My 2006

31 December is exactly the right time to sit and remember what has made up the outgoing year for me.
We'll start cooking the New Year dinner soon - now I have some time to reflect

January
Started in Paddy Murphy's Irish Pub in Rotterdam with Romas and hundred of other guests. Interesting experience to celebrate NY in a crowd :)
Work-work-work in AI, then I was in Oslo again trying to figure out what is what I need in my relationship, and turning over that page
Great team-days with my AI team in Netherlands, secret santa reloaded, it was so much fun! wonderful days

February
Intense work, preparing for the launch of AIESEConnect, re-union of AI alumni and IPM. Work-work-work
New AI team is partly selected, a bunch of great people, for so many of them I was crossing my fingers

March
Going to New York!!! Meeting with alumni and flying over Atlantics to the Big Apple city.
I felt so lucky and in love with my work :)
Working, directors are leaving again, and I realize there coming the beginning of the end of our AIESEC time

April
GREAT holidays in Egypt!!! My first real vacations on the seaside, with Tom and Geta. Pyramids, Red Sea, Cairo, Nile, first time snorkeling and squad-biking, relaxing in Basata...
Best of times, the trip of trips :))) Ahh, Egypt…

Working, selecting the new AI team. Our lovely ceeders, Maria and Gee, were selected to the new team

Masha, my MC team-mate, came to Amsterdam for an internship, life got even better :)

Another work travel, this time to Rome. That eternal city for sure charmed me, again I praised my work for giving my such a great chance to see the world!

Wonderful day in Koekenhouf, flower park of the Netherlands; Queen's Day in Utrecht

May
Working, finishing all main projects, getting ready for AI transition. There were last team days as full AI 0506...

I turned 23 :)))

June
Working hard - AI transition has started, I started thinking what do I want exactly after my term.
Starting packing my stuff to send it home…

July
Work is almost over; I became an SN

Pita and Anya's wedding in Portugal; excellent event, love, fun, meeting old friends… So glad I was there

AI time is getting to an end in July - we spent wonderful days full of fun in Rotterdam, last visits to favorite places, saying good-bye to the greatest AI 0506 year in Netherlands. Transition party...
WONDERFUL last team days sailing (first time in my life!).
Happy time of new horizons, sad time of farewell…

On last Monday, July 31st, AI year ended. Satisfaction of accomplishment, heading for the future!!!

August
Went home - finally :)
Weeks of sleep, books, movies.
Anticipated event - re-union of my MC team 0304, Dasha, Masha, Marek. Great days in Poland - Krakow, Warsaw - and most importantly, spending time together again after almost 2 years as we met all together last time.

September
Still in Poland, visiting IC 2006, and saying good-byes to the last people I am meeting from my AI team, and new AI team. AI handover session, and the official end of my active AIESEC life.

Going back to Belarus, staying in Minsk with friends, thinking were I belong; started applying for internships.

I went to St.Petersburg as well in September, one of my favorite cities, to meet Zhenia, a good old friend of mine :)

And - again to Poland, this time for Mike Janiszewski wedding! The first of our gang to get married :) Was so warm, family-spirited and nice week-end. Sweet couple and so strong love…

October
Back for longer time to Belarus, home town, trying to tighten family ties. Hard to get used to sharing life with someone else, these someone being my parents :)

Went for a wedding of a friend of my childhood, we were 3 girls-friends, and Olya, the youngest, got married first :)
Very cool wedding, young, crazy and happy!

Tanya, one of my best friends, gave birth to her son Nikita. Happy event their family wanted for long, and the first child I'll become an aunty Sveta for :)

November
Again at home - hard time of waiting, being tolerant, new attempts of matching. Cold, dark month, the same was my mood most of times.
However talks with friends and good news from them were able to make my day :)))

December
My brother announced he's getting married next summer :)

I got the present near Christmas time for "being such a good girl" - match to an internship in Australia!!!
Busy time of formalities and preparing for visa process

And of course, getting ready to celebrate New Year 2007 at home! However there is no snow, which is not right for this time of the year, and especially for this holiday. But anyways, New year is in the air!!!
Few hours left as we enter 2007 :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

You know…I'm going to AUSTRALIA!!!

Oh yes, this is true, however I still can't believe that, it's too good :)

The beginning of the story is that after AI I was looking for an internship, ideally in marketing for 1 year in an english-speaking country. There were a couple of attempts, but nothing concrete. And then all my months of waiting were rewarded.

Today I've been matched to my dream internship!!!
Sydney, 1 year, starting from February. I'll be working as Marketing Executive in a company called Adshel.
"A joint venture between APN News & Media and Clear Channel, Adshel operates Australia and New Zealand's most successful street furniture advertising business." www.adshel.com.au The company is about outdoor media and is a part of an international network.

The job role is great! I'll be doing what I wanted: marketing activities of the department, marketing communications, promotion campaigns, events, web-site content management, newsletter, charity campaigns coordination and more. And the cherry on top is that I'll be even coordinating professional photography projects, and you know how passionate I am about photography!!!

I've been selected from 120 candidates, and the company was so pleased with me that raised my salary even before the start of the internship :)))

I'm the HAPPIEST person in the world, I'm so-so glad I'm going to Sydney - great city, great job, great time of my life is ahead :)))

In 2007 I'm at the other end of the world, yohoho!!!

Dreams come true at the New Year's time :)

More than ever smiling and happy me

Some news from yesterday - December 9

- My father turned 51, and he still looks great :) (I hope this is in my genes too hehe)

- My brother proposed his girlfriend to marry!!! (next summer - hmm, from where I will fly to the wedding?)

- My first love (I was then 10 and he never knew that I fancied him :) became a father, he's got son. Things change - that guy not long time ago was a model and Casanova, now he is 100 kgs and married because his girlfriend was pregnant

- I looked today through some of my photos of old and recent AIESEC times, and got sooooo sentimental… :)

Another week-end off… I expect some good news before catholic Christmas. A couple of great things will happen anyways - I will got to Minsk to see finally a 1-month-old son of one of my best friends, and I will meet my dear friend Kasia on her way to Poland. Can't wait :)

Go Russian and Belarussian kids!

Do you know there is a Junior Eurovision song contest?

Well, there is :) It has started 5 years ago, and next year it's in the Netherlands.

Frankly speaking I didn't know about it myself before the last year, only by chance I was last autumn in Belgium in the city were the contest was organized.
This year I was watching it on TV, it was in Romania on December 2, and guess what?

Russian girls, twins Masha and Nastya, got the 1st place!!!
They are 9 years old, were singing a song "Spring Jazz" they wrote themselves.
They were just great-great-great, cute and with strong voices.
You should have seen, the voting, almost all countries gave them highest marks (mind you, not only "friendly slavic countries")

And a boy from Belarus, Andrey, got the 2nd place!
Kids do what adults are only dreaming about hehe
Last year a Belarussian girl won (it was actually THE thing in Belarus, and I guess many kids in Europe only learned then that Belarus exists) Many doubted that the success can be repeated, but that happened!

I'm really proud of both of my countries :))
Voices were so great, I enjoyed listening which doesn't happen often :) I bet they would be much better than their adult colleagues in normal Eurovision!

Let's wait for coming soon Finnish ball of monsters :)