"Education is a choice" vs. "Education is a possibility"

Last week on Saturday I did teambuilding for HBS - Shared Services - part of our holding company. I prepared some exercises for communication and better understanding as in this department are working people with different education backgrounds, tagalog (filipino language) and English differences and different roles in the group (HR, accountant, admin staff, kitchen staff).

In the morning before we were supposed to start, Noli - our manager came to me and asked: Eva, do you have there some exercises where people have to write and read? I said yes, I have one. Do you want to put more like that so you can see how they write in English, I asked. She said, No, I just wanted to tell you one guy in the group can not read, neither write...

BUM! so shock for me...you know when you are preparing some exercises you think about if people won't be tired or if they have enough pens to write, if they understand directions or so...but this...it went ok afterwards, Noli helped the guy to write and read and we had really fun that morning...I think for the first time in my life I truly understood what is difference between "education is a choice" or "education is a possibility just for somebody"...since then I am really close to people in Shared Services.

Me and Dorota decided to help them even more, as we saw that Saturday they really would like to develop more, so we prepare every week some lesson for them - time management, communication skills, English lessons, basic PC skills or how to take care about guests (one girl served tea spoon instead of normal spoon for soup while we were having client meeting - some things which is so natural for us you just have to forget and do not assume other people will know)...so I am really happy about this sessions happening and excited to start!

Office announcement - imagine this in Europe :)

From Albert, our Office administrator:

Please be informed that the admin office have scheduled general pest control service, through Sentinel Pest Control Services, on Saturday, October 18, 2008, from 5pm to 7pm, with scope of works
as follows:

1. for cockroaches and ants: treatment by spraying in their harborages and breeding places
like the kitchen, toilet areas and drainage. cracks and crevices and hidden surface such as
as inside drawer units, cupboards and cabinets shall be treated with insecticide solutions
with flushing/knockdown effects. in which case, all contents thereof must be removed prior
to the scheduled date of service. where spraying is inadvisable or forbidden, dusting will be
done instead.
- gel based poisonous baits are also use to manage cockroach infestations. this has proven
irresistible to all types of cockroaches, and they are eliminated upon infestation of the
poisoned gel.

2. Houseflies & Mosquitoes
- Misting and Gassing: Hot mist/gas has been proven to be effective against flying insects
such as houseflies and mosquitoes. it continues to act for several hours but does not have
residual effect. indoor application shall be carried out where necessary.

3. Rodents
- Poisonous baits: sufficient baits shall be laid out in the appropriate areas:
1. identified/possible runways of rats and mice,

2. breeding areas, and

3. rodent harborages. these baits are effective not only indoors but also in outside areas where they may be expose to the elements.
- Glue boards: highly adhesive glue board traps shall also be installed in order to augment
the rodent baiting system already in place. these are more effective against mice and are
consequently placed in food preparation areas, storage rooms, and offices.

for your information.

My first month in the Philippines

1 month already. Country with 90 mil people and 7000 + islands became my home for 1 year. As a intern in company called Headway I started 1st of September 2008.

How it is to be thousands miles away from home.
I did not want to go...September, the best month to hang out with friends, wine period, still sunny...why am I leaving actually? What am I missing here, why do I not stay, just find some nice job in Slovakia/Czech Republic, be with people I already know and understand.

...I know I would miss this experience in 10 years from now. Being 1 year = 12 months = 52 weeks away in totally different culture, destination, having first real job after graduation before I decide to settle down and decide what to do with my life. THIS 1 YEAR I would miss later.

So with these reasons I do not miss home so much now (will see in some months:)). I just know I will come back.

WHY Asia, Philippines, Headway, 1 year.
> Asia - who are those people living there? I just wanted to get to know way of life of Asian guys.
>Philippines - randomly - now I see it was the best decision. Religion means a lot for living standards, habits, way of life. (Only Christian country in Asia I think.)
>Headway - company with perspective with good references from interns there, interesting job description and selection process.
>1 year - when internship then long enough to experience yourself, company, country, people.

My first month

Company
Headway Business Services, consultancy company. My position: Consultant. After 1st week of induction planning weekend happened. First responsibilities for me came as well. My first role was to create feasibility study and business plan for opening a new restaurant. DDL in 2 weeks.

Well, my first thoughts: What does it mean to open a restaurant? Which type of restaurant? What Philippines` people eat? How to price the menu? What are legal needs to be fulfilled? How many people should I hire? How to write a business plan?!?...well, my boss just told me: "In 2 weeks I would like to hear from you YES or NO for the restaurant according to cash-flow, ROI, BEP...Hm. It seems I managed and restaurant will probably open soon. (I hope till that time I will be back home so nobody could blame me if I screwed it:))....now next even more challenging tasks are coming. I LOVE IT, so far MY COMPANY rocks!! Young but smart people, everyday development, nice atmosphere, space for your personality and big responsibility you were given.

Living.
Manila, Makati City, Kingswood towers, 17th floor, own room and almost own bathroom. 2 other interns in the flat. Swimming pool at the ground floor, McDonald`s, KFC and Chowking around. 10 minutes by jeepney ride to work. (Jeepney - "minibus").

My usual day.

6:40 wake up. Swim for 40 minutes. Take a jeepney to work. Breakfast at work. Work, ad hoc meeting, lunch, work, merienda (snack), work, dinner, work. Back home at 8 pm. Having beer/watching movie/playing chess/speaking with friends back home.

Exploring country and culture.
Visiting great waterfalls.
Flying to Negros- place with black send and Apo Island - adventurous trip in small boat trough the sea with heavy rain.
Watching sunset at Manila Bay.
Having beer every Friday after work.
Singing karaoke.
Attending birthday party of rocky Filipino twins.
Buying peanuts from small poor children, having fresh mango juice on the street.
Eating Balut - kind of egg - almost duck.
Standing in line for train.
Doing Filipino usual Sunday activity "to mall".
Being seen as a white girl which will be greeted "Welcome to the Philippines" even after 15 years of staying here.
Buying so cheap clothes and shoes.
Having "small German" inside and not understand of the "filipino manana culture" - coming 20 min late for the meeting and do not apologize (and I was said I was lucky just with 20 min)

This is my experience so far. Let`s see what 2nd month of my "being on your own for 1 year in foreign country" will bring...

Last days in Serbia – my learning about business and culture

So here is it. 2 monts are over and I am about to leave Serbia – again with lots of learning and new experience:

Culture

People – nice and helpful. The best is to find smart people who will help you to understand the culture (Thanks a tones Vlada and Sandra)

History – Turks till 19th century. Tito. Milosevic. War in 1999. Murder of prime minister in 2003. Montenegro bye bye from Serbia in referendum last year. Kosovo question – still somebody who does not let Serbian`s sleep.

Kosovo - you still have to have permision to go there. Anyway you would not. Anybody goes there unless they have still some family relatives there. Albanians bought almost everthing during last years and Serbians do not have almost any rights there. It is dangerous for Serbian people to be there, to travel trough Kosovo and as it seems there is no way back to have Kosovo as real part of Serbia.

Sea. Serbia "lost" sea by "loosing" Montenegro. Nobody cares. Opusteno.

Living standards. Nobody cares. Yet. People are happy to work and earn money – 300 – 500 Eur – normal salary. Renting a flat in 300 000 city – 200 eur. People will start to take care about living standard in about 5-10 years I think. Today it is enough just to go to the work, back, sometimes out to kafanas and bars and sleep during the weekend. And have summer holiday.

Kafana – best place in the evening. Outside, live band music that everybody knows.
Environment – lets talk about something somebody built in the past and now nobody cares so much.

Sport – Tenis in time of US open (my honour to Serbian players)

Serbia is in Balkan and those of you who know Balkan have to love it. Relax, no hurry. Exactly this is mirrored also in business.

Business (case of the big company)

• Still mind of “state-owned company” even it was privatized – you CAN leave at 4pm. There is NOBODY staying after 4.
• To make a list of customers (kind of CRM) or to have HR department is luxury – does not bring a money so why to have it?
• Things are more promised then delivered (“you can not say NO to customer” attitude)
• If company is not known – not easy to cooperate with potential customers without previous experience of some of their friends
• Aluminum business – hard but potential for the future
• You can not sell without knowing and trusting the product you sell (invest your time into get to know every small detail of product you will be selling and build the trust into the product first)
  
  THANK you SERBIA, NISSAL and AIESEC in NIS for making my life richer!

Moravska svatba

S ocakavanim moravskej svatby sme sa uz 24. augusta vydali do Buchlovic. Ako to byva so silvestrovskymi prednocami aj my sme dali zabrat piatku pred svadobnou sobotou. Toz rum a vajecny konak za 15 – padlo 30 panakov (prvych 20 pre Milu a Standu – gratulace).

Mila si v sobotu zahral falosnu nevestu, rano padlo uz par panakov 28-rocnej slivovice a mohlo sa nastupit na svadobny obrad do Buchlovickeho zamku. Po 20 minutach sa vsetci este nestihli spamat z posobivej basne sledny prednasatelky a uz boli Kubickovi svoji. Do siene sa hrnul dalsi svatobny par a 120 hosti mohlo zasa z chladnej, obcas detskym krikom ruseneho ticha obradnej siene na horuci vzduch.

Tradicie ako unasanie nevesty, hadzanie kyticou

alebo polnocne cepcenie nevesty neprebehlo, ale rozbitie taniera, prvy tanec a prejedanie a prepijanie nechybalo.

Nasledujuci vecer sme este travili kostovkou vina u nevestinho oca. Kto to kedy videl, chlastat 3 dni po sebe a nie je vam z toho zle!Hold kvalita moravskeho vinka a slivovicky na vlastnej kozi potvrdena ;).

Oslava 30tky

Tento rok uz tretia, este ma caka 4. – trochu nepomer k mojmu veku (nenadarmo som vzdy najmladsia na kazdej z poslednych oslav), ale na moje prekvapenie ani starsia generacia nezaostava v divokosti oslav. Len viac ludi prinesie cosi na jedenie, pitie, jednoducho viac organizovane ako oslavy 20tok :).

Party na domceku, sobotne odpoludnie, pivo, vino, gril, sauna, hudba. A ze ste neplanovali kupat sa v bazene? Tak ja som tam skoncila hned 2x – ano, to na dne bazena su slnecne bryle najdene rano po akcii (sorry Mirdo). A akcia sa nezaobisla ani bez zranenia – Radek pri pokuse utopit dalsiu obet rozdrtil sklo na dverach. Suma: 8 cm jazva na predklati, 2 cm do hlbky, 10 stichov. O 2 dni odchadza na mesiac do Pakistanu – poucenie: hold radsej morky ako zraneny.

Cesky raj za 1 den - priklad ceskej turistiky?

Ceska priroda ala Cesky raj cast Sedmihorky v jednom dni...turistov ako na Vaclavaku, cesticky znacene pekne, naucny nenarocny chodnik, trochu sa to tam olupuje - to bude asi tym, ze to je piestkovec. Hospudka s pivkom, kofolou a klobaskou na ceste.Pekne...pre rodinu s malymi detmi a 30tnikov, ktori si potrebuju zaskakat na skalach mimo trasy ;) (uz viem, preco zahuci tak vela ceskych turistov v Tatrach - v backurkach sa kazda trasa hold zdolat neda ;))).

Na Kralovej Holi, stoji strom zeleny?

IMAGINE: 2 mesiace na praxi a z toho povinne 2 tyzdne celozavodna dovolenka! - no nemam ja stastie? (nie, ze by tie 2 tyzdne urcite priniesli learningu kopu, ale predsa len, oddych je fajn).

Tak som sa rozhodla stravit tieto 2 tyzdne mojej dovci chodenim po mojej rodnej hrudi, oslavach, svatbach a pod.

Prvy tyzden vyzeral nasledovne: Svica - rozlucka so slobodou Tomasa Kubicka a Peti Belovskej v Brestku za ucasti 150 ludi, fajnej moravskej slivovicky, vinka, cimbalovky a futbalu - prvykrat sme mali moznost dozvediet sa vsetky info cez web pripraveny mladym parom - vychytavka,co? Mrknite na: tomasapetra.tym.cz

Po riadnom dospani sme s Milou uz nabrali smer Kralova Hola - zdolany po 3,5 hodinach z Telgartu po zelenej(hold vela malin po ceste si ubralo svoju pol hodinku). Ako sa v piesni spieva: "Na Kralovej holi stoji strom zeleny...." tak ako vidite z fotky ziadny sa tam nenaklana. Vo vrcholovej knihe to dokonca jeden cesky turista pekne opisal: "Tak jsme se sem konecne vydrapali, ale ten zeleny strom, co jste nam slibovali, ten jsme nikde nenasli...pekne jste nas oje....Alebo druhy komentar, ktory suvisi s castou zmenou pocasia na vrchole: "Chystal som sa sem tak dlho, az som sa sem konecne vystveral a ked uz som konecne tu, tak hovno vidim"....hold pocasie praje pripravenym a tak sme i my zazili na vrchole mensiu burku, ale v bundickach nam to nevadilo a tak sme mali neruseny zostup dolu po cervenej. Nase auto malo vsetky 4 kolesa a tak sa nepotvrdili varovania mojho otca - pozor na "ciernavu" v juhoslovenskych dedinach, ani nevies a koleso mas prec. Takze odporucanie: Slovaci (najma ti zo social club) su este stale bohabojni - parkujte pri kostole ;).

Na dalsi den sme robili velke NIC -uf, tak to je umenie, vam poviem.A tak sme uzivali chalupku po mojom pradedkovi v Tisovci, kde sme ponachadzali knihy z roku 1846 - ked sa dostane do ruk takyto material - o zabavu postarane ;).

Na to nasledoval pochod Zadielskou Tiesnavou, prehliadkou hradu Krasna Horka, vecerou v miestnej kolibke a prezretim Gombaseckej jaskyne.

Cestou nazad sme navstivili i slecnu Kovacovu, ktora sa "ekonomicky efektivne" pripravuje na zdolanie statnic z verejnej ekonomie (rozumej: no co by som si 4 tyzdne minal, ked to zvladnem i za 2 ;).

A vikend uz sme travili na "sefikovej" svatbe - byvaly Milov sef David Everest Fojtik sa konecne v 35 rokoch zeni - 130 ludi oslavovalo tuto udalost vo ValMeze.