Colours of a tune
Wow, what an awkward 10 minutes.
Working in an MC office is quite daunting, I'll admit it. But working in an MC office with all internationals is just... awkward, sometimes. Listed below is the current MC in Southern Cone:
Tina (vp projects) - Czech Republic
Vika (vp X) - Russia
Emil (vp F)- Chile
Javi (vp ER/Comm)- Mexico
Marina (vp TM)- Russia
Juan Ma (vp ER) - Mexico
Maxi (mcp) - Argentina
I always thought that I had quite the comprehensive playlist, it really has everything - techno, dance, reggaeton, indie, rock, hard metal - but being put in this position with people from different places, my playlist can be great or bad, depending on the point of view.
10 minutes ago I asked if I can put on some music - "of course, play something" - I looked through my entire iTunes music list and for the first time in my life I couldn't choose a song to cater to my audience; I didn't want to put on anything they didn't like since it might bother them doing their work, so I left it as it was...
"where is this music you were going to play, Irene?" asks Marina from Russia... *cricket cricket*
So I end up cracking up in embarrassment and explained to them my "challenge"... another 5 minutes pass because I really didn't know what to choose and just told them to let me know if the music bothers them...
Seriously, that was the most awkward 10 minutes I've had with them so far, and I've been working with them for 2 months. More weird than extremely awkward situations at nightclubs, more weird than incorrect translations and word combinations in English, more weird than our barriers of connecting on a personal level 'cause of our different cultures...
So I put on Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. No cumbia from Colombia, no festive mexican music, no Chilean pop, no Mika... just Banana Pancakes.
The longest Winter of all...
I left the summer for winter, but what a perfect summer to abandon as I hear Toronto's all soggy this year...
but I can't help but hate the mid-like weather here, it's not extremely cold or extremely hot, something I discovered that I hate. As the days are quite similarly cold, I anticipate each day to get a littler colder (as Canadian winters) only to find myself getting hotter and hotter each day under the amount of layers I've piled on. So odd.
And sometimes when my iPod shuffles to a Christmas song I almost expect Christmas to come... such a weird thing, what Winter in Canada has created inside me, some sort of internal calendar of temperatures and holidays...
I'm glad I'll be able to enjoy the last bit of summer when I get home though, hopefully it won't be too wet...
"No time concept"
"You have no time concept!" is something often scolded at me by my mother, when I'm at home, of course. But how can anyone have no concept of time? I dared not ever challenge her choice of words, or lack thereof, as I knew that in reality I don't have good time management skills.
It's a funny thing here in South America, the concept of time. In Argentina, at least, I've felt like I've been dreaming this whole time, everything that's happened was one whole adventure, and it definitely has not yet ended.
That's because the days just never end.
But contrary to what should've happened, the days being extremely long here has actually improved my time mgt. There's so much lack thereof that I can't stand wasting my time away, just like everyone else. There's so much time to do everything and anything you want that somehow my productivity level just shoots right up. This entire city generally being so inefficient has made me much more so in a way.
Maybe it's 'cause there's so much to do in this city, so full of people and work, there's always something or someone to help out, to work with, to catch up on... not just personally but with everyone else, maybe it's because everyone procrastinates, no idea... but time is just a different meaning here, really...
For example, before going to a meeting with Unilever one would hope to arrive at least 15 minutes before the meeting... right? No... apparently I'm crazy because sipping on coffee 3 minutes before entering the building alright to mr MC VP ER and PBoX OCP... "Chill out Irene, we have 3 minutes" - but the red tape to go upstairs! there's a lineup to get a pass at the reception! - no, don't worry... I swear, I thought Mexico was in North America... in the end we got in the office at 10:23.
Another example: arriving early at someone's house is rude. They have better things to do rather than host you before you're supposed to arrive, and you're expected to arrive late...
EG: Saying "yes" to go somewhere usually means "maybe"... and if you actually do arrive, you're about 2-3 hours late. Some Argentinians got a shock when a fellow Canadian hosted a goodbye party - a few of "us" (including me) arrive around 10, when it started at 9 - ok cool, but a bunch of others arrived around 3 to find everyone else either gone or cleaning up... haha...
EG: Clubs. Boliches. Going out means pre-gaming at 12/1 and arriving at 2. Party 'til the morning and have breakfast at 8. Work at 9.
Rambles, rambles, but there are a million stories I can tell about my experiences with time here...
Multi-orgasm
I remember last semester when I took my first English course in university, extremely excited and hoping to brush up on my creative writing skills. Unfortunately I didn't get that chance, and was instead lead to reading boring short stories on Canadian immigrants.
At the time, being disappointed in the course didn't help my interest in the stories, either. It was definitely impossible to choose reading about toilet squatters and the harsh realities of Canadian weather rather than figuring out Accounting cases and reading Financial reports. But now that I have been, in a way - dare I say - a temporary "immigrant", it's starting to dawn on me that I should have retained more of the experiences described in the shorts rather than mentally throw them away after the final exam.
Scanning through the notes I had typed throughout the course, I am starting to realize, with a bit of fear, the immense relevance of our discussions which I mostly spent balancing Income Statements. Conforming to norms, squatting, basic survival instincts, necessary adaptation- not
wanting to adapt to certain norms (!!), everyday mundane things... what is success/failure??? Vulnerability - being in a limbo state - acceptance?! Such a huge "OMG" that I feel like jumping... !! I can now relate to
all of these things, and more... too much to say, just
way too much to say...
And the other day before practically re-engineering the LC's Cultural Shock Session I looked at my CEED Pre-departure Course booklet and dude... found myself reading it and preparing the session 'til the next morning after coming home at 3am from 2 parties... everything in that book is so true, everything!! Extremely uncanny how I saw my entire experience roll out through that book... goosebumps while presenting the next week... and making the last 2 months of my life a part of the session, oh man...
And now, thanks to CIDA, Cultural Shock Session in Buenos Aires isn't just a Culture Shock session, but how to be an Interculturally Effective Person - a session I believe mandatory not just for trainees but every AIESECer out there, really...
Endonces, thank you, CIDA... and Professor Lee-Loy...
Oh dear, and what a coincidence that iTunes has just shuffled to "New Soul" by Yael Naïm...
I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake
See I'm a young soul in this very strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout what is true and fake
But why all this hate? try to communicate
Finding trust and love is not always easy to make
I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake
Siempre...
Pero me acuerdo de ti...
Y otra vez pierdo la calma
Pero me acuerdo de ti...
Y se me desgarra el alma
Pero me acuerdo de ti...
Y se borra mi sonrisa
Pero me acuerdo de ti...
Y mi mundo se hace trizas...
Fin d'une autre page...
Take time to realize
That your warmth is
Crashing down on in.
Take time to realize,
That I am on your side
Didn't I, didn't I tell you.
But I can't spell it out for you,
No it's never gonna be that simple.
No I cant spell it out for you...
If you just realize what I just realized
that we'd be perfect for each other
and we'll never find another
Just realize what I just realized
and we'll never have to wonder if
we missed out on each other now.
