My last three post were not published and I realized only today...
I will move but the link will remain the same...
Stay tune :)
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
China | Sunday at Planning
These first days have been filled with work. I haven´t even have time to change money... But I ma having fun with the team. the guys are great and funny :)
Last night was sleep in... I just needed it...
Funny thing is that China has a lot of resemblances with Romania. I believe is the communist influence: big block of flats, hugh squares, trains and so on.
*Cultural Shock of the Day: Google is blocked!
I tried to look for the online version of the Polish Competency Model and the Google search sent me an error message...
Chinese Government restrict the access to certain information in internet and that's why Google doesn't work at full capcity here.
I felt like they closed the library :)
Last night was sleep in... I just needed it...
Funny thing is that China has a lot of resemblances with Romania. I believe is the communist influence: big block of flats, hugh squares, trains and so on.
*Cultural Shock of the Day: Google is blocked!
I tried to look for the online version of the Polish Competency Model and the Google search sent me an error message...
Chinese Government restrict the access to certain information in internet and that's why Google doesn't work at full capcity here.
I felt like they closed the library :)
China | First Days!
...Speechless...
Day 1
04pm - Arrived at Beijing West Train Station
05pm - Team Transition at PwC
09pm - Meeting with IBM at Hilton Hotel
11pm - Welcome Party
01am - At a Propaganda Club
04am - At the apartment to finally take a nap...
Beijing is a typical cosmopolitan city.
It is amazingly big, crowded and full of opportunities.
The MC... super tare - Chinese, Brittish, Australians, Turkish and a CASian...
The food... great! And I love using the chop sticks!
The girls... beautiful!
The pollution... terrible!
Sometimes I just feel too happy.
I wish you were here...
China | Day 1
16.00 Arrival at Beijing West Train Station
16.05 Pollution in my eyes at Beijing
16.15 Adam, current VP CSR, picked me up at the Station
16.45 At PWC, transition meeting
21.00 At Hilton Hotel, IBM Meeting
22.00 Welcome Dinner
01.00 At Propaganda Club
03.00 Meeting the Latin Community, including Panamenians
04.00 Sleeping
My dreams, myself and my suitcase!
16.05 Pollution in my eyes at Beijing
16.15 Adam, current VP CSR, picked me up at the Station
16.45 At PWC, transition meeting
21.00 At Hilton Hotel, IBM Meeting
22.00 Welcome Dinner
01.00 At Propaganda Club
03.00 Meeting the Latin Community, including Panamenians
04.00 Sleeping
My dreams, myself and my suitcase!
China | Funny Train Part 1
...Today at the PlayGround...
- Train 98
- Route Hong Kong to Beijing
- 24:15 Hr Trip
- Hard sleep (Open Cuseta Cama dura sin puertas)
- 600 HK Dollars
- One Turkish Toilet (Baño tipo letrina... "de a pulso")
One Costa Rican, One suitcase, One destination...
MC Mainland of China
... will he make it?...
... will he need to use the turkish toilet?...
... will he get down in the right station?...
... will he eat too many sunflowers?...
********
Chang Chang Chang Chaaaaaaaaaaaang!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
China | Visa and Train Trip
Yesterday was a long long day.
I woke up at 3am due to the Jet Lag and went back to bed at 11pm...
But at the end, It was the right thing to do since I managed to sleep normal hours and I got my Business Visa - Multiple Entries to China!
I will leave by Train on Wednesday at 3pm and I will arrived to Beijing 24hrs and 15min later.
One important thing to know about Hong Kong is that there is not need to learn Mandarin or Cantonese, everything is in English. Yesterday, I managed my way around without major problems.
We'll see how does it work in Beijing.
-----------
Thank you guys for the comments, emails and msn chats. They make me feel like at home :)
-----------
And the News of the Day goes to:
Global AI-PDU Team 06.07
- Juliana Castillo - MCVP PD, Brazil
- Barbara Ptak - MCVP PD, Turkey
- Fabian Hernandez - MCVP X, Czech Republic
- Carolyn Rush - MC Regional Coordinator, Canada
- Mihaela Ciobris - MCVP PD, Romania
- David Rojas - exMCVP PD, Colombia
- Maria Johansson - exMCVP PD, Sweden
- Nadya Lyubyva - MCVP PD, Hong Kong
- Rubayat Khan - MCVP PD Bangladesh
- Matthias Lehmann - exMC Hungary
Chair: Juan - MCVP CSR Mainland of China
Managed by AI VPPD: Gabiza :)
To improve the PlayGround!
Sunday, June 18, 2006
China | Applaying for Visa in Hong Kong!
Pa-pa-gooooool!!!!
I am in Hong Kong. Believe it or not!
And I am very very happy.
As soon as I sat in the airplane, I felt peace. I am in the right path :)
The trip Costa Rica-LA was nice. I sat between two colombian girls from Bogota :) They made me laugh, they couldn't believe I was leaving Latin American girls...
The LA Airport (LAX) is the worst thing ever. Avoid it! Seriously. It has bad ilumination, it is big and unsigned, it is dirty and stinks, it is also very very crowded..., not a place you want to spend more than 5 minutes...
The part of China Airlines impressed me for two reasons: the multimedia devices for each passenger and the Flight Attendants.
The multimedia devices let you watch any movie of a selection of 30, watch shows like Friends or Everybody Loves Raymond, play games, watch news and sports, listen to music whenever you want. It really keep you entertained, specially in the first minutes when you are trying to find out how does it work ;)
On the other hand, the Flight Attendants were all little dolls. I think they were aprox 1.60m with 13 y/o girls' faces.
A funny fact is that airplanes are designed for Europeans, therefore the height of the hand-luggage compartments represents an ergonomical challenge for the asian Flight Attendants..." CSR Project Manager :)
Stefan, man, you have to see the amount of containers in the port in HK... Man, serious, I have never seen so many, not even in Panama... They look like a hugh Lego collection... By the way I saw a big advertisement: "Empowering your Supply Chain, KF Logistics" :0 :)
You will die of hapiness here, and imagine the ports in Beijing, Guanzhou and Shangai...
In a few words, HK is like Panama (nice infraestructure, hot and humid) but with the Costa Rican mountains and the Asian people :)
Playing in Chinese!
Eating with Chop Sticks! (It is not that hard ;))
I am in Hong Kong. Believe it or not!
And I am very very happy.
As soon as I sat in the airplane, I felt peace. I am in the right path :)
The trip Costa Rica-LA was nice. I sat between two colombian girls from Bogota :) They made me laugh, they couldn't believe I was leaving Latin American girls...
The LA Airport (LAX) is the worst thing ever. Avoid it! Seriously. It has bad ilumination, it is big and unsigned, it is dirty and stinks, it is also very very crowded..., not a place you want to spend more than 5 minutes...
The part of China Airlines impressed me for two reasons: the multimedia devices for each passenger and the Flight Attendants.
The multimedia devices let you watch any movie of a selection of 30, watch shows like Friends or Everybody Loves Raymond, play games, watch news and sports, listen to music whenever you want. It really keep you entertained, specially in the first minutes when you are trying to find out how does it work ;)
On the other hand, the Flight Attendants were all little dolls. I think they were aprox 1.60m with 13 y/o girls' faces.
A funny fact is that airplanes are designed for Europeans, therefore the height of the hand-luggage compartments represents an ergonomical challenge for the asian Flight Attendants..." CSR Project Manager :)
Stefan, man, you have to see the amount of containers in the port in HK... Man, serious, I have never seen so many, not even in Panama... They look like a hugh Lego collection... By the way I saw a big advertisement: "Empowering your Supply Chain, KF Logistics" :0 :)
You will die of hapiness here, and imagine the ports in Beijing, Guanzhou and Shangai...
In a few words, HK is like Panama (nice infraestructure, hot and humid) but with the Costa Rican mountains and the Asian people :)
Playing in Chinese!
Eating with Chop Sticks! (It is not that hard ;))
Friday, June 16, 2006
China | Two perspectives of travelling
At 6pm today, I will take the first flight of my journey to China.
How do I feel?
I have noticed that when I am about to live life changing experiences, like this long term trips, my feelings polarized in two perspectives.
The perspective of Going To. It is the one that motivates you and give you the strenght and the will to continue. It is the future.
The perspective of Leaving. This is the one that represent what you care about and that made what you are. It is the past
How do I feel?
I feel captured in the present, exactly in the point where Going to and Leaving violentily meet. My stomach is tense and my body feels heavy. My eyes show fear, my hearts hurts but my mind knows that this is the road. Last time I felt like this was February 28th 2005.
No great talent comes without great will...
Oh China! Really, take care! I am going to enjoy it!
In the way to the part of the PlayGround where the games are Made in China!
-----------
More than half of my accomplishments have the same actor behind - My Family!
For this adventure, I want to dedicate everything I will do to them. In my heart their faces and advices are always with me. I hope that one day they will be as proud of me as I am of them.
God, thanx for setting me a place here, you are the best Family Raiser ;)
How do I feel?
I have noticed that when I am about to live life changing experiences, like this long term trips, my feelings polarized in two perspectives.
The perspective of Going To. It is the one that motivates you and give you the strenght and the will to continue. It is the future.
The perspective of Leaving. This is the one that represent what you care about and that made what you are. It is the past
How do I feel?
I feel captured in the present, exactly in the point where Going to and Leaving violentily meet. My stomach is tense and my body feels heavy. My eyes show fear, my hearts hurts but my mind knows that this is the road. Last time I felt like this was February 28th 2005.
No great talent comes without great will...
Oh China! Really, take care! I am going to enjoy it!
In the way to the part of the PlayGround where the games are Made in China!
-----------
Value of the Family
More than half of my accomplishments have the same actor behind - My Family!
For this adventure, I want to dedicate everything I will do to them. In my heart their faces and advices are always with me. I hope that one day they will be as proud of me as I am of them.
God, thanx for setting me a place here, you are the best Family Raiser ;)
University | Graduation!
Before leaving to China I needed to close an important stage of my life... University!!!
With my parents amd some relatives
Looking at the future with
my new helmet and
the diploma in under my arm
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
China | The Road starts to clear off
I want to thank you
Because, this period has been a little hard for me and many of you drop those little supportive lines or took sometime to tell me that you care :)
That is just what I needed it, to know that I am not alone and than our efforts are all connected.
During the past term, my strenght relied on the memories from Cluj (Ro) and the understanding that many ppl around the world was trying hard to make AIESEC happening.
Today is not different, just that the Cluj memory has broaden much more, therefore my source of energy.
I bought the ticket to Hong Kong today :)
I will depart from Costa Rica on Friday 18:15 and arrived to Hong Kong on Sunday morning.
On Monday, I will apply for the Business Visa (F), 3 days later I will have an answer.
On the 4th day, I will catch a 24hrs train from Hong Kong to Beijing!
I am so excited about this, you can see the map of the journey below :) Reflection time, here it comes!
I still need USD400 to pay Visa, cover Train Tickets, pay taxes and cover living expenses until I get to Beijing. For the first time in my life, I have debts ;)
Where will this money come from? We'll see...
Because, this period has been a little hard for me and many of you drop those little supportive lines or took sometime to tell me that you care :)
That is just what I needed it, to know that I am not alone and than our efforts are all connected.
During the past term, my strenght relied on the memories from Cluj (Ro) and the understanding that many ppl around the world was trying hard to make AIESEC happening.
Today is not different, just that the Cluj memory has broaden much more, therefore my source of energy.
I bought the ticket to Hong Kong today :)
I will depart from Costa Rica on Friday 18:15 and arrived to Hong Kong on Sunday morning.
On Monday, I will apply for the Business Visa (F), 3 days later I will have an answer.
On the 4th day, I will catch a 24hrs train from Hong Kong to Beijing!
I am so excited about this, you can see the map of the journey below :) Reflection time, here it comes!
I still need USD400 to pay Visa, cover Train Tickets, pay taxes and cover living expenses until I get to Beijing. For the first time in my life, I have debts ;)
Where will this money come from? We'll see...
The Distance Hong Kong-Beijing
is equivalent to
The Distance San Jose (CR) - Distrito Federal (Mex)
(Green Line)
Great Will,
to live my life!
Monday, June 12, 2006
Emotionally Disturbed
That's the only way I can describe my current mood.
I wish I have one day when I can sleep properly.
Thanks God there is World Cup :)
You know what the worst thing is?
That the only thing that separate me from the opportunities I have is... Money.
--------
I decided to post this one, because I know many people have only seen the selfconfident and positive Juan, when the truth is that I am just a person and with this nature comes a big amount of human essence.
- I feel scare because I don't have the minimun resources I need in order to get save to Beijing
- I feel dissapointed because there is a big chance I will miss IC, therefore, my last IC.
- I feel sad because I have to end up another AIESEC love story with AIESEC CAS
- I feel excited because this week I will get my Diploma
- I feel frustrated because it seems that people believe I am still in Costa Rica just because
- I feel hands tied because important things are being discussed in the MC and I can only participate through random mails
- I feel sad to leave my country and specially my family for the 3rd time
- I feel tired of not being able to see the easy smooth path where to walk
- I feel powerless because I can't close the ballast business
- I feel inept to keep the people who cares about me close when I am down, I always push them away until the good times are back...
- I feel lonely because there are only a few people able to understand this kind of situations and they are abroad...
- I feel dissapointed to see ppl I trusted quitting
I wish I have one day when I can sleep properly.
Thanks God there is World Cup :)
You know what the worst thing is?
That the only thing that separate me from the opportunities I have is... Money.
Life is Simple, even when is raining in the PlayGround
--------
I decided to post this one, because I know many people have only seen the selfconfident and positive Juan, when the truth is that I am just a person and with this nature comes a big amount of human essence.
Friday, June 09, 2006
World Cup | Linda ChoPe!!!!!!!
.:: Costa Rica 2 - Germany 4 ::.
Half the population of the World saw today's match.
We didn't win, that's right, but there were a group of maes playing futbol in Munich, having fun and trying as hard as they could!
ThanKs Guys!!!!!
Chope es toA!!!!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
World Cup | Vamos Sele!!!
.:: COSTA RICA ::.
It is 2 days for the beginning of the World Cup and it becomes neccesary to post about La Sele, the team of all the Costa Ricans!
We are in Grupo A: Germany, Poland, Ecuador and Costa Rica. And we have the luck to play in the inagural match against Germany (Friday 9th, 18GMT).
The Group is hard. Considering that Ecuador came 3rd in South America, only behind Brasil and Argentina. Poland is pretty unknown and Germany is Germany.
We believe that Germans will past to the 2nd Round. So, we must get good results against Poland and Ecuador.
Our current team is based on the team that play in 2002 and who only lost against Brasil (World Champion 2002). The other teams in the group were: Turkey, who ran 4th, and China :)
This year, the team seems a bit lost in the friendly games.
But, it an usual behaviour of our culture. We do good at important matches...
We are ready to start the World Cup and, to be honest, we are upset with the way Germans and Polish have claimed their superiority -not very polite..., by the way our Coach got pissed about this today-
Everything will be written in the field.
.:: Ticooooooooossssss - Ticoooooooooosssss ::.
Thanx to everyone
dropping lines of support
in the MSN ;)
Monday, June 05, 2006
InBetween Weekend - Entreprenurship Parties
To have time to wonder and entreprenurship spirit make you do to things: business and partying!
The China thing is moving well, hopefully we close this week and then I will have enough money to buy the most expensive flight-ticket ever seen. We also came with new ideas, we will research on natural ingredients for Eastern Europe and also some Health Care - Beauty stuff... The things you do to sustain your AIESEC life :)
For the party, we travelled like 5 hours to the north of Costa Rica, close the Arenal Volcano. It was a lot of fun, even if we got there when the party was over! I like all this diversity of ppl you find in your same country.
On Sunday, I went to welcome Tatiana, she is a former LCP from LC UCR who was in Spain as PD CEED. She is very nice and talented, also good looking :), and it is great I have the chance to meet her before leaving to China. Hopefully she makes it to Poland ;)
This week has 3 big things going on:
The China thing is moving well, hopefully we close this week and then I will have enough money to buy the most expensive flight-ticket ever seen. We also came with new ideas, we will research on natural ingredients for Eastern Europe and also some Health Care - Beauty stuff... The things you do to sustain your AIESEC life :)
For the party, we travelled like 5 hours to the north of Costa Rica, close the Arenal Volcano. It was a lot of fun, even if we got there when the party was over! I like all this diversity of ppl you find in your same country.
On Sunday, I went to welcome Tatiana, she is a former LCP from LC UCR who was in Spain as PD CEED. She is very nice and talented, also good looking :), and it is great I have the chance to meet her before leaving to China. Hopefully she makes it to Poland ;)
This week has 3 big things going on:
- buying the ticket to China,
- a Corporate Responsibility Meeting in INCAE (look their MBA-Sustainability Program, the best in Latin America)
- the World Cup match Costa Rica-Germany! (a post soon)
Enjoy some inBetween readings on leadership:
- The New Global Business Manager
- Soft Skills of Global Managers
- The New International Style of Management
- Why CEOs Are Not Plug and Play
- The New CEO's Wrong Message
- Keeping Your Superstars When StartUp Fever Hits
- What Makes a Good Leader
- Women Leaders and Organizational Change
- Small Wins - Big Changes
--------
****** World Premier ******
First Kiss
by AIESEC Cluj Napoca
.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Poland | March 2005
A friend was upset because I haven't post on Poland in my Blog... And since it is a stressful time due to travel tickets and visas, I decided to post about Poland and the good memories.
Basically I went there because of luck.
When I finished my traineeship in Romania, I was supposed to travel to France and spend a week there.
The night before I was in the apartment and Stefan received a called from Lukas, Poland MCVP ER, asking for an available Chair willing to leave next morning to Warsaw...
After some confusion, Stefan hook me up and I was on my way to Poland.
The Conference and the place were great. I was upset when I got there since I was just leaving Romania, but in IEC I felt very welcomed and I had a lot of fun.
The OC was amaxing, great friends, good memories. The parties were just what I need to get in the right mood to go back to Costa Rica.
Basically I went there because of luck.
When I finished my traineeship in Romania, I was supposed to travel to France and spend a week there.
The night before I was in the apartment and Stefan received a called from Lukas, Poland MCVP ER, asking for an available Chair willing to leave next morning to Warsaw...
After some confusion, Stefan hook me up and I was on my way to Poland.
The Conference and the place were great. I was upset when I got there since I was just leaving Romania, but in IEC I felt very welcomed and I had a lot of fun.
The OC was amaxing, great friends, good memories. The parties were just what I need to get in the right mood to go back to Costa Rica.
A great memory I have is Abhinav (MCVP in Poland, current AI) and I carrying my luggage through a very snowy day in Warsaw...
Imagine that... a Costa Rican and a Hindi, under heavy snow, carrying a hugh suitcase in Poland...
I am really looking forward fro IC and I wish to met a lot of friends there!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
China | Not matter what!
Last night I dreamt I was in China.
I felt that I have unfinished business in Costa Rica..., like closing the door of my room and picking up my diploma at the University.
When I woke up and I realized I was still here and I felt akward.
I need to get to China. It is a very important step in my life and I have no other real-cool-option than to be there soon.
Today I spent many hours in the Internet looking for tickets and ways to get there.
Most affordable tickets are sold out. I found two potential options, both through Russia.
One is AEROFLOT, the Russian Airline, but I haven't been able to find places and besides the MC have already advice me not to risk it :)
The other one is the Transiberian. It is a train that goes from Moscow to Beijing in 6 days and half.
But it is recommendable to make the trip in parts. Travel 2 days and rest 2 days, so that will take around 10 days to make it.
The food is an issue because meals served in the train are low quality and high price. the best is to bring yourself some or to buy in the 10-15minutes stops in several cities...
I got in contact with the Chinese Community in Costa Rica and they recommended me their travel agent. She asked me for a couple of days to research on prices... If there is something affordable, she will find it.
On the other hand, next week I will get an asnwer from my sponsor to see if he can raise his support.
China is big, I can't miss it! :)
I felt that I have unfinished business in Costa Rica..., like closing the door of my room and picking up my diploma at the University.
When I woke up and I realized I was still here and I felt akward.
I need to get to China. It is a very important step in my life and I have no other real-cool-option than to be there soon.
Today I spent many hours in the Internet looking for tickets and ways to get there.
Most affordable tickets are sold out. I found two potential options, both through Russia.
One is AEROFLOT, the Russian Airline, but I haven't been able to find places and besides the MC have already advice me not to risk it :)
The other one is the Transiberian. It is a train that goes from Moscow to Beijing in 6 days and half.
But it is recommendable to make the trip in parts. Travel 2 days and rest 2 days, so that will take around 10 days to make it.
The food is an issue because meals served in the train are low quality and high price. the best is to bring yourself some or to buy in the 10-15minutes stops in several cities...
Who knows.... maybe we can travel by Nashu!
I got in contact with the Chinese Community in Costa Rica and they recommended me their travel agent. She asked me for a couple of days to research on prices... If there is something affordable, she will find it.
On the other hand, next week I will get an asnwer from my sponsor to see if he can raise his support.
China is big, I can't miss it! :)
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