1 month of my Estonian life…

This week I was surprised that I have spent already 1 month in Estonia. True, time passes so quickly! There were quite a lot of moments which can be posted here as a separate topic but I would like just quickly look through them what was happening with me…

Really cool thing that I wanted to post here in the blog is Tallinn Old Town Days which were happening during the very first week of June.
“Taking place each June in the heart of this historic city, Old Town Days is a great medieval festival which sees the streets filled with participants dressed in the traditional clothes of that period. Events include a traditional street market, authentic medieval food and drink stalls, street entertainers, folk music and traditional dancing”.

This year Old Town Days were organized already for 27th time and for now that’s the most popular event in the capital, with activities throughout the week. Our MC office is located in the very centre of Old Town and that’s why every day we could somehow observe the activities happening around. I think that’s really amazing event which is promoting not only Estonia as a country but also shows how rich by culture it is. I would not tell how many tourists were coming here during Old Town Days – MANY! :)

I didn’t have chance to attend the activities as full as I can but could somehow cover the main things I’m interested in during weekends. Also, it was very good finally to be like a tourist in Tallinn, take pictures and get to know the city where I will live a year of my life…

During Saturday me and Kristina (my MCP) were discovering the Old town days together and you may see some pictures taken that time…

Then in the evening I was enjoying the weekend day on my own… I love that here in the summer you can just sit on the grass in the park, take your food in the store and enjoy being yourself. That’s what I did and recently heard that there is some African band playing the live music… The rest of the day I spent in front of the scene dancing by the rhythm of African live music… They were performing several national songs but also I think there was reggie :) That’s what made me simply HAPPY and then in the end I didn’t regret money to buy their CD…

There were so many people who asked me the same question – so how do you like Estonia? That’s the typical question that people ask to foreigner… And you know I’m always replying the same that I’m pretty enjoying being here and that’s true. I think that living such a life I have now maybe was one of my inner wishes… Just the lifestyle is different rather than in Almaty as I don’t have to rush somewhere all the time, being stressed, spend my nerves struggling with certain people, not to have time for myself and simply live the routine… I don’t want to say that I don’t like my city and didn’t love at all the life before, but maybe I had just to take a rest for a while and look to many things from another perspective and start missing my every day Almaty life… I know, that it will come, but for now, I love being here - in the small green country…

For now, I have certain things which I’m really enjoying here in Estonia and that make me smile as well, but I guess I can tell about that a bit later when the time comes as many things I’m still trying to learn…

Last weekend I was having Outgoing Preparation Seminar for young people who would like to go on internships by AIESEC and I would say that it was really very much useful seminar for me not only being a facilitator but also to for my personal cultural integration here. And I understood that for now I’m in a “Honeymoon” stage of cultural adaptation when I feel excited, everything seems beautiful and amazing for me...

Sometimes I’m feeling alone as don’t have any other community except AIESEC here, that’s’ why always happy when there is an opportunity to spend time outside of my home place and travel somewhere.

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Today I received a letter from my mom… With my dad I’m communicating quite often via e-mails, but mom wrote me for the first time. It’s really so sweet to read mails from your parents when they write the things which they used to tell you in a real life – the ones we always, as “smart” kids, know for sure, seem obvious for us and almost all the time don’t accept as “we know better”… :) But when you receive the same reminders from your parents via e-mails, you see between the lines how sweet these “instructions” are - they make you only smile and value the feelings of your parents a lot when you are especially the only one child and far for now… I’m taking as a habit now to write my parents every Sunday a kind of report what’s going on with me here and do I follow their instructions, offers and remember the things I promised…

23-24th June are coming the national holidays in Estonia - Jaanipäev or Midsummer days, as I’ve been told that’s one of the most welcome days in Estonia and everybody here goes out of the cities to the countryside to celebrate it…

Jaanipaev – This is the climax of the midsummer events. June 23 is considered the night of magical powers and is the eve of Jaanipaev. The traditional way to celebrate this event is to head out to the countryside. Here the citizens of Estonia will light bonfires and dance and sing around the fires; they will also look for the mystical fern flower which is supposed to bloom only on this night and will bring luck to those who find it.

See you soon…

In my first posting I would like to share with you feelings which I was having while leaving already for my MC year in Estonia – exactly talking about my almost 3,8 years being an AIESECer of Almaty LC in Kazakhstan.

Yeah, that’s definitely true – time passes very quickly and how things can come around one day that you think back and are not able to imagine – so many things you have reached, developed personally, made impact on people, got real firends and just simply, I would say, have grown up with this organization… And I would really thank very much those people who showed me the way to be in AIESEC and I really value everything I gained and reached personally during these years.

I have been always quite an active member of AIESEC Almaty, for now don’t remember at all the motivation for being like that from the beginning. But maybe international perspective… Or I think that simply I was valuing a lot young people who are DOing something for better future… And I wanted to DO the things too and be proactive during my university life…

… 2004-05 term… Passed selection and delegate of LTS which was a huge shock for innocent girl who just finished school – introduction to AIESEC culture… First fears calling to company manager, first results in incoming exchange, matched intern and issues with him, being buddy of 2 interns…

My first question – do I need to be here?

… 2005-06 term… applied for the first position in AIESEC as Finance coordinator and steps to make the difference to establish something to work in this LC area, CEEDer in AIESEC Eskisehir, Turkey – my first international experience, Finance Director Meeting in Moscow, first national AIESEC Ru&Ka conference, first talks about AIESEC XP implementation - being fan of it…

I was learning and gaining a lot during this year, but that’s was the beginning of my journey…

… 2006-07 term… quite competent to continue with LC finance and being elected for EB as VP Finance - my first year to work in LC board and finance system in LC works quite well, the best international conference ever – ITC 2006 in Lithuania which gave me a lot of understanding about myself as a person and first real networking with AIESECers abroad, YouCan! international conference in Poland, first try to work on PBOX and no exchange results, Millennium Development Goals project with UN…

And in the end, I’m the only one person who has enough skills and experience to be LC President next year…

… 2007-08 term… being elected for LCP and feeling quite ambitious together with my team in reaching amazing results and make the difference, first Annual Report event, LC and EB planning, boom in incoming exchange – bringing internationalism to LC, LC culture establishment, International Congress in Turkey, first Developing Leaders Day, EuroCo in Lithuania, great people recruited to LC, intense work with first MC Kazakhstan, first National Congress, finance sustainability, EB 08-09 elections – the biggest in the history and I have successor!, transition and Annual Report…

That’s all…

That’s how I lived approximately my years in AIESEC… I was trying to put somehow the BRIGHTEST MOMENTS in each term but for sure so many happy emotions, stressful moments, sometimes tears, hard work and fun is lying in between of these lines… I still remember the phrase of our alumni, who was always telling us, being that time fresh members – “you will get from AIESEC as much, as you will bring to the organization”… And that’s really true, year by year, when you look back, you are starting to understand that quite clear…

On 1st May I have officially finished my term as LCP of AIESEC Almaty without not having any doubts that its was the most SIGNIFICANT YEAR in the history of our LC with loads of results reached in all the areas… People say that it’s impossible to reach everything during the year what was planned and stay realistic to that. But I would say that’s possible if you have a REAL TEAM who is also ambitious like you and believe in success together. Seems to be like in a fairy tale, but I LIVED IN THIS FAIRY TALE with my Executive Board team the whole 07-08 year…

What I understood is that how hard it is to loose the OWNERSHIP to the work you did, especially being LCP. You want many things to be continued and let your LC grow up to the next level of its development, that’s why in the last days before I left, I was extremely worried to finish everything till the end and give the last inputs and ideas from my side… It’s like your OWN CHILD, when you are afraid that he starts making his own steps… And till now I’m still trying to make myself not to get very much involved in the decision making, but let the new team make their OWN DECISIONS, failures, successes and results… Let them have their ownership in what they do and not being afraid but AMBITIOUS towards upcoming LC year! Anyways, we are in AIESEC and we always learn… Let it be our playground for BETTER TOMORROW…

I guess that’s common among people to look back on yourself once a moment – like having a big stop when you go by train to some city… I’m looking back to myself right now and think that AIESEC years of working on the local level gave me a lot in building my personality especially knowing my own abilities and having self-confidence. There are some natural characteristics which every person has and which you can only make stronger, but there are also some that you have to discover… Right now I’m quite sure that HARD WORK, RESPONSIBILITY AND PERSISTENCE are the base skills which make person “reach his stars”. But there are some of them which are also important, that I found out in myself after some years, is BEING ENTREPRENEURIAL, SELF-PERFORMING, POSITIVE TOWARDS FUTURE AND RESULT-ORIENTED… Sure, we are not perfect and there are some “black” sides which everybody also has, but it’s always important to be focused on your strengths than weak points…

…… At EuroCo 07 in Lithuania (international conference specially designed for LCPs), when its was exactly the middle of my term, I understood that many things what I was doing in AIESEC, many processes and things which I started to establish and work on my own, when there was no advise from anybody - I’m doing in a RIGHT WAY… You know that’s such a cool feeling when you get a big satisfaction and sort of evaluation of your work! During this conference I was totally crashed in a positive way, that something is missing from my “plate” and I would like to taste some other “dish” out of many other menus I have in life… And it has to be something UNORDINARY, CHALLENGING AND INTERNATIONAL one, which will be strongly connected to my future professional plans…

2008-09 term…

Being elected for MC AIESEC ESTONIA TEAM… That’s totally another life story which I have just started today – 1st June 2008…

Finally I found some time to start my blog posting here… To my mind it’s very much useful instrument not just to keep informing your friends and relatives on how you are living if you are abroad and what you are thinking about but also to share some of your personal feelings when you doubting about something, feeling happiness inside, tired, exhausted, need advise and so on… For now I don’t know how it will go from my side, but I have already felt several times that I need to start it, when also I was located in Almaty, but actually, you know, when the big city routine is “eating” you and you don’t have any minute even for yourself to be tet-a-tet… I guess, some people will definitely understand me…

Ready to be always with you…