I'm having a TOUGH week…. And it's in a very positive sense :)
Just thought I should take time to write a couple lines for my dear blog.
Today, I've reached an important milestone. I have presented a paper at an international conference about media ethics. All the participants were YSU/YSLU professors, and the audience included some students and academic staff.
My small report will be published in a guidebook for journalists, disseminated among universities that have journalism faculties and media organizations.
Later I'm going to deliver 2 sessions at a training on the effective use of the social networks for museum workers.
I have submitted an application for a very ambitious program, gathering all the required documents, writing all the statements, etc.
I am preparing my documents for an even more ambitious competition :) lots of papers to gather.. and things to write.. i can make it...
Yesterday I was on a TV talking about the cases of companies asking for employee passwords.
Starting from today my face can be seen on HSBC ads - billboards, web banners, and in a commercial on a TV, my voice can be heard in a radio ad :) … never thought I'd be offered to feature in a commercial and moreover, never thought I'd need to sign a document stating that I'm not a parliament elections candidate (TVs required it).
These days we are actively working on the organization of the TEDxKids@Yerevan event and another smaller TEDx event.
In my workplace, I'm managing a new big project (while finalizing the previous one) and also working on the proposals of some new interesting projects.
I am organizing Foursquare Day 2012 and received a cute swag from Foursquare itself and hope we'll have a great meetup!
In two days I'm leaving for an amazing new country I never thought I’d have a chance to visit. I will participate in a huge and exciting event with more than 700 participants from different countries. I will participate in some interesting and useful workshops and even make a small presentation myself. There will be opportunities to experience some amazing activities I could only see in movies before.
Besides, I'm very energetic and full of love because I have some GREAT people around me and I got convinced that the reality can feel even better than in the sweetest and cutest romantic situation seen in a music video.
I will be posting updates about my exciting activities in my FB and twitter pages and hopefully also eventually post a detailed post in my blog...
this post has been draft for more than 2 months, I couldn't get myself finish it the way I wanted and was about to cancel, but changed my mind just about now :)
Sean Jordan's Vespa and me!
Derek Sivers, in a hilarious short talk from the TED stage, says that we should keep our goals to ourselves.
I do truly believe him. Even though i have always thought that if I am telling someone about my plans, i'm feeling sort of a responsibility towards my plan and accountability to the person I'm telling. But every often when planning something it happens that I'm visualizing it so well, squeezing all the possible positive emotions from just the thought of it, that I no longer feel the need of actually realizing it. Like I have got enough joy just even thinking about it, that after now i have less motivation to accomplish it in reality.
But here, I'm gonna reveal one of my plans, which I'm accountable to few people. These are kind of friends, whom I won't be trying to disappoint or let down.
As someone who's known of loving everything Italian, I must state that I have found another proof of greatness of my favorite nation. They produce awesome scooters! and Vespa being the greatest brand of them.
Carlo's scooter back in 2008, in Genova
It all started when I noticed the strange (for Europe) lack of bicycles in Italy and the plenty of small vehicles that looked different from motorbikes and easier to ride. Then on my 2nd trip to Italy I met Carlo and we made a "giro" on his scooter around Genova and across the Ligurian sea shore... That was truly unforgettable. The first thought I had after that ride was "I'm gonna get one at home!".
My sister has been convincing me to start saving money for a car. I knew i can't save that much money and besides, one car won't be enough for the two of us. I don't like cars much, but for the recent months I've started to feel the terrible lack of a personal vehicle. and I remembered Vespa... started a basic research and found out that there are no Vespas in Yerevan. No one imports them, because they are expensive. There are scooters of Chinese production that are currently in use by local pizza/shaurma delivery services but are not reliable.
Just in the middle of this research i got to meat Sean. A Canadian from Hungary traveling around the world on his old-style Vespa. I told him about my passion and he convinced me that I should definitely get one. When we met, he offered me a ride around Yerevan, so that I could feel how it is to drive a Vespa in Yerevan.
Needless to say, that experience was plain awesome! Of course we got some attention (maybe I shouldn't be wearing those heels :D) and probably it will be much more intense when I drive it alone, but it was not as difficult with local drivers as I thought it would be.
Vespa is a very popular brand.
in La Feltrinelli, buying Vespa merch. :)
During my trip to Italy, I saw so many Vespas, that I couldn't help but wonder: how much time will it take until scooters become a popular transport mean for Yerevan residents? Sooner of later they will, because of the increasing traffic. Inevitably. Maybe I should contact Vespa for establishing a local dealership :)
in Manana youth center (2004),
where i used to teach kids web design
On one of the sunny August days i got the offer. My friend, who was affiliated with one of the private universities, asked me if i would like to teach :) and if my boss would like that idea too?
As someone who's equally interested in my development and realizes that this is another approaching milestone for me, he would surely agree.
So i started preparing. "Internet marketing" is not a subject i would normally consider myself a professional in. But since it is in my area of interest and was aligned with my further plans in life, having my quick-learning skills, I could definitely do it. There are not so many things that i'm this much sure in.
Seems like my long time wishes is coming true.
in EIU (my new workplace),
during some AIESEC event in 2008
I got enough time for preparation. I knew i should write a course syllabus, define the detailed plan of the classes, assignments, projects, testing methods & stuff like that.
For the start, i downloaded a dozen of internet marketing classes syllabuses and explored them. I already had a picture how my syllabus will look like (using the best examples from each) and i found out that i definitely need a course website to set up. Then found couple of online courses that i studied.. And even found Harvard Extension Program's internet marketing distant course's materials (just from the last year!). I mean ALL materials. Video lectures, assignments, study materials in PDF and doc… my heaven :)
So i'll have 2 groups: 4th year and 2nd year of Master's. 2 class hours in each group per week.
I have to develop a very interactive course, including many interesting in-class activities and assignments. Taking into account that the students' marketing knowledge, as well as English-language skills may be limited, i'll have to make sure to find appropriate materials in russian or translate some stuff myself.
Quite a challenge already. It could also be so i would have to first teach what's the internet, then what's marketing.. and so on :)
But while i was picturing myself during the classes, i identified another challenge: my look. i have some concerns regarding my look. *they say* i'm looking younger than my age, even much younger. I have a fear that it will create a faulty impression that i'm not serious enough or professional enough. I'll make sure to put some blush and lipstick before entering the class :)
The first class
my new workplace
I ran my first class in the 4th year group last Tuesday. I've been preparing for quite a while. I've already created the course website, the syllabus is ready to be finalized, i have collected and prepared all the info for the first class. Including my self-presentation, the syllabus presentation, the material on what is internet and what's internet marketing in general :) some ice-breaking acivities are also being prepared. I made a student form so that everyone can fill and i can learn more about them. I will share my impressions from the first lesson soon.
My co-workers and friends are already making fun of me. Maybe they can't imagine me being a professor, dealing with students. Can i really picture myself there? :D should i wear glasses? Dress like a nerd? Be very strict and demanding? Shout on misbehaviouring students? Use punishments? Hit with a pen on a wooden table several times to silence those who speak during the class? :D
In fact, during the first class I asked the students what works for them as a punishment, and what should i do to silence them. I'll share their answers soon :)
My little social experiment
While being very excited about my new "role" and job... i updated my status on FB. I wrote "I got a new job", keeping in mind that people know about my close ties with the current job, they will somehow assume that i got an additional one and didn't quit PanARMENIAN. I couldn't, however, imagine the huge response I got from many friends. Some of them still ask me about where do i work now, since they are convinced that i changed my job, instead of getting an additional one :)
The experiment identified people who were interested in me, happy hearing good news for me or cared about my workplace :)
...
In a separate post I'll describe my first impressions on today's students and teaching in general.
Fall 2010
Here it comes. My beloved autumn. The 26th one I witness. It has always had a special meaning for me. It's when I get most productive, enthusiastic and innovative. It's the start of something new. New area of learning. For many years it had always been celebrated by the beginning of studies which i had managed to miss during the summer...
For a few years after my graduation, I'd already missed the excitement prior to September 1. I felt the lack of celebrating the start of something new. This year it's again the beginning of studies for me. No, I'm not studying again :)
But let me share something with you.
Historical remark, i.e. my teaching experience
my first encounter with a computer. Netherlands, 1994
When it first somehow turned out that i have to start teaching, I was merely 17 years old. Just entered the university, uncertain about so many things. But luckily, i had to teach kids younger than me and things i was very confident in: computer skills. At first. Then i got offered to teach another subject: HTML. I was just started to explore the book my mother bought me from Vernissage. A soft-cover tutorial in Russian, with big red titles, describing all the magic of creating web sites. The job was tough... I had to learn first, and learn deeply, in order to be able to teach it to kids... and they may ask questions.... luckily, it was then i discovered that I can actually learn things pretty quickly. Those kids had no chance to catch up with me :)
It continued for about 7 years... when i'm now looking back, i can't imagine having a 7 years experience of teaching.. can i say that i really did master some key points of teaching art? I mean 7 years, beh!
During that period i even had an out-of-class student. She was a neighbor of ours, just married, looking for a job, but lacking any computer skills. It was a different experience, but probably also somehow notable.
Then I joined AIESEC. The title of trainer somehow again stuck on me, as i was destined to teach computer skills, effective PC/internet usage stuff to people who needed it. I loved the process. I realized that sharing knowledge is something i truly get satisfied from. I love the feeling to be the source of knowledge for someone. It adds value to my knowledge too. So in AIESEC i've been doing some trainings and presentations...
and so about the public speaking. Those who know me, can state that i'm quite a shy personality, not very talkative especially in front of more than 3-4 people. That is how I am... It took me quite a while to overcome the fear of getting on stage and voice trembling. I'm still in the process of learning it, through experiences, thanks to feedbacks. i'm constantly improving my public speaking and presentation skills because i knew it would someday become useful ...
The thought…
Some years ago i started seriously considering offering to teach in my university (SEUA). I was thinking to approach our dean and tell him that i'd be glad to teach some IT-related subject i'm confident about in my faculty. Not that i was feeling the urge to give something back to my alma mater.
Probably the main reason is that I was just feeling bad for today's students who do not have enough young and enthusiastic professors to learn from. I remember that during my studies, most of the useful skills and knowledge were gained from those few young graduates that were teaching us couple of hours a week. They were like vivid examples of successful entrepreneurs and scientists that could inspire us and teach using the language that we used. They knew much more of contemporary technology than their older, wiser colleagues with higher degrees, who were, however, stuck in the soviet-style mindset and methodic, refusing to adopt newer technologies and teaching methods in the classroom.
my diploma work, printed, ready for the defense :)
However, maybe deservingly, these old guys are still much more respected and considered to be more important by the university management, and they not only do not encourage or promote young professors, they put obstacles on their way.
If i actually approached my dean and my offer to teach got accepted, i would still have the feeling that i "own" the university for giving me the opportunity to teach. They would probably treat me like i'm too young "to know many things" and i won't get the deserved respect for the time i would take from my fulltime job and free time and devote to teaching, practically for no or very small monetary compensation. They would feel that they can exploit me, and load with lots of stuff i shouldn’t do. Maybe i'm very wrong with my assumptions but somehow i feel that it will be more or less like that.
My mom (a university professor, PhD) one advised me not to apply for postgraduate studies unless i'm planning to devote my life to teaching. No, she exactly said like this: "Do you really want to devote your time to teaching in a university? Hardly, there's no reason to study PhD for you". What she didn't know is that i actually love teaching (genes, huh), but she was assuming that she didn't want me to encounter the difficulties that the teachers and professors face today. They are way underpaid and have so few opportunities and it's not one of the most rewarding jobs.
I have my own motives for this.
1. The satisfaction from knowing that you were the source of someone's knowledge and the feeling to be helpful for several people.
2. Developing the public speaking skills, ability to handle a large audience.
3. Getting to know subject much more deeper, really mastering it.
4. Kind of recognition of the knowledge you have. You won't teach it, if you wouldn't know it good enough, true?
If I had the opportunity to write a letter to myself, time traveling to past... say 3 months earlier, it would look like this:
Dear Arpi, it's the end of spring 2010. Busy season for you. Being part of so many things, doing so much stuff.. making plans for the summer... so what is it? have a nice holiday somewhere, with friends... and/or buy some new gadgets you've been planning... learn new things... go out and have fun at nights.. work less and watch more movies? you know, in reality, you failed at so many things from your plan... it's not just because you were bad at accomplishing things.. you're sometimes being hard to yourself, setting ambitious goals, often impossible to realize all at the same time. maybe the percentage of the accomplished vs. planned things is not big enough for you, but it's number and value are remarkable.. Would you be surprised or saddened if you knew back then that you're not gonna go on a holiday or spend even just 1 day out of the city, away from the routine..? I'm sorry to tell you, but it really turned out that way... but don't worry, many amazing things happened to you during these 3 summer months, including things you couldn't have planned or imagined :) First of all, you were a good girl, getting smarter by reading many smart books and watching many smart people talking. Yep, it's the time you get really obsessed with TED and translation of talks. You spend hours watching and hearing about many amazing things and that fuels your imagination, motivation and brings a lot of satisfaction. During this time you truly realize the need of >24 hours in a day, and think of ways to reduce time spent on the night sleep to have more time to watch interesting videos and read books. You finally get an unlimited quality internet at home. During summer you try on a new role at work, train yourself in a completely new profession and not surprisingly, it's coming easily for you... you are having many business meetings, training your communication skills and having some remarkable achievements in the area... i'm proud of you :)) Then you spoil yourself with couple of gadgets.. you know.. you finally get a motivation to read more and easily on your Kindle... then you.. guess what? get the latest smartphone... the smartest Android and become tech obsessed :) i can't yet judge if it's good or bad.. i'm still IN the state.. but let's hope it will turn out to have few or no disadvantages. By the end of the summer one of your long time goals will be achieved. remember that small item on your "Things-to-do" MindMap that you're seeing on the right side every time you open the file? now it's getting expanded, really :) you know, on one of the pleasant August Saturdays you spend an hour sitting in front of your university's building and trying to pick up some nice memories from the years of study. yep, you're becoming melancholic in politex! i'm not leaving a spoiler here, cause i have to write a separate blog post for it :) ah and regarding the blog ... you still have difficulties finding the right timing for writing. by the end of August, you have 6-7 draft posts you can hardly ever finish. You still dream of finding ways to share all the learnings, exciting discoveries, interesting meetings you've encountered, but something's not letting you to do so. Also now, you have to work on your productivity/procrastination rate and get things done! One more thing. you'll meet many new and amazing people. You'll enjoy your time with them and you'll finally learn enjoying every minute spend with a nice person even realizing that you're not gonna meet them ever again. You'll have nice guests from HC/CS, learn many things from them... and your passion for traveling will leave you wondering of all the amazing places you could go to and torture with the impossibility of realizing them in the near future. Besides, you'll revive some old acquaintances and value your friendships.
Arpi.. the autumn is gonna be tough... you'll need a lot of energy to accomplish all the things that are along the way and have impact on other people.. this is not just for fun or for yourself... things are getting more serious and as long as other people are concerned, you'll be under pressure and urged to take responsibility. but i know you'll be good :)
Again I have abandoned my blog for some time.. but I must say that it's constantly on my mind and I'm permanently trying to bring myself back to the writing habit. One thing is that I feel more responsible in whatever I write since I get a lot of reactions and feedback concerning my blog and it even turned out that I inspire some people :) That really flatters me, but also increases my sense of responsibility.
The other thing is that I've been writing a lot of marketing materials for my job and writing in a personal journal also a lot, so probably it was my limit of typing/writing that was reached :)
However, I'll try to catch up with all the topics that I have scheduled to post here and in the current post will tell you some updates on what was happening around me lately.
The Great Lent starts today. Since the recent weeks I was mostly at home and spent a lot of time sitting at a computer, a small weight loss will be only good. And thus, the Lent is a good occasion. Although I must admit - I'm doing it not because of religious beliefs (I'm not very religious), but to clean my organism. I have friends that had been fasting this period for some years and they were feeling really good after that, with a refreshed organism.
Armenian Apostolic Church declares the beginning of the Great Lent on February 23. It will last 48 days, until Easter on April 12. Fasting by Armenian religious traditions include abstaining from any kind of food not of vegetable origin. While during Catholic Lent eggs and dairy products are allowed, on ours (similar to Orthodox traditions), on the contrary, the meat, dairy products and eggs, seafood are forbidden.
This will be a tough job for me since meat is a frequent ingredient for dinners at our home (like in most Armenian families). And I'm not saying about cheese and other dairy products ! I cannot yet imagine my life without cheese :((
So I need to prepare my food myself which can include:
Rice
Potatoes
Corn
Lentil
Haricot, pea and other beans
Mushrooms
All sorts of vegetables (hello, spring!)
Spinach and other greens
Oatmeal
Noodles (soya or rice)
Yeast baking
Honey (luckily it's allowed)
Cereals
From the sweets - dried fruits
And from the following things i should abstain:
Milk, sour cream, butter
Cheese
Meat, chicken, fish
Eggs
Cakes, pastry, donuts
Sandwiches, pizzas, most pastas...
Olive oil
Wine (! :( )
Arrivederci my dear pizza...
I concluded that i can make my beloved pizza with yeast dough, cover it with vegetables and tomato pasta (?), but somehow resist to put cheese. This could work :) And also I can make a wide range of salads with vegetables.
I cannot guarantee that I will resist and abstain from all the forbidden food, and so maybe I will sometimes become catholic :D (eating dairy products) but I will try my best to fast for the first time. In fact, I've never been on any kind of diets before.
Now, that I have written about my commitment in my blog, it became kind of an obligation, so I will keep it updated on the process.
There are scars on our bodies that remind us of different things - some good, some bad.
I have scars that remind me of some hot august days in my early childhood, when i fell down on a rock and injured my knee. I have a pigment scar on my belly that i hate, and that doesn't remind me anything else than embarassment when i weаr a swimsuit.
So i decided to make another scar, intentionally, that will remind me of my gold youth :) of how i was happy, careless (sometimes :D), and moreover, it will be a nice sign, looking sexy when i wear sandals :) I decided its preliminary design, an approximate date of doing it and know who can help me with making the final drawing that will appear on my foot :)
But the recent couple of days were unexpectedly warm and pleasant. The ice has almost melt. At least in the downtown Yerevan. The pathways are dry and the Sun has started to look out from the clouds more often and bring warmth. My 25th spring seems to be one of the most anticipated ones. The spring is wonderful in Armenia.
Last year I missed its coming. I was in the Netherlands since January when it was really very cold and got back in April (it snowed and was unexpectedly cold in Netherlands). I cannot describe my feelings then :) The endorphins quantity in my blood was way increased and I was enjoying every step, every second and every breath for some months of my home coming. I noticed that in spring I'm having a huge productivity boost, loads of ideas and I'm becoming very energetic.
Now I'm daydreaming about March and April. Seems like I've planned 70% of my weekends in advance already! Some shopping (connected to my next salary), some changes in my appearance ;) some small events like organizing traditional pizza parties chez moi :) and other...
Revealing one of the weekend plans:
March 15, cascades, red sneakers, orange coat, spring breeze, xpress music, midday, yum filter coffee, Sun.
Today it rained for the first time this year, and it truly smelled like spring. I strolled a bit in the streets under the rain and on my way home a teenage boy approached me and gave flowers. My first spring flowers this year :)
I started to write this post about a week ago. I needed to focus on writing about focus :)
So! It appeared so that the whole January I was unemployed and had a lot of free time for finishing my unfinished tasks, making new year resolutions, self reflection and everything in general.
Still, i haven't succeeded in completing all of the tasks that i have set for myself, productivity as well as satisfaction of how i spent the day was sadly low.
The saying that the more you have to do, the more you manage to do is sadly true for me.
Some years ago I used to study for Master's, had a full-time job + one part time (classes, teaching) + self-studying Italian. But now, when i don't have any assignment other than doing housework, I feel that i'm not doing anything valuable and i'm not even bringing my tasks to finish.
Since the beginning of January i started several things that i still didn't finalize. I left them undone and it's like a stone hanging from my neck.
The basic concept of GTD is getting all those commitments, bits of information and must-dos out of your head and into a trusted system. I tried different tools for that but it didn't work. I couldn't get all that in one place and couldn't force myself checking that one information repository constantly.
In fact, GTD has got many fans and many people write about it, make applications for it. It's simple, seems easy but in fact, you're spending more time on collecting, organizing, planning than actually doing anything. You need to change a lot of your habits to adapt to GTD. So this method certainly has its weaknesses. The following article gives more opinions: What is wrong with GTD? In any case it's worth reading since personally for me, it helped to realize many things about productivity and planning.
Then i read a lot of posts that came across in my Reader, and learned a lot from them. For example:
Then i realized the main reason of the failure. The multitasking isn't always favorable. Especially when i have to write something, make something, i'm being badly distracted by gtalk conversations, email notifications, unread items in Google Reader, etc... I have read lots and lots of articles on productivity and getting things done and analyzing all the information i got, i made the most important conclusion: I need to FOCUS.
When writing tasks, write them in S.M.A.R.T. goals format *.
Be online only when it's necessary and there's time and wish to talk (gtalk, odnoklassniki, etc)
Connect to the internet only when it's necessary
When writing, reading or working on smth, leave only the windows and applications necessary for that. close all others.
Check the to-do lists in the morning and in the evening,
Check the email 4 times a day: morning, lunch, after work, before sleep.
Clean-up the Google Reader from time-killing useless feeds and leave only the ones that are necessary and are enough to read daily and setup time for reading feeds, morning for and before sleep, for example
Setup daily and weekly things to do that would include gym, reading, movies, etc...
When there's need for motivation and good mood, put on nice music on shuffle and sing aloud :)
* From AIESEC, among all other useful things i've learned, is the goal-setting and especially the S.M.A.R.T. goals, what a wonderful invention of humankind :) SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.
And now i'm setting a SMART objective to plan the tasks i have written and set smart goals for all of them.
S: Write the goals in SMART format
M: All of the goals have timing and a detailed plan
A: It is achievable :)
R: Sure it is realistic
T: I put a deadline Sunday midnight.
If you would like to read further, i'd recommend following blogs:
Dreaminder is a free tool that helps people remember what we want from our lives. Reflect on your life, your dreams, your vision for yourself and write it into the box on the website. Then set the date when you want to be reminded.
Here's how Dreaminder helps you remember your dream:
1. Write down what you want out of your life
2. Send it to yourself in the future
3. Start working towards your dream
On the day in the future when you receive your dream, you can see how far you've come. You can congratulate yourself, or revive your dream and continue on the path that is right for you.
I did so exactly one year ago, and today in the morning I received what I wrote then. It was a strange feeling :)
I've written some goals I'd like to reach in a year and now I'll copy them here almost the way i received... just a bit translated from my language.
I have traveled a lot, I have lived sometime abroad!
I developed many soft skills.. I'm much more fluent and confident in Italian and English...
I have a high self-esteem !
I have many opportunities....
I am needed.
I have a person whom i trust my life..
I have a clear picture of my future...
I found out that i've completed most of the goals by the first quarter of the year...
So in general I've completed about 89% (raw calculation :D) of my goals ;) which is COOL!
This time, together with my friend Tata, we decided to write down our goals and dreams for 1 year and read them together meeting in our favorite cafe :)
Traveling is my greatest passion. I haven't traveled a lot (comparing to how i would like to :D) but still I've been to some places, mostly in Europe.
So far I've visited (chronologically):
Moscow, Russia (6 y.o.) - don't remember the occasion
Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and some other cities in The Netherlands (9 y.o.) - lived one month in a host family in Berkel & Rodenrijs
Odessa, Ukraine (11 y.o.) - summer vacations with family
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (19 y.o.) - participation in a film making workshop
Amsterdam, The Netherlands (20 y.o.) - participation in an international film festival "TheOneMinutes Jr."
Venice, Padova, Vicenza, Verona, Treviso, Trieste, Roma and other cities in Italy (21 y.o.) - international student camp in Venice
Istanbul, Turkey (22 y.o.) - participation in AIESEC's annual international congress
Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Den Haag, Groningen and other cities in The Netherlands again (23 y.o.) - internship in Rotterdam (AIESEC international) for 2,5 months
Milan, Genova in Italy (23 y.o.) - an extended weekend while I was on internship in Netherlands
I like airports, planes... I feel good in the air :))) Since I'm not rich (neither my family is) I cannot afford frequent trips, though I'm sure when i start earning enough, traveling will be my first priority over buying stuff.. even electronics (I'm very much into hi-tech stuff) or anything else :)
One trip give me so much happiness, experience, adventures and excitement, that i won't exchange it with anything "material".
I haven't been anywhere just for vacation.. everywhere i have been to, i was on some event - workshop, festival, conference, internship, work camp, etc... and on each all of these cases i got full or partial expenses covering.
But the obstacles are not only the ticket costs (which is by the way very expensive for the flights to/from Armenia), but it's also the visa restrictions. It's not so easy to get a Schengen visa or especially a US visa.
That's why i'm dreaming about living in Europe for some while... to be able to travel around :)
My next trip is to the Venice of the North - Saint Petersburg for an international youth Festival of Friendship - Dec. 3-7.
Frankly speaking, Russia wasn't in my travel plans, and especially Moscow is among my least favorites.. but i couldn't miss the opportunity to see Piter. I've heard that it's very much Venice-like (you know, i'm addicted to cities on water, especially with water arteries like Venice and Amsterdam), so i will definitely like it.
The aim of my post wasn't telling about my travel experience but to describe you how I am getting ready for my next long-awaited trip (all my trips are very long awaited, i can never get enough!).
Wiki
So, before leaving for some city, I'm checking it's page on Wikitravel, for example Saint Petersburg. There is all the needed information starting from "How to get there" (planes, trains, buses, boats), contacts and websites of hotels, hostels, eating and dining locations according to the budget, travel tips, main tourist attractions and sights.
Maps, getting there and walking around
Then i'm finding the venue and my places on google maps. In this case (for Russia) Яндекс.Карты is better.
I'm looking the routes to the places, subway maps etc... When in Netherlands i was planning my trip to Milan, and I had to change several means of transport - buses, trains, plane (Rotterdam - Eindhoven - Bergamo - Milan), i had planned the whole route minute-by-minute, and printed out detailed maps. And that trip really went as excellent as i planned!
Depicting what you saw Google Earth (Photos geo-tagging and panoramio) is great for seeing the photos of places.. and going to the same views for taking good pictures ;) So sometimes I'm going somewhere knowing which scenes i need to shot.
My personal recommendation - take a tripod!!! It's required if you want to have good night shots.
A table one would also do (I have bought one for 10 EUR and it's for not professional cameras, only for compact ones). It's enough to find any flat space you can put it on, and leave it like that (I'm so much thankful to trash cans in Amsterdam :D). Good also if you're traveling alone and there's nobody to take photos of you, tripod can help you here!
Street View
If I go to one of the major cities in Europe or US, i will definitely check the Google Street View. It's an amazing tool for seeing the cities without actually visiting them in person :) There you can take virtual walks; pan, rotate and zoom, view street level photographs, explore cityscapes, landmarks, points
of interest.
I strolled in Milan and Rome couple of weeks ago, walked in the familiar streets, saw my favorite sights and also stores :) it gives me goosebumps! so many memories awakened... I'm not going to view other cities now - I will only do that when i have a realistic plan to visit...
If i visit NY street view, for example, i will become very upset about seeing things that I'm not able to visit, and it will be painful :D
See how the street view works:
Tourist information
I'm also looking at tourist information websites... This time I found something very amazing - Virtual tours ! I can download audio guides, put them into my phone (audio player) and listen while walking in the streets there... also on the way - in plane/transport.
So when i get there, the places seem familiar :) i know what to expect, I'm ready for it!
"Моя твоя нэпанимать or yes, I am a table"
I usually also pick a hard-copy travel book and a phrase-book of the language. This time it's not needed since I speak Russian and the trip is short, so there's not enough free time to enjoy the city on my own.
But for Istanbul, i had a nice travel guide which i read on the plane and i have learned the basic phrases in Turkish. If you are walking in the streets, buying something, it's better to say several phrases in their own language, so that the people is being really friendly and helpful.
If the language is difficult I try to learn at least the pronunciation rules, so if I read, for example, from the phrasebook or signs, they will get me :)
It helped me much in Italy. After living in Netherlands for a while (of course i had to learn some common phrases there, but still the Dutch was very unusual for me), in Italy it was like in heaven :) I could understand and get understood! I was asking for a way in Italian, buying things and thanking the seller in Italian, everybody was happy :)
A dress, shoes, accessories (purse, bijoux /earrings, necklace, bracelet/, belt, tights), nail color, hair style, make-up, outerwear, ... and all of this multiplied by 2 -- This is my preparation list for my cousin's wedding.
Nobody wanted it to happen this time of the year, but it happened as it happened :) and we have to wear something warmer during the first part (including the church ceremony) and then change it to something restaurant-friendly :)
I just came from their apartment, where they were getting ready - preparing the table, decorating rooms, the entrance etc :) and i saw my Gohar on her last eve of the unmarried life and at her current home.
The groom and his family will come and pick her up around 1pm and we'll head to the church. After the ceremony, the family goes to the groom's house and then at 5pm it's time for the great celebration in the restaurant :)
I guess this wedding will be according to Armenian traditions and you can expect colorful descriptions with photos from me soon. :)
here's the church "Surb Gayane" in Echmiadzin where the ceremony will take place tomorrow :)
This is the first wedding of such a close person to me and I'm very excited!
Got the tickets !!! we're going to have fun :) 5 girls - mostly italo-holic :)
Researching his website trying to find a possible song-list for the "All the best" tour, i found the following: (i supposed we're in the Eastern Europe region)
01. Wonderful Life
02. I Won’t Let You Down
03. Senza Una Donna (Without A Woman)
04. Baila (Sexy Thing)
05. Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime
06. Nel Così Blu
07. Il Volo
08. Bacco Perbacco
09. Occhi
10. Così Celeste
11. Blue
12. Diavolo In Me
13. Dune Mosse
14. Diamante
15. Va, Pensiero
16. Amen
17. Miserere
*Gone to learn all lyrics by heart by the concert day! :D
Today i was setting goals for September... here are some of them:
learn to drive a car :) it seems like i will own one by spring ;))))
take Portuguese classes ;)))
make a FILM!
As for the discoveries of the day.....
I found a nice way to spend a free lunchtime :-) i go to Yum, take my favorite donut (bavarian with chocolate or caramel ;) together with my favorite american coffee of Yum, and start an "autotraining" - i write down words with which i have positive emotions connected :) also i'm writing down things that make me happy :))))
Today i discovered that the new Yum on Tumanian street is great for meetings. downstairs there are lots of big tables and comfortable chairs, not to forget to mention the FREE wifi!!!! and not least importantly - the plugs near the tables :D
I understood that if not the most important one, but still, one of the MOST IMPORTANT things i got from AIESEC is the sincere belief that actually i CAN DO EVERYTHING :)))) yes, i can reach all the realistic goals i set ! :) i know it, i feel the power :):):)
The song of "Secret Garden - Nocturne" which also has its "dance" by the Republic square fountains, used to be a winner of Eurovision 1995 from Norway. Seemingly having japanese motives it turned to be Irish-Norwegian :D but it didn't stop me thinking of japanese houses, swords, dragons etc etc :D
I was watching the closing of the Olympics... wishing i could be there in London in 2012 or in Vancouver 2010
also, i want you to SMILE when you meet me :) i need your sincere smile! i will tell you why, later, though it has some other obvious reasons too :D
