Oli's farewell party
Uf, a lot of things happened since the last update. Just after I got back to Belgium I got to go to Leuven to say bye to Oli, an intern in InBev and a good friend as well. Leuven is one of those lovely small cities in Belgium, where you always find people to go with you for a beer.
It was nice to see all the people I haven't seen for ages - Oli himself, Dy, Ondra, Tom, Geta, Robin and all the others. We got Oli-style-classy surprise - a tour up the bellfry of the university library. Everybody was amazed. Then dinner, chit chat and giving the best present ever - Voodoo knife set. You have to see this. My blogspace picture upload function doesn't work so you will have to wait for me to flickr them ;)
Oli, we are already missing you!
Labels: Diary, Friends
Musicroom: Brussels Jazz Marathon
Prepare for a million of posts to catch up with my life :)
Lithuania has 4 jazz festivals per year which is A LOT for country of this size. Since I'm in Belgium now, I have to look for my annual dose of live jazz in my life. And actually this is something that is not that difficult to find - lots of bars or clubs that play jazz are all over Brussels. And on 19-21 of May Brussels was hosting an annual
Jazz Marathon, which, of course, wouldn't be complete without my presence :)
It was awesome :) Seems like all interns in Brussels accidentally gathered in the center and did a bar-hopping from one place to another, hearing everything from classical to funk or latino jazz, ending up four of us - Leon,
Volodja, Boban, me and Osku, by this guy we were kindly invited to end the party at his place.
Jazz heals my soul
;)! Belgium does have a good jazz, that's a fact. My discovery of the year is
Larry, a singer with an incredible voice and super happy songs. And in her band there is a cute saxophonist ;) Even rain and cold didn't stop people from coming to to the square to listen for them, it made my festival.
Pictures will be
flickring in my
flickr in a couple of days... pls be patient;)
Labels: Diary, Friends, Musicroom
Musicroom: Dirty Vegas - Alive
Through these eyes I see
There's a place for me
And life is full of questions
That keep me alive
Through these veins I feel
A certain kind of thrill
And I'm flying in all directions
And that keeps me alive
Would you sell the story
Drown in all the glory
That surrounds you
Surrounds you!
Won't you shelter me
Keep me company
As I'm searching for protection
To keep me alive
With these hands I feel
A certain kind of thrill
And I have in my possesion
What keeps me alive
Secrets I have found
It turns my head around
And that keeps me alive
It's what keeps me alive
It's what keeps me alive
And I'm flying in all directions
It's what keeps me alive
Labels: Musicroom, Musing
Eurovision is my decision...
Some people love it, some people say that it is purely political and corrupt.
Why do people make such a fuss out of this contest?
It's funny to see here the shock of some Belgian people when they saw the Lithuanian song. Of course, it is not the most sophisticated song in the world, but it got to the final! And Belgian didn't. Those results were voted by all people in Europe, so why take offense and blame countries that take a different approach that sweet-barbie-typo songs? Eurovision is about showing off the country, but it's also about winning. And Lithuanian song is the 6th - the highest we had ever in history fo Eurovision. Why do crappy songs win? That only proves that something is wrong with the whole concept of Eurovision.
And people are not blind, and they are not accepting it. They just take different approaches to this - some of them cancel their participation, some go to the stage and make a joke out of it.
BTW, congratulations to Finland!
Labels: Lithuania, Musicroom
Enjoying doing Nothing
It was a bit hectic the past days, didn't have time to write about last weekend.
Nothing special. Nobody came up with any plans for weekend, or those plans didn't reach me, so I just chose chillout.
Sooo good to do Nothing once in a while (which was like 2 months). Yeah, well, reading, gym, cleanup, chillout with wine and BBQ at Rasa's place. Still seeing people, chatting around.. and no 'I have to do' attitude.
Very nice. And practical, having an intense working week ahead, and three weekends ahead booked for something: Brussels Jazz Marathon, Bonn and London. Looking forward to!
Labels: Diary
Insights from ITC/AoH
It took me a while to write about this, but there is something I really would like to share...
After having a crazy week, awesome OPS I was facilitating at and flight to Vilnius, I finally got to my mother`s place to get some sleep. However, in the morning I felt like crap, with a terrible cough and other dragons. Bye bye ITC global village, my bed is my friend for today!
ITC workshop was delivered by alumni and an external, they both work for the same company. It was a short, but also a tiny workshop for 20 people, which made it one of the best seminars I ever had. And people were very special. At least for me. I would like to share some thoughts about those three days. I`s gonna be a long post, but nobody reads those weblogs anyway ;)
The seminar was called `Art of Hosting Meaningful Conversations`, or just AoH. The agenda was pretty easy comparing to usual @ conference agendas, so we had pretty nice time to chat with each other and I think we became very connected. I wish I could've had more meaningful conversations, but my ilness consumed most of my attention and brain was constantly on antibiotics...
However, the seminar had some meaning. I think the size of the seminar was perfect - 16 people, very close, getting to know each other. Because of a chilled-out agenda (in AIESEC conference terms ending at 6 pm is very chilled out) we got a lot of space to talk and just chill. Was nice to see all people I haven't seen for a while - AoH delegates were some of my closest friends, and also AIESECers from Lithuania were around.
The agenda of the seminar got us puzzled in the beginning, because we were learning methods of hosting conversations, but it took us time to actually make the most out of it. But after all, since the seminar was done by alumni and external, I got quite important new insights on some of my personal and aiesec things. It is different opinion which is sometimes missing and I love to have it back :) I'll try to keep them concise, but i would like to give you some food for thought...
1: Learning in AIESEC - who is responsible? I am my LC EB reject long time ago. I knew I have strong competition, however, by being rejected I lost my opportunity to learn. So in a way because of that my personal development track turned out to be completely different than I wanted to have. Of course, if not this, I might haven't ended up in a Belgian MC which I don't regret at all, but maybe if I had EB experience I would have performed better in my MC position? Same with trainer/facilitator applications - would you prefer to select someone you know rather than someone who has indicated relevant experience in the application? And what is relevant experience? Does it have to be facilitating at AIESEC conferences? I would say facilitating a group of energetic young scouts is more challenging and give a better learning?
As well, if you find someone being a good faci, would you choose him/her another time, thus taking a place of someone who has potential and wants to learn?
Those were the questions I was asking myself during one Open Space, where one of the external trainers participated. And I will always remember what he said at the end of conversation: 'Be very careful about how you affect someone's learning, as it is a very personal thing and it can change person's life completely.'
2: We all say that AIESEC is a learning organisation. OK, fine. But somehow, when someone in the executive position does not fulfill your expectations, what happens? People don't trus you anymore. Then they limit your learning, they don't give more opportunities, as you seemed not to be good. And again, is that person not good at all, or has potential to develop? Are we good enough to spot the right potential? Are we all capable enough to develop that potential, or does the person has to do that? Being responsible for the learning of ourselves an learning of others - where is the border? Do we put enough effort to develop others, or we just leave it to the person and say 'It's up to you, you are not proactive enough'? What is the standard of our performance? Is it results, numbers, growth in organisation, or is it a learning of an individual? How to make sure that a newie and a 3d year AIESECer in the same EB would achieve the same level of performance, or how to set the expectations that those two profiles are different and that one will need more coaching than another. Who should do that? Is it up to the leader of the team or the people themselves?
Those two for now :)
Labels: AIESEC, Musings
...after the Rain has Fallen
Tonight I went out to our garden after a typical Belgian rain. It had an amazing sense of freshness, it was almost like a tropical weather. It reminded me the evenings in Ocracoke Island in North Carolina, US, where I've spent whole summer a couple of years ago. One of the best feelings ever.
Sometimes there are small things that matter :)
Labels: Diary
J'aime Bruxelles!
It's 4 days since I got back from ITC in Lithuania and my family visit. About this, there's another long post to come.
I got back to Brussels that I saw a long time ago - last July, when I came over here for the start of my MC term: It is blooming! It is green and sun is shining, and - what's up with those people? They seem like they all went out to the streets!!
It's such a simple pleasure, to go out, wear just short sleeves and walk in the beautiful streets!
Or sit at the windowsill, listen to Cafe del Mar, drink wine and watch the people outside. Even out Turkish neighbourhood has got a different face - today I went to one Turkish shop I was intending to go for a long time, and ended up in a whole Turkish market just next to the North Station! Turkish music, food, goodies, zillions of people and me being probably the only non-Turkish person in the crowd :)
Intern drinks are also getting bigger - more crowd is coming over and it is again outside, as it is so warm at nights! Plus, so much is happening - Nights of Botanique, an alternative festival just next door, Hotel Costes party at Concert Noble, RockWerchter festival with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Placebo, Franz Ferdinand, Depeche Mode, Manu Chao,Tiga and other wonderful artists! I feel like I am really in the center of the world :)
Labels: Brussels, Diary
Welcome to Lithuania
... the land of the beautiful ladies...
I just love this song and finally, my home country has an excellent AIESEC roll call!
If you wanna receive a video of it, put your e-mail address in the comments of this post ;)
