A good year

It's been a year. A good year.

I had a good walk down nostalgia lane as I travelled on the tram and bus and waited at the airport arrivals section for a new trainee to arrive in Prague. It's funny how roles have reversed and how things have changed sooo much in a year. Last year, around the same time, I was a naive-keen eyed-ready to explore Europe-I-have-no-idea-wtf-I'm doing new kid on the block waiting to arrive in this winter wonderland and desperately hoping to see my AIESEC buddy (a somewhat familiar face in an unfamiliar place) at the airport. Here I was a year later, as a "local" waiting to receive another new kid on the block! I thought and pondered and reminisced the year it has been. It's been a year. A good year.

Before coming to Prague, the term “life-changing” was just a cliché I often used when promoting AIESEC exchange. Now, I totally understand how a few months of living and working in a new country can be life-changing. Life as I have known it and my view of the world as I had known will never be the same after czeching in to Prague.

My main objectives from this exchange were to MEET, LEARN, LOVE and met, learnt and loved I have! This exchange has had such a “positive impact” on my life both personally and professionally. Since I’ve been such a slacker at blogging, I decided to combine all those epiphantastic blog posts that could have been in this mega “Aha moment” blog to summarize the awesomeness of the year it has been!

The job:
To be completely honest, my job here was supposed to be just a means to an end - something with a steady source of income that would support all my travelling, wining and dining with an added bonus of some ”professional development”. The job wasn’t really related to my rather broad and vague degree. It seemed like a cool company and was very “AIESECy” so that’s why I applied. After having worked here for a year, I realised how awesome my job is. It’s not the most well-paying job but it sure is rewarding! I like how I’m not working day in and out solely for profits. I get to organize new cultural and educational experiences for people to broaden their horizon and challenge their business and worldview. I get to talk to/meet with not only senior managers of big companies but also self-starters and philanthropists. I learn something new about some country or some company every day. I get to talk to educators with a glut of knowledge, wisdom and experience and degrees from Harvard, Princeton and the like. I have colleagues who I actually look forward to seeing everyday. Our company is small but has a global reach..we have the warm fuzzy feel of a small company with dogs and babies regularly visiting yet the corporate feel of working with the Microsofts and GEs. I still don’t know what I’m going to do in a few months or how exactly this job will fit in with my future career plans but I do know that if I connect the dots backwards, I will look at this job as a very special launch pad for a long working career ahead!

The people:
I don’t even know where to start or how to summarize the relationships I have formed over the last year. I read a cheesy line in the trainees orientation booklet which said “Prague: where you come as strangers and leave as family”. As cheesy as it is, it’s the best way to summarize my experience with everyone I have met here. People from all over the world and all sorts of backgrounds but people who I can’t imagine living my life without in a few months from now. Who would have thought that you could put together parts and pieces from different cultures, speaking different languages, wanting different things and still have them function as a well-oiled machine? The people factor is definitely the key to making this year so awesome. I believe tough times are the best testing grounds of relationships and a perfect image springs to mind. I was sick as a dog a couple of months ago and kinda partially blinded by uveitis. Being sick in a new country with an unbelievably bureaucratic and predominantly Czech-speaking medical system is not easy......but it never seemed hard. During my 2 weeks of “blindness”, I had the most amazing support system. I will never ever forget the kindness showered by my flatmates and the AIESECers during that time. I remember sitting in the hospital waiting room once with 6 of my friends/flatmates, (kinda) blind, exhausted and tired and looking at all those concerned faces of my global family of “doctors” and “mothers” that were there with my blurry eyes and thinking “I’m the luckiest girl in the world”. A wise man once said “he who does not travel, doesn’t know the worth of men”. I couldn’t agree more. I value people sooooooo much more now after all the travelling. These people have been the float to my boat in the past year!

The travels:
13 countries, 23+ cities, 1 year. What more can I ask for?! Sure I’ve seen the Eiffel Tower and the Berlin Wall and the Colosseum and yes it was exciting but what I have loved about all the travelling is the soaking up of cultures. It’s soooo fun being in a new country, living and experiencing a new culture, forming and breaking stereotypes, creating and losing memories! It is said that you wander for distraction but travel for fulfilment. Europe has implanted the travel bug in me, my appetite for travel has still not be fulfilled and I can’t wait to explore more of the world!

The AIESEC:
I read this thing on facebook – “When I start being sad, I stop being sad and start being an AIESECer instead”. Made me LOL at the cheesiness..but I realised how true this is in my case. AIESEC has been such an important (leader/intern)ship in helping me navigate my way through life. I’m glad I could still be involved in AIESEC and it’s activities after coming to Prague – the LC meetings and conferences, boat races and EB elections, sugarcubes and lecture bashes all take me to my happy place! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being a part of AIESEC Prague and I respect them so much! I can’t thank AIESEC enough for helping me have the time of my life!

The family:
Last year was a tough year for the family in more ways than one but absence has surely made my heart grow fonder for what I have at home. Sure, I have made new friends and created a new “whanau” here but I still can’t wait to be home to the three people I love the most in the world. Skype conversations at work with Urooza about difficult decisions like what to eat for lunch and daily evening skype sessions with mum and dad about EVERYTHING help me get through the day! Togetherness in spite of the long distance and strong unshakeable family ties through the thick and the thin have made this year a wonderful year.

The love:
Love life is still a dud. I guess I just haven't met YOU yet! As I was telling one of my friends today, even after all the travelling and meeting new people, there’s just one conclusion : there’s no country for good men! ;) I’m still lost in finding a way back to love and finding the man of my Mcdreams but I’m enjoying singledom and the “single” status has surely made the last year a lot more fun!

It’s been a year, a long year, a good year. A year that has definitely changed life as I have known it and I can’t wait to see what the next 4 months will bring!