AIESEC Exchange Stories

- Togo

2012-02-23T07:44:00.005-08:00

6 fantastiske uker i Togo

Det er vanskelig å skulle oppsummere de 6 mest innholdsrike ukene i livet mitt på et A4-ark, men her er et forsøk:

Det første man må være forberedt på når man skal på en slik tur er at ting ikke alltid går som planlagt. Noen eksempler på dette er at jeg måtte vente i hovedstaden i mange dager på visumet mitt, at hun jeg bodde hos bestemte seg for å bo hos familien sin i hovedstaden mesteparten av de seks ukene jeg var der sånn at jeg bodde mest alene, og at vårt planlagte tredagersopphold i Ghana varte en time i stedet, på grunn av visumproblemer. Men ofte viser det seg det uforutsette byr på opplevelser man ellers ikke ville hatt. Et eksempel er vennene jeg fikk i hovedstaden på de få dagene, som jeg fortsatt har kontakt med i dag.

At jeg ikke kan noe fransk har faktisk bydd på færre utfordringer enn forventet, særlig overraskende med tanke på hvor lite engelsk de fleste kan der. Det hjalp at alle er så vennelige og hjelpsomme. Likevel var det noen utfordringer (ble kjørt feil, fikk tolv kasser med egg i stedet for tolv egg osv) og da kan det føles frustrerende å ikke kunne forklare seg på et språk begge parter forstår.

Jeg jobbet med et prosjekt kalt Youth Impact. Et herlig prosjekt i teorien, som hadde som mål å bekjempe en rekke problemer fra malaria til kjønnssykdommer. De største utfordringene med prosjektet var at det ikke var fokusert nok og at vi ikke fikk ekspertopplæring som det stod vi skulle få i prosjektbeskrivelsen, og at vi dermed manglet tyngde i prosjektet. Noe annet er at de har et annet syn på effektivitet i Togo enn i Norge. Jeg følte meg veldig frustrert i perioder på grunn av disse utfordringene. Etter hvert fikk jeg hjelp av en tysk lege som visste mye om malaria, og fikk mange tips om billige eller kostnadsfri tiltak innbyggerne kunne gjøre for å beskytte seg mot sykdommen. Dette gjorde at vi fokuserte kun på malaria og hadde mer tyngde, noe som gjorde at prosjektet endelig fungerte. Så selv om vi ikke nådde så mange som jeg hadde ønsket, var prosjektet veldig givende når vi først kom i gang. Menneskene vi snakket med i landsbyene var både utrolig interessante og veldig takknemlige.

Jeg har opplevde så mye fantastisk at det er vanskelig å skulle velge ut det beste, men det aller beste må nok være alle menneskene jeg ble kjent med. Menneskene i AIESEC var utrolig ressurssterke, kjærlige og morsomme. Naboene mine hjalp meg med alt mulig og holdt meg med selskap hvis jeg savnet hjem. Viktigst av alt er de herlige barna. De muntret meg opp når jeg var trist og syk, de fulgte meg til utedoen, bar vann for meg, snek seg ut midt på natta for å besøke meg, og kom løpende og klemte meg hver gang jeg kom hjem. Selv alle fremmede var herlige, hjelpsomme og hilste og sa velkommen samme hvor jeg var.

Til tross for at det kunne gå dager uten at jeg så andre hvite mennesker, har jeg fått utrolig mange venner fra alle verdensdeler. Det jeg er stoltest for å ha utrettet der borte var å lære jevnaldrende venner å svømme. Dessuten startet jeg et svømmeprosjekt slik at flere kan fortsette å lære seg det nå når jeg har dratt. Å se engasjementet rundt dette er noe av det mest givende jeg har opplevd.

Andre herlige ting med turen er hvor mye jeg har lært, hvor mye jeg har utviklet meg som person, naturen, hvor mye bedre jeg har blitt i engelsk av å ha snakket det nesten konstant i 6 uker, 35 grader hver dag, mye valgfrihet og mulighet til å gjøre og dra hvor jeg ville, ta motorsykkeltaxi hvor jeg ville for ca tre kroner, maten jeg hatet i starten og elsket etter noen uker, og så mye mer.

Morten Falch Sortland - India

2012-02-13T00:41:00.001-08:00

When I was looking for an internship back in Norway, I was trying my best to stay away from India. I told my friends that if I go to India for 6 months, I would probably end up in jail after loosing my patience somewhere along the way. Then, one day, I received a mail from a company called Helios Solutions. They were an IT company delivering web developing services to Europe, and were today operating in Germany, The Netherlands and France, and wanted to enter either Norway or Sweden. My job would be to make that happen, and to manage projects once we started generating business. To me that sounded like an awesome way to spend 6 months, in the sense that I would be given a lot of responsibility by a company that was actually willing to take a chance, and that I would learn a lot. Exactly the internship I was looking for, but unfortunately in the wrong country. After thinking for a while I decided I could not let them do the biggest mistake of their lives by entering Sweden, and took it upon me to prove that Norway had not been a bad choice, even though the population, and hence the market, would be half the size.

After 2.5 months in India, with almost exactly 4 months to go, I still feel like something inside me will snap in the end, and I will earn myself a ticket to jail. India is for me, to be honest, challenging. We are all individuals, and one of the German interns here loves it so much that he recently extended his 6-month contract for another 3 months.

But, after 2.5 months I also still feel like the job is something I am really learning a lot from, and that I like doing. Being one of 6 Europeans working in a small office, where I have the sole responsibility for not only maintaining business but also having the sole responsibility for making “Project Norway” work, is really cool. My boss have given me complete freedom to do what I think is best, and gives me really good advice when I need it.

English is the official written language in India, but funny enough almost nobody understands or speaks it, except an educated elite. Some states are supposedly only speaking English, but I have not witnessed this. Indians are also extremely curios about foreigners, and hence they use the very little English they know to attack you with the same questions over and over again. One of these questions are “Do you like India?”. To make it easy for myself I often answer “Yes”, but sometimes I´m honest: As all countries India has its pros and cons. I hate the cons and I really like the pros. India is really dirty and traffic is unpredictable. You are constantly a victim of price discrimination, meaning Indians can visit Taj Mahal for 20 rupees, while foreigners have to pay 750. It makes no difference if you work for the country or not. What would be banned as racism in Europe is often common practice here. People stare at you. At all times. Often only centimeters away from your face…

But India is also really cool, and even though I feel extremely privileged not to be born here, I am really happy that I can experience it. I will truthfully appreciate being Norwegian and European (or simply from a developed country) more from now on. India also offers cheap and good travelling, the coolest mosques I have ever seen (hidden, so there are no other tourists than you), camel trips in the desert, good friends, lots of laughs, and insight about one of the largest emerging economies in the world, which all are really cool to experience! Apart from the constant diarrhea…

Oscar Haavardsholm - Shanghai, China

2011-10-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Evaluering av mitt AIESEC opphold i Shanghai 2011

Jeg reiste til Shanghai sommeren 2011 for å jobbe på et RED WINGS prosjekt jeg fikk gjennom AIESEC UiO. Jobben var ikke helt som forventet, men jeg hadde fortsatt en helt fantastisk opplevelse.

Turen

Jeg fikk god hjelp og oppfølging fra AIESEC UiO i forkant av reisen, og dro bare et par dager etter eksamen. Jeg ankom Shanghai ganske trøtt og forvirret. Jeg hadde ikke helt rukket å psyke meg opp eller forberede meg så mye siden jeg dro så raskt etter semesterets slutt. Jeg ble heldigvis møtt av to andre studenter som arbeidet på samme prosjekt som jeg skulle. Det var deilig å bli møtt av noen som kunne hjelpe meg å orientere meg i den gigantiske storbyen som Shanghai er.

Kina er et helt fantastisk land som er veldig annerledes enn Norge på mange måter, men det er også et land som gjennomgår store forandringer. Landet har hatt en utrolig økonomisk utvikling den siste tiden. Dette er spesielt tydelig i Shanghai, som er landets nærings- og finanssenter. Jeg ville reise til Kina for å se hvordan dette utartet seg, og ikke minst hvordan de har klart det i kombinasjon med et kommunistisk politisk styre.

Mitt opphold og min opplevelse av Kina overgikk alle forventinger. Jeg ble kjent med et land og en kultur som jeg ble helt fascinert av. Jeg kommer alltid til å ha et spesielt forhold til Kina som følge av min reise dit. I tillegg ble jeg kjent med studenter fra hele verden. Det var utrolig gøy og jeg lærte masse. Jeg fikk et inntrykk av land og kulturer jeg tidligere ikke hadde noe forhold til og jeg fikk en opplevelse av å se på verden fra helt andre perspektiver enn det jeg er vant til.

AIESEC

Jobben jeg hadde var ikke helt lik det som hadde blitt beskrevet. Jeg skulle egentlig drive med utviklings arbeid, ved å få kursing som jeg skulle bruket til undervisning om helse. Isteden ble jeg brukt som engelsk lærer. Men gjennom det nettverket jeg fikk gjennom AIESEC fikk jeg en annen jobb i tillegg, muligheten til å delta på et universitetsprogram og mye annet som jeg aldri ville ha fått om jeg reiste til Kina på egenhånd. Når man reiser på et slikt opplegg, som driftes av unge studenter fra vidt forskjellige steder i verden, er man tjent med å være åpen og fleksibel. Mye vil kunne oppleves som uorganisert og dårlig planlagt, men det gir deg også gode muligheter til å utforme ditt eget opphold.

Boligsituasjonen var ikke veldig god, og prisen ble satt opp uten forvarsel. Det er noe som ble klaget på og som ikke burde skje. Studenter som allerede har viet sin arbeidskraft, sommer og mye penger for å komme seg til et land langt unna burde ikke bli utsatt for slik behandling. Jeg slapp heldigvis unna lett fordi jeg fikk gratis hotell opphold først gjennom en annen jobb også gjennom universitetsprogrammet.

Tips

Jeg ville rådet andre som kunne tenke seg å reise med AIESEC å være åpen og utadgående. Det å tørre å gå inn i uvante omgivelser kan være både skummelt og krevende, men det gir en mestringsfølelse og et læringsutbytte som er kjempe stort. Men pass også på at du finner et godt internship som passer for deg og at du får det du har blitt lovet og ikke blir utnyttet. Når det er sagt, så hjelper det veldig å være medgjørlig og positiv.

Oscar Haavardsholm, Oslo 03.10.2011

Linn Kirkfjell - Guangzhou, China

2011-10-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Jeg hadde alltid drømt om å reise til Kina, men ønsket ikke å være ”kun” en turist. Ved å delta som trainee i et internship via AIESEC fikk jeg muligheten til å oppleve et nytt land, en ny kultur, et nytt språk, og bli kjent med masse herlige mennesker jeg ellers aldri ville hatt muligheten til å møte, og det beste av alt; jeg var ikke en turist, men en del av kulturen jeg besøkte.

Mitt første møte med Kina overgikk all forventning. Jeg fikk verdens beste velkomst på flyplassen i Guangzhou, to herlig, fantastiske flotte mennesker – Kamho og Lilyijana – som møtte meg med åpne armer, et stort gult skilt dekorert med hjerter - og navnet mitt, varme klemmer og tradisjonelle, kinesiske mandelkaker. Aldri har jeg følt meg så velkommen og etterlengtet – det var nesten som å møte igjen gamle venner du ikke har sett på flere tiår, men savnet sterkt. Å si at jeg følte meg velkommen er en underdrivelse.

Under oppholdet jobbet jeg for ”Feather Education” – der jeg underviste elever mellom 15-20 år i språk og kultur, og hjalp dem med å forberede seg til studier i USA. I begynnelsen underviste jeg bare små grupper med 2-4 elever, men etter hvert ble jeg tildelt klasser med 20-25 elever. Jeg ble raskt tett sammenknyttet med elevene mine, de inviterte meg med på lunch og middag, på shopping og tehus, og ved enden av oppholdet mitt ble jeg overøst av kaker,brev, små presanger og suvenirer - jeg har fortsatt ukentlig kontakt med flere av dem. Jeg hadde aldri trodd at jeg ville bli så knyttet til et sted og til nye mennesker så fort, og så sterkt. Da tiden var inne for å vende tilbake til Norge, ønsket jeg bare å bli værende lengre.

Jeg fikk dessverre ikke sett så mye av Kina som jeg hadde håpet, men på en av fridagene mine tok Feather Education meg med til en fantastisk zoo der en både kunne kjøre gjennom en ”løype” med bil, og dermed se og oppleve dyrene på kloss hold, men også en mer tradisjonell variant. Vår ”buddy” i AIESEC, Iris, tok oss med til markeder, tradisjonelle spisesteder, et buddistisk tempel og til ”Pearl River” – hun var helt fantastisk og gjorde alt for at vi skulle føle oss vel. En av de siste dagene mine dro jeg opp til Canton Tower – og fikk se ned over Guangzhou fra 108 etage, 431.8 meter oppe i lufta. Likevel er mine beste øyeblikk fra dagliglivet – de herlige jentene som jobbet på cafeen der jeg gikk hver morgen for å kjøpe kaffe, alle de små stundene med elevene mine der de åpnet seg opp for meg, og gikk fra å være elever, til også å bli venner, jentene på kontoret som alltid var blide og morsomme..

Min største utfordring var språkbarrieren. Kantonesisk er ikke et lett språk å lære seg på egen hånd! Heldigvis kan en komme langt med kroppspråk og tålmodighet. Noen av de andre traineene opplevde nok mer frustrasjon og kultursjokk enn hva jeg gjorde, siden jeg var godt forberedt på de kulturelle normene og væremåtene. Mitt tips til alle som skal ut og reise i den store verden er å være åpen og vise aksept for at ting er annerledes enn hva en selv er vant til, og lære seg å le av misforståelser og situasjoner som kan oppstå, fremfor å la seg frustrere av det.

Jeg er utrolig takknemlig for muligheten jeg fikk via AIESEC, og oppfordrer alle til å gjøre det samme – når en er så langt hjemmefra, blir mange ting satt i perspektiv, en blir tvunget til å danne seg et nytt nettverk på egen hånd, og takle motgang og medgang uten å ha ens nærmeste fem minutter unna, kort sagt; det gjør noe med deg, det hjelper deg til å modnes og bli mer sikker på deg selv. AIESEC er i mine øyne en fantastisk organisasjon med masse flotte mennesker, og jeg er kjempefornøyd med både vertskomiteen og hjemkomiteen – jeg følte meg på ethvert tidspunkt godt ivaretatt og trygg.

Jeg sitter igjen med et størt ønske om å reise tilbake – og reise, lære, oppleve, og leve mer – i Kina.

Carmen Codreanu - Bergen, Norway

2011-10-11T12:31:00.001-07:00

My experience at NHH

My internship in Norway kicked off in June of the current year at NHH, the best business school in Norway and one of the leading business schools in the Nordic region. For a period of three months I worked in the communication department of NHH revising and extending the web-based information to foreigners coming to Norway to either work or study.

In addition, I also wrote several articles for the internal paper based on visiting seminars and lectures from major Norwegian companies, interviewing students and staff and turning these into stories I have presented.

Beside the job itself, I was lucky to work in a friendly environment where I could make my own style of work. I received responsibilities, support, trust and total freedom to accomplish my objectives, and so did I. My experience at NHH was “flavored” by people’s good mood and the sea that could be seen from almost every part of NHH.

NHH also has a strong international profile with students coming from every part of the world, and this has resulted for me into strong and valuable friendships.

Norwegian people

Of course, all of these wouldn’t have been possible without people that made me feel welcome and overcome my expectations in every aspect of their behavior. Work colleagues, flat mates and other friends supported me and made my life easier, as I was often asking for a little help. Some of these persons are really good friends now.

Thinking a little bit at this, I realize that is typical Norwegian to help you in whatever they can, to “hear” you and to make you feel welcome and valuable. Extremely well-informed people, curious, modest, tolerant, informal and great lovers of outdoor, Norwegians will welcome you with good mood, good humor and will help you “feel at home” whenever you take your first steps on Norwegian ground.

Bergen and Norway

Every day going to work I was delighted seeing the sea furrowed by the vassals coming and leaving the harbor (and I have to admit that I am crazy about the sea), Bryggen’s colored houses, the beautiful mountains surrounding, as well as the hundreds of tourists eager to discover Bergen.

But Bergen and Norway have much more to offer, including: incredible fjords with many scenic and narrow branches - and sprinkled with picturesque villages, waterfalls and imposing glaciers, rugged mountains, and a huge coastline broken by many fjords with steep, high and rocky banks.

The Norwegian mood

And last, but not the least, in Norway people do know how to party! From specific rocks clubs, dance and techno to the hottest rhythms of Latin music, along with lively music scenes and great people, I enjoyed everything and I felt that I really live a happy, happy life.

And there is much more to add and to explore: “Vorspiel & Nachspiel”, beautiful girls and handsome guys, the “midnight sun” “the northern lights”, safari, wind and rain and snow - but I let all these to be discovered and further told by the next trainee which, luckily, it could be YOU!

Back home

I am back home right now, with more skills, friends, optimism and confidence, proud to be an AIESECer, looking further for another internship and keeping Norway and NHH as my soul experience!

Carmen Codreanu, AIESEC Sibiu in Romania

Hege Faanes - Florianopolis, Brazil

2011-10-08T05:37:00.001-07:00

Summer project in Brazil

Spring 2007 I came home from a semester abroad in India. Disturbed by the conditions some people lived under and in love with India, I joined AIESEC for the opportunity to go back to India and work as a volunteer. It was fall and I had to study so summertime was set off as the time to go back. I met such wonderful people and they gave me opportunities I had not even thought about. I met people from all over the world and even though they are no longer in Norway, they are still very dear friends of mine. I started to work inside the organization and took the opportunities presented. I spent almost 4 years travelling to national and international conferences, worked in different teams, created visions, set goals, planned and learned how to achieve goals. I spent 4 years in leadership training. 4 years having fun challenging myself and tried first-hand to make campaigns, recruit, select, induct, inspire, motivate and challenge others. That was 4 very good years J

Then I felt the time had come. I needed to go out in the world and practice what I had preached to so many. Through the years I figured out that where was not as important as what and with whom. I chose a project in Florianopolis, Brazil. The projected focused on educating children between 6 and 17 years old on the issues sustainability, leadership and culture awareness. I visited 10 different schools and almost no one knew anything about Norway. Snow was a big hit with the age group! My presentation skills got challenged by the English level of the children and their age. In one school I found myself making skis out of cardboard and yarn. The kids got the biggest smiles I have seen when we put them on.

During my internship, I joined a local gym and dance classes, in Portugese only (a language I don`t speak or knew from before), and I was the first foreigner to ever be there. I have never felt more welcome anywhere. Everyone wanted to talk to me! After 1 month of my dance teacher told me I was a good dancer. I had never tried the 3 dances he was teaching before coming to Brazil!

The biggest contributor to making my internship funny and opened my eyes to the Brazilian way of living was my host family. They took me to all the normal Brazilian things like football games, lunches, shopping, forrò clubs (special dance clubs) and “all- you- can- eat”- restaurants. My host mother cooked everyday for us and I rarely knew what I was eating but it was so good that I did not care. On special occasions I cooked Norwegian food for them as well. My host mom did not speak a word of English but with a couple of Portuguese words and body language we still understood each other. We laughed a lot and just talking with my host-sister and brother gave me a good insight into the Brazilian culture. I love this family both the people and the small zoo (3 cats and 2 dogs) in the house!

I would never trade my AIESEC experience for anything. They gave me too much J

Anita Bui - Fuyang and Chun An, China

2011-10-07T01:01:00.000-07:00

My AIESEC experience in China

My incentives to go:
- I had to know the product.
At that time I had been a member in AIESEC NHH for 7 months and in the outgoing exchange group: sending Norwegian students abroad. I felt that I had to know what I was talking about!
- View of life
I wanted to realize that I’m very lucky and thought that by having “a taste of poverty” I would appreciate everything I have more.
- International network and get to know the Chinese culture
- Learn the language:

- I’ve been working every summer since I was 13 and urged to have a different experience and challenge myself by putting me out of my comfort zone.

So I paid the fee and from there it was no turning back!

Duration of the project: 28.06.2011 - 24.07.2011
Job task: teach English

My first encounter with China
20.09.2011 – 26.06.2011

On the 20^th of June I left Gardemoen and about 14 hours later I was in Beijing. I spent the first three days in the capital with Chen Cui and her family.
My first memory of China:
I grabbed a cab at the airport and quickly realized that the driver didn’t speak ANY English. At that time I only knew:
Ni hao (hi), wo hen hao (I’m good), nouwei ren (Norwegian), ni de pi guo zen hao kan (“Your ass is fantastic”), Tai giu le and to count after having a few Chinese lessons with my friend Li. I used the three first sentences, called Chen and gave him the phone. I managed to ask him to turn up the radio: some body language and a smile and you can conquer the world!
Eventually we got to the hotel and then the journey began…
Note to all future travellers: write down the name of the hotel in Chinese letters or learn some Chinese before you got to China!

The Great Wall, the silk market (had to bargain like a mad woman.), The Temple of Heaven, The Forbidden City and The Tiananmen Square: check, check, check and double check!
On the 24^th I met Anna (EP – exchange participant) and Kerry from New Jersey, Kasia (EP) and Anastazja (EP) from Poland and Michelle from Canada. We went out for KTV (karaoke) with a group from Yale (VIP room and awesome surround system!). It was SO much fun!

New food and drinks:
Bao dse (white buns with meat), donkey baguette, mini - eggs, Mung bean drink and Peeking duck (PS: not all Chinese toilets can flush poop… Make sure to read the sign)”

After the first days I felt very much at home and loved the culture: the food was great and cheap and the city was alive at all times. At this point I haven’t been talking to any locals yet so I still felt like a tourist.

Tianjin: homestay and training
26.06.2011 – 01.07.2011
Sonia from the local committee and her friend in Tianjin picked me up on the train station and I was welcomed by a magician, Shawn, and the café owner at the café, Wendy. After some mind blowing tricks I went to my homestay. She’s the sweetest lady I’ve ever met!

The following day I met Bryan, the leader of the project, Adrian (EP from Seattle), Mohammed (EP from the States) and Joanna (my EP buddy).
We didn’t get any training but spent the next two days swimming (in most pools you need to wear a swimming cap. Oh yeah… I looked pretty smashing in a bright yellow one!), doing yoga and Tai shi (6 O’clock in the morning!), eating delicious food, getting massage and getting to know each other. I also participated in an “English corner” with the locals and beat one of them in badminton. Hehe.

29.06.2011: this was the day I met all the EP’s and we had a small session in the hotel room were we practiced our presentation as the teacher and prepared our roll call (a dance for the opening ceremony).
PS: Tianjin is the 4^th largest city and has the best soya milk ever!

Fuyang: the internship begins!
Teaching at the Middle school for student between 16-17 years
02.07.2011 – 20.07.2011

We got a tour around the high school and met Steve Rogers and Mike (coordinators at the school) and Mr. Lee (now it really started hitting me that I was in China).

At the opening ceremony all of the students were standing in a row and the view frightened me.

Tomorrow the lectures began and we still didn’t know what we were supposed to teach them!

1 day as a teacher:

I was afraid. I was going to have 25 students in the two first lessons and 50 students in the last ones. What have you signed up for, Anita?!
When I got in the class room I wasn’t nervous any more. Since this was a summer camp I wanted them get to know each other, so after my introduction (I also showed them a video of my family I had prepared: they fancied it very much!) we played “my neighbor”.

To sum the two weeks up:

It was hard to decide what to teach the students at times. Especially when I found out that their school day starts at 8 am and finishes at 10 pm with 2 hours of break in the afternoon. And this is a summer camp people! From the beginning I wanted them to talk, learn and have fun. Hangman which turned into idiomatic expressions, charades, quiz, translations and “picture quiz” was some of the teaching methods I used.

I also wanted to “bring the world to them” so I had brought brown cheese, knekkebrød and Kvikk lunsj which they tasted. Some loved it, others hated the brown cheese. “This is delicious” or “what is this?!” they kept saying. I also tried, among other things, to have a role play and mixed the boys with the girls. They were going to ask each other on a date and go to a restaurant to learn how to order food. The relationship between girls and boys are totally different in China. To put it this way: if there are rumors that a boy and a girl like each other, they are together. I also tried teaching them pick- up lines.
“if you were a boogie, I would pick you first!” or “Did you just fart?...... ‘Cause you just blew me away” or “You’re the straw to my berry (you complete me)”. They didn’t get it and I stood up there for 2 minutes laughing before I moved on to the next topic.
Note to myself: you have such bad humor!
We also had PE and “enspretten” with asshole was a hit!

The biggest challenge was the language and that we were just thrown into everything. We learned by doing and got to know their culture, situation and how humble they can are. I loved how they addressed me as their teacher and how they always stood up whenever as an act of respect.

”Funny misunderstandings have occurred. One of my students argued with me when I told them that Mount Everest is the highest mountain on earth.
The whole class was laughing. I'm gonna miss them!”
13.07.2011

Quotes from students

“You are great person, and we are very happy with you”
Uknown
“I hope that you will marry with your favourite boy”
Dick

“You are the most outgoing foreign teacher I’ve ever met. And I enjoy myself when I’m with you and I regard you as my friend. So I hope you can be happy forever”
Miko Yu

I definitely had some of the best moments in that classroom.

“Being a teacher has changed me. I'm not afraid of speaking in public any more. I appreciate what I have. I'm so glad I'm… me! I'm stronger in a way, and this experience has been beyond my expectations.”
16.07.2011

Next stop: Chun an!
Teaching for students between 13 to 14 years old
20.07.2011 – 23.07.2011
At this secondary school in such a small town I realized how bad the school system really is. These students didn’t speak any English and the food was nearly as nourishing as the food we got in Fuyang. Here I could see the progression after each lesson and I felt I made a different.

I only had two hours of teaching a day but during these few days I really got to know them and I wish I could stay there longer. It was hard saying goodbye.

24.07.2011 – 29.07.2011

Shanghai

This was a trip for all of the exchange participants and we spent these last days exploring the city and saying goodbye to each other.

PS: it’s pretty much ladies night every day! (Find the right clubs and you’ll have free drinks and entrance and the clubs have great music, space and view!)

I recommend you The Shanghai aquarium and to eat Ramen!

29.07.2011 – 05.08.2011
Beijing with my brother who came from Australia and we strongly recommend you to stay at a hostel.

Did the budget explode?
No, during these 7 weeks I only spent 9000 all together: transportation, food, gifts, shopping and sightseeing and the round trip flight tickets cost me 5000 kr. + the visa 500 kroner.

All in all: money well spent!

Looking back at it I realize that this was much more than just a project and it exceeded all my expectations even though the duration of the project was almost a week shorter.
If I’m ever in Italy, the Netherlands, Polen, Mauritius, the States, Canada or China I have a friend or two there; an international network in other words. And I’m actually going to Seattle this December to visit Adrian!

I expected to sleep on the floor but I slept at hotels, I expected to get to know people – I got lifelong friends, I thought I was going to just travel in the beginning and at the end of this project: we explored the cities and new places almost every day, I thought I was going to be a teacher – I also became their student, I thought that I was going to starve – that was the least of my concerns and yeah... I think you catch my drift J

I strongly recommend you to do the same.

A huge thanks to AIESEC, the organization and all the great members, for giving me this opportunity. I know for certain that this is one of the most powerful and happy experience I’ll ever have in my life. I’ve grown as a person and I’m sure this project also will help me get my dream job.

Rehema Abdul - Oslo, Norway

2011-10-04T10:51:00.001-07:00

About Me

My AIESEC experience has been an adventure that I will live to tell, after taking up leadership roles, both in my LC as project manager for two different projects around HIV and entrepreneurship, and MC as National Projects Coordinator.

Short Version

My exchange experience has been a huge eye opener to development issues, trade and technology which I am in contact with day to day life experiences. Living diversity is not only a value imbibed in me, but I am actually living it with two other nations as flat mates and the many others I have met here in Norway. I am learning new skills and understanding of development issues, and my world view has definitely been expanded as I plan further to achieve my career goals. Learning to ski, skate and speak a new language in Norway has also been fantastic.

Long Version

My exchange experience in Norway has been a life changing one as I for the first time left home for a country far away in the North of the earth. It’s been four months now and my first month focused on lots of preparations through seminars by AIESEC and FK and from February started my work at Fairtrade Norge. Adjusting to the weather wasn’t the easiest as it was my first time to encounter such low temperatures. The preparations included taking part in activities which are very Norwegian that included skating and skiing, eating different kinds of food and adjusting to day to day routine.

My stay has been made easy and interactive as I am staying with the other FK participants from Kenya, Mozambique and Cambodia. We have shared so many things together and our experiences in social life and work have been different and everyone is in line to achieve their personal and professional goals. Being part of this is just magnificent.

At Fairtrade, I have taken up different tasks in marketing and communication connecting Fairtrade Africa and Fairtrade Norge through different ways by opening a platform for partnerships for many projects starting or underway. My highlight at Fairtrade was when Oslo was given its certification to be Fairtrade capital at a conference which I took part in organizing.

My biggest moments include: I was privileged to see the World Ski Championships 2011, attended SMAK 2011 which happens once every two years, watching Madcon perform live, going to live concerts, travelling around including a weekend in Paris, and definitely, attending the ACHIEVE AIESEC conference. And over the World Fairtrade Day, I hosted the event and had interviews with different parties.

I am looking forward to further developing my skills, learn and challenge myself to working in a different environment.