Classes were supposed to start yesterday, but there was some saints’ day, so everything closed. Today there were no classes either, no clue why. Maybe they will start tomorrow, maybe not =) Anyways, Spanish bureaucracy is actually exactly the way you imagine it. I was prepared for that and actually positively surprised today as we only had to ask 5 people in the vicerectorate to get to the person that knew something about our "alumno visitante" (visiting student) program.
So we'll go to the nice and sooo close uni again tomorrow. (It's somewhere in the outskirts of Madrid, and you actually cross fields, or stuff that looks like that, on the 15 minutes bus ride from the terminal Metro station to uni.) And yes, it's true, the do all smoke inside the building (there are actually signs saying that this is forbidden, but this seems not to trouble anyone too much) and they were all drinking beer in the university canteen this morning. (Ok, it was already half past eleven, so this should be ok, no...) Hehe. I guess we Swiss need to jump a bit over our shadows and try to integrate. We are working on it; especially on the drinking part, not that early but tinto de verano and cerveza are definitely nice. =)

Delicious Tappas

Yes, it was a good thing that I took this flat. I am so much more relaxed after this. Now I can do all these things I wanted to do. This afternoon I will go to the big park, el retiro, lie in the sun and read a good book. Looking forward to it.

There is a funny story to tell, which happened yesterday evening. Ira arrived to Madrid as well and we decided that we should go out on this first evening and have some tappas with Nadine and Mirjam, two other girls from Switzerland. Being in this nice "swiss-german-connection" we went to a typical Spanish place. Soon we had decided for 3 dishes, but we wanted something else. There was a dish called "callo" which we did not know what it was. Ok, to figure out what it was we had a look at the English translation. Tripe, what the hell... (The ones of you that are fluent in English or at least in English food names must already be laughing out loud...) Anyways, I was thinking of the nice spareribs I just had lately and was convinced that this trips thing must be something similar and I convinced the others to order this (Sorry again girls). When the waiter brought the food it already looked disgusting. (Mirjam has some pics of the food). Finally we did not eat it, as it also smelled disgusting which made the waiter quite angry, because we did not eat his delicious food. For all those that still do not know what this tripe thing is, it's pork or cow stomach. In German also called "Kutteln". So whenever you go to Spain, never order this! (Also not in any other place of the world.) We actually decided that we would not even eat this if we were staving for 3 days. (Ok, this one is still to proove)
I just want to make sure that you don't have a wrong impression of Spanish food. All the other tappas are actually extremely delicious. Really!

Choices

The last few days I spent looking for a flat. I was imagining something like the flat in Auberge Espagnole, few people from different countries, always something going on etc. I mean something really cool. Unfortunately most of the students here looking for a flat must have seen this film as well. So whenever I went to visit one of these cool places, I was maybe number 25. That came to visit this same flat on this day. The weird thing is, that the people renting the flats do not even take note or ask you anything special. They just show you the rooms, tell you what the price is and then that they will call me tomorrow if I was selected. Now I really don't get how they will select the best person if they do not have any measurable etc. (Which can only be the appearance of the person, as they don't ask anything). Anyways, they are probably waiting for the person that gives them this "feeling".
Obviously I was not really motivated anymore going to this kind of flat. I mean I can spend my time better than travelling for 45 minutes to a place that I visit for 5 minutes and where I am told that they'll call me.

Yesterday evening I went to this flat just 2 Minutes away from the MC flat and in a quite good area, I mean one of those where you can still walk back after going out and where the next Metro is just some minutes away. Anyways, I went there and was received by a woman of maybe 35 years in a very small but neat place. The room is ok, small but has everything you need. Same for the flat. There is Internet (maybe the most important thing of all) a kitchen, small salon and a bathroom.

Now came the difficult part of it. Do I take it? I mean this was one of the flats that you can actually get. But then all these thoughts of this really cool place with loads of fun people to hang around. Should I keep searching for a flat? Will I maybe find the thing I am looking for? Or should I just take this one and be glad that I don't have to search anymore....
This morning I went there and paid the caution. Even though I just fund out that I have to wait another week until I can move in. This means I have to ask the MC people if it is ok if I stay here in their place for another week. Anyways, I paid it. The money is gone, and I could still change if I found something incredible (just have to tell her like 10 days before or so) and anyways, as I know me I will be either in my room doing stuff on the computer or anywhere in the city. But, the doubts remain... Should I ... Could I... Would it be better if...?

When it comes to choices I am usually quite bad. Actually I make my decisions very quickly but then I am one of the people that want to "keep the door open" for any other opportunity that might appear. Who know MBTI knows that this is typically "P".
But now I closed the door as I paid the money. Or.... (As I was walking back from paying I was already thinking about the excuse I could use to get my money back in case I would find something else, better, cooler whatever) Really, I will probably never change.

first days in spain and the hassle to find a nice room

i finally arrived in Madrid, where I was recieved very nicely by the spanish MC people. So now I can stay in their place for the first few days, be in their office and try to speak spanish with them. This is really nice, as I need Internet all the times to organize all these very anoying things such as a flat, spanish classes, my university classes and so on. This actually means that I did not have that much time so far to have a look around the city and enjoy the nice weather.
Anyways, tonight we are going out with some of the interns and other AIESEC people. But before I still need to go and have a look at the next flat. Actually I never thought that it's so anoying to look for a flat. So let me tell you some things about my experiences with flats.
1. They are all very expensive.
2. Even if you check online and contact the ad that just went online 10 minutes ago, you can be sure that there were already 30 other persons that had a look at this offer before you.
3. If you call them or send a mail you can be sure that they don't pick up the phone.
4. Even if you visit a room for 450 Euros, it might be very small, not having windows etc.
So the thing we learn from this is. Quantity is more important than quality in that case as you can not check quality anyways.
So I keep on checking all these nice websites as segundamano, loquo, idealista and all the others.
So I need to leave. don't want to be late for the next visit in a flat. And I will keep you updated on what is happening here.

2,5 years ago...

Remember these cute newies at Kick off 2005?

Or this OC member in the same conference?

Strange feelig that they now had their first conference as Swiss MC in the same place. But they did a good job. Congrats.
And if I wouldn't be so young I'd probably feel really old now =)

news from me

It’s been a long time. Even tough I spend soo much time on my computer, or shall I say MAC =), I never really take the time to update my blog about what is happening in my life. So then let’s have a look on what I am doing all day long.
The last three months I spent getting up at 6am and travelling for one hour to Zürich, where I am doing an internship. It’s very interesting to have an insight in these multinationals, to get to know how it is to work there and how they really function. But one thing that I also discovered for me is that I will never be able to work on something I am not passionate about. Actually that’s something that struck me. Most of the people that work only live for the weekend. But they spend most of their time at work, so you rather do something you like. Anyways, tomorrow starts the last week. Then there are no holydays but I will actually move to Spain to start my next semester over there. I am really excited about this and also scared. The scared part comes mostly from the fact that I will study in Spanish but I actually don’t speak it, yet. But it will work out somehow. I hope it at least. =) I am sure you will hear more about Spain once I am there.
Ah yeah, the most important thing I nearly forgot. I spent 2 really cool weeks in Istanbul at the AIESEC International Conference. It was really good to catch up with every one and also to meet loads of new, interesting people. I’ll keep you posted about what’s going on there. =)

To know more about IC, have a look at Sarahs blog, who actually is putting all my thought in much better words than i could have done it.
overall i am soo looking forward to go to spain and to this year in general. i have the feeling that it will be an intensive one. happy and sad, meaningful and random, full of gains and losses but overall exciting. We'll see.

Now it just remains to post the Swiss roll call. Probably the most stupid roll call ever! Hehe.

Back on...

It's been nearly 3 month since the last update... Thanks Simone for kicking my ass. (Which will anyways be one of your jobs in the next year :) but we come to this later)
In this time loads of things have happened. I will try to recover some of them, but I will surely not be able to think of all.

april:

• first of all....Connect 2007 took place. After all this work we put into it, I am so happy that it was a success. Surely, the next time (hint) there are some things that could be changed, but all in all it just went perfect... really there was no problem during the conference. Everything went smoothly. All this was possible due to my amazing team. Tanks you again guys...
• Then right after Connect was TtT and Kick off. It was on one hand weird not having to do anything at these onferences. But it was also great fun. I finally got to know all the "famous" people the MC and MCe got to know in Xpros and I had great fun at the parties. The amazing thing at these conferences was, that I realized that most of my friends were actually there. So AIESEC became something way more important to me than just a "platform of opportunities". But it's also the trap of it. But what do I tell you, you most probably already found out yourself.
  

may:

• this is when the busy times in HEI started. My schedule looked like this: week 1, paper; week 2, exam; week 3, paper, week 4, exam etc.
• ok, Kick off was actually also in May in between week 2 and 3 or so =)
  
• and probably most important in that month was, next to exam preparation the last day of the month. Then I finally got my mac, the replacement for my computer who was run over by a car at TtT. Don't ask...
  

june:

• Exams done. And I even passed all of them. One thing I'm done with.
• I moved out from my flat in Geneva. With this also came many "goodbyes". One thing I really don't like to think about. Really. It will be until February next year that I will not go back to live there.
  
• Now 2 weeks ago I started my internship at UBS. So far it is not too bad. It is actually a very interesting department, as I work in education.
  
• And then there were many parties, where I was really enjoying myself :)
  

Next months:

• I will be going to Madrid to study there for one year. Therefore I now need to do all the administrative stuff, and most importantly, I need to study Spanish.
  
• As I have been selected to the Exchange NST I now also have the chance to go to IC, if I get selected. But first of all, I need to fill in the application.
• And last but not least... I really want to spend a nice summer in Zürich (and Langenthal...)
  

I guess that's all for now. At least I can not think of any other things at the moment.

Enjoy the song...

..::between reality and boubles::..

in the last few weeks quite some things have happened:

- i was, and am still working quite a lot for connect, the conference on CSR i am organizing with an amazing team. it's quite a lot of work but i am sure it's worth it, spending all those hours. we shall see it in 2 weeks - wow, just 2 weeks left.... aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.....

- i also spent 2 weeks with my best loved Mercedes viano, the probably ugliest car you can imagine. this was at the Salon de l'auto in Geneva. and no, i did not lie on the car (which is actually quite difficult with a van) and yes, i just did it for the money. bloody capitalist.

- last weekend i went snowboarding with my "old crew from the 1d" =) which was really funny. it's a good feeling having friends for such a long time, especially because it's still fun with you.

- not to forget my action at the Fasnacht in Langenthal. Yes, this does exist and it was really good. still, i do not know whether i would go back to be active there, but for the moment it was very funny.

- two days ago we went to the Gala at HEI where we had the possibly best table. especially the "i've never" part i'll remember. Girls it's good to have you around here.

- in order that you do not think i am just having fun, enjoying myself and getting drunk (ok, partly this is true) i am now updating the "more serious" stuff.
- in the last month i went through a marathon of assessment, interviews and online tests. now i have 2 offers for really cool internships. the only thing i now have to do is, choosing on of them. which is not too easy actually. but i still give myself 1 week to decide. after easter i should know. =)
- another change that will occur is that i will go to Madrid in October to study over there in the "famous" universidad complutense Madrid for one semester.
- if you want to see some pics of these latest "events" go to facebook or studivz (places where i loose way too much time)
- by the way, i also got the position of NST media and i am matched two trainees to HP in Geneva
- and yes, even though i am quite busy i did not fail my exams =)

here also a small list of songs that you absolutely have to listen to:
- Damien Rice: 9 crimes, accidental babies
- Seeed: Aufstehen
- Ohrbooten: Autobahn, Kommen und Gehen
- Incubus: Anna Molly, Paper Shoes, I wish you were here, Drive
- Patrice: Soulstorm
- Foo Fighters: Best of you, Times like these
- Justin Timberlake: my Love
- the Kooks: naive
- Sean Paul: Get busy, Break it off, Send it on, Temperature
- Aventura: un Beso, Ella y yo
- Don Omar: Pobre Diabla
etc.

Fasnacht

Yesterday, after just coming back from Amsterdam I went on with my "holiday life" and I went to Luzern to the Fasnacht, also known as Carnival.
It was really nice, but I just thought that I would think that all the Swiss people are actually crazy if I would see this as a foreigner. (anyways, there are enough people that always tell me how crazy swiss people are) Or is it normal if people walk around as knights, Octopuses, Russian red guards, Greeks, or many other things. Anyway, I liked it. Just didn't like the fact that we had to wait for the first train to go home and then meeting people that are going to work at 6 o'clock in the train station, me still being dressed as a "1001 night" - whatever.

Are, Mire, me and Shanna at the Fasnacht

hehe, this was written on the famous Kappelenbrücke (the famous wooden bridge in Luzern)... I always knew it =)

AmsterMadame | Amstel, Flippen & Anti-Flippen =)

These are just some impressions of the last weekend that i spent together with Aida in Amsterdam. If you do not understand the title, do not worry, there are just two weird person that actually do understand this. If you want to know we can explain you over a glass of apple vodka or Amstel :)

Tobacco Companies

What do you think about tobacco companies such as PM and BAT? Obviously, everyone will say that they do harm the society with their products, and therefore you don't like them.
Now, I know this is true (and I also confirm this as a smoker) BUT, don't we react a bit too impulsive, don't we have too many prejudices?
At the moment we are organizing a CSR conference. Now we thought (or at least I did, as well as some externals) that we need to have a "black sheep" in the penal discussion. This is why I thought to invite a tobacco company. Ok, I know, AIESEC is not dealing with them, but if they just come without sponsoring us, this should be fine. Now, I went on their website and can you believe it, the whole site (of PM and BAT) are full of CSR topics, but nothing about their brands. PM writes that they refuse to put the name of their brands on their company website. Do you still think all they do is fake? Maybe I am very naive, but I really believe that it is in their interest to be active in CR and do something, especially because everyone doesn't like them. This is why I even sometimes think that they probably are way more active than other companies.
People might say "so if they are that socially responsible, why don't they just stop selling cigarettes?". Good question. But, I know that for example PM wants to get out of the tobacco business within the next 20 years or so. Why so slowly? Just think about how many people would loose their income. These farmers haven't planted anything else for the last 100 years probably more. So what the company does is, that they show these farmers how to change to the production of another good, and they also guarantee to buy these. I guess this is quite thought through.
But my question remains. Am I just being way too naive to believe this or do we react too critical towards those companies? Please let me know about your thoughts, because I really do not have the answer.

No worries, I am still alive

First of all I wanted to thank everyone for the nice Mails, SMS, Chat, Phone calls etc. I got yesterday for my Birthday. Thanks a lot!

Actually i just wanted to let you know that I am still perfectly alive, just buried somewhere under all my Books and Polycopiés that I have to study for the exams. But soon it will be over
- Tomorrow is the first exam, International Political History
- Then every day one until Thursday =) - exciting topics such as International political Economy, International Trade and Money or International Law!
Yeah, the "international" makes it sound way more exciting... =)
Now I just have to put all this into my head, and then I'll go and rock the Exams (I actually like this, it sounds really easy in theory...)
And then I shouldn't forget to fill in the application form for the Strategy TF until tonight. OK, two other History topics (or three) and then writing about LT strategies and @2010 =)

What is your personal contribution to the environmental pollution

have a look at this page and calculate your environmental footprint.


For me it was quite astonishing to see, that the impact I had in China was much bigger than I have here in the House of my parents, even though the average impact in China is much smaller in China than in Europe.

why is it so difficult to be average?

I just realized that I am totally average. already my name indicates it, Regula(r). But also in university I am just average, not too good, not too bad. The same also counts for myself. Average height, average size, not fat not skinny. I even come from the totally average town, Langenthal. This is the place where they make all the surveys in Switzerland, average...
I mean objectively it is not bad to be average. So why was it for me so difficult to accept that I am average? Why being special, better than the others? Probably I am a realist, that values relative gains not a liberal, that would value absolute gains and not compare to others.
Most probably I just care too much about my place within a group. I should just see myself as a individual and not as a part compared to the group... Still, quite difficult to put into practice.

Special moments

Last week i had two really good phone calls which were "overdue". the first one was with Asia who was in China the same time as me. it was really nice to talk to her again. ok, in Beijing next to Hohai lake there was a nicer surrounding than just to sit in front of my computer, but anyways, it was good hearing her voice again after over 2 months. man, why is it so difficult to keep in touch with people you really like?!? The other phone call was even more overdue... Dhruv.... my best newie-faci ever :) hearing you laugh on the phone actually made me realize how much i would love to go for a beer with you and just have one of those long half philosophical half totally random/crazy talks. i am really sorry i didn't manage before.
actually while talking with Dhruv he told me about his wall where he puts up all the pictures that remind him of his best times he ever had. i really want to do this as well. i mean i go through my pictures on my computer a lot, but having them printed out and sticked to the wall is still different. it stays, it won't just disappear if you press the button with the x.
actually the in the picture below i put some of those pics. thanks to everyone that made this moments so special :)


One last thing that really stroke me while looking at all those pictures... most of them are in the context of AIESEC. This means I probably really have a good time in AIESEC working with all these amazing persons =) and this is actually contradicting all the things some of my classmates always say, that i am just doing too much for AIESEC. it's worth it!

DO IT 2006

Guys, it was just great!the Do it team: Facis, MC, LCPs and OCP :)

running or slow down - when and where?!?

Sometimes I have the impression that I should slow down a bit. I feel like running around all the time. This is not particularly bad, actually I love it and I need it in order not to get bored. Still, there are days when I ask myself where am I running and probably the way more difficult question, where will I stay? When I ask myself where my home is, then this is quite a difficult question to answer. There is my parents place, which is my home but except my family and few friends there is nothing that keeps me in this small town. Then there is Geneva, which I really got to like. But all my friends here are not from Geneva and they will leave in 2 years. And then there are all my friends all around the world. It is actually really difficult for me to define what a place needs to feel like home. There are people that made me feel like at home in a very short time on the other side of the globe. But is it just about people, or is it more? And what people? Your family, your best friends, your boy/girlfriend?

On one hand I am so excited when I think about the future, about all the places I want to visit, about all the people I will meet. And still, there remains this question. All friends steadily moving away, same as me. When will I stay somewhere and out of what reason, and where will this place be?
But in the end I know it will just come as it comes. Where ever... I stay tuned :)

By the way I want to say thanks to all the people that made it to my party. was really cool to have you all around, even though there was too much wine... But it gave me a feeling of: Yes, Geneva is the place to be, at least for me in this moment!

Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change

The Stern Review is a report into the economic impacts of climate change and global warming on the world economy, and was compiled by economist Sir Nicholas Stern for the government of the United Kingdom. Released on October 30, 2006, and containing over 700 pages, the Stern Review is historically notable as being one of the first major government-sponsored reports on global warming conducted by an economist and not an atmospheric scientist.

Its main conclusions are that one percent of global GDP is required to be invested in order to mitigate the effects of climate change, and that failure to do so could risk a recession worth up to twenty percent of global GDP.

Stern's report suggests that climate change threatens to be the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen, and it provides prescriptions for how to minimize the economic and social disruptions. He stated that "our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century."

source: Wikipedia.org

Team building weekend with Spa and strenght analysis

if you want to know what else we have been doing during the Connect team building weekend than taking pictures then have a look here: connect2007.blogspot.com
your VP Leadership =)
(why this, go and have a look on the connect blog)

Don't we just look cool =)

the connect 2007 team in suits... women and men in black :)

BYE BYE opportunity

Sometimes there are people that bring you back on the ground of the reality, a person that spoils your dreams and plans. The person that happened to be "my" person was Ms. von Däniken. I just realized that there is no chance to take one year of in University. And I guess it would be really stupid to jeopardise my academic degree. HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT....
Sorry, don't want to set up anyone but I just feel like doing this...

AND this...

Una semana en España

Last Week I spent in Spain, more precisely in Bilbao and Madrid. You might ask yourself "what the hell is she doing abroad again, she just came back form China?!? “ Yes, you are right; it was a bit crazy, never mind. So what was I doing there? First I went to Bilbao to a Sustainable Development conference of UITP (international union of public transport) where i represented AIESEC. It was quite interesting to see this conference and it was in a very nice venue. But in the end I was also pleased that not just young delegates in @ conferences fall asleep, but also elderly, very important looking men do :)
Probably the best part was the formal dinner in the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao. Yes, a realy nice dinner in the entrance hall of the famous Museum.

The Guggenheim Museum with the Spider

Afterwards I went to Madrid where I met Pascale. It was really good to catch up after her, who is now studying in Madrid and before was a CEED in Pakistan (same as I was doing in China). Loads to talk about! So we spent a day talking, walking around in Madrid (very nice, just a pity that the weather wasn't that good) and having a look at every shoe shop we could find (and there are loads of them...)

on the plaza major in Madrid

Swiss Music =) (for all those that didn't know this exists)

Motivation Song

Tomorrows leaders

If you have some minutes pleae have a look at this document from the World Business Council of Sustainable Development. It is about the role of Business in tomorrows society. What do you think about this? I really would like to have some impressions and thoughts on this.
Actually I think that this might be a solution to a lot of issues. But am I too naïve, is this really working,...?
By the way, this nearly soulds like the title of Connect 2007, the conference I am organising. "The responsibility of business and organisations in today's society" Ok, we talk about today, they about tomorrow, but anyways both of us have a long term approach.

China impressions

Thoughts from back home

The first thing I noticed when I came back to Switzerland is that nothing has changed. All remained the same as it was 3 months earlier. I have the impression that I’ve changed but my environment remained the same. This is not necessarily bad; actually this feeling of steadiness was one of the things I missed in china. But did I really change that much? Ok, I’m not a vegetarian anymore, and I used to be for about 9 years… and my future plans have changed, at least for the nearer future.

It is nice to be back home, to catch up with all my friends. I really missed to have some long talks with them. Like yesterday evening with Aïda, on Sunday with my team-mates or on Saturday with friends from High School. Another thing I really like about being back is, to see the stars again. Really, in Beijing you just can not see them.
On the other side there are also some things I don’t like about being back. The worst
thing is probably being able to understand the people and their stupid conversations in trains, on phones in the street etc. They all are concerned about such unimportant things. I’ve overheard a conversation where a woman was complaining on the phone that the colour of the curtains do not match with the tablecloth… actually the sad thing is, that this is one of the things that matters to this person. They never really think what happens outside the fence of their garden…
The thing I miss most being in china is actually not having the people from “my team” around me for 24 hours a day. Ok, this is actually quite a lot, but seeing you would be nice. I really hope to see all of you again soon…

...Leaving...

These are my last hours (35 to be exact) in China. I hate it... I really don't know how I should feel right now. Sad to leave or happy to come back? I might just know once I am back home. I found this quote somewhere. It is quite difficult, but I'll try to live this.

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

Beijings mountains

We won't remember...

This was the theme of Asias and mine "farewell" Party. Looks as if it was working out quite well. At least there was nobody awake before lunch the next day...

Shanghai trip - part 2

Here we go with the second part of my shanghai trip. After a whole afternoon filled with half work half tourism I came back quite late to Justin’s place where I was staying. There I was told that we have to move out until 10pm. The reason was the expired contract. By 1 AM I found a hotel where I could stay, but just after a lot of negotiations. Actually those small guesthouses are not allowed to host foreigners. This means that I was really lucky to be able to stay there.

On Monday morning I left my tiny room in the hostel really early to go to the Shanghai Stadium where I took a “tourist bus” to a small town called Zhouzhuang. It is a so called “water village”, also known under the name of “Venice of China”. Even on Monday morning there were loads of tourists, 95% Chinese. Despite this overload of people the place is really nice. There are a lot of little channels with small boats on it, while the “gondoliers” are singing. All around there are a lot of restaurants where they offer a lot of different food. All kind of fishes, lobsters, shrimps and co. unfortunately you can also eat boiled turtle and other things like that. I didn’t go to a restaurant during the whole day, because I didn’t want to run the risk and end up eating cooked turtles. Instead of eating and shopping in the countless shops all around I went to sit in the shade of some trees close to the channels with a splendid view on magnificent buildings. Really, it was just too beautiful to be true. I had one day off, had the whole day just for me and my thoughts. And thinking about my present and especially my future in a very nice environment is definitely very stimulating. It was exactly the thing I needed, to be on my own. In the last two month I didn’t really have the space and the time to be on my own. Ok, usually I prefer to spend my time with other people rather than alone, but if you life with 8 other people in an apartment and if you work with 7 of them in a small office and this in china where there are a lot of people everywhere, then even I need to be alone sometime. J

I got back on Tuesday morning early enough to go to a nice day in the office and to catch up with the work…

Shanghai trip - part 1

This weekend I have been travelling again. Ok, it was not that much of a travel and more sort of a "Business Trip". (Sounds actually quite nice, I’ve been on a BT...) Again I had the delight to travel for another 12 hours in the train. But as I am already used to this it was not that bad. And I didn't even eat all the food I bought for the travel. This actually makes me very much Chinese, all the others never take their instant soups for the Train rides.

First when I arrived on Friday morning I couldn’t reach anyone. So I was wandering a bit around with all my bags. Luckily Chris (Jingwei) then took care of me and we went for lunch before we started the preparation of the TtT (Train the Trainers conference – the reason I went to Shanghai). Chris was in AI (AIESEC International) last year and it was really interesting to get her perspective and experience as an input for the TtT that the agreed to facilitate with me. Thanks a lot for this.

The same evening we went out with some of the trainees in Shanghai. There I experienced how expensive a “westerner life” can be. 80 RMB for drinks… (a meal costs around 10 to 20 RMB usually) but at least the club was really nice.

On the next day we had the TtT, which was really a good experience, as was the one in Beijing the week before. In the end I always had the impression that I learnt at lease as much as the delegates.

On Sunday I met with Jay and Dori who are the Energy Seminar responsible in the Shanghai LCs. it was good to meet them and to see that things are going quite well. Afterwards I was walking a bit around in the town. To the Bund, where everyone has to go to and some more places I don’t really remember the name. but shanghai is definitively different to Beijing. It is much more “business” and less “political”. At least this is my impression.

Songs of the moment

Here I share some songs that quite often make the 2h trips inside Subways in Chinese Cities bearable =)

Bersuit Vergarabat – “un pacto”
Don Omar – “pobre Diabla”
Juanes – “Sueños”
Jumbo – “Fotografia”
Orishas – “A lo Cubano”
Sean Paul – “Temperature”
Stereophonics – “Mr. Writer”
Söhne Mannheims – “Und wenn ein Lied”

As you can see, quite some of them are in Spanish. Unlike what I always thought I may learn Spanish. (Yes, I decided this in China, but Chinese is just was too difficult for me) At least I would be able to understand all my songs on the computer...

Still a lot to go :)

i still just have seen 8% of all the countries in the world...

create your own visited countries map

Do we work too much ?

Sometimes, for example in this moment, I ask myself why am I in the office at Saturday at 6 o'clock and trying to finish the preparation for a conference that I will run tomorrow morning from 9 am to 9 pm. Yes, I work too much. And it is so easy to say to yourself that you should do less but it's not easy to stick to it. Time passes so fast. A meeting that was supposed to last for 1 hour is likely to least for 3 hours. Not because it becomes a random, ineffective discussion (at least not all he time) but because there are so many interesting topics in which one want's to be involved. I am so sure that all the active AIESECers will feel with me at this moment.
So, how to spend less time working without decreasing the quality of the work? Or put differently, how to put all this interesting work that you really want to do into a short schedule?
If I would know how to figure out this question I would be able to become a millionaire. Then this is actually not a phenomenon that occurs in AIESEC but also in a lot of companies. The amount of people that spend their whole weekends or evenings until 10 o'clock in the office working here in China is incredible.
Probably we need to understand that we have too high expectations towards us on what we are able to deliver. And we need to learn that it is not the end of the world if you can not do your work in the time you wanted.
Nevertheless I think there are more dimensions to this problem than just wrong priorities and expectations. Work is also a possibility to run away from other things. Spending the day behind a computer I can feel here in China as if I am in any other place of the world. You are connected to the world. You don't need to assimilate or integrate to the other culture that one is living in. You don't have to deal with you private stuff, or at least less.
Thinking about all this I see that I should have left the office a long time ago and that I should be going now...

Some Pics from Hong Kong

Asia in the Train (24 hours Beijing - Hong Kong) with our delicious meal...

Sarita - in a traditional Chinese posing ;)

The view from a hill on Lantau Island (one hour away from Hong Kong...)Repulse Bay Beach

Me with my 4th pair of sunglasses of the year. Yes, either I lost them or they are broken. Now I have some cheap ones, Christian Dior :)

Path of wisdom - but even for chinese speaking persons this is difficult to understand

on Lantau island

the biggest outdoor bronze Buddha statue

Weekend in Hong Kong

The last weekend I spent in Hong Kong together with Asia and Sarita. It was just great. Thanks a lot for your hospitality Sarita and especially thanks to your parents that we could stay in your place and for being so nice with us.
Hong Kong is a city that is definitely worth a trip. It has all the good things of a big city. Skyscrapers, a lot of shops to do shopping :) , many things to see etc. But then there are also all the other nice places. The beaches, the Buddha statue on Lantau island and the nice views we had there, etc.
The best might be if you have a look at the pictures i took there :)

Skyline by night and by day...

The Trams in the City Center...

Off to Hong Kong

In the next few days the office will look like this:

At least until the others are back from Poland (and will be ready to tell stories about IC for the next few weeks...)
Have a great weekend, Susan =)






Together with Asia we'll go to Hong Kong. Ok, I'm just away for 4 days (and out of this 2 days in the train...) but as we will have Sarita showing us around, I'm sure this will be great...even if it's short... Allready in advance, thank you so much for hosting us.

Chinese University life

This weekend I was on a LC visit in Tianjin. First of all, thank you again for being so kind with me. Thanks especially to Elaine, Vicky and Hannah.

During those two days, where I was living in Vicky's dormitory in the Nankai University I got to know a lot about Chinese Universities. First of all, you have to know that the Universities are one big Campus where you have all the Buildings in one place including all the Dining halls, Dormitories, Sport places and a lot of small Shops. If you want you don't have to leave this area for one Semester... And second, you definitely need a bike if you want to get from one end of the campus to the other in a reasonable time.
As I was already mentioning, all the people will always eat in the Dining halls as they are not allowed to cook in the Dormitories. This is the place where everyone is supposed to live. There is no living outside University as we have this in Switzerland. Of course there are different dorms per faculty you are in, per year and gender separation. If they don't have enough space, they either build a new building, or easier they just put more people in one room. In the place I was staying they have a really luxury Dorm. There are just 4 people that share a room, everyone has a desk and just 4 of those rooms share a bathroom. In other dorms you can find 6 or 8 people in a room, people would not have an own desk to study and there are 26! Of those rooms that share a bathroom.
This system doesn’t apply for foreign students. They are not allowed in the dorms and have either their own dormitory or live outside the campus.
For me this was a very interesting weekend, not just because I got to know University life but also because I spent a good time with the people of the LC and also because I've seen so many nice places in the whole city. Thanks for taking me around on the bike.

Some TJN EB and members in the meeting about the Energy Seminar

....Pierre's farewell or the "anti-IC-party" .... =)

Why are people always leaving? Because if not you wouldn't appreciate the time you have with them that much and you wouldn't be looking forward to meet them again =)

And yes, here the prove that we also have fun without being at IC :P

And no, we just look serious but we're actually having fun =)

the world is definitely too small...

Yesterday I went for dinner with a friend of my fathers’ cousins’ Chinese wife. (I know, this one is quite difficult) While we were sitting in a café and chatting I saw a guy wearing the "Kick off 2005" AIESEC T-Shirt. Ok to clarify, this is a shirt that was designed by Chiara and Lukas for a conference in Switzerland. The one my LC organised when I was new LCP and also the one I've been transporting several hundreds of kilos of in-kind chocolate, drinks and a copy machine ;). So I say this guy wearing this Swiss shirt in the middle of Beijing. I just had to ask him where he got this from. How I found out his girlfriend who is from Germany gave it to him. And she got it when she was organising WeGrow (another conference) from Aida.

Probably my favourite AIESEC shirt (except LCGE :) )

As if the world is not already becoming too small, as a new opportunity this year everyone can follow IC online. This is really cool for all the people that could not go there (as me...) but it's also getting weird. Do we really need to have all the things so close and be part of everything?

the perfect name for this!!!

And lets be honest, just because you have access to the sessions this does not mean that you are part of IC. The best thing is definitely the other delegates and this is the one thing you can not have behind your screen. (Even though we tend to have this impression. Or do you not have the feeling you are communicating with me at the moment ?!?)

Cultures

A lot of people ask me to write more about the life here. Ok, I’ll try. But actually this is getting difficult as the life here is becoming my usual daily life. Try to write yourself about your workday in the office :) But yes, I’ll tell you more about Chinese daily life. One suggestion from my side is, write a comment and say what topic you'd like to learn more about and I’ll reply...

since I stay here in china, I had a lot of discussions about culture and the differences there are. It is a topic that is present all the times. Here in the AIESEC environment I am exposed to a lot of different cultures and backgrounds. The most amazing thing is that I learnt so far a lot not just about Chinese but also about Costa Rican, Polish, Australian, British and Turkish culture. This is one of the most valuable things that this stay here offers me. I love all the discussions about all those little things and how they are handled "back home". Whether it concerns the "partying culture", on how people address conflicts, if you open the door for girls and so on. Talking about this actually helps to prevent conflicts, because people behave differently in the same situation. did you know that a Latin American woman would not like that a guy always opens her the door etc. as this is based on a culture of oppression of women whereas "western" women would expect a guy to do this (even though they are sometimes very sure about their rights etc.) actually this is weird, why do I want to be treated the same way as a guy but then expect him to open a door for me, offering me a place etc. actually sometimes I don't know what I expect myself and this is when the two would sit down on the empty chair in the same time.
Another interesting topic is conflicts. Chinese people see this as a negative thing and try to avoid them as much as possible. Especially English speaking people see conflicts as a chance to change things and love to argue. This is sometimes quite challenging for the team, but as everyone knows about the different cultural approaches, it's getting easier.
These little things I appreciate so much. How would it be possible to work and live successfully in an international environment without getting to know this?! One of the change agent characteristics in AIESEC is cultural sensitivity. This is a term that might sound a bit fluffy in the beginning and I used to think that this is something people with s certain amount of empathy would handle these challenges with no problems. I just realized that it's not that easy. But it's challenging and in the end this is what makes it interesting.
For all those that think that they are cultural sensitive, go abroad and challenge yourself, it's worth it.

Tageshwar

Tagged by
Pierre (and not by Dhruv...)

I am thinking about...
too many things at the moment
I said...
more than i should have and not enough
I want to...
make the right decision
I wish...
that i will have an impact
I miss...
...
I hear...
Juanes
I wonder...
how the time in china will go on
I regret...
nothing
I am...
myself
I dance...
when i feel good
I sing...
often for myself but all the times wrong
I cry...
not often but if i do it means something
I am not always...
in the mood i am at the moment
I write...
to see things clearer
I confuse...
feelings and thoughts
I need...
to be go out and party and have long talks, now...
I should try...
not to worry too much
I finish...
...

I tag... anyone that wants to fill in this questions (but if there is noone then Lena, Asia, Sarah, Eve, ...)

IC in Poland - CEEDer alone at home :)

In a few days IC (the internatonal conference of AIESEC) will start. A lot of the MCs (Memeber committee) and LCPs (Local Committee Presidents) will be there. Same here in China. Just Susan and myself stay back in the office. This is going to be quite strange.

Actually, MC MoC, I will miss you...

From last years experience i can say that IC is one of the best things that happened to me during my LCP term. I gained a lot from it. Therefore, have a great time, take as much ideas, information and motivation back as possible and see you back in 2 weeks... :)

Maos Guards

I won't comment this picture of Pierre a lot. There are just two main things to know about it.
1. Where is this picture taken?
2. What is this book about?

ok, this picture is taken in front of the Tiananmen Square and the book is "Mao - the unknown story" by Jung Chang...

poor little guard, if he would know what he s doing there...

"little switzerland" in Beijing

after a lot of troubles with my computer i try it again to do an update of my blog.

last week i was taking the subway in any random station in beijing and i directly run into a girl that goes to university with me... how strange it this to bump into a person you know from back home in a 13 milion citizen city... the world is definitely too small :)
the next day CK came over from singapore to meet dom (and me, at least somehow :) ). this was really funny to see him here. and according to the latest trends here, we went to prove our swiss voices in KTV (karaoke). here the prove...

with some MC and exMC members we also went to the beijing planing museum where i realized why it takes 1.5 hours to go from our place to the CBD. why? because there is a huge model of Beijing. We found for example out that it takes you about 20 minutes ijn reality to walk one meter of the model. the model was at least 30X40 meters...

my energy project is starting to work but there is still a lot of work to do. but i don't mind because the project is very interesting and gives me insight in an area i haven't known that much about in before. this will also be good for the conference we organize in switzerland called connect 2007 - linking today's leader. there we will also talk about CSR, "the responsibility of business and organisations in today's society".

there the circle is closed again. remember the two supersingers a bit further up... yes, they were OCP and VPER of the forst edition of connect in 2005... defintely the world is small... (at least the AIESEC World)

Some impressions and observations in and about China

if it is raining the streets will turn into streams

The world is small! I found a guy that is actually the former flatmate of one of the guys studying with me.

Fake Diesel jeans cost me more than a new Bike. This can mean several things: the bike is bad quality, the jeans are superb or the most probable; I’m just very bad in bargaining for this jeans I really wanted to have J

You can repeat a Chinese word 10 times in a different way, but it won’t be pronounced right. Thanks to the tones.

There are small insects that make more noise than a scooter.

8 people can work in an office that would be for one person in Switzerland. Welcome to the MC office.

Ordering food is a real challenge, especially if there are no pictures but just Chinese signs.

Ordering food is cheaper than cooking yourself, at least most of the times.

I’m actually tall, with 165 cm.

You can access blogspot blogs just if you know some tricks. Thanks to Dhruv for finding this out.

There are places where you have to pay to station your bike.

Construction workers work in three shifts for 24 hours a day.

All the famous buildings in Beijing are in construction work for the Olympics for 2008.

Everywhere you can find the Beijing Olympics 2008 logo, even next to the great wall.

Crossing streets in china is more dangerous than any Jungle survival camp

There are a lot of floors missing in houses – 0, 4, 13, 14, etc…

All woman wear these transparent stockings that just reach to the ankle and that look horrible

if I want to buy pants in china I have to buy XL

some people actually smoke when they are on the toilet (I was told so…) but maybe they just want to cover the incredible nice smell there

the prize for mobile phone numbers varies with the different numbers

a bus ride can take between 5 and 50 minutes for the same distance, depending on the time you take the bus

there are security guards that look like police in front of every building

random toy

this we found in a toyshop in the middle of Beijing... no comment...

(must be quite funny seeing small children playing G.W. Bush...)

some pictures

Bikes and Bars

Life here in China really got me; I don’t even find the time to write a post for my blog. J Here you have a short review of the last few days. Friday evening we went downtown to have the famous “Beijing Duck”. Afterwards we went to this famous street, where they sell things no one would have thought that you can eat them. But yes you can. Here you have the prove that some people actually try out some crunchy scorpion…

The day after I went out with Dom and got to know some more Bars… there are loads of them and you can find everything. From the stylish lounge Bar to a Salsa club. It’s really good to catch up with him… lots of news….

The next day we’ve been walking around in the city. What looked on the map as a small walk was actually quite a bit. We came around all those famous sites as the Forbidden City and the Tiananmen Square . But also a lot of small old houses around this area, so called Hutangs. They will probably all be destroyed in the next years, as the government wants to build new and bigger houses, as well as shopping malls. One could understand it if you actually think of the size of Beijing and it’s growing population. But I still think that this is a pity.

After the long walk we went to sit down on the Tiananmen Square , where we were kicked out of the grass by a policeman after 5 minutes. It seems that it’s much easier to get into troubles with the police here; at least we do, without doing something wrong. And they have a very slow administration system. I, for one spent more than two hours to register 3 persons in China …

This weekend I bought a bike. Yes, I don’t like the buses too much because of the traffic jams it always takes you ages to go somewhere. Even though, driving a bike is like being in a computer racing game… (I now have experience with them – ask my flatmates..)

Now I’m back to work, as I have to start this energy seminar. But it’s very interesting, so I don’t mind working on it.

Now I will go for some delicious Chinese food :)

MC life is starting

I just had my first MC meeting. I must admit, it's a bit more challenging to have meetings with 8 people from 6 different nationalities, than with just Swiss people. But it’s very interesting to see how people from different backgrounds react in all the situations that occurred. I now know in what job I will be involved. I’ll be responsible for the organization of a CSR energy event with externals, which happens during recruitment period in all the different LCs. this all sounds so challenging. I’m really looking forward to start working on this.

So far I haven’t seen that much from Beijing. But I can already tell that this city is just huge… if you travel 3 stops with the metro, you would already have crossed any Swiss city. (Ok maybe without all the outskirts). It’s huge! But I like it. Everything in Beijing makes you feel that this country is thriving. You can feel that they strive for more. This I saw yesterday when I went out with Dom and some of his friends. We were in a rooftop bar, and around midnight you could still see workers do some construction work on some skyscrapers. Crazy… anyways it was good to see Dom again!

Wow - I'm in Beijing

So, finally I am here, in Beijing... Friday morning I came here and went directly to the national AIESEC conference. This was a good start, as it gave me the chance to get to know the MC, the other CEEDers (as I am one of it) and of course the members. Actually the conference was not that different to Swiss ones, except that we don't have room parties.
After having met all the people here, I'm sure I will like it :)
On my second day in China we (Joey, Lucy, Annette and I) went to see the great wall that is just next to the conference site. It was very nice and exhausting, but it was definitely a bad idea to go there on a Saturday. There were sooo many people.....

The Chinese wall

This is for the people that are too lazy to walk up the wall on their own ;)

With Lucy and Annette (two of the other CEEDers)

Now I’m looking forward to get to now Beijing and to start working

Hey, as Carissa already spotted my blog (you should go to the FBI :) ) I thought there should be something more interesting than just hello.
I know, I’m an absolute mainstream swimmer if I start to have a blog, but anyways who cares.

So wait for updates to come...

3 times sleeping until I go to china ;)