WeStart!
location: Milano (Italy), cozy MC house of AIESEC in Italy
activity: running the pre-meeting of WeStart, the brand new conference (yeah, it looks like this spring is a season of fresh events)
motivation check: yeah, right!
thinking: impressed by the level of thoughts and preparation of the Italian MC, ate great Italian pasta and cheese, discovered delicious Sicilian chocolate, looking for intern videos
... looking foreward to chair WeStart this weekend in Venice
proud to be European!
I finally got into my thesis, hardcore reading, thinking and writing. And... surprise... learning more about myself and shaping my views on the world around us. I always say that I am a profoundly European person. Until now, I don't think I understood what I have been saying. In last two days I've been reading and learning about what it really means.
Today, if you say "
Europe" you most likely mean the
European Union similarly to saying "America" while referring to the USA. But it wasn't always so. "Europe" as a notion has had an interesting genesis, it's been geographically shifting around.
It all started in the Ancient Greece time with a myth about a woman called Europa who was kidnapped by god Zeus. She gave name to the whole area that was East from the Athens, the
East of Mediterranean region. This originally neutral term got immediately an ideological connotation - the democratic regime of Athens opposing to Persian absolutism.
Later on, when Christianity became the main religion of the contemporary superpower - the Roman Empire, Europe simply meant area of
Christian zone of influence.
After the Great Schism of 1054 when the Catholic and the Orthodox church split up, Europe meant the territory of
Latin Christianity. The whole notion of Europe as such has geographically moved much more to the West to the region of today's Germany and France. Medieval intelligentsia started to perceive Europe as the centre of the world and placed it in the middle of maps. The division between Catholicism and Orthodoxy gave birth to the dream of re-united Europe that is slowly coming true only today in form of the EU integration process.
When Machiavelli strictly separated the church from the state and the Lumieres brought in ratio and science, "Europe" started to get a
cultural dimension. French Revolution gave it even more content by adding universalistic ideas of freedom, political equality and human rights. Europe restarted to represent democracy and lost its religious connotation.
In its Golden Age (1848 - 1914), Europe became a synonym of
modernity,
plurality of nations and cultures. As building colonial empires became fashionable in the world, European culture and values were imposed on native inhabitants who were forced to derive their own identity from it. Being European meant being on the top of any hierarchy anywhere in the world.
In between the two World Wars, Europe symbolised the
buffer zone of the Cold War
between the capitalist and soviet blocks. It was understood as an integral part of the West. Since 1950's it has become the area of peace, democracy and prosperity using the economic integration as its main tool. "Europe" meant
Western Europe, any other interpretations were not considered for following 40 years.
After the fall of the Berlin wall, Europe became geographically much larger, the whole Eastern Europe, the West of the soviet block, emerged. The process of unification, especially building economic interdependency, was started. "Europe" was the norms, values, living standards and lifestyle of the West.
It defined itself in following ways:
- individualism and individual responsibility
- nation-states
- capitalism
- the rule of law
And that's pretty much how it is understood these days as well, especially in the Central Europe where I come from. However, much more focus is being put into building
regions within Europe, such as Central Europe (V4), Scandinavia, the Baltics, etc.
In 1992, the European Commission defined Europe by its content, based on geographical, historical and cultural elements that contribute to the European identity. This identity is referring to the century of Lumieres and the Western civilisation.
So, this all is in me, in me feeling "European". But that's not it. I feel beyond the "Western civilisation". What about the Central European heretage? Hospitality and mutual help as core values? What about the mysticism of orthodox Christianty? Why should I always rely only on the ratio and logic? Am I being less European if I use empathy and intuition when taking my decisions?
Are we, Europeans, courageous enough to break this stereotype and fight these preconceptions assigned to "Europe"?
I believe it is needed in today's world. We need to start using our emotional intelligence and social skills, not only pure logic and rationalism. If we want to be the motor of integration and peaceful coexistence in the whole world, we should start changing our own image of who we are.
Let's challenge what Europe means today and build on the great diversity we have in our region.
exchange, exchange, exchange!
just came back from the Assessment Centre my home LC was running today. I am very proud of them -
40 applicants! We spent the whole afternoon working with them in 4 groups, running different activities, getting to know new people, writing feedback and enjoying ourselves. We finished the selection in a pizzeria right across the street from the Uni. Being 6 girls and 1 guy, we had quite different views on the applicants :)
I am proud to say that
LC Bratislava, Slovakia has selected 24 amazing potential trainees. Congratulations! We are back to big numbers :) Kick us all out by the end of September!
I was really impressed by the work of Katka who prepared everything and briefed in all of us, observers. Well done!
WENA LDS - frist thoughts
... still digesting
... missing: Joram, Prue, Anton, Boerge, Nadja, Fabo, Kenoma, Leo, Andrew, Birte, Laura, Jo, Jonnie, Rayna, Milan, Aled and Dave
just before the opening plenary practicing our faci roll call
celebrating at Official Dinner
WENA LDS girls, yeah!
genes - or what i got from whom
vlásky, tie mám po mamičke,
noštek, ten mám po tatkovi
a kabátik celkom nový, ten mám po sestričke
hair i have is from my mum,
nose i got from my dad
and the new coat i am wearing, i got from my sister
old kindergarden rhyme my mum taught us when we were little, I wonder if I remember it correctly...
I wanted to write about this since Christmas. It was the longest period I spent at home in years and it stroke me: I am a mixture of genes of my parents - as everyone is. But how much of them is in
real me?
Sona, a friend of mine currently studying in Paris, said, that accoriding to some psychological study, you inherit the
behaviours of your mother and
attitudes of your father.
I started thinking about it, and I wonder...
I bet that I am not the only one who has moments when I go like:
"pleaaaaase, let me not be like my parents!" And I am proud to have my own life, different life style to them, different interests and sometimes I strongly feel that different priorities as well.
But then I catch myself doing exaclty the same things I hate about my parents. How embarassing!
For example, my
Mum is a very caring person. She would do anything for her children and we are her first priority. It goes as far as her telling us even at this age (!!!) to take warmer clothes before we go outside because it is cold for her. Automatically, she assumes that her feelings are our feelings as well. We started to make fun of her by saying:
"Mum, take another sweater on because I am cold" .I guess I really inherited the caring behaviours, trying to make sure at all times that everyone is fine. And I hope that my real me doesn't take it to such an extreme as my Mum and that I leave enough space for the others to take their own decisions. Not only about their body temperature, but about anything.
From my
Dad, I think that the biggest things I inherited is my temper and drive for self-realisation. Both of us have a tendency to be loud in conflicts and seek for opportunities to get challenged and grow, be it different jobs or countries. And he prefers to get things done.
The older I am, the more similarities with my parents I find. Somehow, it's scary. My first reactions in unknown situations are still likely to be according to our family values and norms. I use the same behaviours but in different situations. Due to their upbringing, I guess. After all, it leaves a big mark, doesn't it? After all, I spent 2/3 of my life living with them.
They deserve a medal for having enough patience and courage to deal with me until I became an adult (if...).
Mami, oci, ďakujem!
Yay, what will our kids say about us?
... being Leiser, part II
looking back to our skiing week in Slovakia together with Ruth, Kolja and Sami
snapshots & memories:
checking out Bratislava downtown and its natural inhabitants
and then trying to get the best paparazzi snap shots of what is happening around the corner :)
testing our sport skills and Janko & Paulinka's cross- country skiing equipment (thanks for lending it to us - i wonder if you knew about it :) )
enjoying my home town, Banska Bystrica in the heart of Slovakia. I bought a travel guide, so it's now definitely worth to visit (hint :) )
and then traveling back to Bratislava, finishing off some cans of Zlaty Bazant beer...
everything good has its end at some point.
it was a wonderful week of pure pleasure, joy and great time together. Relax and recharging batteries, lots of fun and strenghtening family bonds. Highly recommended :)
Ruth, Kolja, Sami, Martinko, my parents and mejust coolio :)
friends... a month later
There have been many things happening since I last posted, I might get into retrospective in a bit. But, first things first: I learned again that my world is about people.
I handed in my application for AIESEC Edge, the graduate recruitment scheme - a partnership between Cadbury Schweppes and AIESEC. I passed the first screening (yey!) and had an interview today in the afternoon.
I was kind of preparing for it since the morning. After browsing
their website, I started to prepare examples from my life where I displayed my judgement, drive and influence, exactly as they suggested in the prep tips. And I got stuck. One hour before the interview, I was still lacking a couple of examples. Started panicking... Couldn't think of anything.
Then I got an idea: checked who is online and started to ask around. And I got help. A lot of help from many sides. I got over "I'll manage on my own" and asked for help because I felt like I needed it. I learned new things about myself, got different perceptions of various events. I got calmed down. But most importantly, I realised that I have people around I can rely on. I call them
friends.
Old Slovak saying
in need you'll recognise a friend is completely true.
Thank you, you know who you are.
