Friday, February 24, 2006
"Everything is under control"
This time though I am hearing it miles away only through an online telecast and its not making me feel calm. What I am referring to is the outrage news about the state of national emergency that the Philippines is in. It’s claimed to be declared due to an alleged coup plot against the current government or more specifically wanting to oust the current President.
You could hear various opinions already, negative reactions such as the illegality of such proclamation, the President not being able to control the situation, etc. Then there are the endless fears and suspicions of people towards a declaration of martial law, human rights violation, etc.
On the other hand it’s a bit reassuring to hear that certain groups or other countries are supporting such action, such as the Spain and the Diplomatic corps.
At this point, I just wish the next feature in the news would be about the lifting of the state of the national emergency. Unlike being next to Kamil who was assuring us the system would be ok in a few days, being miles away from your family worries you of the possible situations that you can only see through what the media projects. Hopefully it won’t turn out to anything that would hurt the economy or the rights of the people who are just trying to voice out their opinions.
Latest Bargains
Soldes!!!
On my first week in Paris, I realized I didn’t have enough warm clothes even if I thought I could survive with just a few pullovers and shirts. So off to the shopping mall and I bought pants, shirts, boots & a jacket. I would have probably opted to just freeze in the cold weather if it was not 50-70% off sale for all these. It only happens twice a year, so I shall watch out for my favorite French word again, come this summer.
Cocktails & Champagne for 12€
Dining and drinking in Paris would be one of those things that you wouldn’t do on regular days. Yet, one of the trainees discovered we didn’t need special occasions to be able to drink. They found a bar just near the office that offers unlimited food & drinks from 1830-2100 every Thursday. So they get to enjoy the cocktails, I just enjoy the food that goes with it as well. :)
Carte Orange valid for Bus, Metro, RER
Good thing that Alcatel pays 50% of our monthly transportation, and even better that this monthly pass is something we can use with different modes of transportation. I have just been using the metro the past month, where you only see the underground tunnel and people who are always on a rush to their offices or home.
Yesterday, I started to go for a different routine and took the bus instead. It takes just about the same time, considering I normally need to change trains and walk further. Not only I am able to save a bit of time, moreover I also get to have a great view of the city everyday.
Imagine every day seeing Porte de Maillot, Le Palais des Congrès, Champs Elysées & Arc de Triomphe.
PRICELESS!
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Last minute deals
It was something I was thinking over the whole weekend, and just decided after a couple of hours of searching the cheapest ticket to get to Amsterdam. Luckily there are those great deals from Thalys for last minute planners like me.
So I am off to Amsterdam for just 2 days. Can’t wait to be in the country that was once like a home to me. Meeting other bunch of AIESEC alumni, so much different from the student environment that surrounded me a week ago when I attended this national conference. At the same time even more exciting to meet my AI team mates once again…. 11 out of 18 people! Not bad! :) Can’t wait to catch up with everyone once again.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Hospitals
Luckily my visit to the hospital lessened, as I never had to be the one confined(not as often as before at least). Yet in the past 3 years, I have also experienced going to hospitals outside the Philippines and it has given me mixed emotions all of a sudden. My first experience was going to an Estonian hospital who doesn’t speak any English at all, but at least I was accompanied by an Estonian OC to translate things for me. The hospital really looked old with its high ceilings, but that was probably one of the moments I never wanted to get in to a hospital anymore.
My second time was more for medical check up in Netherlands and it was then a much more friendly environment since people spoke English at least. Not to mention that the doctors were also attractive according to one colleague, especially the one who gave our vaccinations for our trip to India.
Yesterday, I was running a similar exercise of having a medical check up for me to get my carte de sejour(residence card). The hospital didn’t give me a scary feeling at all, however not being able to speak French confused me in some parts where all I can respond to was “oui”(yes) & “non”(no). At least I know now that yes I am healthy, still have 20/20 vision, have the right vaccinations but still have to go back 2 weeks from now to get my carte de sejour.
And now I would have wanted to be in a hospital that’s a thousand miles away… if only to be able to comfort someone that’s very close to my heart. I guess the prayers were answered and everything’s fine, and I just look forward to each time that hospitals would provide me a good feeling more than of fear.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
NATCO 2006 France: another conference to remember
Chairing French National Conference
A few learning experiences in chairing this conference would be mostly towards relating with French people even I don’t speak French. I manage to have those personal connections with some delegates and it has just been amazing to learn more about the country I am living in through the people themselves. Language will always be an issue in every conference where you have internationals, but I don’t think it’s a hindrance for an effective communication.
MCP Elections seem to have been the highest ranking session, which unfortunately I was not able to attend since it was all held in French. Yet I had the privilege of being with them in the waiting room while the other candidate was giving the speech and Q&A. So yeah, I was assigned to be the “entertainment” or “tension breaker” while they are all probably thinking of their speech and how they would answer certain questions. For 2 hours, we were able to talk everything about France, it’s history, the different regions and its location in the map and anything that had nothing to do with AIESEC or their application. That was definitely a good session for me since I think I gained as much as they were able to share with the delegates their perspectives about their candidacy.
Controlling the time in the agenda is unfortunately one of the roles of the chair, and sometimes would be the reason why delegates may or may not hate you. But I think in the conference, we managed to have a mix of being on time and finishing before the time, that we ended up still delivering the right messages for each of the sessions. Even if in some cases I couldn’t understand what they were saying, the mere fact that you would see a raise of hands from some delegates and marks of curiosity makes you say that yeah, it’s ok to extend the time a bit since finally the delegates are getting something from the session.
I think the best part of the conference was not just being known as “chair” and somehow get that respect automatically. (Although ok one suddenly get higher points in the kissing competition for the chair, but that’s an exception) As I always remember Zoe’s statement: people won’t care what you know until they know that you care. I guess I expected that they wouldn’t care whether I was an AIESEC dinosaur or their chair, but I definitely showed them how much I wanted to be part of AIESEC in France not only during that conference but also throughout the duration of my traineeship.
Back in AIESEC
Being an AIESECer without any concrete responsibility after AI makes me feel that I was already an alumni, yet also in the stage of being inducted again this time with AIESEC France. I had the privilege to chair the French National Conference where they had their mid year review as well as MCP Elections & MCVP Confidence Voting. It’s good to know the LC realities not just through documents, but also through actual interaction with French people. From the time I arrived, I think trainees has just been like a ghost that didn’t seem to exist from the LC’s perspective and vice versa. That definitely is changing from that point where trainees finally got the chance to take part in the national conference, even for just a weekend.
Back in Nature
As I mentioned that I was sick before the conference, part of the medicine was really being back in nature. The conference site was lovely, with a nearby lake, ducks quacking and green grass and trees. Considering that I have to go for a 5-7 minute from the plenary to our bungalow, I was able to enjoy such scenery each morning I wake up and each “morning” I have to go home(since parties usually finish at 3-4am).
Trainees at the conference
Ofcourse the Alcatel ladies rocked during the partnership launch. We could almost just submit this photo and claim the modeling fee from Alcatel. :) But I think apart from them seeing the nice ladies of Alcatel, was also sharing our professional experiences and how it relates to the things that used to be our responsibilities in AIESEC too. I remember sharing to delegates my experience in working with Alcatel has been a lot about self driven learning, where your induction starts with a few discussion with your manager but mostly towards driving your own learning and agenda to really be able to achieve the actual deliverables.
Of course taking part in the AIESEC culture of roll calls was coming up with a trainee dance, which we adapted from Brazil, thanks to Juliana. It’s definitely a good start for future involvement that trainees can participate in conferences.
Apart from the entertainment, there is the greater impact of having the trainees present for some sessions like the World Café and the ICX track. That allowed us not only to share our personal views about the world out there, but also share how we can work together in AIESEC. In the first place, we are also their people, and not just numbers or figures in their bank accounts.
The road trip experience back home
They say that driving around with a car, in a country that you don’t know, with maps that you’re not really familiar with and with people you just met… is always the best form of team building and way of getting to know the personalities in that group. So that’s practically how the trainees got to the site, and joined them in this adventure on the way home too.
Traveling by car always gives me a different feeling of travel, where you can really experience and observe the sceneries you pass by. Not like in trains/planes where you would need to rely on some form of technology to be entertained not unless your travel buddy is someone interesting that you can talk all throughout the trip. It was good to see the country side, the French houses, fields and cows(which is striking Juliana’s curiosity why they have hair-because they can get cold?).
It really became an adventure once we got lost and trying to find our way around. Ironically we got lost on finding our way inside Paris, where we had to reach Gare du Nord where we rented the car. Then even more challenging when we already in Gare du Nord but still had to go another hour to find a gas station to fill in the tank, coz otherwise it would be additional 2euros/liter(and we had half-filled tank!). Nevertheless, as Mehmet mentioned it was still a good chance for us to just drive around Paris by car, and see the nice sceneries, since we are always just used to seeing the underground city a.k.a METRO. :) Except that going around after a really exhausting weekend somehow stressed some of the people who were really looking forward to their good old bed for some more hours of sleep.
Monday, February 13, 2006
1 tsp of Alcohol, ¼ tbsp of nature, 1spoonful of CONFERENCE ADRENALIN
4 days, 3 nights of being with 80+ French delegates was just the experience I needed, being able to experience not just an international environment(already much felt in my department in Alcatel + interaction with the international MC members), but also the local environment of which I am living.
Surprisingly energetic at this moment even having only slept an average of 4 hours during the conference, and not to mention 2 hours of sleep on the last night. Expecting to be in this energy level in the coming weeks, and if I start getting sick again then the prescription mentioned above should be enough to keep me going again. :)
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Paris by night
<<- Sacre Coure
Eiffel Tower<<-The Opera
It’s my third time in Paris and some things are not new for me anymore. Yet, when I got the chance to tour around Paris once again, its beauty amazes me, like I was seeing it again for the first time.
On my first 2 visits, I managed to see the most important landmarks that one can see. Taking a pose with the Eiffel tower, standing in the middle of Champ Elysees to capture a the Arc de Triomph, or feeling to be on top of the world to be in Sacre Coure.
What makes Paris lovely is the glow it reveals at night. It’s just different to see these amazing landmarks lit at night, enough to be noticed even from afar. It’s like being able to appreciate its presence despite the great distance it holds. So just by looking at these each time, I feel that the people that I love are just around me.
Definitely more days wait for my year stay in Paris, but surely anticipate the nights where I would fall over and over again. :)
Friday, February 03, 2006
Boy, ain't I hot???
Today should feel better, yet I already caught some colds with the sudden change of temperature when going to the office. Back in the Philippines it would be a problem of overuse of aircondition while here it’s about the heater. Yet, I don’t think we’d survive even more without it. Hopefully would be better in the coming week as I explore more of France when I join their national conference in Angers.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Taking it one step at a time
The end seemed impossible to reach, but manage it without panting, just by taking one step at a time. Not only did I realize I needed that to be used to some exercise, but mainly realized that some things take just one step for you to be able to reach the end. Some may see my travel to Paris as a giant leap, almost impossible for majority of my fellow Filipinos to get this opportunity. Surprising to hear stories about people even paying around 8,000 Euros just to get here (in an illegal manner or through manpower services). Regardless of how hard to make a living here, it’s just a matter of taking one day at a time- trying to learn the most out of the experience.
Another step I am starting to take would be going back to my roots and tracing my family tree. It’s almost possible to refer to someone as a relative wherever I am around the globe. I’ve done it when I visited Vancouver and met a couple of “relatives” who indeed gave me the Filipino hospitality. I am experiencing the same thing at the moment, this time living with them on a day-to-day basis. It was then important for me to find out how am I really linked, much more than just coming from the same province. Interesting to discover my 3rd and 4th degree cousins, something that most of us have lost contact already as soon as our grandparents passed away. Nevertheless, it’s just taking one step at a time, one family tree after another, for me to realize that my network indeed also includes the Quitevis & Fama clan across the globe.
So I would take the 500m-walk once again, stairs to the 7th floor and simply enjoy the air around Paris which can be cold or freezing but nevertheless breathtaking. :) I haven’t been to the tourist places(as most people have been asking me), but I am just enjoying living here with the people I get to interact everyday(my French should be improving in a year).
