Falling in love with Ukraine... Falling in love with CEE...
… and I left. The road is my driver and my guide, and within this amidst of things, the only constant thing is my yellow bag where my life fits just perfect. What an illusion that we need things and that those things, many things, will make us happy.
Upon my departure, Ivan wished me to re-discover CEE. Instead, I ended up [re]discovering myself. I believe that so far, this is the most self-revealing experience I have lived. Sometimes, especially in the airports and especially if my flights have delays, I sit down and try to capture the magic of this experience, I try to figure out why is it so intense, so rewarding, why it gives me so much, what catalyzes the learning, where the points of awareness reside.
I guess a part of it is given by being on my own, by the absence of any context. I move, every week in another context, another people, another culture, another language, another manner in which people express themselves. There are no stable elements of environment that I can turn to as points of reference. Except myself. I am the only point of reference, the only source of questions and answers in the same time. And I guess that this keeps me connected a lot with who I am. To those things that are basic, the foundation of being me.
I begin to think that exchange experience must be similar, but more difficult and in that sense more transformative. The environment is different, that's for sure, but you don't get the chance to reset the system every week. At the end of the day, it is a battle of will, at the end of which you transform, by adapting to the other culture, for sure different. Your core stays the same, the emotions, affects, but the cultural pattern in which one is born is massively challenged. Ergo, this is where the personal transformation comes from.
I fell in love with Ukraine, more precisely with Kyiv. Funny enough I haven't visited anything particular. However, something unexplainable, that you can't exactly put your finger on – precisely similar to falling in love – makes me float when thinking about it. Could be the people – there's a special kind of passion and a spark in their eyes, in the way they talk, in the human relations. It snowed! I felt again that kind of childhood happiness, which instantly puts a big kinder smile on your face. Again, after such a long absence, I felt a kid again. I never want to loose this feeling – how could I have lived without it so long?
Maybe it's the ukrainian-russian language that exerts a kind of fatal attraction on the visitors. A special kind of magic. Could be the music, the people and the spirit. Could be a mix of the above. Suddenly, I felt that the otherwise heavy feeling of communist architecture was totally neutralized. On the contrary, there was a weird feeling of home that those grey, wet buildings were inflicting on me.
Maybe I am rediscovering CEE in the end, maybe it's about the fact that we will double our results, maybe indeed I will double the level of awareness that I have about myself, and what I can do with it. Maybe in the end, CEE is me!
Upon my departure, Ivan wished me to re-discover CEE. Instead, I ended up [re]discovering myself. I believe that so far, this is the most self-revealing experience I have lived. Sometimes, especially in the airports and especially if my flights have delays, I sit down and try to capture the magic of this experience, I try to figure out why is it so intense, so rewarding, why it gives me so much, what catalyzes the learning, where the points of awareness reside.
I guess a part of it is given by being on my own, by the absence of any context. I move, every week in another context, another people, another culture, another language, another manner in which people express themselves. There are no stable elements of environment that I can turn to as points of reference. Except myself. I am the only point of reference, the only source of questions and answers in the same time. And I guess that this keeps me connected a lot with who I am. To those things that are basic, the foundation of being me.
I begin to think that exchange experience must be similar, but more difficult and in that sense more transformative. The environment is different, that's for sure, but you don't get the chance to reset the system every week. At the end of the day, it is a battle of will, at the end of which you transform, by adapting to the other culture, for sure different. Your core stays the same, the emotions, affects, but the cultural pattern in which one is born is massively challenged. Ergo, this is where the personal transformation comes from.
I fell in love with Ukraine, more precisely with Kyiv. Funny enough I haven't visited anything particular. However, something unexplainable, that you can't exactly put your finger on – precisely similar to falling in love – makes me float when thinking about it. Could be the people – there's a special kind of passion and a spark in their eyes, in the way they talk, in the human relations. It snowed! I felt again that kind of childhood happiness, which instantly puts a big kinder smile on your face. Again, after such a long absence, I felt a kid again. I never want to loose this feeling – how could I have lived without it so long?
Maybe it's the ukrainian-russian language that exerts a kind of fatal attraction on the visitors. A special kind of magic. Could be the music, the people and the spirit. Could be a mix of the above. Suddenly, I felt that the otherwise heavy feeling of communist architecture was totally neutralized. On the contrary, there was a weird feeling of home that those grey, wet buildings were inflicting on me.
Maybe I am rediscovering CEE in the end, maybe it's about the fact that we will double our results, maybe indeed I will double the level of awareness that I have about myself, and what I can do with it. Maybe in the end, CEE is me!
(Monica Costea - november 2008)
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I have arrived in the MC of Ukraine - a gorgeous spring came over Ukraine in the meantime, while I was away - the place where I fell in love with CEE some months ago! Everything is green, a swift breeze is washing through the trees, smell of flowers and a lot of youth all around!
I feel jalous. Why?
I was standing at the door with Ilar, NST Finance, when a fancy-nice dressed up chick jumps from a cab - she holds with both hands a huge buquet of roses, and a big bag with red-fruit cakes. Her light bue eyes shine with excitement, she smiles a lot and talks aloud with the taxi driver. Hugs me and greets us - Anna, she has just finished a 1 year project in LC Kiev as OCP, a huge one - with interns coming and working with kids in orphanages, for which she raised more than the entire Ukraine MC budget for a year - she told me this story in one breath, while we were making the 3 steps that were separating the courtyard door from the front door of the house - the closing of the project just happened and she is completely thrilled - we enter the house and she calls everyone in the kitchen to jump on the cake! Me included.
One by one, the MC ppl - current, elects, NST come around - we shake shands, we greet, we hug, we eat cake and drink water from colourful ceramic mugs and you can hear all around, from that bunch of almost 20 ppl, all sorts of conversation about the Kiev project, 100 indians getting ready to get on the plane to come to Ukraine, Lyubov going to Norway on 15 June, Tanea calling her elects for the session... the MC Current is undisturbably working in the lounge while the elects are talking about MC - NST roles in 09'10 in the room just near. They all bunk in 1 house, flat and office in the same time, that has witnessed this year huge amounts of energy put into an ambition to "Grow Unlimited". The currents must be 2 weeks away from the end of their terms, yet they work harder than in the 1st. They have just changed the financial model with the current LCPs, they will have a team of 7 and NST of 8 ppl next year, 1 brazilian in the team and an ambition on growth to 1100X...
Something really beautiful is happening in a far off neighborhood of Kiev - 15 electric kids are cooking something great for a country that is the biggest in Europe in size! Not many know this, but they want to spread a lot of peace and meaning around Ukraine. They are a generation of change, they have the energy of a virtuoso team, they have determination and will to never stop. And they will do so and more!
I want to be part of a story like this! Wait a second, ... I am!
(Monica Costea - may 2009)
