end of the conference

This is the last day of the conference.
I'm tired and I have to admit I'm ready to leave. Somehow I just want to get back to Europe.

Tonight I'm going to Rio de Janeiro with bunch of people. I'm looking forward to that. I really want to see the statue of Christ there and then be on the beach and just relax and not do anything.

My flight back to Europe is on 8th September, I'll be flying to Portugal and then to London. So my arrival time in London is on 9th September. What a long trip.
But that's life of an AIESECer I guess.

this conference has given my a different insight into the organization, so I guess that the saying is true " you live, you learn".
Some has been great, some has been frustrating and some has been just painful.
But overall feelings of this conference is great. I enjoy my work and I enjoy the company of my team.
We are really a cool one !!
-with love-

F**king Freezing

I am now sitting in the AI office, Again, and this time I'm Freezing.
The AC is on and it seems like they are trying to get the whole delgetations at the conference sick in one way or another.. and they are doing a great job.

I'm feeling not so great and therefore I'm having a hard time focus on my work, and believe you me - I can not afford that during this conference.

There are only 2 and half day left at the conference but what I will do next is a little unclear. I might go to Rio for few days and then end up in Sao Paulo. I think that will be something that I want.
I want to see the statue of Christ in Rio, stay at Cobacabana beach and enjoy my holidays.

So I will keep you updated.
- with love -

killing myself partying

Oh man.
Another Crazy night of partying. This time with part of the GN board family. I staied up until 04:00 and woke up at 07:30 to attend my first meeting of the day.

The day was good. I had two company meetings, one with DHL and one with PwC. I got great insight into some possibilities I can work on over the year. So that's great.
I also met up with Mieke and Lyuba from AIESEC in Iceland, they attended my DHL meeting to enhance their learning and then I gave them some insight into my experience with AIESEC in Iceland and what I could see as potentials for them to capitalize on.

I'm still not sure where I will stay after IC, most likely France. Nothing has been decided but I hope to get some answers soon so I can book my travels from London when I'm back.

I miss my family, I miss my friends but in a way that I appriciate them more but not in away that I'm crying for coming home.
So now I'm trying to look into investments banks in Europe and then prepare to go to the CEE party where the theme is VODKA :P
So I'm not expecting very active morning tomorrow.. but lets see ;)

- with love -

Surviving IC

I'm sitting at the office in Holiday inn, waiting for my next meeting and I can swear to you.. I'm dying :P.
Last nights party was amazing. WENA sure can Rock!!

I was not planning on staying to long since today is a very long day for me but when you came to the party everyone were in such a good mood and enjoying themselves and others very much that you couldn't leave.

The amount of alcohol was also very scary and I decided not to go to each country to try. So I chose selectively. ;)
Greece gave me Ouzo.
Denmark gave me Gammeldansk.
Sweden gave me Absolute Vanilla ( something I hadn't tried before )

Then of course we had Nordic circle where the nordic countries come together, sing, drink and share their emotions :P
There we shared Finnish Vodka and Malteese drink.
People were very colorful after two rounds of Nordic circle but it was so much fun.
I just love my nordic fellow AIESECers :)

now I'm trying to survive this day, all the meetings and be sociable with others. - man that is hard :P
-with love-

Happy birthday to me :)

So now I'm officially an adult - since yesterday was my 25th Birthday.

Now I have been in Brazil for 6 days already and I knew that my birthday would be interesting. But I could never have thought it would be so great as it was.

Yesterday was the start of the conference, meaning we had 110 countries present their culture and snacks for Brazilians and other AIESEC members. It was very interesting to participate since this year i really didn't have a country to present. So I could walk around, enjoying the people enjoying their first Global Village at IC. that was so cool.

Then in the evening we had so called opening Plenary where each and every country comes on stage to state their presence at the conference.
I was going to sing an Icelandic Children song with the Icelandic MC so we all went on stage. then we started to sing..
after the first line I felt Tomas, the MCP, pushing my forward and they started to sing happy birthday in Icelandic for me and then the whole plenary partcipated in english in the second round.
It was so AMAZING having around 700 people sing for you from over 100 countries. I dont think many people can say they have experienced that.

So my stay here in Brazil has been great.
The pre meeting was Awsome and I really love my team. I know we are going to make things happen this year.
I also am very happy to see the VPERs in WENA and how motivated and passionate they are.
Final thing that I'm thankful for is the change in the WENA spirit. WENA is finally enjoying themselves and letting go.
It make the region fun to be around with but still they are professional in all their work.

So cool news from me..
-with love-

Last day in Iceland - Again ;)

Today is the day.
It's not like the first time was easy, saying goodbye to my family. Today I have to do it again.

my frustrations are still there but they are diminishing by the day. I'm finally getting some answers and I feel good about finally seeing some clarity in my role and the next days.

So whats next for me you might ask?
Well today I'm packing and flying off to London. In london I will spend around one day and meeting a good friend of mine, Kristín. She was in AIESEC with me, in the career days team and now living in London.
After staying with her my plans are to take another flight. This time to Zurich where I will spend one hour waiting for my next flight that will take me to Sao Paolo in Brazil.

Brazil BABY!!
How unbelivebly exciting is that?

This all came very sudden. Last wednesday night I found out I was going, yesterday I bought all the things I need for my trip, and today I'm finalizing some work and packing as well as taking of to another country.

So now my stay in Iceland is over. Its been both extremly fun and unbelievely sad all at the same time for me.
Coming home for the reasons I did is not something that I want to try again. I miss my grandfather a lot and I also have gotten more and more closer to my family. For that I'm extremely grateful.

So I'm taking off but with a smile on my face. Even though my mom and my grandmother are nervous for me flying all this way by myself.

I will be great.

- with love and a smile -

Every rose has it's thorns!

Oh man.
Today has been a very stressful day even though it shouldnt have been.
When I'm stressed somehow my mind closes up and I can not think about other things exept those that are bothering me... or stressing me.

So now, I do not know if on saturday I'm going half way around the world or not...
IC 2008 is held in Brazil and so far I'm not sure if I'm going or not.. and the conference start in less then 10 days. Actually the pre meeting starts on monday :S

So now you can understand where my frustration comes from that I blogged about last time.

for those who know me, I'm fairly organized person.. I mean I love to be flexible but this situation is making me feel uncomfortable.
I hope it will get clear soon. :)

I feel like this is supposed to be a learning for me, but I'm not seeing the lesson right now.
I just hope it will come soon so I can get over this and start more positive part of the role.
Actually getting some results.

Let's see how this goes.
- with love -

p.s

I had my first company meeting last friday - selling WENA (Western Europe Norht America ) conferences.

The meeting went really well but OMG how stressed I was. No sleep the night before.

So now it's up to me to do a proper follow up and make some new ideas how to involve the company into AIESEC's activities.
I look forward to it even though I'm a little angry at the moment.

Lets see how this day will go

-with love-

Why am I so frustrated?

Another week has started with new tasks to work on, new people to meet and keeping in touch with friends.

Last week was great, I had a lot of work to do, may tasks and priorities to work on and I managed them all and then some. I see the week as being one of the most positive weeks since I started working in ER. But the ending of the working week was not all that pleasent.

I was looking forward to things that was then looked over related to work, my e-mails I feel like dont reach the reciever and it makes my tired and frustrated. So my overall view of the work weekend was killed. damn.
But then I decieded to not look at this and not work the whole weekend.

On friday I was in the mood to party and Anna and Auður came over for some drinks.
The evening was a an added value to the good week and I forgot the frustrations.

On Saturday there was a huge celebration. Gay pride walk and concerts down town and at least one third of the Icelandic population shows their support to the cause of gay people and their fight for their rights.
I decided to go with Auður and we had a great time seeing all the colorful people, all the different people and their families being so proud and happy.
There was a pure joy when you were standing there, you got swept into the mood and you just wanted to dance.
So I danced on the street - dont get me wrong. It was not something like out of the movies. It was just a small celebration dance :)

Then in the evening the girls came back to play card and drink some more..

Now I'm back at work, or should be, but the frustration is back and it's hindering me in actually wanting to sit down and plan this weeks priorities.
But I will try to overcome this and make sure I have some valuable things to do this week and the next one.
Because otherwise I'm gonna go crazy.

- with love -

A new month - new beginning?

New month has started, August 2008 and only 16 days until my big 25!!

This month started out good.. some mistakes were done, some partying was also done and I also worked on me supporting my family.

This week will be hectic for me.. but I'm enjoying it. I'm getting ready to have skype chats with WENA VPERs. I'm looking forward to that, to learn more about external relations in the region and get to know the people I will be working with this year.

Today my friend moved to Copenhagen, she's starting school and moving out of the house for the first time. It's a huge step and I'm very proud of her.
ALL THE BEST.

There are still no news about my location. I'm getting tired of constant questioning and waiting. I just want to know and have things clear.
This is not for me. I need to have things clear.

Not much to say, so I'm ending this.
-with love-