Studentie, dulce melodie :)

Imi amintesc de multe ori de experientsa numita ASEM. Eram mici, fara de griji, pierdeam foarte mult timp fara a ne da seama ca il pierdem, caci aveam destul. Stateam de vorba in parc, mincam piine cu chefir sau chifle cu magiun, consumam alcool in public caci nu aveam destule mijloace financiare pentru a merge de fiecare data la Andy's. Mergeam la ore insa rareori eram atenti - tin minte cum in anul 1 stateam in banca 2, asa cum ii sta bine unei shefe de grupa - nici chiar in prima banca unde stau persoanele ce se concentreaza doar la invatat, si nici prea departe, unde sunt cei ce se concentreaza doar la alte aspecte. In anii ce au urmat insa, am ajuns sa stau in ultimele banci - caci ori intirziam si dadeam vina pe cozile intermitente de la decanat, ori ma decideam in ultimul moment sa particip la ora data. Ah, momente fericite. :)

In strainatate insa lucrurile stau nitel altfel. Prezenta nu este obligatorie - decit la orele de limba straina - si totusi, exista persoane ce vin la ore insa nu asculta. M-am intrebat, de ce nu stati acasa, dragi copii, mai ales ca majoritatea vin cu calculatoare si stau pe facebook. De exemplu, cind eram la ASEM, frecventam orele si pentru ca era un mijloc bun de comunicare si un bun mod de a cunoaste alte persoane. Aici insa, oamenii vin si stau in fata la calculator. Nu poti face acelasi lucru si acasa? Nu, caci 1. Daca pierd o lectie vor intra in dependentsa de a nu veni la nici una. Da, poate... si 2. le pare ca anume lectia la care nu vor merge va fi acea lectie cind profesorul va spune ceva despre examen. Pai... uita-te la "Past Exams", la examenele din anii trecuti si stii deja ce format va avea examenul, cite intrebari sunt, ce fel de intrebari si ce se cere de la tine din punct de vedere intelectual. La asem lucrurile stau foaaarte diferit - caci majoritatea examenelor, fiind in orale, cunoasterea persoanei tale de catre profesor este un element crucial. Caci atunci cind profesorul crede ca esti "fata /baiat bun" care a fost prezent si mai mult sau mai putin atent la ore, atunci el poate sa mai inchida ochii la anumite greseli pe care le faci in examen si deci ia in consideratie performatele tale de pe parcursul intregului an. Da, acest lucru permite un anumit nivel de discriminare in defavoarea celor ce sunt nevoiti sa lucreze in timpul studiilor si deci nu au acelasi nivel de familiaritate cu profesorul, insa in general, acest sistem este unul bun, date fiind conditiile din moldova, mai ales dat fiind gradul inalt de iresponsabilitate si incultura caracteristic multor studenti. Iar in cazul examenelor scrise, surprizele curg shiroi, caci exemplul anilor trecuti este ori inaccesibil, ori inutil, caci formatul examenelor se schimba de 3 ori pe an.
Si ok, daca ai note mici, acest lucru nu inseamna ca nu vei gasi un job la fel de "bine" platit ca un student cu note mari. Daca nu dai examenele, nu pierzi nimic decit maximum o bursa de 200 lei ( in cazul limitat al putinilor bursieri) si deci... de ce sa pierzi timpul la ore cind poti sa il folosesti intr-un mod muuult mai util? Eu mergeam la ore... Si ma bucur, caci am primit si cunostinte in materie si cunostinte de viata.

In strainatate insa, consecintele unor note mici sunt mult mai grave. Pierzi bursa si deci trebuie sa platesti taxele scolare si intretinerea. Nu dai examenele, cobori in rating pe liste si deci nu poti beneficia de toate oportunitatile prezente ( in MD nu ai shansa sa pleci un semestru peste hotare cu bursa, nu poti sa te angajezi la practica "platita" cu shasa ulterioara de angajare, nu ai shansa de a participa la multe conferinte nationale si internationale pe tematici globale etc) Deci, aici, trebuie sa inveti. Si majoritatea studentilor o fac... in sesiune.
Inte timp insa, fraze de genu " Dau examenul si scap de obiectul asta oribil" umplu coridoarele universitatilor. La Asem auzi acelasi lucru, insa la ASEM nu prea ai shansa sa iti alegi cursurile, pe cind in strainatate, da. Si deci, cum poti sa zici ca "scapi in sfirsit" de Contabilitate cind aceasta iti este specializarea? Cum poti sa zici ca Marketing-ul nu este pentru tine, cind esti la facultatea MARKETING? Eu cred ca la ASEM studentii sunt mai indreptatiti sa zica ca un anume curs nu este pe placul lor pentru ca la asem se studiaza de toate cite putin. Sunt multe cursuri, si deci, din MUUULTE iti alegi citeva care iti plac. In strainatate insa, ai putine cursuri, toate la tema, toate in rind cu specialitatea aleasa, si totusi, studentii vor sa "scape".
Poate asa gindesc acum, cind sunt mai matura. Poate de as avea si eu 18-19 ani ( m-ash intoarce cu mare placere la acea virsta ) as proceda la fel ca si stundetii mamosi si alintati de aici. Nu sunt toti asa, insa crema studentimii apartine altui post :)

Parlez-vous français?

Intr-o seara ploioasa si destul de friguroasa pe insula, cu tremurici in corp, cu roseata in obraji, cu zimbetul pe buze si cu "r" rrragushit je suis entrée à l'examen oral de français.

Afara erau toti elevii cu care impartisem momente grele de conversatie in fracenza, de gramatica confuza, cuvinte greu de inteles si foarte greu de pronuntat. Persoane cu care am ris citeodata de accentul irlandezilor care nici nu par sa faca vreun efort pentru a usura treaba profesoarei ce cu o mimica chinuita incearca din rasputeri sa inteleaga ce a facut totusi persoana data in ultima sa vacantsa de iarna. Si da, ok, eu poate nu cunosc atit de bine geografia Frantei - irlandezii din clasa mea erau foarte versati in domeniu, pentru ca au calatorit destul de mult,probabil - insa eu macar stiu ca Madagascar este o insula :)
Tsin minte si acum cum am pasit pragul "Applied Language Center" si am decis sa studiez nitica franceza. Profesoara a iesit si a inceput a vb in franceza cu mine, pentru a vedea capacitatile mele de intelegere si de vorbire - primele erau ok, a doilea, nule :) Pina la urma a decis ca apartin clasei STAGE 2 - adica, dupa STAGE 1. Eu eram extrem de bucuroasa, si nu m-am speriat prea mult cind la prima lectie la care am fost, a trebuit deja sa spun citeva fraze. A fost ok, caci undeva in adincul memoriei mele s-au pastrat cei 5 ani de franceza de la liceu - cei 5 ani si cei 6 profesori :)
La lectiile ce au urmat lucrurile au decurs mai mult sau mai putin exact ca la prima lectie : accentele erau puse pe intelegerea orala - profesoara vorbeste bine engleza, insa pentru binele nostru, ne explica totul in franceza. Gramatica trebuia sa o studiem de sine statator acasa - lucru pe care eu nu intotdeauna l-am facut, desi la inceputul semestrului pasisem cu incredere pragul bibliotecii si gasisem si o carte foarte buna de Grammaire française. Mai tirziu am ajuns doar sa rezolv exercitiile puse online de catre profesoara si sa fac temele pe acasa - esee pe teme banale, de clasa 1, Une journée typique, Mon colocataire idéal etc. Unele teme si unele cuvinte erau chiar folositoare - prepozitii, mobilier, expresii, insa asa si nu am inteles de ce am invatat tema Une recette de cuisine si Une invention du XXème siècle. Ok, pentru cultura generala, insa totusi, nu era mai bine sa invatam ceva expresii de uz general?
La examenul intermediar m-am simtit ca la gradinita - aveam fotografii si nume de obiecte si trebuia sa le asociem corect :) Gradinita, insa totuna am avut nota 8.25 (B) pentru ca eseul meu Une journée à l'université continea anumite erori de baza, caci eu, in cele 5 saptamini de studiu nu chiar intens, dintre care 3 saptamini nu fusesem la orele de franceza pentru ca exact miercuri seara apareau diverse alte oportunitati, nu posedam inca foarte bine arta scrisului avec accents ;) Nici nu mai stiam in ce limba sa gindesc cind scriam eseele tema pe acasa - daca gindeam in engleza, era mai simplu pentru ca astfel aveam o mina de ajutor de la GoogleTranslate - insa astfel uneori cadeam in capcana SAMEDI = SUNDAY, caci, na, seamana ;)
Ieri am avut examenul scris. M-am simtit din nou la gradinita, insa, nu este totul atit de simplu cum pare, mai ales cind este o limba pe care credeai ca o tsii minte, si cind colo, surpriza, nu este chiar asa ;) Oricum, colegul de apartament imi zice ca daca sunt multumita de progresele mele si daca imi par destul de simple orele/examenele la franceza, inseamna ca am nimerit la un nivel prea jos pentru cunostintele mele, inseamna ca nu am fost provocata. Poate are dreptate, insa cind esti in Exchange, nu prea ai chef de provocari intelectuale. Si nici nu poti sa le faci fatsa ;)

Sfirsit de an scolar. In Dublin a venit iarna.

Back to "normal"

As i see it, the adversity to change is a purely economical term used in management practices in order to describe the willingness of employees to adopt new strategies, their ability to adapt to new circumstances and their performance in unfamiliar situations.
In more simple terms, change makes people think, and we hate that. When one gets used to a certain procedure, to a certain way, he no longer wishes to move away from that certain warm spot where everything is clear and nice. Of course, this does not apply to all, but in general, i think that humans are not set to enjoy changes too much, as it creates risk, it brings out the unknown and the uncertain. There are numerous talks on the subjects and even more articles on the net, so i will not get into any of those.
To resume : Out of the famous statement " Are we good at what we like or do we like what we are good at? " i am at the moment inclined to believe more and more that we are extremely addicted to our own comfort and we hate change because it makes it harder to deal with previously known situations that now become difficult all of a sudden. Change of job, change of house, change of city, change of my online dictionary page layout that makes me extremely angry and, of course, the change of Facebook - all just examples...
I would say that given Facebook's estimated value of somewhere around 9.5 billion dollars ( my source is Unimedia, my internet is waaaaay too slow to look for other sources, sorry), dealing with adversity to change through this example is very representative : the most obvious proof are the "Change Facebook back to normal" groups on the site. These types of groups appear every time the social networking site changes its appearance, some of its functions or other aspects. And the users are not against the changes because the new version is worse, they are simply against CHANGE in general. The site suffers updates quite often, and the new version is ALWAYS worse than the old one... the OLD one being a version that was NEW at some point in time too, a version that had created its own "Change facebook back to how it was" groups. And yes, there are plenty of users to join the groups, the latter having as much as 1,772,241 members up to date. Names range from normal requests like "We Hate The New Facebook, So STOP CHANGING IT" to stuff like "Facebook will never change anything to the way we want it". No, because it is the CHANGE element that we hate, not the changes that are made. "Is it me or did facebook change again?" - Is it me or is change progress? And if you do sit in front of the computer all day, the least they can do to make you think is to change the locations of the buttons that you are now clicking automatically. And of course, you hate it. "Change facebook once more and we are going!!!!" - No you won't, you are addicted.
Further, i encountered comments like

"Pepple it is so important that facebook is changed back to normal, CHANGE IT BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS!!!" and

"My dad wz yelling at me cuz he didnt know about the whole news live feed thing and he thought i "befriended" him. CRAZY!!!!!!!!!" - Parents on facebook.. the new trend :) My sister said that in 2035 our children will make fun of us "is your mum still on Facebook? hahaha, that's sooooo last century!"

"I hate the new facebook. The old one I figured out and I don't have time to try and figure this one out... Please change it back."

"I'm sorry, it has been two weeks, i can't see my posts, i am confused and i hate this change in Facebook!!!!!Please change it back Please"
"the new facebook is gay."

"Now Facebook shows information that nobody really cares about. I want the old one back!!!!!!"

Funny, sad, true. I abstain from further comments, as i will set them down in another post. I use Facebook too. Not as much as others, but still a lot. And yes, i dislike the changes too, but i don't go creating groups like "Change my Google Logo to the one they had last year."

Stuck

Home alone, and it is weird. Coz for the last period - 2 months and 22 days, to be exact, i have hardly ever been alone. Sharing an apartment with 3 other people, all of them young and restless, and being in the center of the town close to all the pubs and any other activities that people might want to get into, we always have visitors and house parties are not something out of the ordinary, especially if it is wednesday, friday or saturday :)
But now i am alone. My flat mates have all gone to visit cities - Belfast - been there, even if i have not gone to the Giant's Causeway, the only place here in Ireland included in my top 100 great wonders of the world book . But ok, i have gone close enough and my experience in Belfast was very very satisfying anyway, independent of the quantities of beer consumed there. My other two flatmates are in the UK - a country so close, but yet so far due to my NON-EU passport. Going to Belfast had not been an issue as there is no border on the land, but any travel via airways is off the limits for me. People that are here in exchange also go to Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki as the latter are now closer and cheaper to fly to from Dublin or from London - tickets can be found with 1 cent. Other destinations open for travel include Denmark and Germany. So yes, it is kinda sad that i am here stuck on this island, as people put it. But it's ok, it is a nice island.

Amazing Sand Drawing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhf3OvRXKg

So 90's

If you are a student and if you are in Dublin, then you either have "International Life Dublin" as a friend on Facebook, or at least 3 people you know do. It is a very costless and efficient means to get all of the alcohol yielding party lovers international students in one rather small, smoky and dark place where music plays and where the DJ can hardly ever be wrong in selecting a song as the diversity of the crowd and the levels of alcohol consumed entails that with any play-list choice, at least 2/3 of the dance floor will be full. But in terms of alcohol, i do have to admit that the Irish consume more / or get drunk faster than the international students. Probably the latter are not used to paying 1 euro or more for a can of very bad beer :)
Yesterday was the the most crowded party i have attended here in Dublin, and it was the best, even if i did enjoy the other 4 as well :)) So ok, i am not the best person to compare parties and give objective reviews, but subjectively speaking, i found the 90s party very very fulfilling and fun. Although it did make me realize that i have lots of useless information in my brain - like half of the famous 90s songs lyrics, i still felt that the 90s, the period when i had MTV, had been a period of extremely diverse sounds, music trends and a quite interesting fashion. The videos all looked familiar and i was remembering the times so long ago when i used to watch them on our old remote-control-less and color-distorting TV.
Songs of the 90's included various choices like BSB and Spice Girls, Britney Spears and Take That, MC Hammer, Faithless, REM, Madonna, Five, Steps, Snap, Haddaway and, of course, Right Said Fred with "I'm too sexy". Everyone really did seem to dance as if no one was watching - but in reality the club guards were. They made it feel more or less safe to be in that confined space with hundreds (989 that might have attended and 642 confirmed guests on Facebook) even if the people constantly moving and pushing and having little or no respect for other people's personal space did make the disco seem a jungle where the weapons one needed to survive were the high heels, the sparkling wear and the unconscious indifferent brain. People didn't look like they wore costumes though - as the style of the 90s is sometimes worn on the streets nowadays. Interestingly enough, not even at the 80s party were the costumes really evident. Because yes, the clothes my mother used to wear when she was my age are back in fashion. Too bad they are one size too small.