Holidays in Brazil

I have decided that I will be posting more on this blog these months. I think it is a really cool way how to stay connected with my friends as well as share the experience I am going through. Also now the time is quite relax so I can use the most of it.

I was thinking about the last weeks since I came to Brazil and they have been really chilled. I don't remember when I felt so much calmness and peace. I am feeling really happy about my life and the way I live it. I have a great job that I enjoy, but I have also enough time for myself and my personal life... That's so great! It may sound like a very obvious thing, but for me it is not. I remember time when this was not happening at all therefore I am so much grateful for it now!

I have realized that I haven`t posted anything about my holidays in Brazil. I spent almost a week there after IC. Firstly I went to Rio de Janeiro and spent two days there. It is an amazing place to be. I didn`t expect so much but it turned out to be one of the most beautiful places I have been to. I enjoyed my two days so much there and I regretted leaving so early. Here are some pictures:

Sittng at Copacabana beach

View on Rio de Janeiro

Statue of Christ

After Rio de Janeiro I moved to Salvador. After 2,5 hour flight we ended up in a completely different part of Brazil. This part has a lot of African influence. Experience in Salvador was very different than the previous one. Me and Tina were staying with Felipe and his family which made us feel Brazil as local people. We had great time there, we had fun and there was good care taken of us by Barca who was our guide as well as translator. Communicating with my poor Spanish was not very useful therefore I needed a lot of help. We did a lot of sightseeing in Salvador, visited many different places and tasted various (sometimes weird:-) food.

Drinking coconut with Tina and Barca
On the beach with MC 07/08

Enjoying the sun on the beach

Brazil was a very nice experience, great days of relax as well as getting to now new country and culture. It was my first time in Latin America and I am sure that I have learnt a lot from this experience. I realized the value of things that are obvious and sometimes for granted in Europe but many people still lack there...

IC 2008, Sao Paulo

IC 2008 in Brazil ... 600 delegates, 200 alumni and 150 external guests...

IC was a great experience. It was very intense but unforgettable. I think I have challenged my own limits as never before. Having ten days of ER agenda meant that we had to be 10 days in formal clothes, smiling and taking care of our guests. It doesn't sound that difficult but in reality it takes a lot of effort to handle that. Especially if you don't have half day of to relax and be alone for a while without interacting to anyone. IC was a very different experience than last year. Mainly because I had completely different delegates than the rest of AI team. Our ER team had our own external guests to take care of. That means that we hardly showed up in plenary, interacted with delegates or were involved in session delivery. Our days were full of meetings with different partners and dry-runs of partner launches. Whole day we were interacting with people who are at least ten or twenty years older than we are. Sometimes it was really exhausting but it was worth when I think about people I spoke to or when I think about different conversations I had.For me IC was also about reconnecting. I was extremely happy to meet friends I have not seen for a year or more. Even though my agenda was very busy I tried to find some time every day to be with people that are important to me. It was also so cool to be again together at least with a part of our MC. Even though we have been going through different experiences during last three months we still belong to each other. We had good time together remembering our experience from the last year. It was also very interesting to listen to their stories from the countries they currently live in.

Update

I almost forgot that I have not update my blog for a while. Why? There are always many things to do that I hardly remember to do that. So what's new with me...

I am not in transition any more. I am already handling my own responsibilities and enjoying my job role. Since I posted the last time, I managed to have several company meetings in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK - really exciting job. This seems to be also the right time to explain a bit about the work that I am doing. I am responsible for three current global partners, I am handling development of Developing Leaders Day for IC in Malaysia and my big focus should be also on new sales in Europe and hopefully also outside. I am working in the ER team with 5 more people. We have a great time together, starting with ER drinks, ending with our really specific sense of humor. :-) I am really happy to see that ER culture is kept on all level of the organization.

I am not living in our house anymore. I moved to Hofdijk which is the place where the most of AI members live. I like it very much as we stay together as one big family. My parents came to see me in Rotterdam as well. It was so cool to show them the place where I live and also to travel a bit around Rotterdam.

I am so happy that Rotterdam has become my new home. I love coming back, I have great people around and I am enjoying my job.... What else to wish more...? Hmm, I know... Let's see.

First 2 weeks on AIESEC International

As usually I again forgot to post some news on my blog. As usually so many things are happening that I never find time to do that.

So what`s the update from my side?

I have successfully passed my state exam which was a big relief for me because I would have got into troubles if I had failed because I wouldn`t have any time to do that. It feels so good to have it done… Even though it`s just about having two letters in front of my name, it matters a lot!

Now I`m finally in Rotterdam after two weeks of my transition… still six more to go! I`m extremely excited about my new role and I`m really enjoying my time here. It seems that this is exactly the change I needed in my life – new environment, new people, new work….new beginning!

Last two weeks were very intense, so many things were happening at the same time. I moved to Rotterdam at the end of May. I`m living in a very nice house. It`s such a pleasure after spending one year on MC flat.:-) The only disadvantage about it is that it`s quite far from the office so we have to walk every morning about 40mins to get to the office. I`m staying with Ewelina(Poland) and Mo(Romania). The first weekend we spent on the beach in Den Haag. It`s a bit different than other beaches around the world but still it`s a very nice place to go – very relaxing with many nice bars. This weekend we spent one day catching up with our ER transition and Sunday was about chilling. I didn`t do anything. I was sleeping, browsing internet, cooking, watching football (very sad activity to do☹) and cleaning. 

Besides being involved in the transition, I have managed to sign up to a gym. It`s such a cool gym. It has 6 floors and you can do many different activities. I love it! It`s very close to the office which is the way how to keep work/life balance…

The plan for this weekend…? I want to buy a bike. Everybody here has a bike, it`s a national hobby. After spending two weeks here, I understand why. Therefore I want to have one as well. So the plan is clear: buy a bike and discover Rotterdam. ☺ Can`t wait to do that…

Hugs from Rotterdam,

Petra

Changes in my life

“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.”

It has been more than a week since I know where my life is heading to... I was selected for Corporate Relations Manager, AISEC International which means that at the end of May I will be moving to Rotterdam to start my new experience there...It's hard to describe what I feel now. It is still hard to believe it... I still don't know what it really means to live 14 months abroad but I am very excited to find it out.... I feel that I strongly need a change in my life. Somehow all the things here in Prague are slowly coming to the end and I have the feeling that it's time to move on...I'm very much looking forward to starting a different life from the beginning, to being surrounded by new people and to having an intense team experience... 31 more days to go....

31 days seem to be quite a lot of time to get ready but actually it's not... In those 31 days I need to finish my bachelor thesis, study for my state exam and pass it, finish transition with my successor, pack and enjoy my bye-bye party...

But it is not just about starting my new life in Rotterdam, but it's also about finishing my MC experience. Maybe it's strange, but I'm not sad. I'm grateful for having a chance to spend one year with an amazing team and for doing a job that I loved ...

Macedonia...experience as never before

One month has passed and so many things has happened in my life during that time...

Well, the most impactful experience was my travel to Macedonia for IPM, the conference where I went to stand for AIESEC International. I guess that the most of you already know the results. I was not selected but I'm not sad because of that, I do not feel like failing at all. Going through the whole selection process was an experience that will stay in my mind for a long time - huge learning as well as time when I got to know myself as never before.

Now I'm not talking just about the interview, I mean the whole process you go through once you start filling in the application. Everything starts with one click when you sumbitt your application. By that you hardly know what you're committing to. You just want to let others know that you're the one who has pictures in your mind about how the next year can look like. Then when the time comes and you're finally heading to IPM, you know that this is the conference which will change your life, you just don't know in which direction...

I felt the same, I was excited as well as scared from what's waiting for me there...But when I got there I realized that there are 35 more people like me, people who are feeling insecure about their future, people with sparkles in their eyes, people who are somehow connected even though they have never met before. I noticed that during the candidates dinner when we were sharing our feelings.

For me IPM was also about waiting a lot because I was the last candidate to be interviewed. Even though I spent more than a week waiting for my interview, I still can say that I enjoyed that time a lot...

There are several moments that stayed in my mind...
- going for a boat trip
- having reflections by the amazing lake that was near our hotel
- building deep connections with some other candidates by sharing our feelings
- having great talks with my close friends that I have not seen for a long time


The only dark side of IPM was the virus that has spread around that almost all the people got sick, including me. Which was quite challenging as the most important week of my term was waiting for me. But I have finally overcome that and in few days I am heading to Russia for Expro...

And what comes next? I'm not giving up my dreams...A new application and whole selection process is waiting for me again... But I feel to be different now, I feel to be stronger and more self-aware...
Let's see in few weeks...:-))

Time to move on...

Uff… long time has passed again since I have been posting on my blog. It’s not because there is nothing to write but it’s because there is no time for it…no time at all!!

The reason why I am writing now is not because I have finally more time but it’s because I just feel that it’s time to do that again…

Since the beginning of this year, my days have been extremely busy – running from one company meeting to the other one, fulfilling my MC responsibilities, arranging stuff around Career Days to be sure that they will run smoothly etc. This 1,5 month has stretched my limits a lot… It was one of the most intense times I have gone through so far… especially because of decision about my next steps…running for AI.

For quite some time I have been thinking that this is the direction I want to take after the end of my term. But making the final decision was much more difficult than I expected. Because it’s not just about my work, but it’s also about moving to different country, leaving my friends and family here, postponing my studies… Now I feel that this is exactly where I want to go… I want to challenge myself, I want to have the responsibility, I want to work in a diverse team on the global level, I want to move to different country and start from the beginning there…

On Saturday I’m leaving to Macedonia for two weeks… Just thinking how much this experience will change me… how will Petra look like when she comes back to Prague again… On 25^th my Day D is coming…I’m scared, I’m excited and I can’t wait to go through that experience…

Snapshot of 2007

I have not been posting on this blog already for three months, but this time of the year somehow makes me think about past months and all the experience I went through.

When I look back, I think that last 12 months were the most diverse months in my life so far. I have never had so many up and downs in one year - being selected for MC, illness, starting a relationship and breaking up, making new friends, travels to 8 countries... Thanks to that I've learned to be grateful for what I have and to value every single experience in my life...

I chose some pictures that describe my past months the best...


Spending NYE in Prague with facis from Energy












Going to Big Pig and drinking Topalki as elected MC member











Career Days 2007












visiting Serbia for the first time - EuroXpro 2007












May - Rotterdam, Amsterdam...Global Brand Principles meeting










MC takeover party...whole team together for the first time












Istanbul, Turkey...International Congress 2007












National conference... FallCo2007












Rotterdam...Global Communication Crew meeting












November - ER summit, Budapest












3-day holidays in Belgium...Brussels, Brugge












Weekend before Christmas spent in Vienna...enjoying X-mas markets

That was my year 2007 - very demanding, very diverse but unforgettable!