More updates

Privet all!

I am so sorry for my late update on how I've been doing here. It's been two weeks since I am in Ukraine, and well...it's not that easy to update on my internship here *from laptop which broke down, language barrier, and busyness here.

Anyway, I find A LOT of interesting things here in Ukraine that we don't really have in Spore and some other countries I suppose. It challenges me alot too, and I am glad that I am able to experience this. Below, I am gonna share some of my findings, but due to time limit, it will be disorganized, but I hope you find it interesting too.

- The women are one of the most beautiful girls in the world, I have to admit. They are gorgeous, tall and sexy. Come in different 'facial features', from mixed of Asian, Latin and Europeans....gosh... sooo lucky for the guys.
They like to wear high heels, mini skirt and tops and they put on make up properly, even from such a young age of 11/12 years old.

- I have to pay for plastic bags when I shop at the supermarket. Good way to save the environment although not too convenient.

- The weather is as HOT as Spore now, around 34 degrees and it's killing everyone. The difference is that it is DRY here and not HUMID. Students complain that they cant concentrate and are having headache because of the weather.

- The social gap is HUGE. Some people earn USD100/month, but we can see plenty of luxurious cars on the streets, from Mercy, Lexus, Jaguar and Limo. The people are pretty fashionable too, especially the young ones. Status is quite important I suppose.

- However, people will give their seats to the elderly, especially woman on public transport. Great way to start and learn Spore :)

- Smokers and drunkers are usual sight. Children are exposed to these since young and it's not difficult to find bottle of beers on the streets or groups of people drinking in the morning. The beers even come in plastic bottle like Coke *hehehe

- Fresh pollution :)

- When I asked what they'd like to change in Ukraine, many of them said: GOVERNMENT! Hm.. a pretty corrupted country like Indonesia in my opinion. But the good thing is the people realize it and they want it to be changed. I consent!

- and so on...

However, I MUST really applaud the AIESECers here in Dnepropetrovsk. They really ROCK! I and Richard, a trainee from Bogota, Colombia, really feel like we're having a family here. They are so friendly and warm. On my first day in this city, we had a Global Village with the members...and they're totally crazy. I love em! Now, they plan a schedule to meet us every day when we have free time, so they will take turns to accompany us, even if just for a short 1-2 hours. I am soooooo touched and grateful by them!

Another trainee is coming soon on Friday from India. So, we may have another Global Village on Sunday and I am so looking forward to it. It's gonna be cool coz Sunday is my only free day.

Last but not least, I was in Kyiv for 3 days when I arrived in Ukraine, and I have to say...THEY ROCK too! The trainees were crazy and I had so much fun with them. I really expand my networks, and I can't ask for more for my @ experience.

Now, I shall reconsider...Should I come back? The clock is ticking, and I know my time here will end soon... to stay in Spore or to come back? hm...

Take care all, I miss you here

ps: Surprisingly, I haven't really missed the food *hahaha* although I don't mind having some Asian food.

more to come...

Hola amigos!

I am back to update now. Well, I shall say it's freaking tough to update you all. I went to an Internet Cafe a few days ago and typed a long email to update all, but well....apparently times up and it just closed down. TWICE!!! grr...

Anyway, currently I am teaching at 2 schools:
1. European Grammar School
- a private school for rich kids. Maybe even the 2nd most expensive high-school in Dniepropetrovsk :)
- Challenging job! But I am getting accustomed to it and the students are getting more receptive these few days. Cool! but the small kids are wonderful *hahaha* they're sooo sweet and cute. They always greet me and hug me when they see me

2. Sam's School
- a private tuition centre, so people pay to attend and thus they really wanna learn something out of it.
- Easier to handle, but I mostly in charge of adults classes *I like kids more...and teenagers haha I wanna be a cool teacher for sure

Busy busy busy, even on Saturday.

Well, as of pictures, lappie is still not working so I cant upload my pictures too. It wont be convenient to bring my camera and wire to the Internet Cafe as well. So, sorry for now...

Btw, will update more when I have more time...looks like I am not really fated to update as often as I want. The computer just closed down again.

Paka!

Dee

EYLN Conference in Malaysia

May 4, 2007. It’s not just a day when most of the NTU students had their last exam, but also a meaningful moment for 9 members of AIESEC NTU as they were on their way to attend one of the COOLest entrepreneurship conferences held in LC UKM, Malaysia on May 5-7, 2007.

Known as Entrepreneurship and Youth – A Learning Network (EYLN), this conference was one of the events under LC UKM’s Entrepreneurship PBOX in collaboration with General Electrics (GE). This PBOX also consisted of several other events, like road shows, exhibition and business plan competition, which were carried out prior to the conference.

There were 7 interns and more than 120 local & international delegates at this conference. We had loads of great time interacting with these cool people and the OC. Most importantly, the conference was held immediately after the OC’s final exam, which means they had to juggle between their studies and OC work during the exam season. Yet all the logistics and sessions were efficiently executed throughout the conference. Something for us to learn!

Our first delegate mailing

The AIESEC NTU Delegation!!!!!

On our way to another session

Dinner time with other delegates

Presentation by Mr Moon, owner of MFX (a renowned animation company),

Winner of the "New York Festival 2005" &

"Ernst and Young’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2005”

Presentation by the Secretary-general of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM)

Presentation by GE Regional HR Director, Roshan Thiran

Let's hear what some of our NTU delegates have to say about this conference (based on alphabetical order)

1. From Grace

I learnt a lot about the Malaysian education system and the Malaysian way of life. Esp the GOOD FOOD! I've made a lot of wonderful friends who share different views but yet are open minded enough to accept others! =)

2. From Linsien

Six Lessons I Have Learned from EYLN 2007

Well, in my opinion, it really was a well-organized event by the @ers at UKM, despite the fact that the toilets are amazingly terrible (got no choice but to use it anyway, and we survived girls, two thumbs up for us...=P, remember our conversations? It's always about the toilet...).

Here are the summary of our activities in this four-day trip to Malaysia (4-7 May 2007):

Day 0 (Friday)

We spent the nights at YMCA in KL and it was a nice place with clean toilet (wish we could bring it over to UKM, rite girls?). It was a very tiring day after a long bus ride from Johor. The KTM ride (like MRT in Singapore, but it's slower) was fun too, took so many pictures and we played a "keypoh" *asking personal stuff and always want to know about what others are doing* game, the spotlight game took a long time, and we only managed to finish it on the last day ("thanks" to our dearest LCP for bringing out this game=P, now we know more about everyone's love life, hahaha, why does this always become the HOT topic?).

Day 1 (Saturday)

We began the day with a very nice breakfast @YMCA. I had half-boiled eggs with toast and tea. It was delicious and wonderful *yummy*. So we started to expect more from the upcoming conference, hoping that the toilet and breakfast will be as good as the one in YMCA and blablabla...lotsa expectations were there. Then, we continue on with another KTM ride to UKM. We registered and checked into the hostel upon arrival and I don't think you would wanna know the condition over there, definitely not like what we've imagined. However, we needed to adapt fast or we couldn't enjoy and gain as much lessons as we can out of the conference. So I thought keeping a positive and open-minded attitude were very important during the conference. That's my 1st lesson. I wouldn't want to spend my three days complaining about the things that I can't control. That's what I thought. It has given me the strength to survive and maintain the positive attitude. I guess all the hardships have been paid off, I definitely met a lot of SPECIAL people, who were very enthusiastic, and I learned a lot from them. It was very enriching indeed. The conference began with lectures on leadership skills and personality analysis. I've learned that to be a great leader is not about using your power and authority to control people, but it's about influencing people to do their jobs and contribute to the well-being of the organization/company/project (my 2nd lesson). The speaker was a great leader himself and his presentation was very interesting. Then, continue on with the personality analysis presentation. The presenter used MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) to analyze people's personality. This is important to gain more insights on a person's tendencies and their ability to work in a group. My 3rd lesson: Since I'm an ISTJ type (Introverted Sensing Thinking and Judging), my tendency is to work individually rather than in a group, and I am more detail-oriented (but somehow I think I'm going towards a big-picture person now, just have to find the balance here...). So, I think I really should work on improving my ability to work in a team, trust my teammates, and really work together hand-in-hand with them. Perhaps either by joining a group/committee and make contribution to the team based on my skills. I'll figure it out. Any tips on how to do it? There were a lot more lectures on finance and business model in day 1, but those two things I've mentioned above are the two things that have given me worth-learning lessons. You go EYLN!!^_^

Day 2 (Sunday)

More case studies and group works in day 2. It was a chance to know more about my group members. We have to overcome the personality differences and work together to analyze business cases and eventually present our business model and analysis (feasibility, strategies, etc) in front of the panel of judges. My 4th lesson: there can only be ONE LEADER in a team, we must appoint one and then contribute actively to the team. Because it's impossible to have two or three leaders in a group, the team work won't work. Every person has different type of leadership style. Moreover, it's important to get everybody to speak up on what they think, share their opinions; no matter how impossible or stupid it may sound. It's the contribution that counts. One more thing that caught my attention during the day was the presentation skill session. The speaker was simply cool and energetic. She was definitely the right person to deliver on the topic of "what it takes to be a good presenter and how to do the right presentation". I think her session was the most appealing to the participants. My 5th lesson: when doing a presentation: body language, tone of voice and contents are the three important elements of presentation. We'll need to catch everyone's attention and use appropriate body language as well as the right tone of voice when we want to emphasize on certain things. Our presentation must be believable, look at the audiences in the eyes (but avoid staring and wandering around too much). I think that a lot of practice on public speaking, for example: during election speech, presentation assignment at school, or even when telling stories to your friends; can help us in improving our presentation skill. Or you might want to join a toastmaster club where you can have training on your logical thinking and debate on certain topics. The last lesson (my 6th lesson) that I've obtained from this conference is how to NETWORK with people. I think first we have to show our genuine interest on people, on how they do things, on their daily activities and others. I think I haven't mastered the art of networking people with ppl, 'coz I found it difficult to show your genuine interest with the people you first met, I will sometimes lost my words or become the passive party (where I answer more on their questions rather than asking them questions, seems like the people were showing more of their genuine interest on me, rather than vice versa). That's why sometimes I become more of the passive side, more passive than I should have been. It's true that I have my introverted trait that has caused the passiveness in me. However, during these past few years (after entering NTU), I've seen myself as becoming more and more extroverted. That's why I think I can eventually learn the art of networking with people which is usually "a piece of cake" for the extroverted type who loves to meet new ppl.

Day 3 (Monday)

Alrite, this is the last day of the conference, we've adapted very well with the toilets=P and have stopped complaining and comparing the situations in Malaysia and Singapore, haha...It was the last day where we have more mass dances (typical AIESEC culture) and listen to representatives from the sponsors. They're looking for graduates in the universities that are willing to join their programs. There were lots of promotions going on in the last day. And of course we took lots of pictures during the conference. I can't wait to see them all. We checked out at around 5 pm in the afternoon and headed on to KL Sentral and then took cab to find a good MAKAN place. I will always remember the last dinner we had. It was so wonderful that we can finally eat good food with a very cheap price (food and drink for only 15 RMB = 6 SGD). It was a big portion, I had a watermelon drink and nasi goreng with a very large chicken and lotsa fries *i forgot what it is called*. It was delicious. I thought my belly was about to explode real soon. I was so full that I can hardly walk=P. Yet, we still have time to have the last desert before going to the train station. I love to EAT...hahaha.

The train back to SG was very slow; it took almost 9 hours to reach Johor Bahru and another 1 hour to get through the immigration. So I reached my room at around 11 pm (the next day, Tuesday) after having breakfast in Causeway Point (Woodlands).

It was indeed a very WONDERFUL experience we had in Malaysia. Cheers, Linsien


2. Li Jun

The 3-day conference in Malaysia was a very nice and tough experience. I really have fun with all participants and learned lots of things though the accommodation condition is really bad. This is my first international event that I have participated since I joined AIESEC, and this is also my first formal networking session and I successfully gave out a lot of name cards which has never be touched before.

The first thing I learned is about leadership. Mr. Roshan really gave a wonderful speech on leadership. And I think every participant will remember one thing he said---A real leader uses influence rather than authority.

The second thing I learned is about positive attitude. I learned this from our nice LCP Alvin. Alvin was my roommate during the conference. When we got back to the room after a tired day, I sat on the bed and kept complaining about the terrible accommodation condition just like our girls complaining about the toilet. Alvin sat down quietly and turned on his laptop, and then started working on some AIESEC stuff, even there are hundreds of mosquitoes attacking us. His action made me shut up and I felt shameful about myself. Thanks! Alvin, you give me a valuable lesson.

The third thing I learned is about AIESEC. I was talking with a Malay girl who looked shy and spoke lousy English as I do, and suddenly she told that I was her first foreign friend and I can saw her exciting through her eyes. Suddenly I realized that it was AIESEC that made this happen. We always say that AIESEC makes people different, but this was the first time I really understood it. AIESEC makes us active and extroverted. I am a cool man in most my life, I will never talk and make friends with strangers if I didn’t join AIESEC. Beside the things I learned, we also have fun together. Through the game we played on the train, we truly know each other better especially everyone’s relationship experience. We also found out a lot about our names like “myass”, “I shit a” and “Gross”. The dinner was extremely nice at the last night, and the dessert, wow, I have to keep swallowing saliva now. I can not wait to see all the photos. Aku cinta kamu and terima kasih!!!

From Li Jun

Are you afAIDS?

Are you afrAIDS?
An event aimed at raising the awareness of HIV/AIDS in Singapore and beyond…

By AIESEC NTU Special Project

COME AND JOIN US!!

Do you know these facts?

~ Health officials said that Singapore, a tiny island of 4.2 million people, could face 1,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS a year by 2010 according to current trends.

~ Up to 2006, there are more than 2,800 HIV/AIDS cases in SingaporeDo you dare to shake hands with AIDS positive patients?

Do you dare to hug them?

Make friends with them?

They still have dreams, just like us…

Are you afrAIDS is a seminar aimed challenging the world view of young people in Singapore by getting them exposed to a "hidden" group in the society - the HIV/AIDS patients. Through this event, we hope to eliminate the current stigma towards HIV/AIDS patients, and generate awareness about various difficulties endured by these patients

Speakers

Prof. Albert Teo
· Volunteer Program Coordinator, Patient Care Center (PCC)
· Committee Member, Catholic Aids Response Effort (CARE)

Ms. Ho Lai Peng
· Principal Medical Social Worker, Tan Tock Seng Hospital
· Manager for Care & Counseling Department, Communicable Disease Centre
· Prominent speaker for HIV/AIDS seminars

Details
Date: May 12, 2007
Time: 9.30 am to 4 pm
Venue: Hon Sui Sen Auditorium, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore
Fee: $5 for AIESECers (incl. Lunch and shuttle bus from Buona Vista)

For reservation and information, please contact Nurina at 96796285 or write to us at marketing.aiesec@gmail.com


Sponsored by: PUB and Reader's Digest

VOTE for LC & MC Leadership Awards!

Hey people!

Let's VOTE for the people who you think deserve the LC & MC Leadership awards!

Go to AIESEC.net into the Singapore community and click on the survey, as shown above.

On LC level you can vote anyone(EB, OCs) that you think deserves the award.

On the MC level, MC and LCPs.

The winners get a certificate and a $200 conference voucher!

Come on...Vote for those who deserve it. Let's promote excellence!

Exchange?

CONGRATULATIONS!

Dei is in Novorsibirsk, Russia now....starting his internship.

Han Ling and Jun Ming are going there soon too under Make A Difference programme.

So..why don't you experience it yourself?