Just in case you forgot... how to use the toilet...
I was in one of the shopping malls here in Singapore and I saw this sign in the entrance of the toilets... very funny... but in a way it is a good way to reming people how to use the toilet :P
It is just 1st of November and already the whole city is decorated for Christmas.... I think it is just a bit early to start getting in the Christmas mood...
This weekend I went to the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, and I can say it was a great experience... It was my second time to see F1, the first time was in Germany and I can say this was a much nicer experience. First of all the race was at night, so that created a very intersting atmosphere and also there were many concerts and events during the race.
More pictures of Singapore getting ready for the F1
It is very interesting to see how Singapore is getting ready for the F1 race.... I had been in other cities during the Grand Prix... but I never saw something like the things they are doing here... just in the center of the city.
I can not believe that one year ago I left Belgium after living there for 3 years... time passes so fast... I still remember the first days when I arrived to Belgium... this picture is when we went to buy our beds in Ikea... and since we did not had a car we carried them in the metro...
Kim Clijsters just had an incredible comeback story... after being retired for 2 years in order to focus on her family, came back and won the US Open.... it is an amazing story to see how people can have a success and life balance and the same time.
Something that is very common in Belgium is that the electrical stairs in the subway are most of the time broken and they take months to fix them.... so yesterday walking here in Singapore I saw a broken electrical stair... lets see if they also take months to fix them....
Now that the H1N1 virus is in Singapore... around 900 cases so far.. the whole city is trying to create some awerness of it... so I was walking yesterday in one of the shopping malls and I saw the mascot of the Asian Youth Games (currently happening in Singapore) being prepared to fight the virus... funny....
I can not believe that Michael Jackson died :( .... he was kind of the first artist I liked... the first CD I bought was his "Dangerous"... also the first concert I went was his concert in Mexico City... I also remember I used to play with a friend in order to imitate him and try to dance like him...
I just found a video of that concert in Mexico... rest in peace MJ
It is the time again in my life where I need to wait to see what will happen in the future... it is becoming a tradition that every year I do know know where or what I will be doing the next year... I like the feeling but also I am starting to get tired of having such a nomad life....
I have not updated my blog recently, not becuase I am lazy... but because I was not around... I went for holidays in Hong Kong :)
I had an amazing time there... Hong Kong was one of the places I wanted to visit the most...
The trip was very nice but the only bad things was the discrimination I recieved just because I had a Mexican passport... it is just like because I have a Mexican passport I am sick... sometimes I just think that people is very ignorant and stupid...
Last week it was the Earth Hour and a lot of people and organizations participate on it...
for many people I heard was kind of cool to turn of the lights for one hour and help the environment, but my only question is what happen to all the people and organizations that participated on the event the next day....
I hope that they still care for the environment and that they try to consume less electricity... I think the Earth Hour is something nice but I just think it is not enough...
Anyway check this link in order to see some very cool pictures of the Earth Hour
More and more people is getting in Twitter... but not a lot people know about it... so here is a small video that explains what Twitter is... Video from http://www.current.com/
As you might know in one of my previous posts I mentioned that the Merlion was hit by a thunder... anyway they are fixing it already... if I like something here in Singapore is that things are done fast and not take ages to get fix... I remember how long it take in Brussels to fix the electrical stairs in the metro
Are You Going To Finish Strong? Awesome video! If you watch only one video today make sure it is this one! Nick Vujicic has no limbs but he leads an incredible life!
In the past days I saw two signs in the city that you can only see here in Singapore. As some of you know Singapore is a Law city.... so check them out
I have seen this sign outside of some military places or some state lands
Last year I had my first Chinese New Year celebration, but it was in Belgium... so it was not the real thing, this year that I am in Asia I had my First Chinese New Year in Asia.
It was a great experience... for the Chinese people this is the most important holiday so you can imagine how crazy it gets...
I just receive this email, it is a story published on the Washington Post.
Now that I am back on the working life and I need to take the Metro to go to work and can really see that people just walk without looking around...
Please read the story and watch the video... and do something... stop from time to time and enjoy the beauty of life
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and began to play a violin; it was a cold January morning.
He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist.
Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played some of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100. This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station which was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
After finishing my job at ABN AMRO and my AIESEC life, I decided to try to focus my career on an organization similar to AIESEC where I was going to be able to develop leadership skills on other persons.
I really want to do this for a career since I believe that by developing leadership skills on people I can make them better and at the same time help this world to become a better place.
I did a lot of research and I found many organizations that focus on leadership development, while searching their website I realized that these organizations charged incredible amounts of money for their courses.... this makes almost impossible to a normal individual to attend the course...
Also I applied for two organizations, the Center for Creative Leadership and to Dale Carnegie Training. I had interviews with them, but I was very disappointed on how the deal with candidates, I was expecting that an organization that promotes leadership and development of people will handle the interviews with candidates better.
I was expecting to receive proper feedback on my performance so that I could learn from the experience and develop myself.... but noooo they did not gave anything, I even send a mail to them requesting the information and some of them they do not even reply to my mail...
This just make me realized most of this leadership organizations are not professional at all and they do not care for leadership development but just to make profit... they even claim themselves to be not for profit....
I am very disappointed of this since I consider leadership development to be something very important and that needs to be accessible to everybody, not just to the rich managers of multinational companies.
After seeing all this I just want to get some more work experience and in the future create my own leadership development organization, that will be accessible to everybody.
So if you are considering on doing one of those leadership courses please do some research on the organization, since some of them like the Center for Creative Leadership and Dale Carnegie claim to be very professional and that they care for people but the truth is that they do not give a sh...... they just want to do business.
I am starting to discover more and more of Singapore and this weekend I had the opportunity to see a Dragon Boat Race, it is like a canoe competition but the boat has a Dragon head in the front.
I also did some sightseeing and I discover more about Singapore. I am really enjoying my time here :)
Another interesting thing I have seen here in Singapore is that they put a lot of attention in protection and security. You can see posters like this one in many places of the city and also in the metro they show some very scary video of some bomb attacks...
Anyway I think all this protections helps make Singapore one of the safest places to be... maybe some other cities should follow the same example...
Last Sunday I went to the horse track here in Singapore, it was nice to see some races and luckily I did not lose so much money :P
The race track was completely different from the rest of Singapore, it seems that all the rules that are outside in the city does not apply, there is so many papers in the floor and people just let the garbage where ever they want...
I have slowly adapting to my new life here in Singapore and one of the most interesting things I have seen are the there are fines for almost everything....
The picture in this post is in the metro and signs like that are everywhere in the city.
I think that is good to have fines for everything since there is nobody doing those illegal things and you can really see that the whole city is clean...
I know that also some many other rules that are a bit strange... I will comment on them as soon as I know more of them
I just came back from London, I went there for a few days and it was a great experience...
The whole trip had ups and downs... I experienced some amazing things but also some very sad things...
I guess that is how life works... anyway I think I learned a lot for all those experiences and now I am ready for the next challenge... in 3 days I go back home and after I go to my next challenge, Singapore.
I know that the Olympics finished some days ago but I did not had time to post something, since I am a bit busy at the moment.
Well I just love the whole Olympic experience even though it was very difficult to see the events and competitions, since I do not have a TV.... I tried to managed via internet TV but it is a bit hard to get it... specially if you have a mac since you do not have access to live streaming websites, since most of them require Microsoft Media player....
Also it was a bit strange to be out of your country and see the Olympics... I think you get more happy and proud when some athlete can win a medal and you can say to your colleges at work, oh Mexico just won a medal! it is not that we won a lot of medals, only 3 but at least those 3 gave a lot of satisfaction. Now it is just waiting time for the Paraolympic game to start...
Two days ago I had the opportunity to experience something I have not experienced in my 3 years in Belgium.
The Belgium football team was in the semifinals of the olympic tournament and for the first time I saw a lot of people cheering for their national team, even in the office people was talking about football... this is the first time I experienced this, in Mexico it is normal that everybody supports the national team when they play, but here in Belgium no... I have been in two games and in both there have been more fans of the opposite team.
They even put a huge screan in the middle of the Grand Place in order to show the game.... unfortunately the Belgian team lose... so all this suddenly nationalism spirit is over....
Another important thing to notice is that the Olympics are almost over and believe it or not, Belgium still has not won any medal...
That's right, it's a pizza. If you're flying in or out of Denver International Airport, look out the window and you'll see a pizza cut into a wheat field near West 128th Avenue and Pena Boulevard. The crop circle, designed by artist Stan Herd, is a promotional vehicle for Papa John's Pizza. (Full Story)
I think it is a nice idea, but I wonder if this kind of marketing is good for the environment....
I can not describe my feeling every time that big international events happen, I just feel so happy and have the feeling that everybody in this world is the same and that there should not be wars and things like that.
I experienced that feeling many times during AIESEC conferences.... now I am experiencing this feeling during the Olympics, I was watching the opening and the whole ceremony was amazing... also seeing every country participate in the parade is very interesting...
For the next weeks I will be on the Olympic mood.... hoping that events like this can make a huge impact in the way people think and act...
The process of the ending of my life in Belgium is getting closer and closer.... for the people that do not know I am thinking on leaving Belgium, I am tired of leaving here and I am getting to comfortable... I am missing the excitement of being in a new place and discover new places...
For now my plan looks like this: I am leaving Belgium in the middle of September, I will go to Mexico to visit my family and enjoy some holidays there and then I will move to the next step in my life... and that step is to move to ASIA :)
I think that after living in Europe and America the next place I will like to experience is Asia. It is a bit hard to find a job at the moment in Asia (I am trying very hard but without any luck), so my plan is just to go there and establish in a country (the most probable destination is Singapore) and then search for job once I am there. I am getting a lot of contacts there, so that will make the process a bit easier.
I know some people might be thinking that I am crazy but I really want to do this in my life, I am still young and I can do some crazy things... the worst thing that can happen is that I am in Asia and I can not find a job but at least I will travel and discover new countries :) .
Well this is just the tentative plan, I can get a job offer and they might want me to start ASAP so the trip to Mexico might be postponed, but I do not know it is just expectations...
Lets see what will happen in the future... I am not nervous, I am getting excited of the future...
Some times you just have dreams of places you will like to be and you can imagine yourself being there... well today I will love to be in New York in order to see the Baseball All Star Game at Yankee stadium.
For the people that is not so familiar with baseball this is the last season that the very famous Yankee stadium will be open, starting next year there will be a new Yankee stadium and the old one will be destroyed. What is special from this stadium is all the history that surounds it, some of the best moments in baseball history happen there...
Well I never lose anything for just dreaming of being there.... and one of my future objectives is to see a game in the New Yankee stadium, it is supposed to be one of the best stadiums in the world.
A newspaper in Spain organized I competition to determine what is the most pretty flag in the world and the Mexican flag won :)
Here is the full article (unfortunately the article is only in Spanish)
MOST BEAUTIFUL NATIONAL FLAG IN THE WORLD! BANDERA MÁS BONITA DEL MUNDO! BANDEIRA MAIS BONITA DO MUNDO! HOY LUNES PONEMOS FIN AL CONCURSO "BANDERA MÁS BONITA DEL MUNDO".48 DIAS DE CONCURSO Y 104 BANDERAS DE TODO EL MUNDO HAN PARTICIPADO.MÁS 7 MILLONES Y MEDIO DE VOTOS, MÁS DE 25.000 COMENTARIOS...EN 7 SÓLO DIAS CASI 1 MILLÓN DE VOTOS!!! PERO SÓLO 1 ES LA ELEGIDA COMO LA MÁS BONITA DEL PLANETA.EN 3º LUGAR HA QUEDADO LA BANDERA DE GUATEMALA CON 272.541 PUNTOS, 2º LA BANDERA DE PERÚ CON 340.901 PUNTOS Y EN 1º LUGAR LA BANDERA MÁS VOTADA Y POR LO TANTO GANADORA DEL CONCURSO.....LA BANDERA DE M É X I C O CON 901.627 PUNTOS.FELICITACIONES A LA BANDERA GANADORA Y TAMBIÉN AL RESTO DE NACIONES QUE HAN VOTADO A SU BANDERA FAVORITA.ASÍ QUEDA LA CLASIFICACIÓN FINAL 1º MÉXICO 2º PERÚ 3º GUATEMALA 4º REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA 5º BRASIL 6º ESPAÑA 7º URUGUAY 8º ARGENTINA 9º CANADÁ 10º PUERTO RICO
I just calculated my carbon footprint, I am not so sure the results are correct since I do not put the correct amounts of electricity and gas that are used in my house. I putted some calculations.
I will try to do this exercise every year so that way I can see if I improve or not my carbon footprint.
ps. This is the good thing of having a blog you can just post something and then compare it in the future without loosing the previous report :P
Now that Europe is again crazy for soccer, thanks for the Eurocup. I remember that during the last Eurocup I was also living in Europe, I was in Germany studying.
I remember that the whole country was crazy for the Eurocup and even in school we were having food in the cafeteria according to the teams that were playing that night. Also every night there was a party in our dorm in order to see the games...
Now that I am in Belgium I can see that people care for the cup, but not the same way as in Germany, maybe it is because the Belgium team is not in the cup and they are kind of bad...
Well here are some pictures of the last year cup in Germany
Yesterday I was walking by the Royal park in Brussels and I saw something that surprised me a lot... so I took a picture of it
This is a very interesting drawing and if I understand it well, is a soldier smashing the head of a guy and for me is a somebody from Africa (I remember from my trip to Egypt how the draw the African people). It is funny to have this in the Royal Park in Brussels If somebody has any other idea what the drawing means, please share
The other day I was in central station here in Brussels and I was watching the people...
Some people was like me just waiting for someone, others were just walking to catch their train, others were buying tickets....
Watching all those people just made me think that all of those people are there for a reason but does not care for what the others are doing around them.
I also have the same feeling every time I take the bus to go somewhere in the city, everybody is just there....
All of that thinking just made me realize that most of the human beans are very selfish... maybe if people were putting more attention on the others we all can live more happily and we can help to make this world a better place.
4 years ago I was studying and living in Germany, I remember that I just had came back from Spain from an AIESEC conference...
I was checking my mails and I remember reading the news that there was a terrorist attack in Madrid, in the same place I had been just a few days ago...
I remember some of the delegates were trying to get in touch with each other because we were not sure if no AIESEC member was in Madrid at that time.
Wow... time passes so far, all of those events seemed like yesterday... now after 4 years I am going back to Spain, I am going to pass the weekend in Madrid :)
I am sure I will have a great time there and also I am looking forward to see some old friends that I have not seen in a while.
The picture on this post is from EuroLDS, nice memories :)
I am again on that part of the year when I need to start thinking on what to do next in my life...
On the past few days my head has been full of ideas of things that I would like to do with my life.
Well the good thing is that I do not need to worry so much for what to do for the next six months, since I got my contract extended, so this means that I will be working at ABN AMRO until September :) and the next months will be very interesting and intense with all the changes that will happen with the merger of the bank.
As I mention on my last post this week was supposed to be very crazy and in fact it was... to my even busy agenda some more urgent tasks were added.
But luckly the week is over now :) Now it is time to relax and to enjoy the weekend. I still need to do some stuff for school during the weekend, but it is not so urgent.
I have been studying in Europe for almost 3 years now and I can say that every time I interact with some professors for some problem, I am very disappointed...
I have the impression that professors in Europe think that they are the coolest persons in the world and they are not open to new ideas.... I also have the impression that they are thinking like they are making me a favour just to be in his class.
Currently I have some troubles with one of the classes that I need to attend, they plan the timing of the class in the mornings and since I am working I can not attend the class. The worst is that people in the student administration knew that some students work during the day, but still they plan the class in the morning… I have tried to talk with the professor and also the responsible of my master program, but nothing has happen, they say it is your problem and you should solve it... (like it is so easy to skip work)
Maybe it is different cultures or just different ways of thinking but in Mexico when I was studying, students have rights and we can talk to professors and people and they are willing to help you. I remember a case when one student needed to attend the class and the original class schedule was overlapping with his schedule, so in order to solve the problem they changed the class timing in order to fit everybody’s needs.
Anyway I do not think that will happen in Belgium but I hope the problem is solved soon...
During the weekend I went to see the movie Charles Wilson War, I did not had any expectations for that movie but I was surprised by the story.
The whole movie is based on true story and it how a US Senator Charles Wilson help the Afghan people to fight the Soviet Army during the Cold War.
It is an impresive story, but what makes me think is that is everything is true in the movie (sometimes things are not so real), this guy really helped changed the world.
I just got this on my mail in order to start nice the week...
Real Story
Three brick layers were busy working. A passerby stopped and asked them, 'what are you doing?' The first worker answered, ' I am laying bricks.' 'I am making a wall.' said the second worker. The third worker said, 'Can't you see, I am building a cathedral!' The third worker was called Michelangelo.
It is finally weekend :) and like most of my weekends it will be a busy weekend.
There are so many things happening this weekend: parties, trips, carnival, concerts....
Anyway this weekend I will travel to Luxemburg on Saturday and on Sunday I will go to the concert of the Mexican National orchestra.... also this weekend is the Super Bowl Sunday!!, when I was in Mexico it used to be one of my favorite days of the year, but since football is not popular in Europe, nobody cares about the game. (I have already posted some thoughts about this on the past)
This year the SuperBowl will be played between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. I am pretty sure it will be an amazing game specially since it will be the first time that one team can finish the season unbeaten.
I will try to see the game online via some of the P2P streaming sites (I just need to figure out how to make it work on a mac OS).
So for all historical reasons on this SuperBowl I am supporting the New England Patroits :)
After almost month month of getting ready for the exams, I finally finish my exams... obviously I was not stuying for a whole month, but I started reading stuff almost one month ago, it is very hard to mix a full time job with a masters program.
Anyway the exams are over now and I just need to wait for the results.... I am used to not have such high expectations for the results, because the more high expectations the harder it is if you do not have good grades, so my theory is to expect for the worst and hope for the best...
I have been in my first real job for almost 4 months now and I am starting to get in the 9 to 5 mood, I do not know if it good to start getting that type of mentality or not....
I do not want to be like the other colleges... I want to be a proactive person that has ownership of their work and is making a real change in the world...
I just remember my old times working for AIESEC in Belgium, when it was normal to work all night or to work in the weekends... I was doing all that not only because of the job, I was doing it because I knew my job was changing people lives and I was making this world a better place.
I just hope I can get that feeling again...
BTW the picture on this post was taken Friday at 6 pm in my office...
I just got this poem in a mail, it is very nice and it is a nice way to think and start the year
Instantes (Instants)
If I were able to live my life anew, In the next I would try to commit more errors. I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more. I would be more foolish than I've been, In fact, I would take few things seriously. I would be less hygienic. I would run more risks, take more vacations, contemplate more sunsets, climb more mountains, swim more rivers. I would go to more places where I've never been, I would eat more ice cream and fewer beans, I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.
I was one of those people that lived sensiblyand prolifically each minute of his life; Of course I had moments of happiness. If I could go back I would tryto have only good moments. Because if you didn't know, of that is life made: only of moments; Don't lose the now.
I was one of those that never went anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, an umbrella, and a parachute; If I could live again, I would travel lighter. If I could live again, I would begin to walk barefoot from the beginning of springand I would continue barefoot until autumn ends. I would take more cart rides, contemplate more dawns, and play with more children, If I had another life ahead of me. But already you see, I am 85, and I know that I am dying.
Well 2007 is over and I can say it was a nice year.
Lots of things happen this year, I finish my AIESEC leadership possition (and to close my AIESEC life we won the UBS Excellence Award), started my first real job, I travel to 5 new countries (Ireland, Sweden, South Africa, Greece, Denmark), I went to a RealAcad camp in Stanford....
So many things and so many memories... 2007 was a very good year and I hope that 2008 can be even a better one
Yesterday we had our Christmas dinner and like I was expecting, it was a very nice night. The people that was there yesterday there was great and I am happy that I shared the Christmas eve with them. We had so much food and everything was amazing... THANK YOU GUYS FOR BEING THERE YESTERDAY.
I also helped cooked my first turkey and it was very tasty.
Today is Christmas and i did nothing special, just stay home and study... I was a bit sad and homesick today, days like today you are supposed to be with your family... anyway nobody said it was easy to be living on the other side of the world far away from home...
Tomorrow is another day and I am looking forward to it...
Well as some of you know in one of my last post I mention that I was missing AIESEC, so in order to deal with it, I decided to get a bit more involved in AIESEC activities and as part of that I went today to Futura, the campus recruitment program of one of the LCs here.
I was there in order to talk about the exchange program and to convince people to join AIESEC, I had so much fun and I really enjoyed talking about AIESEC with the people and to convinced that joining is one of their best decisions in their life. I think I convinced at least 10 people to join AIESEC :)
The evening was great also because I saw some old AIESEC friends and I was able to talk with them.
I hope things can continue like this and that way it will help me deal with the whole missing AIESEC part of my life...
Well it has been almost one month since I started my internship at ABN AMRO, until now the whole month has been full of ups and downs... sometimes I feel like learning a lot and very challenge but some other times I feel very bored...
I guess this is normal, not all the time you can have fun... anyway this week, Makis came to visit Brussels and we have been going out and remembering old times.... and it help me realized that I miss AIESEC a lot... I guess after being 6 years in the organization it is a bit hard to leave and to forget it...
As some of you already know my Bday was this thursday... it is a very strange feeling when you get old, I am now 26 years old, officially I can not apply for any youth reduction for tickets and all that stuff...
My bday was great, I was so happy to receive a lot of greetings from friends all over the world :) , I have no words to express how to thank you all for taking time and sending me a small line for my special day.
Also the day of my Bday I was walking in the street hearing my IPOD and I heard the Sunscrean song, I have heard this song lots of times in AIESEC conferences and it all the times make me think... maybe it was destinty to hear it again on the day of my Bday.
For the people that has not heard the song, here is the video...
As you read in my last post, this weekend I went to Munich...
I went to the Oktoberfeest, it was the second time I was going there so I knew what to expect. Anyway it was a great trip, I went with 9 other interns... we rented a mini bus and we had so much fun driving and just talking in the bus.
I wish I can write more about the trip but I am so tired that I can not think... anyway this weekend is one of those weekends you will never forget...
I started working at ABN AMRO on Monday and until now it has been a very interesting experience, it is very hard to express what I feel but I am happy of being living this new challenge.
I am also trying to adapt to this new life style, going in a suit to the office, waking up early, go for coffee or hot chocolate breaks...
The past weekend it was a great weekend... and why it was a great weekend mainly because I was able to hang out with old friends and remember old times.
Time passes so fast it... it seems like yesterday when most of those people arrived to Belgium and I started showing them around Brussels...
Well I am about to start my almost 19 hours trip to go back to Brussels.
Currently I am in the Mexico City airport waiting for my flight to go to New York and then I will take the flight that will take me to Brussels.
As a tradition, like in my last flights I try to write a post in the airport :)
Anyway my next post will be back in Brussels, it is strange to go back, in the past I was thinking I need to arrive and then go to the MC office to see whats up... but now I can not do that anymore. The official stage of my life outside MC life starts today...
I will like to thank everybody that sent me messages congratulating me for my new internship and also for Belgium winning the UBS award. These messages really mean a lot to me and every time I read them it makes me smile.
I am enjoying my last days in Mexico and in a few days I will be back in Belgium, getting ready to start the next stage of my life.
I just came back home from an AMAZING weekend in Mexico City.
I used to live in Mexico City, in fact 16 years of my life I spent in that city... then I moved to Tampico, Monterrey, Germany and Belgium...
Anyway the thing that made the weekend so nice is that I saw some people that I have not seen in long time, also I did some tourism in the city. (something I never did when I was living there)
The most funny thing, is that Saturday night we went to a bar and suddenly I saw a Dany ex LCP of AIESEC Monterrey, I never imagine to see her in Mexico City... you have a city with almost 20 million people and you are still avail to find friends. This only supports my idea that the world is a small place...
Well almost one month ago I finish my job in the MC of AIESEC in Belgium.
And it is time now to start thinking on what to do next, well I already know what I want to do but it is time to start doing something... Well almost 1 month ago I applied for an internship at ABN AMRO in Brussels and I have been shortlisted to be in the interview process :) I will have my interview on Thursday, so we will see what will happen...
Also I am trying to keep myself busy, I am also looking for other job opportunities and also I am started to work in the venture we created at RealAcad.
Another thing happening in my life now is that I am enjoying my holidays here in Mexico, now that I have TV and lots of food I am taking advantage of it.
Well that is what is happening in my life, I will let you know what happen on the interview on one of my next posts.
Well almost 10 years ago I went to a summer camp in Brazil organized by an organization called CISV (Children International Summer Villages). I had an amazing time there and I met a lot of people from different parts of the world. I guess that that camp helped me be the person that I am today, I really discovered that the world is not such a big place and I also discovered that I really love to learn from other cultures.
Today I was searching in my room for old stuff and I found a box with all my memories and pictures from the camp, it is great to remember those kind of things. Also since facebook is very international and popular I started searching for the people that attended the camp there and I found 3 people :) , I guess it will be nice to reconnect with them after 10 years.
Well when I living in Seattle (for one of my CEEDs) I heard this song from the first time... Today I was walking home and I heard it in my IPOD and it brought me lots of memories, also the lyrics of the song also show how I feel sometimes...
This weekend there was a huge fair in Brussels and the fair was Expo Andalucia, but it was not only about Andalucia... lots of countries were represented and for a while I felt like if I was home back in Mexico, only talking spanish, eating great food, great music....
Yesterday I was talking with Dan and Thomas about how was life during the comunisim time in Romania and Slovakia and I can not imagine having my childhoood the way they did, it was a very interesting conversation that helped me understand more about the countries and people from Eastern Europe.
In a way in also helped me realized that I was very lucky to be born in Mexico....
Well the last two days have been very intense... my first assesment center was a great experience, it was very challenging and there was a group of amazing individuals there... I think most of them deserve to get the jobs, but unfortunately not everybody can get it.
I think I did a good job, but you never know how you are going, since most of the times people just say you are doing fine... well from now on I just need to wait for the results... they promised to give them next week, so it will not be such a long waiting time... so keep still your fingers crossed for me for a while...
I was in one of the shopping malls here in Singapore and I saw this sign in the entrance of the toilets... very funny... but in a way it is a good way to reming people how to use the toilet :P
I can not believe that one year ago I left Belgium after living there for 3 years... time passes so fast... I still remember the first days when I arrived to Belgium... this picture is when we went to buy our beds in Ikea... and since we did not had a car we carried them in the metro...
This is something very interesting.... maybe I will try it one of this days... I whole fried chicken...
I think things like this only happen in Asia.....
As you might know in one of my previous posts I mentioned that the Merlion was hit by a thunder... anyway they are fixing it already... if I like something here in Singapore is that things are done fast and not take ages to get fix... I remember how long it take in Brussels to fix the electrical stairs in the metro
A few weeks ago Microsoft decided to launch its own stores. I just found this picture that represents one of the Microsoft shops :P
Are You Going To Finish Strong?
Another interesting thing I have seen here in Singapore is that they put a lot of attention in protection and security. You can see posters like this one in many places of the city and also in the metro they show some very scary video of some bomb attacks...
I have slowly adapting to my new life here in Singapore and one of the most interesting things I have seen are the there are fines for almost everything....
This is a very interesting drawing and if I understand it well, is a soldier smashing the head of a guy and for me is a somebody from Africa (I remember from my trip to Egypt how the draw the African people).
If somebody has any other idea what the drawing means, please share
In the past days there has been a great weather here in Belgium, around 25 degrees. 
Yesterday we had our Christmas dinner and like I was expecting, it was a very nice night.
As you read in my last post, this weekend I went to Munich...
If I was a Simpson character I should look like this...
