Just Ivo

The beginning of the Vienna Adventure :)

2009-02-08T07:59:00.000-08:00

So the journey started on 19th of January :)

I arrived in Vienna in a very sunny day. The temperature was around 15 degrees and couldn't ask for warmer welcome. I got pick-up at the airport by a newie and delivered to my new flat :) I live with two very smily and kind Austrian girls (Ida and Verena). Sharing the apartment with them is so easy. We have so different schedules that we rarely run in the morning to use the bathroom or the kitchen :)

The partment is realy lovely and biggggggggggg. I couldn't dream for better one 5 minutes away from the main shopping street of Vienna :) Mariahilfferstrasse :)

Here are some pics of my room:

After taking few minutes to rest I did my first shopping :) hehe needed to buy linners and bathrobe. Having in mind that one of the suitcases stayed with my parent at the airport I was missing lots of my stuff :) Thanks god my parents came during the weekend and brought my stuff + few nice surprises :) like my nargile :)

I managed to get in contact with the other Bulgarian Intern -Yoanna who is working at Raiffeisen.

On the second day I went with my AIESEC buddy (David) to arrange all administrative stuff (local authorities registration, opening bank account, buying mobile sim card,etc). Surprisingly my ID card is not considered official ID document in Austria :)

Wednesday was my first working day!!! Yeaaaaaaaaah. In the morning i met my predecessor Ale from Romania :) and she took me to the office. A huge open space office at the last floor of the building with nice view of Vienna. I was welcomed by my boss and got introduced to the whole finance department and few other ones and after I everyone went back to the tasks :) Such a working culture.

The first 3 days were a bit chaotic and slow. I got familiar with the people and culture in the office.

Small things that were fascinating for me:

- we have a very nice canteen with 50% discount for us :) makes my life so much easier now.

- We have tons of tea and cacao in the office. Well there is not as much free chocolate as thought but yeah it costs resources and resources are much more valuable nowadays. I do not complain as I got a very sweet welcome by the HR team:

WORK! I'm still a little bit confused what I have to do but hope it will get much clearer soon. More about work soon :)

Few observations during the first week:

1.It turned out that Astrians don't really like speaking in English but if you are insisting enough they speak perfect English.

2.Food. It is huge. When you ask for schnitzel you get 2 that can fill the whole plate. And everything goes with POMMES (fried potatos). Junk food is almost everywhere and is sold by Turkish or Arabic people. I don't like it to be honest.

3. Wednesday is the Local AIESEC members meeting. I had very funny introduction by the EB as Igor from Russia :) Am I the only person who didn;t know that.

4. Saturday is the day we meet with other interns (around 25 in total). We usually meet for dinner in a pub called SV where food is half price at saturdays between 6-8 p.m. So cool!!! Well the beer is quite expensive though - 3 euro for a draught-beer.

5. VIENNA. It is really beautiful city with very preserved architecture representing centuries of history of whole Europe. AIESEC organized a sightseing tour so I had the opportunity to see some interesting places. The Anker's Clock, Hofburg palace, Capucino Church, Abertina Museum, The opera, Stephan's Dom and many others.

6. Transport. Well I have to admit it is fantasticly organized. It takes me 250 meters of walking to go to work by 2 trams and metro. You never wait more than 5-6 minutes. You can breethe normally and you can travel comfortably inside :). Basically you can get almost everywhere by public transport and what is even better there are night buses as well. :)

7. Astrians respect their free time a lot. My boss (Daniela) treats holidays as holy days and leaving office at 5 p.m. is rather rule than exception. Of course there are days when you have to stay but you get paid overtime.

8. Sunday is the lazy day. Everything is closed and basically you can either stay home or take a hike. However it is still cold here.

9. Interns. There are mainly interns from Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Croatia, France, Bulgaria, Romania, Switzerland and few latinos from Brazil and Colombia.

10. Parties and socializing will come in the next posts with photos better telling the stories:)

More to come soon :)

Openning new page :)

2009-02-08T07:11:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a long time since my last post and I feel that it is time to start doing it again.

Probably because since June 2008 I had more time to meet the people I care about in person and there was no need to share here.

However, three weeks ago I opened a new page in my life and now more than ever I feel sharing and posting here what is happening with me during my internship in Kraft Foods in Vienna :) Being just 8 hours driving away from home and still so far away...

Exactly 21 days ago I was at home packing my 22 years in 3 suitcases. It was so fast and hectic that I didn't really have the time to sit and think about what i'm stepping into for the next 1.5 years.

I'll try to capture here all my adventures and learnings about life, people, work and me :)

Enjoy and feel free to post :)

Love Revolution

2008-07-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Nope i haven't freaked out or something. This is the name of the new album of Lenny Kravitz who did an amazing concert yesterday in Sofia as part of his World Tour called "Get on the bus with Love Revolution tour".

I guess.... I was there too:) Here are few shots before i go on sharing:

Mostly you would hear Lenny saying "Thank You", "Peace", "Love", "You are very inspirational audience -Thank you again". He was giving 100% for sure: jumping all over the stage, going down to the audience and spending 10 minutes as close as my laptop is to me right now :). (guess yourself). 15,000 people screaming and clapping. I was inspired too. People adore him and they didn't know much of his songs' lyrics. The feeling is great. So much energy is going around that you cannot be passive. Your body is shaking in the rythm of the bass sound (sometimes that was all i could hear), your hands are rising and start clapping, you have smile on the face. Why??? How being famous and successful rockstar changes your charisma and everyone follows you? 15,000 people that you see once and will never see again. Interesting, isn't it? Add the music and you will reach the answer yourself. It is all about talent and good sound.

Anyway, it was incredible feeling. I felt it when i was on Rhianna's concert in Sofia in November but now was massive and stronger.

Updates on my life: I enjoy being who I am and getting a bit better every day :) Re-discovering what I missed recently: things i enjoyed doing in the past which i had not time to do last 2 years:)

March 3rd 2008

2008-03-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

It must be a special day for every Bulgarian. Exactly 130 years ago my country got liberated.

I don;t really know if it is related to that but today i'm full of energy, ideas and desire to do stuff. (compared to the last three days while i was stuck sick in bed).

I feel very balanced with myself after some discoveries yesterday night. It's so much better when there are no assumptions and you have all needed answers. I'm a new person. You'd better like this one because I do :)

A strange contradiction is the fact that i feel much more healthy after being sick. My body feels better maybe i needed that system cleaning.

I so much want to see my team tomorrow and have random sharing in the dirty office.

Russia :) i want to meet you again very soon :) and i hope your embassy guys will let me do it :)

I.D.

Bang Bang Lulu

2008-03-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

Bang Bang Lulu, my Lulu's gone away,
now who's gonna bang bang, my Lulu's gone away

Lulu had two boyfriends, both of them were rich
One was son of a baker, the other was son of a ...

Bang Bang Lulu, my Lulu's gone away,
now who's gonna bang bang, my Lulu's gone away

Lulu had a boyrfriend, drove a garbage track,
never collected no garbage, cause alll he did was ...

Bang Bang Lulu, my Lulu's gone away,
now who's gonna bang bang, my Lulu's gone away

My Lulu had a boyfriend , His name was Tommy Tucker
She took him to an alley to see if he could ...

Bang Bang Lulu, my Lulu's gone away,
now who's gonna bang bang, my Lulu's gone away

My Lulu had a cycle and its seat was very blunt,
Everytime she sat on it - it wen tright up her ...

Bang Bang Lulu, my Lulu's gone away,
now who's gonna bang bang, my Lulu's gone away

My Lulu had a sweater and it had many slits
Everytime she wore it you could see her ....

Bang Bang Lulu, my Lulu's gone away,
now who's gonna bang bang, my Lulu's gone away

Another lesson

2008-02-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

I'm fine. I feel empty and unfortunatelly I'm sick. I'm sad i didn't get what i felt ready for. I was so ready, i so much wanted it. So many different emotions. I don;t know when i will be ready to let go. I just know that i have to move on. I have to find another adventure, another experience. I'm not ready to leave AIESEC when i have so much to share, give back and create. What to do next??? I don't want to "fail" again.

CONFIDENCE - is it based on educated decision or one mistake that costs shame and disappointment. I learned so much about myself and how others perceive me. I enjoyed being part of the AI Director candidates experience. I got to know so amazing individuals.

RELATIONSHIPS - i'm really bad in them, especially when my feelings and emotions take over my clear mind. I don;t regret anything i've done although i'm a bit sorry it didn;t work out. I was sad but its time to move on - maybe it was not meant to happen. Or maybe i'm having too high standards for girls.

Republic of Macedonia - Country number 15. A very cultural experience with insights on Bulgarian History. OHRID - really beautiful.

It's time to take the pills and antibiotics. I miss you...

Trip to Romania - 24 things we were not allowed to

2007-12-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

24 things we were not allowed to do in RoMania!

To:
1. exchange Bulgarian lev - its not covertable!!!
2. take pictures with the Jandarmeria in front of House of People!
3. enter house of people (Only on Sunday)
4. drink on the bench - in the downtown
5. go to restaurant and not eat
6. go to pizza place and not eat pizza
7. go for a beer in any pub8. take money from ATM
9. sleep in hotel in 3-bed rooms
10. go to tourist information althought it was on the map
11. go to Church in Brasov ( Because it was Sunday)
12. eat in the kitchen after 9 p.m.
13. take pictures in Carrefour
14. eat duner in Carrefour
15. connect to Internet in McDonalds
16. go to girl's toilet - (other side please)
17. connect to internet for more than 10 mins
18. see the view of the town
19. open the bathrom door
20. collect the money from the well
21. go to the narrowest street
22. answer people's questions on the streets
23. buy postcards for MC
24. use electricity in the train

6 months

2007-12-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

Its starnge to be exactly in the middle of something. You have exaclty six months left to do the things you want and exactly six months left to start something new. That's what my complex mind is mediating upon in the last week.
For now i just know that what i'm doing is making me really happy of who i am and what the future can be. I've decided already that my next year will be out of what i call home for now and i need to make sure i'm ready for it.
What's new around me since my last post here:
- 135 more individuals to inspire, lead and enable develop their leadership potential - isn;t it incrediblly what AIESEC make you feel at this early age
- another beautiful conference that proved me i was right regarding changes in the conference cycle. AChieve Today brought a lot of benefits for us. MC guys we rock :)
- I went to school for a first time this semester and didn;t see much value of doing more often.
- I'm having more talks with my friends on the globe - even something special for me is starting on there.
- Finance, Finance, Finance - i sometimes feel freaking freaky of my finance obsession :)

I discovered soon that i like more and more the people I'm working and its really inspirational. But i hope i will discover even more on the team days we are having in 3 hours - 2 amazing days I hope.
Besides that i will continue exploring Bulgaria and visit another town i have never been to. People say its beautiful.

Pictures and news in the next post.

I feel strange - i think i'm about to mix love with real friendship and i still cannot hold this person close to me. I'm simply not capable yet.

Let's see what Christmas will bring.

Star Dust

2007-10-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

... or a very nice end of the day :)
I missed that part of my life when I can simply enjoy a movie with my best friends ... I haven;t changed much, we are still the same old "shmatki" and i discovered this gives me a lot of energy.
Back to the movie - "Star Dust" a very nice Love-can-beat-everything fantasy, very good script with awesome actors - Sienna Miller as the prettiest village girl, Charlie Cox as the young boy becoming a man and finding his real love, Claire Danes as a falling star and finding love (Charlie Cox) , Robert De Niro as a "gay" flying pirate, Michelle Pfeiffer - chillingly powerful witch and so on.

If you have time watch the movie, you will not regret any second of it.

XXX

Random Friday :)

2007-10-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

It has been a very interesting week.
Firstly, news:My sister is an AIESECer finally. Still a bit puzzled about the crazy dances and shouts from Local Induction Seminar past weekend but looking happy.

Monday started a bit out of space after LIS, Tuesday was fabulous - motions booklet was finalized and Wednesday i was running here and there and finally got to Svishtov for their info meeting. Another personal discovery - the power of an innocent smile or how to bring life to an audience staring at you :) - - - > Smile :) . And then sleepless night with the EB members of LC Svishtov, Elena who is going on internship in India next week and some other people. 2 hours of discussions about how to measure RoI in AIESEC, succession or future steps and general randomness, Banitza ( traditional Bulgarian breakfast similar to bread but much tasteful) at 3.30 a.m. . Thursday back in the office after 3 hours of sleep in the cold bus :). I met Silvia and Tania after so long time and it was great fun. Running here and there and meeting Rafael at 18.30 in the office. He spent already a week in Bulgaria and seems he likes it, plus PwC is really a good employer :):):).

So the 4th day finished with a huge party in the dorms. 50 newies and oldies from Sofia LCs managed to fit in a room where usually 3 people sleep :) Oh my Gushi :) so many people, crazy dances + AIESEC dances ( omg newies love them), international alchohol, endless laugh-talks and fermons all around :)
Time for Friday sharing:
Colder than expected, slow motion and thinking of Blago, Milen - i'm not sure where is he and what is he doing, starting his night-shift at 17.32 having breakfast in the office :):):) , Steli robing people(companies) on the phone, good job for Postbank btw, Aga wearing gloves whole day, drawing flowers on the heater to warm up her hands, and finally all together in the office after a week of busy scheduled travel and meetings. It's good to have some life in the office
Some pictures for you :

Our brand new heather "Tesy" :) and closer view of the drawing....

Aga drinking some delicious tea :) Steli calling on the phone

Blago cleaning the office with the Electrolux super mobile vacuum-cleaner.

Always hungry and eating Milen

Meanwhile i'll continue with the preparation for the end of the week:
1. General Assembly on Saturday
2. Translations :( and maybe some Movie ...who knows....

Luv ya

It's time for Disco

2007-10-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Actually its about LOOP Life concert that brought world-famous radio stars here in Sofia on Sunday evening - Lumidee (dance) , Outlandish, Asle Bjorn&Anne - (Lucky You), Jaba/Yves La Rock - (Rise up), Yarabi - (Yarabi), Million Stylez -(Miss Fatty), Mans Zelmerlow - (Cara Mia), Freemasons and Amanda Wilson.

Amazing show in the center of Sofia. Lights, fireworks, basses, screaming ... 50000 people in average age of 16 and cool company to be with...

After party in front of the City Library - lots of randomness, world issues, BulPolIndians on the planet and the power of roots discovery,

Here are some of the songs :)

Freemasons – Love On My Mind ft. Amanda Wilson (Original)

Yarabi – Yarabi

Yarabi – I Amar

And the outcome is actually my new desire - show-business and more presicelly events management - maybe I should party more to make this happen. We will see :)

Unexpected warm stay in Romania

2007-09-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have not written here for a long time. I never found the time...but now i feel very much like doing it.
Exactly a week ago I started a journey that changed my life...
On Tuesday 18th of September I woke up very eraly in the morning and took the road to Russe (on the border with Romania). My father was driving like crazy (no surprise) and we arrived exactly on time for the bus to Bucharest. Well bus is not the right word here. It was a Mercedes microbus - very nice one which made my next 1.5 hours very pleasant and confortable.

I arrived in Bucharest - Uniri square two hours later. Gaby (a.k.a. Gabelu) picked me up and broght me to the MC Office. Surprise - we are not leaving today for the venue ( i could have stayed one more day home). But i will never regret i did arrived because this day was a beginning of an awesomente journey. I was already the chair of ROCK ME 007 although the conference was supposed to start 2 days after.

I went to so many challenging moments. I felt completely miserable and absolutely mighty at the same time. A conference full of emotions, talks, self-esteem testing, long nights and even longer days.

I was amazed by my abilities and the competence of the people i was workign with. A day dedicated to Success that finished with an incredible Gala Awards. There were tables with white covers, nicely set in the small room, mountain flowers on the tables, luminiscious lights and formerly dressed girsl and boys. And of course the awards. The amazing clicking synchronization of two MCPs. Lots of emotions and a surprising end...
5 minutes after the GALA was over all LC members went to their delegations meetins. I new feeling crossed my heart... i felt empty after such a long preparation. But i let it go coz that;s the way it is. No long talks after, no pictures, no post-celebration all together.

The day after was the most incredible thing -We delivered a day of 9 parallel tracks with such a smooth process and no major f..k-ups. And believe me or not - when i started the evening pelnary i felt so mighty and happy. I guess the reason was pure satisfaction of what we did - me as a Chair, Radu as CM and the whole FACI team. And then the surprising moment of self-reflection after the exhausting day. Couple of delegates yelling "shit again"... and few minutes later - Captain Planet Trailor that made the whole plenary explode. i NEVER though that people need a childhood flashback so much to express their pure emotions. I felt really pleased by their expressions.

Another surpsire.... a party till the sun rise and only 50 out 150 left for the last day. :) Morning Plenary in a big hole:) Take me home session and the closing plenary. and then... was it over... was it the time to go home....
Where was home, actually??? I felt so welcomed and cozy with those people and i didn;t wanted to go.
Alex with her nasty/childish jokes, Mickey with his absolute prefectionism and professionalism, Arrea -and our challenges of communication which made us all the time laugh, Mada and her always smily face, Gaby and the "sleeping ball" pose in the train, Lucky and the piece of wisdom that i always can get from you, Mali and her loud voice :) and short dress, The one and Only Radu Mustata from whoch I learned a lot about passion, Chuchi that was not with us but got the bucket, and last but not least the "Sexy" little Mo who i owe so much for that invitation and the talks we had.

Guys i hope i managed to overdeliver to your expectations. Thank YOU!!!
Luv ya,
Ivo

Complete Finisher

2007-07-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

Sounds like a scientific terminology,
... well in a way you are right. The reason for puting it as a title is that today i discovered the fact that i feel very happy and relaxed after a day when i completed my tasks till the end of the week. I guess this brings happiness to everyone especially in the hot summer but i feel more than ever before ready for the next day.
It's good to be able to assess your strengths and leverage on them in cirisis situations, isn't it?

....
I'm ready to join Happy GN.... just waiting approval of my pending application....
A., P. and F. hurry up :)
Cheers,

Cocktail of the day: Cuba Libre

Cuba Libre was originated after the Spanish-American War when American group of soldiers first mixed Coca Cola, rum and a wedge of lime to toast to the freedom of Cuba.
Ingredients:- 2 oz light rum- Coca Cola- Lime wedge- Glassware: Highball

O I forgot to tell you, those cocktails are the ones i consumed during the day :P

A drink for hot summer days

2007-07-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

Long Island Iced Tea
1 part vodka 1 part tequila 1 part rum 1 part gin 1 part triple sec 1 1/2 parts sweet and sour mix 1 splash Coca-Cola®
Mix ingredients together over ice in a glass. Pour into a shaker and give one brisk shake. Pour back into the glass and make sure there is a touch of fizz at the top. Garnish with lemon.

Keeps you cool and cheerful. Goes well with crisps or salad.
:):):)
Enjoy

For more of those visit the recipes' page.
Hasta luego mi amigos,

Revival - I'm an AIESECer

2007-07-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

Dear curious individual,
My name is Ivaylo Dimov, a.ka. Ivo and I’d like to share my experience with you. I was born in Bulgaria, live here and currently studying my last year of Finance Bachelor degree. Since I enrolled in the university I tried to feed up my curious nature and explore all the opportunities for me. Then I became member of the local branch of a global organization called AIESEC.
Sound cool. Well, actually it simply changed my life and here my story starts from…
From the first day I started to explore the international opportunities of the organization and then I felt the magic of making impact on someone’s life – enabling foreign students to work and live in Bulgaria, experience the culture, lifestyle, and way of work and bring back that story to their country of origin.

When I became Organizing Committee President of a Business Expansion project and I had the privilege to attend the first CEE PBoX conference in Budapest, Hungary in 2005 and develop my project management skills. 9 months later I became member of the CEE E-drive team – supporting implementation of program for development of entrepreneurship spirit and skills among young people from CEE – called EnterCEE. As a member of a Drive team I had the once-in a life time growth opportunity with 6 incredible diverse people from all across the region; people that I learned a lot from and owe a big smile for the thousands of inspiring and challenging moments we had together.
I not only managed to learn that but I also went through some brand new experiences for me. I improved my knowledge on project management while developing sessions and trainings for EnterCEE Conference. I had my first Facilitator experience at an International AIESEC Conference called ‘Enter CEE’. I also had the unique opportunity to visit the Local Committee of Vilnius, Lithuania to coach its entrepreneurship project team- which was definitely one of the most special experiences for me.

Now, three years later, I’m proud that I’m an AIESECer. I worked in more than 7 international long and short-term teams on conference management, global strategies implementation, creation of platform for development of entrepreneurship spirit in young people from Central and Eastern Europe, experienced already more than 12 different countries and get to know people from more than 60. I’m currently leading 200 members of the organization through a process of sustainable change towards growth. And all of that right before turning 21.

Randomness Hurricane wound me up

2007-05-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

I got really random tonight!!!
I hurricane of randomness wound up from Venezuela. Skype - nothing is impossible.
I missed talking to this guy. I always get random.
I rarely leave some time for myself so it's good chance to do it.
RANDOMNESS AGENTS!!!
4 main characteristics:
- endless
- out of topic
- activating happiness
- silly

Wait a minute... "pursuit of happines"

2007-03-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

41 days without writing anything...i must have been very busy (or lazy).
Sunday afternoon i just decided to take some time for myself...
I never thought that reflection can be so powerful for my self-centered personality but then during Samurai game i finally discovered that being MCPe is exactly the leadership experience i'm looking for and the most special one I can ever get. I also learned that i'm the only responsible for my happiness and nobody else can do it for me. Thank you F. for making me realize those things.
Since then i'm trying to imply my real self into my daily life and be a bit more happier about things that are happening to me recently.
I got most of my team together (Aga, Milen and Steli) and again the biggest "shmatka" Blago missed his flight so he couldn't be with us for EXPRO preparation.I need to talk to this guy :).
But surprisingly i took the fact very easy and just moved on. Improvement, ah? I miss them already and they have been way only for a week.
Meanwhile i had hard time catching up with school. Sometimes i just do not see the point of our education system. I was writing my assignment "Comparative analysis of the organizational structure and financial documents of Bank institution in Bulgaria". It took me 12 hours, and no sleep for 36 hours to get my 3 minutes of glory to present it. And guess what??? ................
I just got "Thank you very much for the nice presentation, you were very confident while presenting your analysis". Well rest my group got only "thank you, next one", so i guess it was something to be grateful for.
Oh yeah, work on Global Alumni Support Team fires me up again. I love my job and my team. Everyone is so passionate and easy to work with. AIESEConnect live initiative is over - Thanks Gwen for the awesome job and second editions is about to start on 9th of April.
Geet as always is getting very inspired after our talks. You are so sweet Geet ... make sure you will manage to come for ITTS and have fun in India :). So GAST work during Easter holidays for me.
Oh, i'm currently reading a lot about leadership and getting really excited about our Balkan Leadership Development Seminar. And yeah i'm agenda responsible for the leadership track. So exciting - 4 days of pure leadership - Day 1 - AIESEC opening, 4 h "Leadership - The Bulgarian definition" panel with some of the most prominent leaders of Bulgarian Society. So happy.
And the design of the logo is mine too. Actually few days ago i just realized that i can easily find a job as graphic designer having in mind all the posters, fliers, logos, banners i have made.
Day2 - "Leading from my future as it emerges" - sounds familiar, ah? - actually developing this day with one of my best friends - happy again.
Day 3 - Skills building day + Another awesome training delivered by Eagle's Flight.
And then the fabulous session with all the former MCPs of AIESEC in Bulgaria that are in the country right now. (Btw the founder and first MCP is currently Managing partner in BCG. WOW! - I HAVE A ROLE MODEL).
Day 4 - another super-duppa cool training by Eagle's flight.
Wait a minute ... my life seems not to be boring at all. "You are always in pursuit of your happiness".:)

2007-02-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

All about good memories

2007-02-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

There are moments in life ...

... when you feel that you couldn't be happier on another place.

There are moments in life...

... that will always remind you ...

...and you will never forget...

IPM in Egypt is ready to start next week but i'd like to take us all 1 year back when arrived in Utrecht, the Netherlands and especially the people i worked then, the people who booked a special place in my heart.

I was recently told that I'm not capable of appreciating things that are happening to me and people around me. And i belive it's so true. However, as a perfection-searching creature i'd like to use this moment to share my happiness.

The moments of IPM 2006 in the Netherlands. Since then i can safety say that the CC gang was one of the most influencial group of people i have ever had the chance to experince on myself.

THANK YOU Lieke, Pieternel, Suus, Chris, Mich, Trent, Abdo, Cato, Jens, Franky, Nico, Ira, Lenny.

One year later my life would be definitely less completed without knowing you.

Keep reminding me the good times of the "White switcher gang".

(Thank you Trent and Franky for inspiring me to write this post)

14th of January

2007-01-15T13:52:00.000-08:00

...40 days later... An extremely hot January Sunday. 18 degrees Celsius. Hot room on the top of the student house where the MC of AIESEC in Bulgaria is. More than 30 people acknoledging the elections of the new Leadership body of the organization. This is the pre-story.

The actual reason for writing this is my pure and clear happiness of my future. I have been elected for President of AIESEC in Bulgaria - one of the most responsible and learning-proving experience AIESEC can offer a 20 year old guy. I was thinking lately about my colleagues in school and trying to compare my life with their. However, it didn't work out.

For the last 2 years i have been to 11 countries, working in numerous teams, interacting and partnering with CEOs of multinational companies, successful alumni of AIESEC, changing life of 7 people by giving them the opportunity to work abroad in Bulgaria, chair a great global virtual team and working in one of the most amazing coconut teams ever, but I what make me better person at the end of the day is the endless hours spent with my MC team. Thank you Emo, Eli, Lenny, Geri. Thank you Didi. Thank you Tzvety and George. Thank you AIESEC in Bulgaria for believing in me and giving me this privilege to lead you through the path of success.

Thank you everyone for he support during past months: Mom, Dad, Sister, Roza+Pesho, Aine, Frank, Palia, Ile, Ines, Mikky, Edmunds, Neno, Cecilia, Vlada, Ravin, Jeanne, Stella, Adi, Sis, Trent, Michelle, Jarda, Christian, Pieternel, Suzane, Lieke, Abdo, Jens, Ira, Nico, Cato, Maria, Anca, Mo, Sandra, Geet, John(Congrats to u too mate), Gwen, Priscila, Danny, Alina, Tali, Cebula, Alina, Patrik, Sonam, Sneji, Mitko, Valio, Ico, Steli, Blago, Kire, Cvety, Toshko, Ivan, Maya, Milen, Vania, Mitko, Sasho, Slavi, Petya, Nevena, Adi, Ivo, Iva, Kamen, Teddy, Angel, Vyara, Mite, Tony, Bobi, Vladi, Denny, Bube, Didi, Ico, Pavka, Sophi, Vladi, Ira, Maya, Nasko, Rado............................ and many other people i was in touch this year.

I guess knowing all of you made me better person today.

Thank you!

I'm so happy I'm going to see some of you in Egypt.

Fundraising session by Ethan Hawke's Mother

2006-12-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

Wow,
That was my expression when i understood that few hours ago i attended a session for Good-case practices delivered by Lesley Hawke, the mother of the famous US actor. She is living in Romania since 2000. Having NGO and raising money. Wow. She raised 300 000 Euro for 9 months in Romania. I guess she is queen of selling or her name helps a lot. Who knows?

Old friends - best friends

2006-12-15T02:38:00.000-08:00

The background first:Romania.Bucharest.Henri Coanda Airport is 5 mins away. Basically I can see all planes landing. "NGO Capacity Building" Advanced Training.
On Tuesday morning I arrived in Bucharest Central Train Station. Christmas decoration was amazingly spread all around. We went outside and the town was shining at 6 o'clock in the morning. Surprise... bus that was suppose to pick us up to the hotel was not very close. Anyway 2 hours later we arrived at 4 star Comfort Rin Hotel near International "Henri Coanda" Airport. The interior is very nice. A lot of goldish and greenish furniture, leather coaches, English-speaking staff. Over my expectations. And the food is very international so i enjoy it a lot. I'll definitelly have back the 5 kilos i lost on our national conference.
So back to the idea of the posting. Yesterday 14.December we had and organzied dinner out in the downtown. Typical Romanian folklore, nice decoration. However at 9 o'clock i met some very special people. Anca, Mo and Radu. We went to a "Lucky 13" (contradictory name) club and we drunk some beers, taked about life future plans, etc. It was so cool to talk to some friends. Mo and Anca left earlier to catch the bus. However, Andrea Radu's girlfriend joined us so the party continued. We went to Radu's place which actually is exactly in the city center with perfect view to House of People (the second biggest building in the world). Awesome. He is living on the 16 floor and the feeling is amazing.

Then we drove to Andrea's place and had our McDonalds dinner. Actualy it was very nice. We ate some chocolates left after St. Nikola's day, drunk some rakia and had hours of talking. Very cozy and relaxing night. I loved it. Thank you Radu, Andrea, Mo and Anca. Really hope to see you soon again.

An Eurotrip

2006-11-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

My EnterCEE visit to Lithuania has just begun. I arrived this afternoon in Vilnius after 24 hours of travel. City is very nice and I had cool first meeting with the OCPs. Three amazing days are in front of us.
Meanwhile, in the LC office jumped a familiar face screaming IVO :). That was Ilma current MCP of Lithuania. Gil and Rene just entered the office, wow... you can never say that this is your last meeting with someone.
Back to the trip. Yesterday my plane from Sofia to Vilnius via Warsaw took off at 14h BG time. Fortunatelly we arrived on time in the Polish Capital and after 4 hours of waiting in the transit zone of Frederick Chopin Airport we were invited to boarding. Aircraft was smaller than i expected but still cozy enough. We headed to the take-off route when suddenly we made a turn back and we stopped. 45 mins later cabin crew informed us that flight is been canceled.
Time is 22.10 and i'm still in Warsaw (this is the time i was supposed to land in Vilnius). Custmos were very crowded especially the "ALL PASSENGERS" counter. We were directed to the arrivals terminal and took our luggage. God sake a least my luggage was there. After 30 minutes of waiting to re-book my ticket i realized that i'll spend the night in Warsaw AIRPORT Boronda Hotel which was actually pretty nice and cozy. I took a shower and went to sleep. However at 3 o'clock someone was making hell a lot of noise bumping on the doors. I was ready to kill him but suddenly he stopped.
5.25 in the morning, my alarm started to ring. It was time to go and take the bus-shuttle. Well, another surprise - a man sleeping on the floor :):):)
I asked whether he is fine but he just turned to the other side - drunkurds.
6.20 back at the airport. Check in was surprisingly fast. However passing customs took much more time. I turned out that they forgot to stamp my passport on my way out of the airport last night so i spend 30 mins of persuading customs police and the chief imigration officer in particular to let me go. I was pissed-off beacuse they were not even speaking English. So imagine myself speking with gestures and explaining in English to the poor guy. How a pitty.
Well i forgot to mention that i ws going to take the transit fligth via Vienna to go to Vilnius. Another 1500 km.
So exactly 24 hours after my take-off from Sofia airport the plane landed at Vilnius, Lithuania. Thanks God i managed to come here:).
Looking forward to my way back home :) who knows where i will go through then.

2006-10-10T05:33:00.000-07:00

EnterCEE Conference - My First International Faci Experience
It's Monday afternoon, 2nd of October...I'm running to the airport to catch my flight to Budapest. Everything is fine with the check-in and customs and i'm ready to leave....I have butterfly in my stomach...my first international FACI experience is approaching my. In less than an 2 hours I was at Ferenhegy 1 Airport in Budapest.
I took the bus number 200 and 4 bus stops later my hostess for the pre-meeting las waiting for me at the stop - Dori, a newie of AIESEC, very hospitable, smiling and clever girl. She took me to her place - huge house with very nice interior:))
Later on today i met three of the other amazing E-FACIs:)))

Cebula, Patryck and Cecilia....
To be continued....

Getting very excited about Budapest

2006-09-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

It's a little bit late and raining outside. I'm staring at the screen and thinking about beautiful Budapest. To be honest i have been there 3 times already but I'm excited to see it again. I had such great time.

Moreover, the occasion is more special but challenging for me.... what else should I look for...

I'll be FACI at EnterCEE Conference where all young leaders that will run projects around entreprenurship will gather together and start living an amazing experience. I was there last year and I'll be there again just a little bit more experinced this time. WOW...I'm getting mature:)))))

Where is the old young kid:)))

Anyway, i'm getting very excited about my sessions and to be honest I have read so much today about evolution of technology in the last 150 years, and it's amazing. If you want i can send to you the brief version:)))

My sister is doing her best now to get me away from the PC so i have to stop here... more news when i come back:))))

Cheers,

Ivo

2006-09-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

That's me on my High-school Graduation two years ago. I was so cute... now suffering the changes of time:))))