One of the disadvantages of going away for 10 days is getting behind in diary entries! In this post, I am still writing about things that happened up to three days ago.
When I arrived in Tilburg on Tuesday, coming home from Croatia, I couldn't find my bike at the train station. It wasn't in the places where I usually leave my bike and I was systematic about looking everywhere else. Someone must have stolen it while I was away. I had locked it, but I guess it is not wise to leave your bike in the same place, outside, for as long as I did. It's too bad that I spent money on repairing it, a few days before I left.
For some reason, I am indifferent to the loss. I don't mind walking. My place is only 25 minutes walk from the train station. Still, I can see myself getting frustrated about this, sooner or later. As an example, there was a reception event, last night, at Matijs's. I didn't go, and one of the reasons was that I couldn't be bothered walking the 45 minutes to his place.
Tilburg is noticeably cooler than Split. In terms of temperature, that is! On Tuesday, I walked to the AIESEC office to check my e-mail, and I wasn't sweating at all! I'm not sure if the temperature really dropped over the time I was away, or whether being in Split has enabled me to cope better with this Dutch heatwave.
I am the only person at work until the end of next week. Paul has gone on holiday. As such, I have taken the liberty of wearing typical summer clothes (shorts and singlet) and playing my CDs at high volume.
I have some "busy" work to get on with - there were two huge rubbish sacks of documents and I need to put them into some logical order in folders. Paul also wants me to work on a "general" financial spreadsheet that can be used as a base for all companies.
I also have the house to myself. Marina had to move out, due to some rule about her only being allowed to stay in this type of accommodation for one year. She has to look for something else. Ania is living temporarily at another friend's house, for a month, before she returns to Poland. Kasia packed up all of her stuff last night. She has gone to the UK for six weeks, then (I assume) she is going back to Poland.
Yesterday, I got a great "early birthday present" from my mother. It was a new pair of running shoes (Yes!), some tea and a fortnight's worth of cryptic crosswords. I tested the shoes, last night, on my one hour run. They felt a bit tight, but that's to be expected. It will take a week or so before they are worn in properly.
posted by James 1:51 pm
From July 18 until July 29, I on holiday from work. I went to Split, Croatia for an AIESEC conference – the International Summer Program (ISP) 2003.
Jose, another trainee in the Netherlands, had the idea of going to the conference. He had just finished his traineeship in Maastricht and wanted to do some travelling before going back to Portugal.
Jose took care of organising our travel arrangements. We got a lift to Dusseldorf from one of his friends, then took three connecting train rides to reach Split by the morning of the first day of conference.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when we drove from the Netherlands to Germany. I had never crossed a border over land before. It all happened without me noticing! I only realised we were in Germany when I could no longer make sense of the signs at the petrol station, and “Ola” had changed its name to “Langnese” (the ice cream brand).
Each train ride was approximately 8-9 hours. My favourite leg of the trip was from Munich to Zagreb. We passed by and through some very impressive mountains and valleys. It was such a contrast to the Netherlands. On the last part of the trip, I learnt some basic Croatian phrases from a family who were sharing our cabin.
Long distance travel is uncomfortable, especially when you are wearing the same clothes for two days and sitting in regular train seats. Next time, I may consider paying extra for a place to sleep (lying down properly). I was really looking forward to a swim by the time we got to Split.
As we entered Croatia, I noticed that it was not as “tidy” as, say, the Netherlands. Many buildings looked incomplete. Other buildings were looked tired and run-down. There was graffiti everywhere.
When I think of things to see in the Netherlands, they tend to be man-made objects such as windmills, canals, and Rijksmuseums. I would say Croatia is richer in terms of natural wonders. In this way it is similar to New Zealand.
Split is a popular tourist destination, positioned on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It has an extensive history. The city encircles the ancient ruins of Diocletian’s Palace – built at the end of the 3rd century as the retirement residence of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. A broad boulevard separates the palace from the sea, and it is closed off to motorised traffic. Not surprisingly, there are many tourist shops, bars and stands selling icecream.
We were hosted at a dormitory about fifteen minutes stroll from the beach. The beach was different to the ones that I am used to in New Zealand. This one was more rocky than sandy, and it had many trees nearby for shade. The water was warm and clear, but you had to be wary about stepping on sharp rocks. As such, I often wore my sandals when I went swimming. I would like to swim out about 50 metres, lie on my back and float. The scenary was awesome. The beach was on a peninsular formed by a tall, forested hill. Across on the other side of the water, you could see cliffs which must have been hundreds of metres high. It was paradise.
ISP 2003 was different from the typical AIESEC conference. It was more focused on sightseeing around parts of Croatia nearby Split and, generally, relaxing. Yet, just like other AIESEC conferences, we had morning plenaries and roll calls.
There were about 60 delegates and we were grouped into “country delegations”. Not surprisingly, I was the only person in the New Zealand delegation. Croatia and Macedonia had the biggest representation with about 12-15 each. Other countries usually had about 3 people.
One of the best elements of the conference is the opportunity to make new friends from different countries. When you have a personal connection with a country, it means more to you and you want to learn more about that country. Until now, the only things that I knew about Macedonia were that it is somewhere in Eastern Europe and its capital is Skopje. Now that I have some friends from there, I want to learn more about it.
I probably spent more time with those people who were, like me, the sole representative of their country. One of my new friends is Natasha. She turns 22 in October and has just finished an AIESEC traineeship at Deutsche Post in Germany. She comes from St. Petersburg (Russia). Kirk, from the USA, is doing a traineeship in another city in Croatia. Lefteris, from Greece, was the chair of ISP 2003 and he always had a lot of interesting things to say.
I was impressed by the Macedonian delegation. They were very closely knit, and obviously enjoyed having fun. Whenever there was a break, one of them would invariably bring out a guitar and start playing some Macedonian songs. Anyone from Macedonia and Croatia (their language is very similar) would sing along heartily.
Angelina was probably the most outgoing Macedonian. On the last day, she was given the award of most friendly delegate at ISP 2003. She was certainly nice to everyone and very keen to learn new things. Her English wasn’t as good as that of the other delegates, but she wasn’t afraid to practise it.
Apparently, one of her goals for ISP 2003 was to get a boyfriend, and she was trying out various tactics. While I was walking back to my room, she invited me into her room where she gave me a piece of bread thickly layered with some kind of chocolate praline spread. (I can’t argue with that). During one of the bus trips, she was sitting next to me. She asked me if she could lie back across my lap and fall asleep, and I didn’t mind. She asked me to play with her hair. I didn’t. She strongly hinted that I give her a massage. So, I massaged her nose with my index finger.
The conference began with opening plenary at 6pm on Sunday (July 20). We watched a powerpoint accompanied by head-banging music which introduced ISP 2003, the organising committee (OC), the chair, and the facilitators. Each country had to give a roll call! I played it safe, and did the international roll call, “Father Abraham”. There appear to be minor differences between how this roll call is done in Europe and what I am used to.
Each delegation was given a beach implement (mine was a green plastic spade). If you lost it, you would be punished by doing an embarrassing roll call at the next morning plenary. I “lost” mine twice in the first two days! Ha! The first time, we had split into groups and we were playing a “get to know each other” game. I was fanning myself with the green spade, because it was so hot inside. Marija (coincidentally, the sister of Angelina) asked if she could borrow my spade. I handed it over without realising the consequences of my action. A smile of pure evil spread across her face as she ran away. Marija would tease me about this over the next two days.
Our rooms were close together, so we would often walk past each other in the hallway. We regularly greeted each other by giving a “high five” which seemed to transform into a handshake but with an elevated “arm wrestle” pose.
Croatia has over a thousand islands in the Adriatic Sea. On Tuesday, we visited Brac Island, one of the bigger ones. The boat trip was long, but I appreciated the cool sea breeze. I was also amazed by how blue the water was. After a lunch of fried fish (you eat it with your hands) and red wine, we walked to the beach. The beach had no sand, just smooth rocks. The water was super clear – you could swim out to the marker buoys and, even without goggles, see the bottom, way below. The boat trip back was about 6 hours, due to there being problems with the engine. Of course, someone from Macedonia started playing a guitar. I enjoyed looking at the surrounding scenery. As we were nearing Split harbour, I could imagine that I was on a ferry coming home from Rangitoto back to Auckland City.
The next day, we travelled to Imotski, by bus, to visit the Red and Blue Lakes. The water in the Red Lake is very blue, but I hear that the name comes from the colour of the cliffs which surround the lake. According to the Croatian AIESECers, there is a magnetic forcefield around the lake, which makes it very difficult to throw rocks into the water. Personally, I think it is just because the lake is so far away.
The Blue Lake was my favourite of the two. The water in the lake is very green, so I’m not sure how the lake gets its name. We were allowed to swim in this one. It was accessible by walking down a “crater” formed by big mountain faces and cliffs on each side of the lake. I loved treading water in the middle of the lake, admiring what was around me. A group of us swam to the other side and had a mud fight with what we found on the shore. Satoko, the Japanese delegate, decided it would be prudent to spread mud all over herself. I climbed up one of the slopes next to the lake, and sat atop a big boulder. The view was truly postcard worthy.
On Friday, we went swimming at a National Park. It was very different to a National Park that you would find in New Zealand – this was smaller and there were lots of shops. But, how can I complain when there is cheap icecream to be had after going for a swim? The highlight of the park was a series of pools interconnected by waterfalls. Swimming was permitted in the large pool at the end. I spent at least an hour in the water because it was so refreshing. There was a powerful waterfall to one side, and it was ideal for leaning your back against, to be massaged.
That evening, we had our party in the nightclubs close to the city centre. We settled on a club that played a similar style of music to what we had been listening to at our own parties back at the dormitory. I found out that the “Cotton Eye Joe” linedance can be done to pretty much anything.
The next day, we visited Salona, a Roman city which had been abandoned in the 4th century. I found it fun to explore around the ruins and climb over everything. I guess that’s my nature. The Italian girls were suitably impressed. They later commented that I reminded them of a character from a computer game.
The temperature was consistently in the high 30s, throughout the whole week. Any amount of walking would cause me to break into a sweat. Actually, just sitting in my bedroom towards the top of the dormitory was enough for me to sweat. Everywhere we went, I took a 2-litre bottle of water. People were always asking me for water. I got a nice picture of Natasha pouring water all over her head. I had to get her to do this three times, because I wasn’t quite satisfied with how the first two shots came out. Hehe.
A few of us liked to go impromptu swimming. At 11pm on the first night, it was too hot at the party, so we went across the road for a swim. The water was very warm for that time of night, but the swim was still refreshing.
In general, the parties were held on the ground floor of the dormitory. Due to the heat, I was just wearing shorts and a singlet. A popular drink in Croatia is red wine mixed with cola. There were big containers of this concoction at one side of the room, and you could serve yourself a drink with a big ladel.
My favourite party was on the last night. The theme was “graffiti”. Vivids were available and you could write messages to each other on the t-shirt they were wearing. I used my conference t-shirt for this. Lots of people made comments on my shirt. This is probably because I was the only New Zealander. (There are advantages to being the only delegate from your country). I will enjoy looking at the t-shirt and re-reading the comments later. Natasha wrote on my t-shirt three times – some comments in Russian and a picture of a flower with a butterfly. There was no need to buy drinks, as there were big containers of the typical Croatian drink, red wine and cola. Karaoke had been set up and everyone was getting into it.
I was having such a great time! I had a t-shirt with cool comments on it, I was dancing, singing karaoke and enjoyed being around the people there. I like being around Natasha, I could feel that we were becoming good friends.
Jose was persistent with encouraging me to take things further with Natasha. Sometimes the thought crossed my mind and I was confused about what to do. In the end, we stayed on the path to friendship, and I am satisfied with that.
The last day in Croatia was very relaxed. Everyone was packing up their stuff, getting ready to go home. Jose and I weren’t leaving until 9:30pm, so we weren’t too hurried. Natasha, Jose, Lefteris and I went swimming after breakfast (this was at 1pm!) and had lunch in the city centre. Natasha and I had one last impromptu swim at around 7pm. I was conscious about “absorbing” the sights and sounds before we left.
After saying our goodbyes, Jose and I walked to the city centre with our huge backpacks. We spent the rest of our money on pizza and admired the sunset while the cruise ships sailed out from the port.
Our trip back to the Netherlands followed the same route we had taken to reach Split. Jose and I went our separate ways at Roermond. I really enjoyed going on this trip with him. He has become one of the better friends I have made while I have been over here.
This trip to Croatia and ISP 2003 has been the highlight of my traineeship, so far.
posted by James 5:51 pm