That one month again

Recently I was reading back a few of my previous bogposts...finding some interesting titles :)

One of them said: One month notice...well, here I go again. It has been one month since I'm back to Jordan, so here are a few comparisons and reflections.

Last year around the same time I felt much less at ease with my life and my lifestyle than this time. And no, it is not about the fact that I obviously know my way around much better than I did a y

ear ago (around Ramadan I was already more or less on track), I would look for the reasons somewhere else.

Place number 1 being myself and the effect on my personality of the last year and the recent decisions I have made. Decisions of coming back, decision on leaving AIESEC (and its reasons behind).

Story number 2 - my status. Hmm, this might not be clear, but being on a leadership role vs. being a "random" intern (if I'm an intern, at my company I'm handled totally as junior officer - which I'm truly grateful for!).

Even things around me are totally different or what I do with my days.

Good example is the holiday (though am starting to get a bit bored of it....busy life is suited for me much better :P) - and again the point is hidden in the tiny details.

How much do you see me online? When last year everyone was used to see me there, most of

the time working, but even in my free time being stuck on my laptop, watching movies, being online, chatting or anything else. In comparison this year I barely opened my laptop - and I do feel great about it, even if I keep watching movies, though now on TV :P, because it somehow makes me feel that I have a life.

Or the other point of enjoying every minute of cooking or cleaning around the new place I moved to (hopefully settled for a long time in here) - the point is not the cleaning, but that I care about what is around me, I care about the details and I enjoy caring, enjoy the small fragments of life, a phone call, a random gathering, sudden discovery of a good film on TV or a good random chat with anyone I like (and if I'm online).

I know it sounds a bit cheesy, or like "ok, what is this bullshit again....how can you enjoy cleaning

for 3 days???". But despite that sometimes I think this, in general I feel really good about this new ability of being happy about the small things. Makes me balanced, keeps me going and gets me recharged. And this is awesome....coz I know that my usual sense of responsibility or persistence can keep me going - but it is like getting into a new challenge while charging batteries :)

Challenge? Well, not in its usual sense for me as I'm not (yet) collapsing under workload or I'm not learning a totally new field and handling high risk and stress projects....but I do learn a lot. About myself - now that I have time to think and digest (the last few years at least :)) - about marketing and the telecommunication industry, as my job is truly turning out to be an awesome opportunity.

Through my current job I also do learn to appreciate a lot of things which I thought again to be natural. Like that I can keep sensing the market and in the same time handle numbers and statistics; the ability to learn and understand fast (I definitely delivered a decent surprise to my boss on this matter), the sense of clear but diplomatic communication. Natural, right? For anyone still, or right after AIESEC they all seem like usual traits for 'survival', but well, not in the

corporate world where these small things turn out to be real assets and surprises. (I had my first month evaluation with my direct manager - I was surprised how surprised he was :P He needed convincing that I do not have telecommunications background :P)

About place number 1, the decisions and the reason behind them - this is the part what is hard to formulate into a post...or I guess even in a discussion it would be hard to do. One thing I feel now, that I have made the right choices (though fully only time will judge them) and this does make me feel at ease ;)..and I hope later on I can share more than this.

Besides the philosophic stories I did upload a few more pictures from the company Iftar we had. Iftar is meaning 'breakfast' in arabic, but is usually heard like this during Ramadan when it constitutes the first meal - around 7 pm :P. Here usually companies do organize a gathering for their employees in the form of an Iftar during Ramadan, lovely networking and good fun (though I did not win anything on the draw, hehe). It is good to see around 500 people together, being able to connect to people also informally (I was truly waiting for this opportunity) and enjoying a dinner (khmm, breakfast) together :)

Also another Iftar, the last one during the Holy Month, when I cooked together with a few friends. We spend a whole evening together, from shopping to eating, through cooking....and the necessary shisha (or how it is called here: argeeleh). And the good point is that they live like 200 meters from my place :D looking forward to more fun with the Tunisian gang (unfortunately no pictures yet).

Also my kung-fu trainings have started with the boys, and did have my first arabic class (damn, I need to do the homework :P)...and I really enjoy both the trainings and feeling that I do give in conscious effort into my arabic, really looking forward to some improvements :)

And I guess I could point out many small fun stories...stories of normal hangouts, of daily and lively snapshots. But point being here - even now I'm not someone who has nothing happening with him (and I can put this up on the list of small things taking me forward).

P.s.: Do keep kicking me for more regular updates! With less laptop usage comes less attention on this matter, please do not let me become lazy with my blog and personal updates!!!

Strange....or the opposite

So...I have been for long time delayed with a normal update...so here it comes, already with a controversial title, which actually holds the most important part of the story.

So usually when you go to a foreign country, you should feel very strange...basically for a longer time. But you need to feel alien and have the confusion of not understanding a single thing happening around you.
Well, this is the part which did not exactly happen to me, it was rather re-integration again, seeing things familiar, getting used to some details again.

And honestly speaking, this was one part of feeling strange, I felt the situation strange, coz I did not feel like a total alien. This is most probably just a stupid game of expectations, that when I go back to Hungary you expect to feel home pretty fast, and whatever other country you are in, you do have different expectations.

This is not to say i did not have a down period...actually the first 2 weeks. Getting away from my family, mum, sister and dad...and also leaving friends I feel connected to, was truly not easy. Rather on the opposite, it was way much harder than last time....I mean the first time I left. And then I'm also using now this paragraph to express, that I'm still missing all of them, and I really love them.....and this does not change, rather becomes stronger, with me leaving them again.

So I did have a down period....also that it is Ramadan now, so truly sloooooooooooow. To much freetime at the beginning.

And now comes the part which makes me realize that I'm not a stranger at all here. I still have a lot of 'idle' periods, which is totally normal at this part of the year, with Ramadan.....but things are just filling up :)
I could basically arrange everything what I would need to set up a normal life here. Yeah, am still ahead of moving once more, but then that flat will stay my home at least till the end of next June :P
I also have a bank account...finally :P, Have insurrance, a normal contract, a place to stay.
Also it seems I figured how I'm gonna learn arabic...and have my gym done too :P I will be teaching kung-fu to the brothers of a friend...in return I get my own training in arabic. Lovely, yeah? Looking forward to the first training - tomorrow, yalla :)
Also I do catch up with friends here......and I have time to cook, to just enjoy having a life, it is absolutely re-filling!

So as you can see things are lining up fast, and this is excellent....and why you might get a short response or slow with updates...two reasons :P I either write from work, where I can not really take my time to express that I do feel good :) Or that my mind is just again so full that things come and go....but full with different stuff, of arranging a decent life over here, fun, ya??
(this post also took some time to come alive, I have thoughts of it million times, but when I got the time to sit to the laptop....they were all hiding very well, up to now :D :D)

These cool things are stil weird though...finding my place and other being able to find the right "bracket" for me. Am I an intern, an ex-MC or just a random friend?
But this is also findings its own track now :)

And work, hmmm, excellleeeeent :) After 3 weeks of working my first product idea is already running for multiple approvals...and seems like I could figure something what has never been on this market before :P Hope its gonna work :) How the company finds me? Good question, end of next week I have a first month evaluation with my direct manager (who I must say is an outstanding boss, happy to have a very cool line manager :)), so am gonna get the details of how they feel, and that I also can tell how I feel :P
And it is really great to have work....I mean that it is a constant and important part of my life, but that it is not my entire life. Do not misinterpret me, I would never regret my last years, they made me who I am, but I did and still need this new way of life. And that this lifestyle is charging me up, getting my old energy and drive back, is totally endorsing the decisions now I have made. I must say that although I do miss still many things from my current life, I'm HAPPY and Balanced.....good :P

The weird picture was made on my welcome party over here, at a very nice, but super far place....this party was also part of that feeling I already wrote about with the confusion of "brackets". But it is fine, it is all getting sorted :)

We have also been out to downtown with interns, was just awesome having 8 people from 8 different countries, haha :) People looked a bit weird on this big group of totally mixed foreigners, but I guess this is something I'm getting used to again pretty fast.

Ok, I guess I more or less put down what I wanted....and I will try hard writing more regular updates and posts ;)