Live what you love

Nimic nu le convine, pe cuvântul meu.

Una din prietenele mele, o tipă frumoasă de pică, vrea să audă că are o personalitate remarcabilă. I se zice prea des că e frumoasă foc. Păi, atât sunt eu? O fată frumoasă??

Prietena ei, pe de altă parte, se plângea ieri că i se spune prea des că are simţul umorului sau că e deşteaptă. Asta e un mod elengant de a spune că sunt urâtă?? Horror! Dacă mai aud o dată că sunt amuzantă, deşteaptă sau cu alte calităţi ce nu pot fi capturate în poze, sparg o vază. Am zis!

O alta prietenă de a mea se plângea ieri că nu primeşte complimente deloc. Ele măcar auzeau că sunt ori aşa, ori aşa, dar ea, nimic! Hm, zic eu, eu cred că eşti foarte frumoasă şi desteaptă. Nu se pune, a venit răspunsul prompt. Păi da, că eu nu sunt obiectiv. Hahaha.

Femeile!

Labels: love

Are U about to embark on studies abroad? If U are considering taking the leap to another country (just like me), U are facing the great challenge of your life.
Nobody will tell U that making the decision, getting everything ready, saying goodbye to family and friends, taking off and settling in isn't a daunting prospect.
Because it is. It's scary, it's confusing and the feeling of just wanting to give up and stay at home like everybody else is likely to hit U like a sledgehammer between the eyes more than once.
Having said all that studying abroad can be one of the most rewarding experience of your life.
But it is very much your own responsibility. Sitting back and waiting 4 problems to be sorted out for you won't get U anywhere. Be active, curious and interested in surroundings and don't give up at the first sign of trouble or things not going your way. U can't expect your new classmates or neighbours to take initiative 4U (especially the Danish ones). So join in all the social activities U can, be extrovert and open, join sports clubs, organisations and go to classes :))
All this will help U make friends quickly and that is almost more important than anything else to make U feel at home in your new surroundings.
To get the full experience out of studying abroad it's essential to meet the people who live in your chosen country. They are the ones who can provide you with important contacts and knowledge 4 the future.
One of the initial big shocks students abroad are faced with is the language barrier. Even if U have chosen an English speaking education and have excellent skills - U are bound to feel out of U'r league once the academic talk begins. It's only natural and will pass. Give it few weeks and U'll hardly remember, why U worried in the first place.

"No way!" I exclaimed, "If U fail a class here, it doesn't even show up on your transcript?!"
The surprises continued: choose when U would like to write your exam, show up, look at the questions, and if you don't know the answers, don't worry, just leave and try again next time. Due date are rarely enforced. Nothing counts until U pass.
Slowly, the logic of this began to dawn on me - who really cares if U fail or don't complete a class. That is what U didn't learn, and what U should really matter is what U did learn. Right ?
Having completed my studies in Romania, I expected a lot of differences coming to the University of Vitus Bering, in Horsens (Denmark), a town of roughly the same size as my alma mater.
Smaller classes, more personal contact, and of course, a different culture all promised an exciting and new experience. What I did not expect were such major differences in the education system itself.
After navigating 12 years of schooling in Romania, I was used to rigid registration deadlines for adding a dropping classes; maximum security, maximum stress exam periods where dire illness was your only chance for reprieve; and big penalties for failing or failing to complete classes that marred your record permanently.
Arriving in Denmark I found myself in an education system well matched to the practical, calm, down-to-earth nature of the Danes themselves.
Rather than consisting of countless bureaucratic hoops to jump through, forms, deadlines and fines, it seemed structured to actually prioritize ... learning!
What I came to value most while leaving in Denmark is the sense of calm I have found here. It is not just the reality of living in a smaller city, where forested hills are visible at the end of every street, and spectacular sea view are a 5 minute walk from my front door.
It is the mental space that the self-structured system allows me: space to really think things through in their own time, rather than in the hurried small scraps of time that I managed to squeeze into my schedule in Romania.
There is so much more freedom for creativity and finding my own rhythm here. For me, the greatest challenge in this self-motivated system is not cutting myself so much slack that I hang myself. But I strongly believe that my periods of seemingly "low productivity" have been far from a waste of time. How could thinking be a waste of time for a student? And yet, at times I have felt uncomfortable, and guilty about this: saddening and significant testament to how we are taught to view school at home. Shouldn't thinking be one of the most important things we do?
When forced to rush forward in a frenzy of deadlines and stress, we can end up somewhere we never really wanted to go. But while Romanian universities set up a high pressure system with little time for contemplation, the alternative format for Danish education has helped me to finally figure out exactly what direction I want to go with my education and my life.
Amid the snowy fells of Denmark, I have found a confidence and peace that I know will stay with me long after I RETURN HOME.

These are just a few tips and hints to make the start of your study-abroad-experience a little more pleasant. Ultimately U will find your own way trough the challenge and return home more confident and mature.

Cried enough. Let’s laugh a little.

I am so cartoonist. They should make a sitcom about my life and name it after me!

Yesterday I realized that I have sent text messages to a wrong number, thinking I was writing to the cute gal I thought was commited but apparently she’s not and she likes me. But I had the wrong number! Oh, Lord, who have I sent those messages to?? Anyway, I was drunk when I sent them and, you know, sadness + alcohol + cute gal = what have I done?? But then again, you don’t want to hear the “you don’t get to call me whore” speech, do you? Then, shut up. Thank you!

Anyway, got the right number and I couldn’t call her because my phone has a broken button. It’s the “9″ button. And I couldn’t call her. Hilarious, isn’t it?

I pushed the button for an hour continuously until it worked! Yay! If she only knew the trouble I went through to get to her. Hahaha!

Happy end: the cute gal wants to go out with me. Then again, who doesn’t? Just kidding, relax, you hyenas! (I’ll get hate mail for that joke, but I can take it!) Anyway, I’m concentrating on the nice things in my life. Like cute gals and ice cream and work. Ok, work isn’t as nice as cute gals and ice cream, but it keeps me busy (plus I get to work with cute danish gals so it adds up nicely).

Aaaand, another funny thing: remember when our English was so bad and we used to mess up the lyrics to our favorite songs or the name of artists? Like: “Richard touch face” instead of “Reach out and touch faith”? Or “Dirty Streets” instead of “Dire Straits”? Today I laughed for minutes in the supermarket when I heard someone singing “If you ain’t got more money take your big ass home” instead of “If you ain’t got no money take your broke ass home”! I thought it was hilarious. Funny day today.

Keep well and keep good. Vă pooop (mai ales pe ea)

E o modă acum să îţi treci în CV blogul. Sau poate că deja e o rubrică nouă în CV ce vine imediat după capitolul "Experienţa profesională".

Nu sunt puţini cei care în locul semnăturii detaliate din e-mail îşi pun doar numele şi adresa blogului.

Mi s-a întâmplat într-o discuţie recentă, când am vrut să pun pe masă ce am mai făcut în ultimul timp, să mi se spună: "Ştiu ce faci, îţi citesc blogul!".

Astăzi am găsit un post care afirmă sus şi tare: The blog is the new resume. Iar autorul venea cu următoarele argumente:

1. Your blog represents you.
2. Your blog is serious business.
3. Your blog is an archive.
4. Your blog isn’t the only mirror of your life.
5. Your blog is your unedited version of yourself.

Am văzut apoi că acest post era un feedback la un alt post cu acelaşi titlu şi că autorul "teoriei originale" a compilat aici mai multe feedback-uri.

Dacă stau puţin să mă gândesc, CV-ul (aşa cum îl ştim noi) poate fi comparat cu un clasic anunţ de ziar, în timp ce blog-ul poate fi asemuit cu un clip viral sau poate cu un spot TV bine gândit de o agenţie.

Discuţia ar putea continua de aici pe un alt "drum", cu întrebarea: Dacă CV-ul conţine de cele mai multe ori date obiective despre noi, cât de mult ne încredem în ce găsim pe un blog?