Aventura de Espanol: June 2009

Hello all from Madrid, Espana

A lot of people have been asking whether I will have a blog or some updates of some description etc so here it is. Actually I created this blog months ago, but actually this is the first time I have posted to it so here you have it.

Ok so back to the beginning of this epic adventure.

History: In March 2007 (yes I meant history) I was having my uni ID reissued for my final year and next to this was a stall for some student organisation called AIESEC. I never would have guessed at the time I would be sitting here in a flat in Madrid writing this to you 2 years later.

To clarify for those that after all this time don't really know what AIESEC is I will explain. AIESEC is the world's largest global student organisation which operates in 110 countries with more than 36,000 members worldwide. The goal of the organisation is to activate leadership amongst young people through three main activities: providing a global learning environment, prodiving leadership opportunities and providing the opportunity to participate in a global exchange program. Through these avenues AIESEC allows its members to explore and develop their leadership potential by undertaking various opportunities within the organisation to foster cultural understanding and develop themselves as leaders who can create a positive impact in society.

Ok so how did I end up here. I joined to organisation purely to go on exchange. However, after my first national conference in Melbourne in July 2007, I decided that I wanted to pursue the opportunities within the organisation first and I knew that I wanted to work at a national level in July 2009. Haha I thought I was going to work for AIESEC Australia in Sydney. So in 2008 I undertook the position of Local Committee Vice President of Talent Management in AIESEC Griffith University. So what does that lovely title mean? I was responisble for coordinating the human resource activities for AIESEC in the local chapter at Griffith University. This includes implementing the national HR strategy at the local level, recruiting new members, co-ordinating member training and development, recruiting people to go on exchange, running local meetings, succession planning for leadership positions and ensuring the President and other Vice Presidents are providing effective coaching of their teams. Every position in AIESEC lasts for one year so that role finished in December. During this time I had the opportunity to travel to conferences all round Australia and also attend an international training conference in Ukraine.

All this time I was working towards applying for the national committee of AIESEC Australia which would have involved moving to Sydney. So in January I went to the national conference in Adelaide where I undertook the very involved election/selection process. Unfortunately I was not selected, but immediately I was sent many international opportunities from people I had met during the conference in Ukraine. One of these opportunities was Spain. Despite the fact my Spanish was non existent I applied anyway and on February 13 very very very early in the morning I got the call that I was selected as Member Committee Vice President Talent Management AIESEC in Spain. What does this mean? I do the same activties as when I worked at the local level but for 11 universities in Spain. I drive the national HR strategy and coach the local versions of me in the activities mentioned before. I also lead a team of two others that support me in delivering the HR strategy. So in a nutshell that brings you up to date with what I actually do and how I got here.

Since February: First thing has been to madly study the Spanish language!!!! Hahaha. Much harder than I probably thought lol. To clarify, the language of the international organisation is English and all conferences are delivered in English. My team is a very international team as well. Including myself we have two native English speakers - me and Nithya from Canada. Fortunately for Nithya she has studied Spanish before and can at least understand the majority of what is said. Then there is Stella from Italy who can speak several languages including Spanish. The rest are native Spanish speakers - Cris and Luci from Spain, Sylvia from Costa Rica, Cynthia from Mexico and Sebastian (the only guy) from Chile.

Next challenge - get a visa!!! Hahaha such fun. First of all the issue is deciding which visa we actually qualify for. To this date we don't actually know which one it is and only two of us have had it granted - me and Sebas. The rest we are still working on. The wheels of diplomacy move extraordinarily slow.

In April we all came over for Planning Meeting which was the first chance we had to interact with the members of AIESEC in Spain (and meet each other in person). This was cool because we were able to see Madrid, see our house which we will all share and start our planning as a team. It was the first opportunity for me to really get a sense of how little I actually understand Spanish. But everyone was very nice and spoke a lot of English with me. I also discovered that Spain is not as hot as I thought it would be and that I am going to freeze come the actual winter. Definately going to launch the "Hug a Queenslander" campaign here...

My team (L-R): Sebastian (Chile), Me (Australia), Luci (Espana), Cynthia/La Morra (Mexico), Cris (Espana), Nithya (Canada), Sylvia (Costa Rica), Stella (Italy).

So May I returned to Australia to get myself fixed up - tooth implant, stomach operation, and packing up my stuff, which is now downstairs at Mum and Dad's place some of which is waiting shipping to Spain. Try getting your life for a year into 20kgs.

28th May: Time to leave. After packing and repacking and repacking and repacking I finally got to the airport with 26kgs in packed luggage and a little over 7ish in the hand luggage. Haha. Now they weigh your hand luggage (but only in Brisbane) and that means repacking again!!! Don't worry about 20kgs if you fly Etihad airways - you can actually take 30kgs in your checked luggage before they charge you. WTF???? Anyways finally got it all equalled out and checked through to Madrid. Leesy, Kenny, Mum and Dad were there to say goodbye which was of course extremely sad. And so began the epic trek halfway around the world to lovely Espana.

Saying goodbye to the parents

Because of my stomach operation, I had requested a novel option offered by Etihad (or so their website leads you to believe) of having ice cream meals. That was fine for the Brisbane to Singapore leg. After that apparently the message didn't translate despite having the note on my boarding pass for special meal request. So in the middle of the flight trying to explain what I needed the air hostess asks me if I'm fit to travel. Um hmmm we're 40 000 feet in the air is that really the right time to be asking that question?????? So finally made it to Abu Dhabi then 9 hours wait for the next flight. Arrive in Brussels. Another 8 hours wait. Midnight Friday 29 May (Spanish time) I arrive in Madrid. 3 days travelling. Got to love it. Immigration in the EU never ceases to surprise me. Landing in Belgium I had to pass immigration even though I was transiting to another flight and not passing customs.

Immigration: What is the purpose of your visit?

Me: Transit to flight to Madrid

Immigration: and what are you going there for? A holiday?

Me: (what is it to Belgium immigration? It's not their country) Um no I'm going for a year. There is a visa in there somewhere

Immigration: (flicking through for visa and stamps it) Ok

I land very late in Madrid, where I already know there is no such thing as customs declaration, and go down to baggage claim all the while looking for immigration. Nope just grab your bags and go. Final theory: It doesn't matter where your final destination is in the EU, you just immigrate where ever you land and then its like flying Australian domestic between the other EU countries.

1st week in Madrid: First weekend was spent pretty much sleeping and recovering from the epic journey. I took my first solo trip to the SuperMercado (Supermarket) which is across the road from my apartment which was interesting. Everything comes in giant size. First challenge deciding which shampoo I wanted. Ever tried translating a shampoo bottle? Then finding liquid items for suitable consumption given my restricted diet. But we got there in the end.

Monday was very exciting as it was my first official day in the office. I had a late start and because of that was the only person in the house. Now as most of you know logic and direction are not my strongest assets so I headed off from the house up the street which I believed was Palos de la Frontera ( the street of my apartment and also the Metro), but very soon realised that it didn't quite look the same as the street with the Metro stations. So I turned around and realising I only had 15 minutes until I started work decided to stop and ask for directions to the Metro station. My first interaction in Spanish with a stranger on the street. Well with a sentence that I thought was the correct one in Spanish and a lot of finger pointing I made it to the Metro station. Luckily the Metro runs like every 2 minutes in just about any direction with the office being only 3 metro stops away and I made it to work at 11am on the dot.

In terms of being "late" I needn't worry as the Spanish concept of time is very much different to the Australian concept of time. Really anywhere within a half hour timespace of the time you are supposed to be somewhere is considered more than acceptable. Meanwhile I'm having a breakdown about being 5 minutes late. I don't think any of our sessions yet have started on time...

Transition has been crazy, intense, awesome, exciting and eye opening. Due to visaing issues, we have had three of our team online for all the sessions. Unfortunately for them they start at 2am and finish at around 11:30am with periodic breaks depending on where we are up to and what's happening in the office. Luckilly Sylvia will join us tomorrow and hopefully Cynthia and Nithya very soon too. We channelled their spirit through pictures of them which we carried to all sessions and lunches (although we left them in the office this weekend lol).

Channelling the spirit of our "virtual girls" Cynthia, Nithya and Sylvia

This weekend we toured Madrid. Strangely though since Friday the weather has taken a sudden cold snap and consequently is about the same temperature as Brisbane lol. Of course I don't have my winter clothes with me so needless to say I have been quite cold again!!! Friday night we went to a former MCVP of AiS for a Mexican dinner which Yeni and Pepe cooked. I managed to eat a bit of guacamole. We finished the night with a touch of kareoke and dragged ourselves home at around 4am. Needless to say we slept in until 2pm Saturday and then Gabryel, Stella, Sebastian and myself went for a tour of Madrid. We walked all over the city and took in many sights such as Riteiro Park, Palace Real, Plaza de Espana, Plaza Mayor and others. We left the house at 3:30pm and returned at 10:30pm when the sun had only just set. At midnight we headed out again to a discoteca where we partied the night away till 6am. See what I mean about Spanish time?!