S.

Time is flying, and there are so many things to explore and to do!
4 month in Netherlands are left, and here is my list of commitments

1. Get my work plan done 100%
2. Visit:
- Egypt
- Luxemburg
- Bruges (Belgium)
- Maastricht, Utrecht, Groningen, Kinderdike (Netherlands)
- Portugal for Pita's and Anya's wedding
- at least one not-planned place!
3. Find an internship
4. Talk (phone or skype) with my friends (8) at least 3 times
5. Find a car for parents

Fell in love is not on the list as you can't really plan it :)

I've defined how do I see (now) the dream job for myself, being it my employment or my own business. And here we go, drum rolls:

I want my business to be
- Direct impact
- Producing value
- Working with people
- International communication & travel
- Team-work
- Sustainable use of resources
- Stimulates my development
- Decent money
- Project-based

Quite demanding for only-AIESEC-experience-recent-22-gradute :)
Well, if you shoot for the moon, you will get at least to the starts as they say!

Possible areas
- Publishing
- Environment protection
- Movie production
- Energy: alternative sources
- Children care
- Communication systems (online services)
- Investments

And above all, I'm interested in marketing

Let me know if anything matching appears! :)
And I'm starting looking myself

Today it is again Love Actually - the movie of all times!

We had happy hour in the office and decided to watch a movie afterwards. Ohhh this one always makes me feel so good! You watch it and you laugh, you smile, you feel with those people, you sigh and you feel that "love actually is all around" :)

If you want to feel better on any evening or day or morning - turn on and see Love Actually. I'm the fan of it forever! First time saw it with Dasha on New Year 2004 Eve. It was New Year mood, it was snowing, lights in Moscos streets, and all those good emotions from the cinema where we saw that movie... Some small and nice memories of that time :)



I'm wondering how much do we actually see and understand feelings of people around. When someone likes you, or someone likes another person - how often we recognize it? How often we realize how rich is our life with feelings?

I think more people like us than we think. There is always someone out there!
We just need to be in the right place at the right time, opening our eyes and speaking our heart :) And if you feel suddenly, that this is the one - SAY it!
If you feel that you love your mother at this moment as much as you never did, or that your friend is so dear to you - say it. You never know for long this person will be around...

It rises and falls, it is happy and hard, it's right and wrong. And it is always hopeful. It is wonderful :)
Love Actually Is All Around!

smiling, me
(and singing: "All I want for Christmas..." :)))
- I'm emotional today :) hmm, may be not only today?
but it just feels good now :)

What's going to be my next future?
Time to start defining life I want to live. What are the criteria?
I'm almost 23, have graduated, have no family issues and no tight relationships that would guide me in my decisions. I'm free to make any choices I want. And exactly this freedom gives much more responsibility.

I want to make life better for people. There are many ways how it is possible. Through some direct work - focusing my career on concrete social or business initiatives. Or making the world better place through making life of people around me better, through my attitude to them. Don't know how well I did it before and do it now. Do I bring better feelings to people's life? For some probably yes :) I think I can do more. But the way to self-improving is not an easy one; and it's quite long - life-long. Anyways…

So in my longing for some "let's-make-the-world-better-place" contribution - what do I do next? I know actually the precise question. What is my passion in life I want to follow? What is the bigger meaning that would guide me?
I didn't hit it yet, to know at the moment of thinking about some activity - "YES! This is what I want to do."

Many people are into sustainable development recently. It should be definitely our reality, but probably is too broad for me to "click". Should it be anywhere? In my country? (heh, which one of them? Russia, I know). But does it matter where you work for good - in your country or in another? At the end we all become more and more interconnected. And after almost 6 years in AIESEC you feel that you can belong to anywhere. Isn't it too much of a choice? Well, better to have it, than to get a job in the capital city because this is the only best option you see. I'd aimed only for that if I hadn't my opportunities I had for last 6 years.

When I think about my future location, I think I want to raise my children and have my family, and have my contribution in Russia. If I don't do it, who will? Every country has its own children to help it. At least we should trust that Argentina for example produces enough people to believe in the country and work for the country. And I belong to mine.
But what to do if you get to love someone who is not from your nation? Will the love take over feeling of belonging to the country? Probably yes. I think love is the first and most important thing of all. But I'll think when and if the choice comes :)
Well, the thinking should be continued...

It seems I'm pretty lucky with my travels this year :) NEW YORK was my next destination, for some India and US alumni meetings. I spent there 6 days in total, 10-15 March. Luckily, a couple of days over the week-end were free, so of course I took my time for the express ride around the city.

Times Square: the heart-beats of the city, people, cars, sounds, huuuge billboards, everything. In general New York is the place where one can find nearly everything, and Times Square and around is one of those places. Cool places :)




Rockfeller center: a beautiful view on the city, you turn around and see the city around. Statue of Liberty seems too dolly from there :)




Guggenheim museum: I saw it before only on pictures from my 3D book; and then I was there myself! The museum is pretty small, and is being reconstructed from outside. However is cool, white and spiral from inside




Central Park... It was raining a bit, but the sky was light, and it was so peaceful - unexpectedly in the center of New York. I can imagine it's the best place in the city in summer.



I walked along, went to the bookstore - as usually, stumbled upon endless rows of books, wishing to have time to check all of them (not that I'm so passionate about english language literature - the thing is that when you don't know it, it's hard to understand which book is a good one, and which is a trash). Bought at the end a book called The Nanny Diaries - a Manhattan story of a rich family growing a child. I rarely buy "clever books" - development stuff, strategy, world change etc, usually take them from other people. However not often too, as find hard to myself to concentrate on what others think life is or should be. I like talking it with people, but reading itself for me should be a theme-based, with people's emotions and feelings behind. At the end of the day we learn more from feelings - our own of others' rather than from logical conclusions. Anyways, off-topic of reading :)

We were having dinner in a house that one Indian couple got a couple of years ago, the house was of Eleanor Roosevelt. Power time, in the center of new York, with all that history around. Classy - I wonder how it is to live there. However people get used to everything. Roosevelt's house is not the worst thing to get used to :)


East Village - a district of New York I lived those days in. The first feeling when I looked in the first morning outside - it was sunny and warm - was "Oh my god, New York is a city as others!" In a good sense - morning sun, warmth and sounds of a living area, with children playing, are so familiar and make you smile, when you realize that life is life, in any part of the world it takes its place. It is the same spring as in Moscow, with wet and getting dry ground, and a feeling of a waking up after winter city. It's human, nice, I could live there! I was just smiling, looking outside and imaging my day ahead :)

Statue of Liberty. The first time I saw it, was at sunset at the bay of New York. It was fading in darkness, and was somehow so far and still unreal. But you know it's there :) Next day I went to the statue by boat, first by a ferry that just passes by, and then with a special tourist boat (nothing to be ashamed of, I was a tourist indeed there :). I sooo wanted to make sure I am satisfied that I was there, at world-known symbol of freedom. Well, I could write now - I WAS THERE. Thought somehow that Liberty would be bigger and more impressive - may be all crowds of other tourists around diminished it. Anyways it of course worth it!



Ground Zero - place of twin towers, the ground of World Trade Center that disappeared on 9/11. Strong feelings come, when you read people's words on walls around, when you look and see damaged pieces of constructions still seen on the ground… And metal cross on the edge of what used to be the background of the tower…
Read the story, minute by minute. It should never, never happen again. There are better things that should be happening instead.





Wall-street, New York Stock Exchange. It is one of most powerful districts in the country, in the world - of places where the money is the power, or we think and agree that it is. Which is almost everywhere. Gray and yellow walls - power walls, however you don't feel it straight away, you make yourself feeling it, getting into the rush of post-office hours when supermen are going home.


Hard Rock café - touristy, made to make money, but still a nice place to be. Music is cool, it is my style of music! Robbie Williams, Beatles, Bruce Springsteen etc. The first café from where everything of those Rock café started, should have been a great place. And yes, I bought a souvenir t-shirt from there :)


Broadway, musical, CHICAGO!!! It was great, great-great-great! I realized I like musicals (at least as dynamic as Chicago is) most of all theatre performances (plays, operas, ballets). Musical got bets parts of all of them :) Music, singing, playing, living. Actors danced, sang, played greatly. Definitely Broadways shows is the thing to spend your money on while you are in New York. It is so much of what is this city about :) Energy, dynamism, drama, fun. Life and everything, all in NYC, delivered!



Huuuuuge toys store, Toys R Us, on Times Square. Heaven for children and all associated with them :) Liberty from Lego, thousands of teddy bears, all small and big cars and more, more, more - several stores of children happiness. I found mine as well - Barbie house with dozens of dolls models there! The dream of childhood came true, to visit Barbie's world :)


SoHo (from South Houston), fashion and art district of New York. Looks actually pretty old and below average, until you start noticing windows of world known designer brands around - YSL, Gucci, Cartier etc. Mine was the Mac-Apple store, where I got mine iPod Shuffle!!! Perfectly white and light, now my music will be with me, viva!



Walked in the center, tried to go shopping in Macy's, "the biggest department store" as they call it - but failed, prices are too high for my wallet. New York is New York! I passed by Madison Square Garden, visited Brooklyn Bridge, went once again to Times Square - and so its was, the end of my time in New York!

When my shuttle to the airport was passing by Manhattan for the last time, I was smiling - sunny day, I got cool meetings on my work, I was in New York! The city was definitely worth coming there. Hello, America! Hello and good bye, New York - great city, Big Apple, big city, Great Apple :) It is cool indeed, different and the same, dirty and business, nice and busy, indifferent and motivating. The city where you can be all and nothing - New York city.


And I was going home, to Netherlands - I really felt, after New York, that this low-land feels like home to me :) Goede morgen, Rotterdam!