London and me...for the first time :)

Huwo all,

Like I promissed, below you have pictures with my first encounter with charming London- because I found it really quite lovely. After so many years of study about the British culture and after so many years of seeing pictures of the London monumets in study books, finally I got to see all of them live.
My first impression was that the monuments are quite smaller than what I had expected...and my over-all impression- from what I saw is that some places in London are torn from a fairy tale. Seriously...take a look yourselves...

Because I had one hour before meeting Nawaf and Vish (CC members in IC) I decided to walk towards the nearest attraction point- Buckingham palace. As you can see the flag is up- which means the queen is home. :)

And I was lucky because I was just in time for the changing of the guards...


I was really happy to have found such a sunny and warm day...so next I made my way to St. James Park- which I found really really adorable.

The best thing about it were the wild animals that just walked freely around you: geese, ducks, swans, pelicans, squirrels, pidgeons- the parc was really animated and enchanted.

And I imagined how lovely it would be to live nearby and have lunch or breakfast on a bench every day. With Buckingam palace on the left...

...and other beautiful places on the right...

Next I made my way towards Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament...only to find that Ben is...well...not that...big....

Naturally, protesters were posted bright and early in front of the Parliament...but they were peaceful today...

Behind them I found St. Mary's Church...

...and the really really nice and impressive Westminster Abbey...

...from there I returned to the river side to see the London Eye...

...which was great to look at as well, but I don't think I would pay the money to get into it...the view may be great, but it barely moves...:P and I like joy rides...:p

It was here, by the side of the river that I met the first romanian selling souveniers that hit on me....But also bums singing in tube stations that were quite charming and who I think are now part of the underground culture...

Naturally I was relieved to finally meet my boys: Nawaf (left) and Vish (right) and a friend of Vish that was from London whom I kept asking stupid questions afterwards, like "What is the population of London?" and "What do you guys think of the Royal Family?" and so on...

Next we went through Leicester square...

..Over to Trafalgar Square...and saw the National Gallery (didn't visit it- no time :()...


...And Nelson's column. Below was our first "hello CC" picture..:)

Next stop was the famous Soho Neighbourhood...


...with its Sex Shops and peep shows...

...that led us to Picadilly Circus...The Brits brag they had these big adds here way before New York ones...:)


...the other thing Picadilly is famous for is this Eros statue...the thing that shocked me here was the traffic- the whole place is actually a roundabout and the traffic is intense...

After this...we got on the tube to go to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London..which were a bit far...


...I liked the famous Underground... more crowded than the one in Bucharest...and much smaller in dimensions...but quite...poetic...

...It got me thinking about the terrorist attacks more than one year ago and I couldn't believe that I was actually there and that it happened right there...seemed so unfair...

By the time we got out, it was already dark :((...and someone spooky greeted us...but me and Nawaf decided to take advantage and make our famous scary faces near the wax figure...


...and there we were...at the Tower of London...by dark...

..I couldn't resist not to take a picture of the Beafeater who asked me where I was from... upon hearing I was romanian he immediately started to check my teath to see if I was really a successor of Dracula...


...And there it was...Tower Brigde...beutiful like a dream....


...and near it I found a shocking thing...the thing most to the left, that looks like a bee hive, with black and yellow- is actually the building of the City Council...brrr! All the buildings there looked so futuristic...and there was a big battle cruiser right in the middle of Thames, but as it was dark, the pictures of it didn't quite come out so well...sorry dad and Antonio...:P


In the end we took the tube again.... (and look who was advertising on the wall...hmm..)


...to go the the UK MC office- which is huge I might say. There we met some AI members (Petr- the Czech AI VP ER and Amid- the Corporate Relations manager from India). We were told that AI visiting was not an uncommon thing and that Gabitza was also there, having a meeting with the PDU team. After a short MC chat we went to dinner with Pawel (ex. CC VP Finance) who had just flown from Poland to start a traineeship in Tata Consultancy Services- the Indian company Alinutza is working for in India..:). The MC people told us he was lucky to get a traineeship, as there is a huge competition for TNs in London. So Anca...don't be sad...

Finally..a last reunited CC picture, without Caroline unfortunatley, who could not make it. :(.

It was a really pleasant day and a nice experience...and I'm sure I'll go back as soon as I can. Welcome to the UK Pawel and have a safe trip home Vish!

London here I come !!! :)

Tomorrow I'll be in London for one day meeting Nawaf, Vish, Pawel and Caroline- people I met in IC in Poland this summer.

So stay tuned on Thursday for pictures and stories of my first visit to London.

Yupiii!

Leapsa'n carti

Dear Ana,

It took me so long to answer because actually what I have been reading is not all that exciting. Since what I read is mostly for school. But here goes:

- books on Fair Trade- which is the topic of my dissertation (licenta). Fair trade is a concept born some 20 years ago, that is now really being taken seriously- at least in the US and the UK. The idea started from poverty and the fact that producers in African or South American countries never really got a fair price for their products like bananas, coffee or cocoa. The reasons for this are varied: they were cheated at the scale- because they couldn't afford their own, they had no information on fluctuating prices these products were transacted in big commodities markets, the supply chains were too long- and each link added to the price, etc. So the main idea was to trade directly with the producers and to give them a fixed price/kilo and a bonus. The best part is that with that bonus, the producers can decide whether they want to buy new equipment, build a school, a hospital or a water pump. It's an interesting topic. I bought Fair Trade bananas today :)

- a book called"Discover your strengths now" that had a test attached. The test is made by Gallup organization...a world renowned organization that developed questionnaires for many years. My first 5 strengths were:

Achiever: People strong in achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and working hard.

Learner: People strong in learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning rather then the outcome appeals to them.

Maximizer: People strong maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.

Communicator: People strong in communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Woo: People strong in the woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.

Other than that I read a book called: “Movers and Shakers. The people in Business Today”…including Peter Drucker, Michael Dell, Hugh Hefner, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, etc. Basically, this book dedicates some pages to people that have had a contribution in management ideas, or have been innovative in business. It’s an inspirational piece of reading.

That’s about it…well that and a lot of employer directories for companies in the UK. :)

Well, next I give the floor to Luci Gramescu (www.manchesterfm.blogspot.com) because he always has interesting books to recommend.

Work, work and more work...and some fun too :)

If you are wondering where I've gone...wonder no more...I have been sclaving for the system, working hard for school...harder than I've ever worked for school ever; working hard at work and working hard to decide on my future...it's so strange that I have so many options for next year..I could do almost whatever I wanted. The sad thing is that I have to do something smart too.

But I am living several processes now...and since I have no conclusions yet...I'm going to show you the fun part of my life.

After my birthday, because it was also Wing and Ellen's birthdays, we decided to go out on Friday...


and then to go have a Family- all- you- can- eat buffet-like relaxing Sunday lunch in a Chinese restaurant.

Later on the next week came another birthday: Arunas- a friend of ours who had a cool house party. There, I tried lithuanian black bread with cheese and garlic... (make by Nierca. These two guys do the best impersonation of Borat's "disco dance" I've ever seen...)

Still, my house mates were the best...:)

...and we showed everybody what "sexi time" means... (also a Borat quote :P)

On our way home Radu, who is studying photography, took some nice pictures of us...and the citysacpe. "I liiike. Iz nice :))"


And finally today...I had a "me" day...ca deja fac cu capul de atata munca :)
so Dan and I went off strolling around Notts. And it's quite a beautiful autumn here.
And here are some of the things we saw....
Silly goose!...which is a swan actually :)


This is the way most British churches I've seen look like...

Beautiful colours...


Half a windmill...

I dedicate this picture to Unchiu' Dan who taught me how to play chess when I was very little.
And to Breto :) who taught me how to play chess second...when I was a little older...:)

The future is bright...


And it's all mine.

Today...my birthday :)

I had a full day today:
classes, career adviser meeting, how to write a CV training, dance classes (we may do a Christmas show where we dance on Frank Sinatra- "Let it snow"), German classes, shopping for raspberry cheese cake, chocolate cake, cocoa and strawberry milk and candy and then finally a celebration with the people in the house.
The real dancing party is on Friday...when we go out and get wasted.

Thank you to all my friends and family who called or e-mailed today.
I miss you all. :)
Kisses.

And here are some images of tonight:

They surprised me by gathering in the kitchen on the dark and singing happy birthday as I entered...


So I brought out the goodies...


And the three girls that have birthdays on the 8th (me), 9th (Ellen-left) and 2nd of November (Wing) each made a wish...

And the party was on...

Do you see anything wrong about this picture? They love me sooo much...


And in the end the romanians stayed for a special photo shoot...
Borat...better yet Ali G style....


Dorks, geeks and nerds...yeap..that's us...

...What? We can be serious....


But we prefer Charlie's angels...

And our favourite pose is Hong-Kong style.