shaggy and me

shaggy and me
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

observing 5 mins silence for madrid bombing attack

Minute of Silence for Madrid Attack Reunion
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

team work

Electric Fence3
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

one of the games that delegates played during the conference which tested their team work, creativity and relationship with gravity ;)

not so fancy facis on floor

Facis on the floor
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

as you can see, the faci team also knew how to have fun together :)

fancy facis in formal gear

Facis Formal shot
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

(left to right, starting at rear)

me, gudrun (switzerland/austria), anne-laure (france), hanna (sweden), heather (canada/sweden), sarah (uk)

victor (spain), caglar (turkey/italy), kristian (norway), neo (greece), john (canada)

feeling the magic for the (twenty)first time

well i guess when your dad tells you that you should update your blog, you realise that you really have been slack in the blogging department! and i guess i am guilty as charged

so first thing main thing that happened since i moved into my new apartment was going to spain. i spent the first couple of days in madrid - where thanks to Gerardo and Alex i got to see quite a few nice sites in Madrid and Tolledo - thanks guys :) Madrid struck me as a city with a really strong masculine energy - lots of big, bold buildings, compared to Amsterdam, which is much more of a feminine city - with canals and smaller, cuter buildings.

for one week afterwards i was in the south of spain, near Malaga, chairing the WENA Newies Conference (WNC). for the non-AIESEC readers, WNC is a leadership development conference for around 240 new AIESEC members from Western Europe and North America - their first international conference, chance to "feel the magic" of AIESEC for the first time - internationalism, leadership, friendship, fun, skills etc

for me, it was my 21st international conference - but it was still magical...as a chair you are not just a piece of furniture :P but for a week you get a great chance to practice your public speaking, time management, crisis management, communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, team building, facilitation, coaching & mentorship skills as the connection point between delegates, facilitators and Organising Committee...all on 3 hours sleep per night :)

it was very tiring but definitely inspiring!

inspiring to work with an absolutely amazing group of facis who gave so much to the delegates, challenged themselves, were 100% reliable & really became a team of friends who also had a great time!!

inspiring to work with an organising committee that was so dedicated and committed to the complete goals of the conference and had such a great attitude, always willing to make something happen.

inspiring to observe the delegates, their energy, creativity & diversity... and how much they changed and grew over those 5 days...learning from the facis, each other and themselves... feeling the magic for the first time

during the conference was the one year anniversary of the bombing attack in the madrid subway...it was quite a poignant reminder for all of us that the world needs AIESEC and the individuals within it to take all they learnt and felt at the conference and bring it their communities, their families and friends, every day

following posts are some photos from the conference...thanks to everyone in AIESEC in Spain, the facis and delegates for a tiring but inspiring 10 days!

ok so tour's over...

scary stairs4
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

now you have to climb back down these!

hope you enjoyed the "tour"...welcome to come and visit and see it for yourself also! :)

and sneak peak at...

my ensuite
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

my ensuite ;) just a small shower, sink and toilet which is very convenient to not have to run down those stairs in an emergency!

winter tree...

view from window
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

from my window

left hand side of room...

my room2
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

welcome!

my room1
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

right hand side of my room...with sloping roof cos it is in the attic floor

wanna see my room?

scary stairs1
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

well you have to climb these first...hang on tight

interestingly located next to kitchen...

bathroom
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

is a shared bathroom...with a very exciting feature of an actual BATH!!! quite a rarity in Amsterdam...other place i was considering before i saw this one, didn't even have a sink in the bathroom

and close by is...

kitchen
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

kitchen with all the mod-cons

and close by is...

kitchen
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

kitchen with all the mod-cons

adjoining living room is...

dining
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

dining room

also in living room...

blossums
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

is floral gift from our landlady, Iris :)

well done! welcome to...

living room
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

the living room...

one more flight of stairs...

scary stairs3
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

almost there...

climb these if you dare...

scary stairs2
Originally uploaded by Zozo.

welcome to my new apartment in amsterdam! despite the scary stairs it is a great place, which i am now sharing with Chris, a newly arrived ABN AMRO trainees from Austria

it's actually not the apartment that we thought we would move into for the last month (and where all my mail has been arranged to be sent!!)

the landlord called me 3 days before i went to sign the lease, after we'd paid the deposit and first month's rent & told me that shock horror someone bought his house - not such a shock when he had kept it on the market!!

anyways, it meant we had to find a place quick sticks...and i guess destiny/fate/sheer dumb luck or something stepped in we found a better place, with great location near to central station, through a friend of my manager's colleague :)

moved in last saturday and loving it so far...although now i'm leaving it for 10 days as i'm going to spain to chair the wena newies conference

enjoy the following virtual tour of my long awaited abode in amsterdam!