Work and Play in Poland

It has been a while since I have had time to update this blog. After completing my internship in Romania, I traveled to Krakow for an intensive Polish language program at Jagiellonian University. Shortly after arrival there, our entire group was ushered into one of the university’s oldest lecture halls for the official inauguration of the program. As part of the opening festivities the U.S. Consul General addressed me and my peers.
“Let me tell you the Polish language is tough,” the consul warned us. He added that our curriculum was so intense, that between study, sleep, and fun, there were only enough hours in the day for us to “pick any two.” At the time I thought he was joking, but as I soon found out his words rang true.
My first wake up call came during the placement test, which was right after the inauguration. I already spoke a good amount of Polish and expected that I would be placed in one of the intermediate levels. So I was disappointed when the results came out, to find that I had been placed one of the beginning levels, along with many other non- native speakers, many of whom had taken four semesters of university level Polish in the US. Despite this, the subject matter on the first day of class confirmed suspicions that I had been placed too low. I began to attempt to move to a higher level. While at first my efforts met with little success, after two days I was finally granted grudging permission to move to the intermediate level.
My new level proved to be very challenging. In addition to this I decided to further test my abilities by enrolling in a college level course on Polish history, taught in Polish, which I finished with an A.
On the weekends I managed to have a life outside the course. I greatly enjoyed hiking in the Tatarskie mountains, and visiting my roommates’ families in the small town of Nowa Sarzynna. My weekend trip to Ukraine proved to me that while Poland’s neighbor is beautiful, it can also be somewhat dangerous. I narrowly avoided being ripped off by the local gangsters. The highlight of my trip was finally getting to meet my own Polish family in person. While the courses proved instructive, I have to say that I learned the most, simply visiting with my Polish friends and family.
The final day of the program was also my birthday. My friends and I prepared for a final night on the town before going our separate ways. That evening the management called one final meeting of the students in the Stolowka, the dining hall in the building where we stayed. It quickly became apparent the purpose of this meeting was to give out awards. I had only been grudgingly admitted into my level, and was not expecting much from this ceremony. So, I was shocked when I heard my name. The president of the program recognized me for the highest marks and outstanding achievement on the intermediate level.
I came to Poland already knowing that I had an affinity for its people and culture. My experiences this summer have strengthened my determination to return next summer to continue my studies in Krakow. I hope to combine this with a business internship in May and June. I am currently on an accelerated track to complete my business degree by June 2012 and then begin the adventure of graduate school or a job in Eastern Europe.

The Past 10 Days in Quick Review

The last time I wrote a post I had not yet been to Belgium,which seems like a long time ago. For the past week I have been taking a small vacation, to Brussels, Bruges, the Romanian region of Transylvania, and northeastern Bulgaria. I did not go to these places so that I could go on the computer.

My first evening in Brussels was great. I was planning to meet up with the group from RIAS, but they were already at a group dinner, at a restaurant that was quite a walk from the hotel. It was nine in the evening and I decided to look for some food nearer to where I was. I wound up in a small Italian restrant, watching the Netherlands v. Japan World Cup match with the Albanian wait staff. It was great fun.

The next day was reserved for sightseeing the major attractions of Brussels. The food in this country was fresh and very good, despite the fact that they entire country is off-the-wall expensive. A cheap meal in Brussels costs me the equivalent of an entire week's worth of food in Romania. I also had a language scare, when I had to speak Spanish that day and forgot the word for book. Fortunately, there were a lot of Spanish tourists in Belgium and by next morning I was able to speak Spanish rather fluently again. Still, I am starting to worry that I might forget my Spanish if i don't use it.

I spent next morning in the town of Bruges and that evening I attended the farewell dinner for the RIAS group. Then all of us watched the U.S. lose to Ghana in World Cup.

Because my parents are paying for the majority of this summer, my mother came from Belgium back to Romania for the rest of the trip. She seemed rather skittish towards Bucharest at first and it took her about a day to warm up to it. I showed her around the Old Town and we had a nice meal.

We went with a car and driver the next day to Transylvania the next day, seeing some of the major sights in the country such as a Peles castle, Bran fortress, the town of Brasov, and Snagov lake. We went sightseeing in Bucharest the next day, and stopped by the embassy to get my certificate, which was signed by the Ambassador. I also got to go in the Palace of Parliament and the Patriarchal Cathedral, which I had not done yet. That night we took the train to Sofia, and had a picnic dinner on board.

I just remember being really tired my first day in Bulgaria but we saw all of the major sights and decided to go to Plovdiv, in the center of the country, by public bus the next day. The trip took two hours but was well worth it. The town in built on 3 hills, and has been used from neolithic times; therefore there are many layers of history piled on top of one another. We took the bus back that night. We had some trouble finding an ATM but eventually got money and stayed out untill after ten that night. Our last day in Sofia started on the outskirts at the 13th century Boyana chirch, which has frescoes dating from the 11th century. After that we went to the Museum of Foreign Art. This was a throwback to Soviet days, and the collection seems to be more concerned with espousing the political philosophy of that time, than with the quality of the actual works. We had an official minder the entire time we were in the museum. After lunch we prepared to head back to Bucharest. We got hassled by an 'information worker' in the train station, and had to give up our remaining Leva, the Bulgarian currnency. I changed some Lei to Lev after that, just so I could have a souvenir. The train ride back to Bucharest went through a river gorge in the Balkans and was absloutely spectactular. We got what sleep we could and arrived in Bucharest the next morning.

We are now catching up and prepariing for the next legs of our respective trips. For me, it's a language program in Poland. I got a look at the format of the placement test. It is a 2 and 1/2 hour monstrosity, which involves an essay. I came here with hopes of placing well from the outset. But after a look at this.... I'm very, very afraid.

A Look Back

I had to think for a bit today when I had to write my testimonial for the CS Bucharest, about what the activities I had been doing meant to me in the large scheme of things. Here is what I came up with:
While my internship only lasted from mid-May through June 2010, I feel like I got a good idea of what it is like to work in all aspects of the Commercial Service. While here, I worked on a wide variety of projects ranging from preparation for trade fairs and presentations, to arranging one –on-one meetings between Romanian and American companies. This internship was very useful in that it allowed me, not only to apply concepts that I have learned in the classroom, but also to gain knowledge about the Romanian market. This was due to the fact that I was able to participate in the publication of the market sector reports and export success reports on a variety of industries. Through this, I was able to further my understanding of one of my areas of special interest, the Eastern European Infrastructure market.The staff at the commercial service is made up of consummate professionals. I was one of the youngest interns they have ever had, but I never felt as if anyone held that against me. In fact, I feel like many of them took me under their wing and really showed me the ropes. Spending my summer break here definitely improved my professional and networking skills. My time at CS Bucharest also allowed me to have the amazing experience of living in Romania for the time I was here. Romania is a very friendly country, and life in the capital city is quite pleasant, and I will miss the country now that it is time to go. I originally chose to apply for this internship, as I felt it would give me well-rounded experience in my specific field of interest. It definitely did not disappoint. I would recommend this internship to anyone interested in pursuing a career in the field of International Business, or Economics in Eastern Europe. The Internship has a good deal of public relations value as well. As the Embassy is moving to a different office, there is some question as to whether there will be a spot for an Intern in the new office. I hope the program continues so that many others can have the experience. It is time well spent.

What I Did

My Internship ends tomorrow so here's a look at what I have done over the past six weeks.
Gold keys:
PPI and Sekai: aided in preparation for one-on-one meetings between Romanian and American companies. This included designing the agendas, and working with Romanian companies to finalize the plans through a variety of media. I also prepared the materials for a good deal of the meetings, and organized contact info and promotional materials afterwards.
Trade fairs:
Infocomm: Invited delegations from various firms and government institutions to the American tradeshow.
Eurosatory: Took part in Monia Eremia’s preparations to attend the Paris convention. This included formulating the schedule, and organizing the necessary materials. I organized contact data after her return from the event as well.
In addition to this, in my day to day work at CS Bucharest, I often prepared materials for various other meetings and trade missions, including the one in Moldova.
Webinar: I Took part in all steps of publishing and presenting a webinar on the current status of the Romanian Energy industry. This included handling most all correspondence with representatives from industry firms; inviting them, and overcoming concerns, and/or difficulties they had with registration. I also provided them with the registration materials for the webinar, and correlated information on the attendees. Follow up communications were handled by me.
Single company promotion:
Optaros : took part in preparation for the kick-off networking meeting for the aforementioned electronic services provider’s operations in Romania. This included coordinating the attendance of guests from various firms. I attended the reception, and aided in making sure that it ran smoothly.
Export Successes and public relations:
While here, I took part in drafting a good deal of Export Success reports, and current happenings articles for the CS Bucharest website. I worked with passages in a variety of sectors including Healthcare, industrial infrastructure equipment and the energy and water infrastructure industry.
Market sector reports:
I had a hand in preparing multiple market sector reports for publication. This included both editing the reports and updating the information in them. This was one of the most educational aspects of my internship, as through doing so I gained knowledge of various market sectors in Romania. I worked in sectors including: energy, defense, and heavy machinery.
In some cases I preformed research to allow the defense and IT specialist to compare the Romanian report with those from other European countries.
Presentations:
While here, I edited an entire presentation regarding the current state of the Romanian water provision and treatment industry. This included both the spoken component of the presentation and the PowerPoint visual aids. Through doing this I learned a good deal about the Romanian water industry and the opportunities in that sector as a result of EU treatment requirements.
When the SCO gave a presentation to a group of graduate students I managed the guest list and the guests themselves at the actual presentation. Experience at the Front desk: For a two week period at the center of my internship, Monica Pascu was out of the office. For much of the time it fell to me to be the face of CS Bucharest. I was responsible for taking calls and welcoming delegations onto the premises for meetings.
Identifying New Business Opportunities:One of the ways in which I pursued my interest in the Eastern European energy market was to indentify the most viable service providers that may be interested in doing business in Romania. Making use of my experience with the webinar, I compiled the list of these companies.

Weird Stuff at The Grocery Store

Even after six weeks here, I still find going to the grocery store to be an experience. About a month ago I got turned on to Kaufland, which is an interesting hybrid of a normal supermarket, Costco, and a corner Romanian grocery shop. The aisles are large and well lit. In some areas the presentation of merchandise is well polished and in others it looks more like you’re in a warehouse. The vegetables are not hydrated or refrigerated, but this is because they are actually fresh. They are also not washed in chemicals before they make it to the shelf, and some produce still has the dirt from the farm on it. unlike in American stores you are responsible for determining the weight of your purchase, and printing the bar code. The store has an in house bakery and one of the largest delicatessen counters I have ever seen. But its offerings appear to change at random. And Items in the store are periodically sold out. The same actually goes for vegetables which come and go. One of the reason s I enjoy traveling so much is to experience these cultural differences. Some of the differences are rather interesting. For example, Romanians like soft cheeses, the cheese counter is filled with endless varieties of them, but to find parmesan, you have to go to the back of the store where they only sell three rather expensive brands. There is a large butcher’s counter, and 3 large meat cases, but they sell mostly salami. Fining pasta sauce is hard and when you do it isn’t cheap. Instead people buy tomato bullion and make it themselves. I have found that what I can make is better than any canned sauce.One last Example: I was looking in the champagne section for a bottle of Moldovan Spumant. Apparently the Romanians have discovered this, and they were out of it. So, I was scouring the shelves to see if I could discover a stray bottle when noticed something rather odd. Amid all of the other sparkling wines I noticed they were selling Hanna Montana (non-alcoholic) champagne. It looked so much like the other sparkling wines that I almost didn’t see it. When I saw this it was all I could do to keep from breaking down in an open fit of amazed laughter. But this does show a larger cultural difference. In mainstream America, any parent who bought something like this out of a store’s liquor section, for their young child would most likely be considered a bad parent. And in the Maldives, where I worked two years ago, there wouldn’t even be a liquor section to put it in. Suffice it to say, that sometimes the ways in which differences manifest themselves can be unexpected.

The Wrong Attitude

Eastern Europe often gets a bad reputation in America for being corrupt and for having edgy or rude people, while Western Europe is often seen as being developed and friendly. From what I have experienced in Berlin the opposite is closer to the truth. While all of the Germans I met personally are delightful people, I have had to deal with more bad attitudes in the past 3 days, than I have in the past month in Romania. This started about five minutes after I arrived in Berlin and looked for a place to eat. We had to try two places. The first had high prices and an extremely condescending waiter, to the point where we ended up walking out of the restaurant. The second place had even higher prices but we just decided to swallow them at that late hour. I was actually in sticker shock the whole time, but I think this is simply because of the higher price levels in Western Europe. I got ripped off at the St. Nicholas museum, when a woman with a bad attitude yelled at me for not having a ticket. I asked if the ticket was for the audio guide which I did not want. She said no, and then made me go to the counter and get an audio guide for three euro. It ran out of battery halfway through.
While there may be few correct signs in Romania, it is still easy to figure out how to go somewhere and what you are supposed to do through common sense, by looking at the layout of a building, the line, etc. In Germany things like the airport or subway system are so counterintuitive that it is hard to figure them out even with the signage. It’s even hard for Germans to figure out how to buy a subway ticket. While I was only in the Netherlands’ airport, it was even more counter intuitive. If this experience is any indication, Moldova is much nicer than much of the Euro Zone, yet the Moldovans get the bad rep! Suffice it to say I now have very little desire to go to the Netherlands. Beyond the passport control desk, my Tarom flight awaited me. While I did have an amazing time visiting Berlin, I was happy to be heading back east. The flight attendants seemed more pleasant than those on KLM. I sat next to a woman from Constanta, we struck up a conversation, and when I mentioned I had trouble taking the Bucharest bus system, she gave me a month long bus pass ( she was going directly back to Constanta) and told me how to take it. She also invited me to the Danube delta, when she next goes with her friends. Bottom line, the reputation for service in both the East and West seem undeserved. The good reputation for service and efficiency claimed by the West probably causes many travelers to be disappointed, and makes them assume that Service in the East is even worse. It’s not. If you want good respectful service, if not always a downright friendly attitude, head for Eastern Europe, it’s a great improvement over the West. At the very least, our Roma don’t harass you for money.

Berlin Part Deux

Next morning, I attended the optional trip to Potsdam. The trip was powerful, but enlightening. Most of the group is younger and very American, and decided to stay out late, and sleep through the morning, instead of choosing to see things that you can only see in Europe. The group that went was rather small but the trip was enlightening but again a bit saddening. Our first stop was the lake house where the Nazis planned the holocaust. The contrast between natural architectural beauty and the dark history of the location was chilling. We then continued on to the location where the post world war II Potsdam conference took place. The villa was made to look like a cross between an English castle and Bavarian country house. Inside we saw the studies of all of the delegates of the conference, as well as the famous ‘round table’ were Europe was carved up into the Easter and western blocs after the war. Our final stop was an baroque palace. The was the most lighthearted stop of our trip. The grounds were striking, and included a Chinese tea house, which bears no resemblance to Chinese architecture, but is quite beautiful. We headed back to the city for a free afternoon.Our afternoon started with an amazing Lunch near the river. We enjoyed freshly made bushetta, and the Spargel Ravioli I had went well with the world cup match that was on the television. After lunch, the Pamailion Museum, which is composed of entire buildings and fortresses that the Germans dismantled and brought from the Middle East? The displays were striking, both in scale and detail. I have heard that some of the home countries of these edifices want them back. However I question the wisdom of this. It seems to me that they are much better off in a climate controlled German museum, then disintegrating in the desert of the present day, unstable Middle East. Much of the group met up In order to see a cabaret which RIAS paid for. The show itself was rather mindless. Afterword I got to spend time the other members of the group. It was rater interesting to discuss with them their views on international foreign policy towards Russia, among other things.