Holiday spirit for Atma Mumbai?

As most people know, I am a volunteer for the NGO Atma Mumbai. Since I am a very result-oriented type of person, I prefer things to happen eh well.... yesterday. This is most likely the reason why I dislike job applications so much, results take longer to achieve. Since August I have been trying to raise funds and awareness for this relatively new NGO and I finally feel satisfaction on my work.

Trough sales of pashminas and earrings I have managed to raise around 230 E. On top of that some people did not want to buy any products but donated money instead. This adds up to 100 E. I have managed to reach some people within companies, my friends know it and I even managed to promote the NGO to AIESEC people.

Sometimes I wonder why my level of satisfaction on these results is not higher. It has to do with not working in a specific project but an ongoing process. I found that also in the real world, projects with specific starting points and endings give higher levels of satisfaction and motivation to individuals. Ofcourse people in AIESEC already know this but I was surprised on the effect it had on me. I am a highly individual person with high levels of self-motivation. Even I prefer more structured formats and suitable management styles.

Getting back to Atma Mumbai, I hope the children have some holiday spirit as well. This year, 2006 was the year that the organization shaped itself and had an amazing start. The next year should even be better. I hope 2007 will make an even bigger difference for all the children involved and give them hope for a better life. Please tell your friends and acquintances about the NGO or subscribe to the newsletter.

Happy new year to all of you!!!

Website of Atma Mumbai

Xmas in Berlin

My parents decided to spend Xmas in Berlin this year. On Christmas Eve, my parents, a friend of the family, his son and me left by plane for Germany's capital. Always when you plan to visit a city, people who have already been there give you their opinion on the city. Some compared her to Europe's greatest cities, Paris, London and Rome, others were impressed by the visible difference between East and West and some claimed Berlin to be good for partying. My impressions were different from all these expectations.

I do not think Berlin can measure herself with the greatest cities in the world. Berlin was destroyed too many times and construction still characterizes the city. However, her historical significance in ofcourse immense. Home to the initiators of world's last great war, symbol in post-war Europe and victim of two superpowers who could not agree on her future. The city has suffered but has also survived.

The picture shows a symbolic place: Checkpoint Charlie. This is an impressive and again historical significant place. We all found it hard to distinguish which side is East and West, an illustration of the unification of the city nowadays.

The other picture for me characterizes the Berlin of today. It shows the Sony centre, a highly sophisticated architectural building, resurrected only 1000 of meters besides the remainings of the Wall and checkpoint Charlie. It shows how Berlin is alive and redefining itself. I am sure it will become one of Europe's greatest cities again in the near future.

Job hunting

I am now at a point in my life where I need to get employed. For that reason the last months I have attended career events and scheduled interviews.

In the Netherlands interviews with many companies are casual in a way. As a girl you do not need to wear a blouse and matching 2-piece suit but a tank top with a suit is sufficient. Even big earrings are getting more popular. Small talk on various topics is acceptable. Last week I had interviews with international recruiters. First I was in London, after I had more interviews in Brussels. In the beginning I was quite nervous how the recruiters would approach me. What kind of small talk would be acceptable? And how about clothing? In my opinion differences are small.

In general my interview with Cadbury Schweppes was most challenging. It was scheduled last minute and I could not prepare extensively. Not only did they use a competency-based method, which is always harder than motivational questions, they also applied a “good cop/bad cop” method. One of the interviewers was utterly nice and asked the questions, the other interviewer was pushing me harder to get more precise answers.

During interviews I like to gather my thoughts first before answering a question. The “bad cop” interviewer however did not give me any time to think which affected my structure. I found this very challenging.

I expect results of all the events/interviews soon, a very exciting time. Let’s see what happens.

South Park: Cartman Cop

I admit it: I am a huge fan of Soutpark. Especially Cartman is hilarious. This fragment is a classic!

Must read: the shadow of the wind

The shadow of the wind written by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is nothing less than a masterpiece. I bought the book in London where it used to be on the bestsellers list. I finished it almost 5 days later, gripped by the narrative.

Set in Barcelona, Daniel a young boy is taken to the “cemetery of forgotten books” by his father, a bookshop keeper. He is allowed to pick one book to read. He chooses the book “Shadow of the Wind” written by Julian Carax. After reading the book, Daniel sets out for a search on the books author. As time passes by, the search ends in a struggle on life and death and Daniel’s life gets tangled up with Carax’s life.

What I found most intriguing are the characters in the book and their relationships. The author illustrates human relationships and emotions in all its forms. At some point I felt so involved with the main characters that I found myself hoping for a happy end.

I read the last chapter in the train from Brussels to Rotterdam. The story is so gripping that it left me with tears in my eyes. I really recommend this book and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

London baby

Last weekend I had the privilege to spend my time in one of Europe's greatest cities: London.
I met old friends, Heather, Ruta, Lukas, Anieta, Joanna and Harmandeep. I had coffee alongside the Thames, I flew over Big Ben and saw Harrod's at Xmas. I also got out at the wrong tube station ( 3 times), transferred on the wrong station (twice) and got in the wrong tube (twice). Besides my tube troubles I also saw how London is around Xmas time: packed with people. Most important thing: I loved being there, keeping my fingers crossed to pack up and leave for London soon......

It is a small world

This picture represents the Old Rotterdam, city that learnt to love in the past years. The story is of the city is well known, it was bombed and rebuilt as a cosmopolitan city. Some love it, some hate it. I feel it has changed over time but that does not imply a change for the worst.

In the end everything changes and over the last decades the world did change enormously. I am not talking about the rise and fall of cities but the rise of a new world: the digital one. Yesterday morning I realized this trough the following conversation I had.

While sitting behing my computer in the morning before leaving for university, a girl from AIESEC in China, that I did not know, asked me for details about our SN-coordinators. She got my adress trough @.net and assumed I was part of the NST thus available for questions. I answered her questions patiently and then she asked what my position actually was. I told her I was an MC-alumnus and we ended up talking about my university and PR.

What was so special about this conversation was that we were able to connect although we live on different sides of the world, have never met in person and did not know eachother's backgrounds. Yet we talked about topics that were mutually interesting to us in the same language.

Thanks to the digital revolution for making this possible and thanks to Suzy for a lovely conversation.

Creation of a second blog

I want to work and am interested in the noble field of public relations. Since I do not want the PR posts taking too much space on my personal blog, I created a second blog: PR for students and starters. I want to create a platform to exchange thoughts on the field for everyone that feels like contributing, so if anyone wants to add something, please let me know. Possible topics are CSR, reputation, work experiences, political pr strategies, lobbying etc.

Here is one my first posts: Sustainability reporting is PR bullshit

Power of Music

After addressing some issues in my homeland, this blog is more personal. Especially since it is so cold outside, I do not feel like going out at night. Sometime I drag myself out to bike to the gym but that is about as much activity as can be expected. Since I have already seen all the shows on television, recent movies out on DVD and the stacks of chocolate are running out, I needed new inspiration. I found it in music. Some thing can actually determine or affect your mood and music is one of them. Here some of my favourites for different moods.

Reflection and relaxation: Jazz music or Sinatra
Ex: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington - In a Sentimental Mood
Sinatra-almost everything

Energy:
Usher- Yeah
Cascada- Everytime we touch (a WeGrow classic)
Fedde le Grand- Put your hands up for Detroit (there also a Rotterdam version J)

Dancing:
Shakira- Hips don’t lie
Anything by Sean Paul

Memories :
Robbie Williams- Feel
James blunt- Goodbye my lover
Alanis Morisette- Ironic
Because the night
LL Cool J- doin it
En Vogue- Don’t let go
George Michael- kissing a fool

Just good songs:
Kayne West- Golddigger
Robbie Williams- Angels
Justin- Cry me a river

I guess there any more, I will leave it at this for now. Especially the ones on memories are very dear to me, whenever I hear them an old memory comes to mind.