What are we supposed to do when we fail? When we don't achieve what we want? When life plays with us? When we lose the score? When it doesn't go as we would like it to go?
Well, I don't know whether you will agree with me or not but I believe that the bigger part of our happiness depends on us only. Of course, there are some external factors that might influence that but all in all it's mostly up to us whether we're happy or not.
You might think that I am an always happy person not influenced by anything? It's not right (unfortunately). I'm sometimes pissed off, sad and unhappy. But, I always know that it's just a period and that will go away soon. I think I can objectively assess my life and the result of the assessment is always more positive than negative. I feel I head for the right direction. So as the bears sleep in the winter to wait for the warmer season, we should wait for the better time as well :) And the better time is just around the corner. And we should just learn from our experiences and head for the future - just move on!
Below, you will find a piece of snapshot from another of my favorite movies - Chicago. The song is called "I move on". I am sure you will understand its message ;)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Philip Glass - "Morning Passages"
Finally, I managed to cut my favorite part of the movie "The Hours" with the music by Philip Glass and upload it on youtube. It's called "Morning Passages and I love it!
Enjoy it!
Enfin, j'ai arrivé à coupier ma pièce favorie du film "the Hours" avec la musique de Philip Glass et la mettre sur youtube. C'est la pièce qui s'appelle "Morning Passages" et je l'adore!
Amusez-vous bien!
Enjoy it!
Enfin, j'ai arrivé à coupier ma pièce favorie du film "the Hours" avec la musique de Philip Glass et la mettre sur youtube. C'est la pièce qui s'appelle "Morning Passages" et je l'adore!
Amusez-vous bien!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Kamil goes to Belgium! / Kamil va en Belgique!
I am so excited to be going to
And below the same post but in my clumsy French - I barely used the dictionary and if I did mostly to check the spelling. I hope I haven't made to many funny mistakes:)
Je suis tres content d'aller en Belgique en septembre! Hier, je lisais un petit peu du pays et de la ville aussi. J'ai trouve un page avec beaucoup des offers des appartements a louer. J'ai vu quelques lieux interessannts. Je pense que ca sera possible pour moi de vivre dans un petit appartement moi-meme (un studio). Je serai dans le coeur d'Europe avec beaucoup des gens et des lieux interessants. J'aurai un bon salaire chaque mois et je ferai ce que j'aime bien. C'est uncroyable que Bruxelles sera ma ville pour mois prochains (et pour ans prochains peut-etre).
Un nouveau chapitre de ma vie va commencer bientot!
people vs. places - 0:1
"Well, I didn't enjoy being with him as he was a total stranger and he was too open and entered my >>comfort zone<< but at least I enjoyed the view on the river and Hassan Tower from the window."
That is just perfect metaphor of my interactions with the Moroccan culture. I much more enjoy the places, the weather, the architecture than the interactions with local people.
I'll give you some context about the first sentence. Last night, I got home quite late. I was almost there when I met my Polish flat mate talking to the shopkeeper. It was around 11.30 PM. Then another Moroccan guy appeared and started speaking to us quite good English. He invited us to his place. We said "no" and promised to come over another time. So he was only supposed to show us where his flat was. I don't know why but I agreed (my friend was much more willing to follow him but she's just much more different than me in such cases). Unfortunately, we ended up in his apartment. Objectively speaking, he was really nice and totally not harmful. You might think that going to some total stranger's place is crazy but it doesn't work like this here. Here you can do it. Anyway, he was a bit rude to me because he saw I didn't want to be there and I was uncomfortable. I was just thinking "what the fuck am I doing here?" I left a while later. I don't know why but I just don't feel comfortable in such situations. It's just me. I don't fit here.
If you look at the people that I spend time with (I mean go to cafes, parties, hang out etc) you will barely see Moroccans (with really few exceptions). I simply don't have any deep connection with locals. I need to be able to talk with them about everything. And usually it doesn't work out. Not time for judgment here. People are nice but no connection. It's the fact. There is no compatibility of the characters between me and them. There are some things that I like more than in Westerners but there are things that I hate here in people as well. However, summing up everything I prefer European mentality. I mentioned it once but I will underline it again. One of my friend from Norway once told me that people up there are very cold but once you get to know them well, they can be friends for life. In Morocco, in most cases , I've an impression it is totally opposite. The man on the street at the very beginning told us "you are my friends". People here like using the word friendship. But if you ask them for a small favor or help it's not necessarily gonna happen (of course there are some exceptions). I guess I prefer people who are cold outside but warm inside than the opposite. It' just sometimes simply shallow here in many cases.
That's why my life here is about enjoying the weather, the trips, the landmarks, the atmosphere and of course hanging out with my international friends (as I mentioned before with some few exceptions). It's kind of a paradox - I live in Morocco and have not that much contact with local people. I live within the expatriates community which is something like a small enclave. It's true but fake at the same time. One is sure - it's full of interesting people, with whom you can have interesting conversation about everything. I hope I will have a similar environment very soon in Belgium!
And don't get my wrong! I will take the most of my experience here and will enjoy my last days in Morocco!
That is just perfect metaphor of my interactions with the Moroccan culture. I much more enjoy the places, the weather, the architecture than the interactions with local people.
I'll give you some context about the first sentence. Last night, I got home quite late. I was almost there when I met my Polish flat mate talking to the shopkeeper. It was around 11.30 PM. Then another Moroccan guy appeared and started speaking to us quite good English. He invited us to his place. We said "no" and promised to come over another time. So he was only supposed to show us where his flat was. I don't know why but I agreed (my friend was much more willing to follow him but she's just much more different than me in such cases). Unfortunately, we ended up in his apartment. Objectively speaking, he was really nice and totally not harmful. You might think that going to some total stranger's place is crazy but it doesn't work like this here. Here you can do it. Anyway, he was a bit rude to me because he saw I didn't want to be there and I was uncomfortable. I was just thinking "what the fuck am I doing here?" I left a while later. I don't know why but I just don't feel comfortable in such situations. It's just me. I don't fit here.
If you look at the people that I spend time with (I mean go to cafes, parties, hang out etc) you will barely see Moroccans (with really few exceptions). I simply don't have any deep connection with locals. I need to be able to talk with them about everything. And usually it doesn't work out. Not time for judgment here. People are nice but no connection. It's the fact. There is no compatibility of the characters between me and them. There are some things that I like more than in Westerners but there are things that I hate here in people as well. However, summing up everything I prefer European mentality. I mentioned it once but I will underline it again. One of my friend from Norway once told me that people up there are very cold but once you get to know them well, they can be friends for life. In Morocco, in most cases , I've an impression it is totally opposite. The man on the street at the very beginning told us "you are my friends". People here like using the word friendship. But if you ask them for a small favor or help it's not necessarily gonna happen (of course there are some exceptions). I guess I prefer people who are cold outside but warm inside than the opposite. It' just sometimes simply shallow here in many cases.
That's why my life here is about enjoying the weather, the trips, the landmarks, the atmosphere and of course hanging out with my international friends (as I mentioned before with some few exceptions). It's kind of a paradox - I live in Morocco and have not that much contact with local people. I live within the expatriates community which is something like a small enclave. It's true but fake at the same time. One is sure - it's full of interesting people, with whom you can have interesting conversation about everything. I hope I will have a similar environment very soon in Belgium!
And don't get my wrong! I will take the most of my experience here and will enjoy my last days in Morocco!
sharing success
It’s generally common in AIESEC that its members after finishing studies and work in the organization want to set up their own NGOs/companies. Usually, there is more talk than action but this is a general thing about human beings. I was thinking of doing the same one day (for sure not now – for the next years, I want to experience corporation and see if I like it and fit it). I would like to open a company/NGO which would educate people (especially young) about career planning, self-development, education etc
One of the most important things I’ve learned over the past 5 years is the importance of knowing what you want to do in your life, having clear goals toward which you head for. If you don’t know what to do you should just take as many experiences as possible in order to narrow your preferences and find out in which things you feel the most comfortable. Maybe sometimes, you can achieve a lot just by having luck and not doing anything but I think that luck is not something that I would totally count on...
I am a very good example for that.
When I was about to finish my last year of high school I started freaking out that I would finish my studies in 5 years and I would be jobless and have to come back to my small village, live with my parents and not have anything to do. The unemployment rate was quite high and pretty scary at that time. So, at that point I decided that throughout my studies I need to focus on my professional development as much as possible in order not to have problems with finding a good job that would constitute to the success of my life.
I did it. I succeeded. For the moment, my professional life seems to be successful as well as the prospects of the future. Of course I can’t just take a rest and not to do anything. Success is something that you have to take care of constantly in order to maintain it. But, I know I’m on the right track.
It was not difficult to be honest. I did require some efforts and resigning from other things – e.g. having much less free time. It was almost a 5-year journey. Not having good grades all the time. Working for free and being broke. But e.g. I didn’t have to invest a lot of money in that. I did it without any significant amounts. I have never received any huge amount of money from my family or I've never gone to the UK or Ireland to work. It was rather my persistent attitude, having clear vision of the end and implementation.
The success is a much more simple thing to achieve than we think. You just have to know the way. I didn't know it very well but I knew how to find it. And I really feel like sharing that with others so that they can see that by doing small steps they can achieve big things.
Should you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)
One of the most important things I’ve learned over the past 5 years is the importance of knowing what you want to do in your life, having clear goals toward which you head for. If you don’t know what to do you should just take as many experiences as possible in order to narrow your preferences and find out in which things you feel the most comfortable. Maybe sometimes, you can achieve a lot just by having luck and not doing anything but I think that luck is not something that I would totally count on...
I am a very good example for that.
When I was about to finish my last year of high school I started freaking out that I would finish my studies in 5 years and I would be jobless and have to come back to my small village, live with my parents and not have anything to do. The unemployment rate was quite high and pretty scary at that time. So, at that point I decided that throughout my studies I need to focus on my professional development as much as possible in order not to have problems with finding a good job that would constitute to the success of my life.
I did it. I succeeded. For the moment, my professional life seems to be successful as well as the prospects of the future. Of course I can’t just take a rest and not to do anything. Success is something that you have to take care of constantly in order to maintain it. But, I know I’m on the right track.
It was not difficult to be honest. I did require some efforts and resigning from other things – e.g. having much less free time. It was almost a 5-year journey. Not having good grades all the time. Working for free and being broke. But e.g. I didn’t have to invest a lot of money in that. I did it without any significant amounts. I have never received any huge amount of money from my family or I've never gone to the UK or Ireland to work. It was rather my persistent attitude, having clear vision of the end and implementation.
The success is a much more simple thing to achieve than we think. You just have to know the way. I didn't know it very well but I knew how to find it. And I really feel like sharing that with others so that they can see that by doing small steps they can achieve big things.
Should you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)
Thursday, April 10, 2008
storm
Today, it's extremely windy (and sunny but not cold though) and
everything is literally flying on the roof. I went to take the pictures of the angry ocean...
everything is literally flying on the roof. I went to take the pictures of the angry ocean...
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
being admired
Have you ever been admired for something? I bet yes! Isn’t it a nice feeling? It’s like appreciation of us, our actions, behaviors, attitudes, decisions, successes etc Everyone likes to be praised.
It happened to me a few times too. Local people sometimes admire me. The same with some people back in Poland. They often say that I was so brave to suspend my studies for one year and just come to a country that has not much to do with Poland and that is usually not a destination for Polish people at any age (except traveling). I came here to work for an NGO that even doesn’t pay me much. I came to a different culture. A culture that is not understood very well or at all in my home country. I am perceived as independent and courageous. Until some point, I had never thought about that in this way. After all, I had been hanging out here with the foreigners or AIESEC people to whom such internationals are not unfamiliar. I was not very exceptional.
Probably, I will be able to write more about it when I’m back in Poland and when I interact with people for whom my experience will be unusual. It’s kind of interesting and I'm looking forward to that.
It happened to me a few times too. Local people sometimes admire me. The same with some people back in Poland. They often say that I was so brave to suspend my studies for one year and just come to a country that has not much to do with Poland and that is usually not a destination for Polish people at any age (except traveling). I came here to work for an NGO that even doesn’t pay me much. I came to a different culture. A culture that is not understood very well or at all in my home country. I am perceived as independent and courageous. Until some point, I had never thought about that in this way. After all, I had been hanging out here with the foreigners or AIESEC people to whom such internationals are not unfamiliar. I was not very exceptional.
Probably, I will be able to write more about it when I’m back in Poland and when I interact with people for whom my experience will be unusual. It’s kind of interesting and I'm looking forward to that.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
life is a musical!
The last few days were mostly parties :) What a nice start of the post:)
The first party was at the Senegalese bar called Yacout with live African music. It's a great place! After midnight, it was my birthday so my friends went to the band and told them about that. The singer called me in front of everyone and after a short speech he asked me to perform a dance with some random Moroccan girl standing closed to the stage. That was fun! This place is fun so I will definitely go there more often.
The next day (it was actually my birthday), there was a goodbye party of Mona (an Egyptian intern - I miss you!!!). It was supposed to take place at our friends' flat but just before its start the electricity went down so the party was moved to our house in Oudaya. It was great as well.
But the best was still to come. I threw my birthday party on Saturday. The theme was sexchange which means guys dress as gals and gals as guys. I was warned the day before by my Moroccan friends that throwing a party with such a theme may end up in being jailed. I freaked out a bit and was quite stressed but obviously I didn't cancel either the party or the theme. Of course no police was involved. Our lovely neighbors complained a bit about the noise saying the music was too loud. The funniest thing is that the music was really quiet because we didn't have proper speakers and my laptop speakers are really shitty. The party was really great and crazy. There are some pics on Facebook. There was I don't know how many people. More than 50 out of which I knew less than the half. Most of them were internationals. Just few Moroccans. The proportion was interesting. I think one of the thing that I enjoy the most when living abroad is being connected to the expats community. I'll write more about it another time.
The best was at the end. At around 2.30 AM most of the people left and the party was about to finish. But suddenly we heard the door bell. New people came! Of course, I saw them for the first time. Among them - 2 jazz singers who sang a jazz version of happy birthday to me. Then at some point we went on the highest roof of my house and we were singing some jazz songs. The smell and the sound of the sea, the fabulous view and singing jazz. It was so amazing, so surreal, so incredible. The best birthday party ever.
Life is a movie! Life is a musical!
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