Ok so day 3 was lame. Not as novel and exciting as I had hoped it would be. My objective for the day was to do something outdoorsy but the weather changed faster than Kim Kardashian's mind about marriage so I had to use those maaaad improvisation skills I had mastered during my time in AIESEC.
It was 7 pm and I STILL had no alternative "new thing" lined up. BOOM! It was pizza time! Dad brought home pizzas and opportunity knocked on my door. Dominoes stuffed up and gave us the wrong pizza -A vegetarian pizza with meat although the receipt clearly said "no meat" so this was my opportunity to make my first customer complaint.
Now I'm really not good with complaining, I may whine often but I'm not good at doing it formally. Most of the time, I can't be bothered, quite often I don't want to be mean or over demanding. Besides, I'm worried they may spit into my food so I usually just go with what's been given. I remember having this problem especially when ordering from "Lemon Leaf", a Thai fusion restaurant right across from my office in Prague. We would often order takeaways from that place and they would ALWAYS stuff it up! The wrong order or the wrong portion side or missing the soup or dessert, it was always a lucky draw, "you never know what you'll get" was their motto. Sometimes we'd (by we I mean my colleagues) complain, often we would vow never to order from them again, most of the time we would just eat what was given. "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results", that's what my colleague said to me when I would ring Lemon Leaf, once again, hoping they would give me what I ordered. I never really complained and if I did, it would be so sugar coated or vague that they would never really understand what the problem was. Pretty stupid now that I think about it.
So yep, when we were given a meaty vegetarian pizza, I thought maybe it was time to make my first official complaint so I called Dominoes and explained the situation. Without any further questioning or defending what they did, they offered a free pizza the next time we ordered from them. That was SO MUCH easier than I had imagined it to be!
So thats day 3. Not that exciting(borderline lame) but was a new experience and I got a free pizza out of it so not a bad outcome :).
Friday, November 4, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Day 2: A jolt challenge
New day! New mission!
I never shy away from a good discussion. Nothing fires me up and satisfies my intellectual cravings like a well-reasoned, well-argued debate. I was lucky to be invited to a panel discussion organized by Ying at Jolt Challenge focused on self and identity, particularly discussing “what or who is a kiwi?” This is a topic very close to my heart and I’ve often had some fiery discussions with people, both in the virtual and real world, centring around this topic. The panel comprised of some super impressive bunch of people ranging from academics to film directors to renowned people in the media. They were not only diverse in their cultural and professional backgrounds but each of them offered a very unique perspective into the topic. I was glad I attended as it not only helped me do “one new thing” for that day but also triggered more pondering and musing.
This took me back to earlier this year. It was the Norwegian National Day and I was hanging out with a bunch of Norwegians in Prague who were talking about a private party being held for some of the Norwegian student community in Prague. We weren’t on the guest list and weren’t sure how to get in. I just casually mentioned how it would be way easier for them to get in than me since I look nothing like a Norwegian (yes I was referring to the tall, blonde, blue eyed stereotype), to which my friend replied “This is the 21st century, I don’t think we can really say what a Norwegian looks like”. At that moment I was impressed by his progressive way of thinking and it really made me wonder...it is the 21st century, with all the globalization, wide spread immigration, mixing and mingling that’s happening around the world, can we really say what a (insert nationality here) looks like?
Who is a kiwi? What does he or she look like? How does this person talk, act, behave? What is a typical prototype of our culture? What exactly did Paul Henry mean when he made that extremely cringeworthy, bigoted statement about our Governor General? What is a NZer really supposed to look and sound like? I think within the first 10 minutes of the discussion, it was established that this is not a black/white issue but more of a grey area...it is something that is often discussed, rarely defined. One of the panellists, an actor and member of the group "Naked Samoans", compared our country to a 15 year old teenager who was still trying to find himself in the world. We are a young, dynamic (or dinimic as our PM would say it) country that is constantly evolving and changing and is therefore hard to define and establish our identity at this stage. You cannot define who a kiwi is by ticking boxes in a check list or determine it solely based on ethnicity or the number of years one has spent in the country. Besides the ethnic dilemma, other socio-economic factors need to be taken into consideration too when discussing the identity of our country. As one of the panellists, an International and Islamic law lecturer at the University of Auckland, pointed out, can we really saywhich one of these is more kiwi - a student in a low decile school in Mangere or a student at a private school in Remuera? There are also the regional differences...I remember meeting an ex-Navy guy from Gisborne in a small town of Bunol in Spain and while we were talking to a group of other travellers abour our country, we realised how his portrayal of NZ was so different from mine. He joked how he was more kiwi as JAFAs (people from Auckland) are not real NZers. Different people, different realities, one umbrella term: “Kiwi”.
I have always advocated that culture is subjective. Home is where you want it to be. It is all about a sense of belonging. I had a rant about it in one of my Facebook notes but I do feel that even if I don’t look or speak like a “typical” kiwi (whatever that means), I do feel like one and I try to be an ambassador for the country and its awesomeness wherever I go and will continue to do so wherever I go. I think by trying to label, categorize and classify our national identity, we will miss out on the bigger picture, a stereotype will overshadow the unity in diversity the country offers, one typical story would overpower all the other much needed untold stories.
We are a salad bowl of cultures at the moment, distinct , diverse yet somewhat blended with everything else in the bowl , but if there’s anything the rugby world cup has shown us, it is that all we need is a little (in this case)black dressing of passion, nationalism, a common cause to bring it together and make it more exciting! We may all have had various flags waving on our cars and dawned various jerseys and colours during the duration of the world cup, but when it came down to the finals, the nation was wrapped in one colour! This is what reflected the spirit of NZ to me. As I walked down Queen Street, the night we won the world cup, high-fiving and hugging a hundred different people from different walks of life, I felt euphoric and I felt that euphoria resonated with everyone that night, regardless of what they looked like, sounded like, what their citizenship status was, what their socioeconomic background was. That to me is NZ, unity in diversity.
I’m glad I went to this invigorating discussion and would be happy to continue it further virtually or over a beverage of some sort. One major take away from the event was the importance of asking questions. The host of the evening quoted a famous line from Oscar Wilde, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”, I think we are all somewhat peacefully coexisting in this country but some of us need to ask questions to drive this discussion forward.
I never shy away from a good discussion. Nothing fires me up and satisfies my intellectual cravings like a well-reasoned, well-argued debate. I was lucky to be invited to a panel discussion organized by Ying at Jolt Challenge focused on self and identity, particularly discussing “what or who is a kiwi?” This is a topic very close to my heart and I’ve often had some fiery discussions with people, both in the virtual and real world, centring around this topic. The panel comprised of some super impressive bunch of people ranging from academics to film directors to renowned people in the media. They were not only diverse in their cultural and professional backgrounds but each of them offered a very unique perspective into the topic. I was glad I attended as it not only helped me do “one new thing” for that day but also triggered more pondering and musing.
This took me back to earlier this year. It was the Norwegian National Day and I was hanging out with a bunch of Norwegians in Prague who were talking about a private party being held for some of the Norwegian student community in Prague. We weren’t on the guest list and weren’t sure how to get in. I just casually mentioned how it would be way easier for them to get in than me since I look nothing like a Norwegian (yes I was referring to the tall, blonde, blue eyed stereotype), to which my friend replied “This is the 21st century, I don’t think we can really say what a Norwegian looks like”. At that moment I was impressed by his progressive way of thinking and it really made me wonder...it is the 21st century, with all the globalization, wide spread immigration, mixing and mingling that’s happening around the world, can we really say what a (insert nationality here) looks like?
Who is a kiwi? What does he or she look like? How does this person talk, act, behave? What is a typical prototype of our culture? What exactly did Paul Henry mean when he made that extremely cringeworthy, bigoted statement about our Governor General? What is a NZer really supposed to look and sound like? I think within the first 10 minutes of the discussion, it was established that this is not a black/white issue but more of a grey area...it is something that is often discussed, rarely defined. One of the panellists, an actor and member of the group "Naked Samoans", compared our country to a 15 year old teenager who was still trying to find himself in the world. We are a young, dynamic (or dinimic as our PM would say it) country that is constantly evolving and changing and is therefore hard to define and establish our identity at this stage. You cannot define who a kiwi is by ticking boxes in a check list or determine it solely based on ethnicity or the number of years one has spent in the country. Besides the ethnic dilemma, other socio-economic factors need to be taken into consideration too when discussing the identity of our country. As one of the panellists, an International and Islamic law lecturer at the University of Auckland, pointed out, can we really saywhich one of these is more kiwi - a student in a low decile school in Mangere or a student at a private school in Remuera? There are also the regional differences...I remember meeting an ex-Navy guy from Gisborne in a small town of Bunol in Spain and while we were talking to a group of other travellers abour our country, we realised how his portrayal of NZ was so different from mine. He joked how he was more kiwi as JAFAs (people from Auckland) are not real NZers. Different people, different realities, one umbrella term: “Kiwi”.
I have always advocated that culture is subjective. Home is where you want it to be. It is all about a sense of belonging. I had a rant about it in one of my Facebook notes but I do feel that even if I don’t look or speak like a “typical” kiwi (whatever that means), I do feel like one and I try to be an ambassador for the country and its awesomeness wherever I go and will continue to do so wherever I go. I think by trying to label, categorize and classify our national identity, we will miss out on the bigger picture, a stereotype will overshadow the unity in diversity the country offers, one typical story would overpower all the other much needed untold stories.
We are a salad bowl of cultures at the moment, distinct , diverse yet somewhat blended with everything else in the bowl , but if there’s anything the rugby world cup has shown us, it is that all we need is a little (in this case)black dressing of passion, nationalism, a common cause to bring it together and make it more exciting! We may all have had various flags waving on our cars and dawned various jerseys and colours during the duration of the world cup, but when it came down to the finals, the nation was wrapped in one colour! This is what reflected the spirit of NZ to me. As I walked down Queen Street, the night we won the world cup, high-fiving and hugging a hundred different people from different walks of life, I felt euphoric and I felt that euphoria resonated with everyone that night, regardless of what they looked like, sounded like, what their citizenship status was, what their socioeconomic background was. That to me is NZ, unity in diversity.
I’m glad I went to this invigorating discussion and would be happy to continue it further virtually or over a beverage of some sort. One major take away from the event was the importance of asking questions. The host of the evening quoted a famous line from Oscar Wilde, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”, I think we are all somewhat peacefully coexisting in this country but some of us need to ask questions to drive this discussion forward.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Day 1: An artsy start
Most people who have met my family and me say we are not a "typical" Indian family. In a country of 1.2 billion people, more diverse than some continents, I'm not sure what the "typical" prototype entails but I sure am grateful everyday for being born to two of the greatest individuals I know.
From my early days as a toddler in a stroller, going for walks with dad in the University park to my childhood days where I could pursue any extra curricular activity I set my heart on to the age of 23 where I have complete freedom to choose where to live and what to do with my life, I've always been presented with a smorgasbord of choices and options and have always had the liberty to choose what's best for me. My dad, a sports buff and a very wise man always says they are more like wicket keepers - in the background, safeguarding our interests, ready to catch the ball if it goes haywire, rather than being bowlers who hurl their interests, decisions, choices etc on their kids. For that I'm grateful.
One of their investments in our all-rounded development were "art classes" where I tried to get in touch with my creative side. I had excellent teachers who really inspired us to be creative, to be bold, to be expressive and to be perfectionists. Still life, geometry, designs, oil pastels and water paints were a big and important part of my weekends. Like everything else in India, dexterity had to be evaluated by a competitive examination where they could assess, grade and rank you and thousands of others.So I sat the exam and did relatively well but never really went back to the arty side of things after.
Yesterday, as a part of my Newember resolution, I decided to get in touch with my artsy side. It was a bit rusty...haven't used it in a while. The last time I actually attempted to draw something was under time pressure, at a comics expo in Oslo, where I was coaxed to design a comic strip in 3 minutes by a charming Danish cartoon artist. It was crap.
Yesterday, I wanted to see if I could reconnect with the 14 year old Monet wannabe.
I decided to copy a painting I bought just before I left from Prague. A beautiful scenic depiction of my favourite place in Prague - the Charles Bridge and all the majestic buildings around it at sunset. With no paint, no coloured pencils, just a 2B, I tried to capture some of Prague's ethereal beauty in my sketch. It was pretty crap too.
But it sure did feel good. I got to reconnect with my artistic side. I actually did more than just doodling for the first time in over 8 years. It felt right.
Day 1, an artsy start. Challenge accepted and completed. Bring on Day 2!
It's Growember!
Richard Bach, one of my favourite writers is quoted to have said "A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit". I couldn't agree more, true for writing, true for just about anything else in life.
I love writing. I suffer from typerrhea. I express myself much better through text than speech. Writing to me is a creative outlet, a tool for self-expression, a tool for expressing my opinion, a way to vent, a way to make sense (in every possible way). One of the driving forces for my nomadic ways are a need for new experiences which can become memoirs one day. So I travel, I meet new people, I experience new things, I hold on to my childlike inquisitiveness, I learn life lessons but I don't really write about them...not as much as I would want to anyways.
I watched Matt Cutt's TED talk again the other day about doing something new for 30 days and the first thing that popped into my mind at that time was "MAINTAIN A BLOG". What could I possibly write about, day after day, every day, for 30 days?
"The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences" - Into the Wild.
The things I do would not be out of the ordinary. It's not going to be sky diving or an adventurous expedition to Patagonia, it might just be a bunch of mundane things but it would be something new, something different, something learnt, something unlearnt, something visited, something revisited. All written about through my most favourite social media channel of them all :).
A famous quote by Coelho goes along the lines of “That is why I write - to try to turn sadness into longing, solitude into remembrance.” I'm writing to turn just another month of my life into a fond memory, new adventure, a sometwhat riveting chapter of life.
Watch this space for more.
Watch this space for more.
I love writing. I suffer from typerrhea. I express myself much better through text than speech. Writing to me is a creative outlet, a tool for self-expression, a tool for expressing my opinion, a way to vent, a way to make sense (in every possible way). One of the driving forces for my nomadic ways are a need for new experiences which can become memoirs one day. So I travel, I meet new people, I experience new things, I hold on to my childlike inquisitiveness, I learn life lessons but I don't really write about them...not as much as I would want to anyways.
I watched Matt Cutt's TED talk again the other day about doing something new for 30 days and the first thing that popped into my mind at that time was "MAINTAIN A BLOG". What could I possibly write about, day after day, every day, for 30 days?
"The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences" - Into the Wild.
The things I do would not be out of the ordinary. It's not going to be sky diving or an adventurous expedition to Patagonia, it might just be a bunch of mundane things but it would be something new, something different, something learnt, something unlearnt, something visited, something revisited. All written about through my most favourite social media channel of them all :).
A famous quote by Coelho goes along the lines of “That is why I write - to try to turn sadness into longing, solitude into remembrance.” I'm writing to turn just another month of my life into a fond memory, new adventure, a sometwhat riveting chapter of life.
Watch this space for more.
Watch this space for more.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Stay hungry, stay foolish
Sometimes I think that when I'll look back at my life, I'm going to realise that it was a whole bunch of intertwined epiphanies that I had had while taking a long walk along the beach. Today was no exception.
The sun was out, the breeze was warm, Auckland's weather was at its very best behaviour. Donning my shorts and jandals, with Beirut on my playlist, I set off to the beach. As I walked and got serenaded by Zach Condon's sexy voice, I thought about “Il Dolce Far Niente” - the art of doing nothing, made famous by Julia Roberts and the gesticulating Italians of Eat, Pray, Love. Now, English is my favourite language, the only language that I can say I'm fluent in. I love its nuances and irregularities, the way it sounds and the comfort it provides when spoken by foreign people in foreign lands. How sad is it though that we don't actually have an English equivalent of "Il dolce far niente". Is it because we don't actually value the art of doing nothing?
I've been thinking about this a lot since I've returned from Prague. I've been a "bum" for three months now. After spending THE BEST 18 months of my life overseas, I needed some time to reflect, to wind down, to do a bit of soul searching and self reflecting to see where I want to be and what I want to do. I, personally have had no problems with this lifestyle. This is the first time in a long long long time where I haven't been working or studying or committing myself to some sort of extra-curricular activity and to be honest, it has been very refreshing and rejuvenating. The last three months have given me the opportunity to flock back to the literary wisdom of Kundera, Bach and Coelho, all who had been ignored for a long time. This period of bumhood has given me time and confidence to experiment in the kitchen, I can proudly say I can cook more than just instant noodles and frozen meals ;). I've had time to research and prepare for all future academic and work-related opportunities. I've been lucky enough to reflect more on who I am, who I want to be, where I want to be and who I want to be with. I've had time to catch up on all my TV shows and re-watch all my favourite commencement speeches and TED talks. In this quest for inspiration, I came across two of my favourite quotes from two of my heroes:
Steve Jobs (Stanford commencement speech, 2005):
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
JK Rowling (Harvard commencement speech, 2008):
"So given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes."
Both emphasise the importance of not losing yourself in a rat's race. Both emphasise the importance of following your gut feeling and being the captain of your own ship, to sail through the waves of your life, no matter how turbulent they may be. At this moment, being 23 and unemployed, I feel like I'm at the pinnacle (or rock bottom, depending on your perspective) of the "staying hungry and foolish" stage of my life. Everyone I meet is concerned about me not doing anything right now. My friends joke, elders worry, acquaintances go ''aww", competitive peers look at this a big blank space on my CV. None gather that is actually just what I need in life right now. That I'd much rather have some time off now than add more "experience" to my CV that I don't really don't like or enjoy.
I'm not foolish enough to think that the economy runs on jandal wearing hippies who go for mid-day walks along the beach. I'm also not complacent enough to replace my life-long dreams with the short-lived joys of living in the moment. Neither am I idealistic enough to believe that I can pay my bills and student loans by watching inspirational speeches and writing long blogs. I just feel like I needed this time for doing nothing, for being mighty hungry and foolish so when I do look back at my life in 20 years from now, I can connect the dots backwards and look back at this "rockbottom" (as some may describe it) as the foundation on which I built my career and dreams.
So indulge in a bit of nothingness, and to quote Steve Jobs who was, is and will be one of the most inspiring of our generations: "Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."
Stay hungry, stay foolish, don't settle...even if it means being a bum for a few months of your life
The sun was out, the breeze was warm, Auckland's weather was at its very best behaviour. Donning my shorts and jandals, with Beirut on my playlist, I set off to the beach. As I walked and got serenaded by Zach Condon's sexy voice, I thought about “Il Dolce Far Niente” - the art of doing nothing, made famous by Julia Roberts and the gesticulating Italians of Eat, Pray, Love. Now, English is my favourite language, the only language that I can say I'm fluent in. I love its nuances and irregularities, the way it sounds and the comfort it provides when spoken by foreign people in foreign lands. How sad is it though that we don't actually have an English equivalent of "Il dolce far niente". Is it because we don't actually value the art of doing nothing?
I've been thinking about this a lot since I've returned from Prague. I've been a "bum" for three months now. After spending THE BEST 18 months of my life overseas, I needed some time to reflect, to wind down, to do a bit of soul searching and self reflecting to see where I want to be and what I want to do. I, personally have had no problems with this lifestyle. This is the first time in a long long long time where I haven't been working or studying or committing myself to some sort of extra-curricular activity and to be honest, it has been very refreshing and rejuvenating. The last three months have given me the opportunity to flock back to the literary wisdom of Kundera, Bach and Coelho, all who had been ignored for a long time. This period of bumhood has given me time and confidence to experiment in the kitchen, I can proudly say I can cook more than just instant noodles and frozen meals ;). I've had time to research and prepare for all future academic and work-related opportunities. I've been lucky enough to reflect more on who I am, who I want to be, where I want to be and who I want to be with. I've had time to catch up on all my TV shows and re-watch all my favourite commencement speeches and TED talks. In this quest for inspiration, I came across two of my favourite quotes from two of my heroes:
Steve Jobs (Stanford commencement speech, 2005):
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
JK Rowling (Harvard commencement speech, 2008):
"So given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes."
Both emphasise the importance of not losing yourself in a rat's race. Both emphasise the importance of following your gut feeling and being the captain of your own ship, to sail through the waves of your life, no matter how turbulent they may be. At this moment, being 23 and unemployed, I feel like I'm at the pinnacle (or rock bottom, depending on your perspective) of the "staying hungry and foolish" stage of my life. Everyone I meet is concerned about me not doing anything right now. My friends joke, elders worry, acquaintances go ''aww", competitive peers look at this a big blank space on my CV. None gather that is actually just what I need in life right now. That I'd much rather have some time off now than add more "experience" to my CV that I don't really don't like or enjoy.
I'm not foolish enough to think that the economy runs on jandal wearing hippies who go for mid-day walks along the beach. I'm also not complacent enough to replace my life-long dreams with the short-lived joys of living in the moment. Neither am I idealistic enough to believe that I can pay my bills and student loans by watching inspirational speeches and writing long blogs. I just feel like I needed this time for doing nothing, for being mighty hungry and foolish so when I do look back at my life in 20 years from now, I can connect the dots backwards and look back at this "rockbottom" (as some may describe it) as the foundation on which I built my career and dreams.
So indulge in a bit of nothingness, and to quote Steve Jobs who was, is and will be one of the most inspiring of our generations: "Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."
Stay hungry, stay foolish, don't settle...even if it means being a bum for a few months of your life
Friday, July 8, 2011
Post-exchange rambling on a Friday night
Sobriety: an abnormally rare condition on a Friday night for a Praha trainee characterised by too much blood in the alcohol stream. Symptoms include coordination, morality, awareness, less idiotaness, ability to spell all of this correctly. Treatment: TICKET TO PRAGUE, NOW, PROSIM! But since the treatment is a bit expensive, I’ll use my voice on cyber space to whine/reminisce/ponder a little.
It’s been 10 days since I’ve returned to my tiny remote island on the other end of the world. Yes, I’m happy to see my family and close friends, to breathe the unbelievably pure air and see familiar places and faces. It’s nice to gorge on all the treats I missed so much, hear/read/understand/speak the same language as everyone around me and be pampered so much in the sanctuary I call home but a part of me still lingers on in a tiny little country in Central Europe. A part of me still finds it hard to reintegrate into life in this paradise called NZ! A part of me is still feeling the after effects of an amazing life-changing experience.
Life-changing...it’s a term I’ve used rather loosely to describe my traineeship experience ever since I arrived in Prague. I thought more about the term the other day. I went to Borders (yeah super surprising considering my horrendous reading skills) to kill some time before meeting with a friend. I have always thought about documenting my Prague experience so naturally I was drawn to the travel writing section in the bookstore to get some inspiration. Ta-da I found a book – “Me, myself and Prague” written by Rachel Weiss, an Aussie writer who wrote this book about her one year escapade to Prague. I only read the foreword and was hooked on...I could relate to her experience in so many ways. She described her one year in Prague as a life-changing experience as it helped her discover herself. I couldn’t agree more. My 16 month epic adventure was life-changing. I didn’t meet the love of my life (much to my mother’s disappointment :P) neither did I find the job of my dreams nor did I do anything outrageously crazy like bungee jumping or sky diving but I did change. Life as I know I know it and the Rucha that I once was will never be the same again.
I had always been a straight A student throughout my school and University life. I was a woman with big dreams and a plan, a life plan – Bachelors, graduate degree from an Ivy league school, a corporatey career with a Fortune 500 company followed by a job with the UN, a family life with a white picket fence, 2 kids and a Mcdreamy and then a PhD and becoming an educator. Wandering around aimlessly on the streets of Europe, living with a whole bunch of crazy international idiotas, mastering (alcohol) drinking and partying skills and working in a small company in Prague were never a part of the life plan but boy am I glad that I have a problem with sticking to plans :P
How does a Harvard degree-UNDP job-white picketed lifestyle compare to an intense party-fuelled life in crazy hostelesque trainee apartments? Well, it’s hard to compare since I haven’t experienced the former lifestyle but I do know that I learned more in the last 16 months about life and myself than I had ever learnt at University. Not all those who wander are lost! I’ve learnt the importance of having a global mindset (cultural spongeness FTW), the importance of adapting to all sorts of situations and people (Thank you Andel apartments :P), the true meaning of friendship, developing an unshakeable trust and love for humanity (people surely maketh a place), being a migratory bird/nomad building a nest wherever I go, the vital need for holding on to the child-like curiosity and constantly accepting and overcoming life’s challenges and most importantly having FUN FUN FUN. Life’s too short to not be living da vida loca ;)
I’m sooooooo grateful for this life-shaping, self-discovering, idiota-being experience. I wouldn’t change a thing about those 16 months. The emoness I feel now and the concern I have for future experiences (HOW WILL ANYTHING EVER MATCH UPTO THIS?!) are all testimony to how amazing this experience has been. Moving on is going to be hard...as Zrinka and I discussed, the end of one’s traineeship is like a break-up but only harder because you’re breaking up with soooo many more people/places/objects of affection in this case. SIGH but c’est la vie.
As a wise philosopher/a cheesy facebook page proclaimed “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”, I’m going to stop whining over the end of my internship and being so far away from my new-found friends and family and be happy that it happened! The internship was a life-changing, not life-stopping experience so it’s time to use and apply all my life lessons to life here in NZ and continue living da vida loca!
It’s been 10 days since I’ve returned to my tiny remote island on the other end of the world. Yes, I’m happy to see my family and close friends, to breathe the unbelievably pure air and see familiar places and faces. It’s nice to gorge on all the treats I missed so much, hear/read/understand/speak the same language as everyone around me and be pampered so much in the sanctuary I call home but a part of me still lingers on in a tiny little country in Central Europe. A part of me still finds it hard to reintegrate into life in this paradise called NZ! A part of me is still feeling the after effects of an amazing life-changing experience.
Life-changing...it’s a term I’ve used rather loosely to describe my traineeship experience ever since I arrived in Prague. I thought more about the term the other day. I went to Borders (yeah super surprising considering my horrendous reading skills) to kill some time before meeting with a friend. I have always thought about documenting my Prague experience so naturally I was drawn to the travel writing section in the bookstore to get some inspiration. Ta-da I found a book – “Me, myself and Prague” written by Rachel Weiss, an Aussie writer who wrote this book about her one year escapade to Prague. I only read the foreword and was hooked on...I could relate to her experience in so many ways. She described her one year in Prague as a life-changing experience as it helped her discover herself. I couldn’t agree more. My 16 month epic adventure was life-changing. I didn’t meet the love of my life (much to my mother’s disappointment :P) neither did I find the job of my dreams nor did I do anything outrageously crazy like bungee jumping or sky diving but I did change. Life as I know I know it and the Rucha that I once was will never be the same again.
I had always been a straight A student throughout my school and University life. I was a woman with big dreams and a plan, a life plan – Bachelors, graduate degree from an Ivy league school, a corporatey career with a Fortune 500 company followed by a job with the UN, a family life with a white picket fence, 2 kids and a Mcdreamy and then a PhD and becoming an educator. Wandering around aimlessly on the streets of Europe, living with a whole bunch of crazy international idiotas, mastering (alcohol) drinking and partying skills and working in a small company in Prague were never a part of the life plan but boy am I glad that I have a problem with sticking to plans :P
How does a Harvard degree-UNDP job-white picketed lifestyle compare to an intense party-fuelled life in crazy hostelesque trainee apartments? Well, it’s hard to compare since I haven’t experienced the former lifestyle but I do know that I learned more in the last 16 months about life and myself than I had ever learnt at University. Not all those who wander are lost! I’ve learnt the importance of having a global mindset (cultural spongeness FTW), the importance of adapting to all sorts of situations and people (Thank you Andel apartments :P), the true meaning of friendship, developing an unshakeable trust and love for humanity (people surely maketh a place), being a migratory bird/nomad building a nest wherever I go, the vital need for holding on to the child-like curiosity and constantly accepting and overcoming life’s challenges and most importantly having FUN FUN FUN. Life’s too short to not be living da vida loca ;)
I’m sooooooo grateful for this life-shaping, self-discovering, idiota-being experience. I wouldn’t change a thing about those 16 months. The emoness I feel now and the concern I have for future experiences (HOW WILL ANYTHING EVER MATCH UPTO THIS?!) are all testimony to how amazing this experience has been. Moving on is going to be hard...as Zrinka and I discussed, the end of one’s traineeship is like a break-up but only harder because you’re breaking up with soooo many more people/places/objects of affection in this case. SIGH but c’est la vie.
As a wise philosopher/a cheesy facebook page proclaimed “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”, I’m going to stop whining over the end of my internship and being so far away from my new-found friends and family and be happy that it happened! The internship was a life-changing, not life-stopping experience so it’s time to use and apply all my life lessons to life here in NZ and continue living da vida loca!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Breaking the walls
When I start feeling emo, I stop feeling emo and go for a walk instead. True story.
So emo I was and out for a walk I went. I walked out of Andel apartments, turned on my iPod, turned it on shuffle and let it dictate my theme song for the moment. Funny enough, it was Good riddance by Greenday. It's strange how a random song on the iPod when combined with a view of the beautiful Prague castle and the homely smell of the dirty Vltava can give you a new perspective.
The last 4 weeks haven't been easy. Lots of goodbye, lots of changes. Nothing is the same. Nothing will be. I'm a gitana, a nomad by heart who thrives on changes, new situations, new places, new people. Having lived in 5 countries in the last 23 years, I thought I would be better at goodbyes and that I would master the art of rational detachment and go with the flow. Nobody said it was easy, noone ever said it would be this hard. Goodbyes suck. Changes suck.
I remember having this discussion with my Colombian friend, philosopher and guide when I was offered the contract extension by my company. I confessed to him that I wanted to leave Prague before I completely fall in love with the city and that I didn't want to be the last one left behind. That's not me way! I am the one who leaves, I'm the one who has farewells so to have the roles reversed wouldn't be easy. He said to take it up as a challenge. I had come here to learn, grow and get out of my comfort zone, I had to challenge myself to be in this not-so-pleasant predicament and I had to overcome my fear of falling in love or getting too attached. So challenged myself I did and yes it's hard and yes I've reached that point where I can't wait to leave this place! The countdown has started, Andel has just become a source of shelter, rational and irrational detachment from people, places, things has started in full swing.
But then tadaaaaa. I realized something.
In all my relationships, be it with people or places, I start swimming out as soon as I feel like I've gotten in too deep. I start building walls as a defense mechanism to protect me against all the unforseeable, unknown danger out there. I start destroying my nest that I built because of the fear of getting too cosy in a place that I consider to be temporary. I fleet instead of fighting. I build walls so strong and so unnecessary that I not only block out the unforseeable and unknown danger out there but also all the good things out there.
I have less than 12 weeks left in Prague. I can build more walls. I can go into my shell. I can play it cool or I can go all out and embrace everything the next 3 months have to offer. Sure it's going to be hard leaving this behind, sure it's going to be harder settling back in NZ but I can't let the fear of what can happen ruin what is happening right now.
As my role models - The Beatles say "It's a fool who plays it cool by making the world a little colder". I think it's time to stop this premature cooling off, break those self-made walls, open the doors, mend old ties, create new ties, go out and embrace everything the next 3 months have to offer. It's not going to be the same as before. Its not going to be familiar. BUT it's going to be a new experience and its going to be another chapter in this story. I can't have a boring, premature epilogue to this adventure so the walls are breaking, the ice is melting, the voracious appetite and child-like curiosity for new experiences (good or bad) is BACK!
HOLLER!
So emo I was and out for a walk I went. I walked out of Andel apartments, turned on my iPod, turned it on shuffle and let it dictate my theme song for the moment. Funny enough, it was Good riddance by Greenday. It's strange how a random song on the iPod when combined with a view of the beautiful Prague castle and the homely smell of the dirty Vltava can give you a new perspective.
The last 4 weeks haven't been easy. Lots of goodbye, lots of changes. Nothing is the same. Nothing will be. I'm a gitana, a nomad by heart who thrives on changes, new situations, new places, new people. Having lived in 5 countries in the last 23 years, I thought I would be better at goodbyes and that I would master the art of rational detachment and go with the flow. Nobody said it was easy, noone ever said it would be this hard. Goodbyes suck. Changes suck.
I remember having this discussion with my Colombian friend, philosopher and guide when I was offered the contract extension by my company. I confessed to him that I wanted to leave Prague before I completely fall in love with the city and that I didn't want to be the last one left behind. That's not me way! I am the one who leaves, I'm the one who has farewells so to have the roles reversed wouldn't be easy. He said to take it up as a challenge. I had come here to learn, grow and get out of my comfort zone, I had to challenge myself to be in this not-so-pleasant predicament and I had to overcome my fear of falling in love or getting too attached. So challenged myself I did and yes it's hard and yes I've reached that point where I can't wait to leave this place! The countdown has started, Andel has just become a source of shelter, rational and irrational detachment from people, places, things has started in full swing.
But then tadaaaaa. I realized something.
In all my relationships, be it with people or places, I start swimming out as soon as I feel like I've gotten in too deep. I start building walls as a defense mechanism to protect me against all the unforseeable, unknown danger out there. I start destroying my nest that I built because of the fear of getting too cosy in a place that I consider to be temporary. I fleet instead of fighting. I build walls so strong and so unnecessary that I not only block out the unforseeable and unknown danger out there but also all the good things out there.
I have less than 12 weeks left in Prague. I can build more walls. I can go into my shell. I can play it cool or I can go all out and embrace everything the next 3 months have to offer. Sure it's going to be hard leaving this behind, sure it's going to be harder settling back in NZ but I can't let the fear of what can happen ruin what is happening right now.
As my role models - The Beatles say "It's a fool who plays it cool by making the world a little colder". I think it's time to stop this premature cooling off, break those self-made walls, open the doors, mend old ties, create new ties, go out and embrace everything the next 3 months have to offer. It's not going to be the same as before. Its not going to be familiar. BUT it's going to be a new experience and its going to be another chapter in this story. I can't have a boring, premature epilogue to this adventure so the walls are breaking, the ice is melting, the voracious appetite and child-like curiosity for new experiences (good or bad) is BACK!
HOLLER!
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