Dispozitie ciudata

Nu stiu exat ce e cu mine. Poate sunt un pic emotiva acum… Poate are legatura cu faptul ca maine plec la Bereishit (de mult nu am mai numarat zilele pana un seminar – refreshing) sau poate e doar din cauza ca toata dupa-amiaza mi-au bocanit in cap astia de refac fatada blocului.

Cert e ca mi-a venit cheful sa ascult melodia asta http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoUxRwkg9b4 si sa recitesc urarile de la ziua mea.

Cu siguranta nu am nici cel mai mic chef sa ma apuc de bagaj – vesnica dilema: habar n-am ce sa-mi iau la mine. Sau sa ma apuc de orice alta activitate constructiva – such as spalatul vaselor.

Voi in ce dispozitie sunteti?

What I’m up to lately

Not that I want to brag, but did you know that on 15th of June I had 33 visit? This wouldn’t be so impressive except for the fact that I’ve written like 6 posts in the last year. It may be seem as a sign that people expect me to keep on writing. It’s just a wild guess, determined by the fact that Dana told me today she used to read my blog. So, for Dana and all the rest of you: I know I’ve said it before, but I’m really trying to come back. So, Dana, I’m counting on you to do the same.

I don’t even know what to tell you about. it’s more than a year since I starter to work as a Customer Service Assistant at British Council. And guess what: I still love it. We’ll have 2 new people soon. I can’t wait to meet them. I keep on wandering how are they. It seems like it was yesterday that I was the new one.

It’s also nearly the end of faculty. I had all my exams already. I just need to finish my paper and make the presentation sometime in mid-July. I’m happy faculty is over, but I’ll miss my class mates terribly. I already do.

What else? Bereishit of course. For those of you  who don’t know about it (is there such a person that knows me and doesn’t know about Bereishit? I doubt it. Even my colleagues from work know about it  ) In a few words it’s a very interesting seminar. It will start next Thursday. To get an idea of my excitement I’ll only say that I  started to count the days left when there were 51 of them. I hope this seminar to be at least as good as the previous one.

And one more info before I go to sleep: this is Siha is going to take place at the seaside. How about that? I’m really enthusiastic  about it. What is your opinion on that?

Good night to everyone and keep in touch!

Closer and closer

It is happening… It is really happening… I knew it all along that these moments are coming, but this didn’t make it any easier… mai sunt 3 Kabbalat Shabaturi, 3 dupa-amiezi de sambata, mai putin de 3 saptamani…

Am fost astazi la Event-ul care sa marcheze incetarea activitatii lui Sorin ca rabin aici in Romania. Si plecarea “Rosenilor” pare din ce in ce mai reala. Incerc sa nu-mi dau voie sa-mi para rau ca ei pleaca. Imi tot spun ca e spre binele lor, ca vor fi mai fericiti acolo si ca e egoist din partea mea sa imi para rau. Totusi, nu poate sa nu imi para rau ca eu raman. Raman intr-o comunitate, intr-o tara, care imi pare din ce in ce mai goala, mai fara sens, mai gri, mai lipsita de perspective.

Am prins doar o parte din event-ul de azi, dar chiar si asa am remarcat o complexitate inpresionanta de perspective si opinii ale celor prezenti. S-a vorbit cu multa intelepciune si s-au spus povesti “cu talc”, altii au evocat momente emotionante, momente de mandrie, dar si momente de cumpana. Toate acestea mi-au ramas in minte, dar discursul care m-a pus cel mai mult pe ganduri a fost cel al d-lui Roth (mai intai l-am considerat nesuferit, dar m-am razgandit apoi). Ideea principala pe care am retinut-o din discursul sau a fost aceea ca avem tendinta sa facem si infrangerile sa para victorii, dar ca evenimentul de astazi nu a fost aniversarea unei victorii. Comunitatea a pierdut un rabin. Care, imi permit eu sa adaug, nu din cauza cainilor cu colaci in coada care umblau in sus si-n jos prin comunitate a decis sa faca acest pas.

Asadar, dupa ziua de azi, raman un pic trista. Nu pentru ca Sorin, Livia, Shiri si Ariel vor pleca, ci pentru ca eu raman aici, si fara ei si intr-un loc pe care il simt tot mai gri si mai gol.

Stiti ce? O sa scriu

Ce mult a trecut de cand scriam pe blog in mod curent. Ce s-a intamplat? Nu stiu… lenea… facebook-ul… lipsa de subiecte… prea multe subiecte… lenea (da, stiu ca ma repet)…

Acum ceva timp mi-am gasit un pretext pentru care sa nu mai scriu. Spun pretext pentru ca oricum nu mai scrisesem de ceva vreme… dar cumva ma simteam prost din cauza asta. Asa ca am decis sa arunc vina asupra altcuiva. Macar un pic. Vreti sa va povestesc cum a fost? O sa fiti uimiti, dar rationalizarea mea era destul de convingatoare. Long story short:

Mi s-a cerut sa sterg un post pe care il scrisesem cu vreo 2 ani inainte. Ceea ce, evident, am si facut. Dar am ramas cu 2 intrebari: 1. de ce abia dupa atata timp? 2. daca problema e ca oamenii se simt deranjati de faptul ca scriu si despre ei, despre ce as putea scrie? Nu indrazniti sa imi spuneti ca despre mine. Pentru ca asta si fac. Dar, inevitabil, experientele mele ii includ si pe ceilalti. Si iata si concluzia la care ajunsesem: nu pot sa-mi auto-cenzurez posturile. Sau sa scriu in asa fel incat sa nu pomenesc despre nimeni. Pur si simplu ar strica tot farmecul. Asa ca alesesem sa nu mai scriu deloc.

Dupa care, deodata m-a lovit realitatea. Nu inchiderea blogului este solutia. Din 156 de postari, doar una mi s-a cerut sa sterg. Clar solutia cea mai inteligenta nu e sa renunt la blog sau sa-mi schimb felul de a scrie. E mult mai simplu de atat: pur si simplu sa invat sa aleg despre ce e cazul sa scriu si despre ce nu. Si sa-mi asum riscul ca uneori sa gresesc.  In fond “singurele greseli reale sunt cele din care nu inveti nimic”.  Si lectia pe care am ales sa o invat e aceea ca uneori trebuie sa fiu ceva mai picky.

Ultima zi de Teaching Assistant

In ultima vreme afirm parca din ce in ce mai des: “Cat de repede a trecut timpul”. Si vineri an avut o noua ocazie sa afirm asta.

A fost ultima mea zi de Teaching Assistant. Noiembrie, Decembrie, Ianuarie, Februarie, Martie, Aprilie, Mai… A trecut ceva, nu? A fost absolut minunat. Am convingerea ca a fost cea mai buna alegere aceea de a participa la acest internship, apoi de a continua pt al doilea trimestru si, desi am stat putin in cumpana, ma bucur ca am mai ramas si dupa finalul celui de-ai doilea trimestru.

Simt ca am invatat multe lucruri si mai ales am imprumutat cate ceva dintr-un fel de a fi.

Data trecuta cand am fost pe punctul de a pleca credeam ca voi fi foate trista in ultima zi. Evident sunt putin necajita,  imi va fi dor sa stau la ore, sa corectez teme, sa dau stickere si sa iau stelute >: ) normal ca imi vor lipsi copiii. Dar sunt si foarte fericita. De ce? Pentru ca voi face in continuare parte din echipa BC, de data asta de pe postul de Customer Service Assistant !!!

Am avut niste emotii legate de asta… pana am scris aplicatia….pana am primit telefon sa ma cheme la interviu… apoi inainte de interviu… dupa interviu… si mai ales vineri cand asteptam raspunsul final. De fiecare data cand suna telefonul sau venea cate un mail imi sarea inima din loc. (cu motive diferite in fiecare caz in parte). Sa va explic. La finalul interviului mi s-a spus care e procedura lor. Daca sunt acceptata voi fi sunata. Daca nu, voi primi un mail. Va dati deci seama cu ce teama mi-am verificat mailul in ultimele azi. Iar vineri pe la 13:30 am primit un telefon!!!

Maine e prima zi… si am emotii. Stiu ca o sa fie OK, dar tot am emotii.

Sper sa gasesc maine timp sa va povestesc.

My day

I had an amazing birthday and I don’t know how to thank enough for that. I am incredibly grateful to have such wonderful friends.

I had to take a test in the morning and I was so nervous and kept on saying that I don’t want to get a bad mark on my birthday. And what do you think Roua, my colleague, told me to show support? “Don’t worry. You won’t get a bad mark on your birthday. The teacher will bring the results next week so you’ll have your bad mark then “  Well… it seems I won’t get a bad mark at all.

Than Iulia and Alex came with a great bunch of flowers and an amazing present : a book called “Jewish Wisdom for Business Success”. Even more amazing coming from them. Thanks you so much, guys! >:D<

Than I ate watermelon for the first time this year.

And went to BC. The teachers were so nice and told the kids (from the classes I was assisting) it was my birthday (I still feel bad for not bringing candies for the kids as well) and they sang me “happy birthday”. I received some more beautiful flowers and nice wishes. All were great, but the one from Lilyana was the most… let’s say complex, covering all the “areas of interest” from job, to friends, kids, relationships and accomplishments.

That was followed by the gathering with my beloved jewish friends. Sweets, lemonade, some more flowers, presents, smiles and jokes.

I felt (and I still do) that I had the perfect birthday, most of the important aspects (or people to be more precise) of my life gathered on the same day , making  it perfect. Thank you all for being such wonderful friends.

Particularitatile managementului proiectelor in domeniul cultural

Parca nici nu m-am dezmeticit bine din emotiile admiterii si deja am si tema de licenta. Ziua asta parea foarte departe si foarte mareata. De fapt e doar o zi ca oricare alta si a venit uimitor de repede. Ciudat cum mai trece timpul asta…

And it gets even better

The quote of the day  (word by word exactly as it was said – since she speaks English): “I love you till sky’s end” – comming from a 4 years old.

All I can say is another quote I would often use some time ago: “If things get any better, I may have to hire someone to help me enjoy it.”

The end of a pretty good week

This was the first week of a new term at British Council. It was also the first week without Patricia. It feels weird without her. First of all because we became pretty close and I was accustomed to see her all the time and having her as part of the team. Secondly because I’m the only one left from the initial TAs. Mihaela left long time ago, last week was Patricia’s turn , even Diana is going to leave in 2 weeks and I cannot stop wondering… maybe it’s time for me to move on too.

On the other hand, I enjoy very much the time spent there. The schedule changed so I have some new teachers to assist and some new classes. Maybe the change the I appreciate most is that I have one of Lily’s BCkids classes. She is a great teacher and gets along great with the little ones.

Another new class is Patrick’s former class, being taught now by Rebecca. I as there only for 45 minutes, but it was enough to leave impressed. Some of the children in that class are little monsters (and I’m very rarely impressed by naughty children).   She is the first teacher I saw to apply a method I only read about before. It goes like this: some children are very naughty only because they want to attract all the atention. Even if the teacher is upset on them or tells them to stop or criticise them, it doesn’t matter. The children win: they draw attention. So the solution in these situation is to ignore them, and reward the ones who behave well and tell those ones how much you appreciate their attitude. It seems simple, but it’s not that easy to apply. But that was precisely what Rebecca did. And guess what – it worked. There were 2-3 boys alwasy pushing or kicking each other, even swearing. And instead of asking them to stop she gave stickers to the other ones, saying : “Look, all this children are ready for the activity and stay so nicely” and gave all of them a sticker. When she got to the naughty ones she said: “these boys were’t paying attention, sorry boys, no stickers this time.” So the rules of the game were clearly stated: if you want to be rewarded and receive attention, you have to behave properly and pay attention to the activities.

Talking about great teachers let me tell you about Rachel’s class. One of the many reasons I always like going to her classes is that I feel good in there, that I am really helpfull – she gives me tasks and responsabilities (like checking the homework) and … I don’t know how to explain that… she lets the children know that I have authority as well, doing small things like telling the kids “when you finish the exercise come to me or to Magda to check it”. It may be difficult to understand what I mean, but as a teaching assistant, it’s very important to have classes and assist teachers that don’t behave like you’re just a piece of furniture. And I was very proud yesterday when she implemented a new system of penalties and rewards and told me to fell free to reward them with stamps and take away yellow stars as well.

Another reason of happiness is the weather. I had a spare hour yesterday between BC and going to the synagogue and I spent it outside reading and enjoying the sun. I absolutely love spring!

And for the week to be even better, this evening I’m going to Livia’s house. I haven’t been there for a pretty long time and I miss her and the kids. I can’t wait!!!

Now back to work. Keep in touch!

Happy birthday to me! (ro+en)

Va vine sa credeti? Au trecut deja 3 ani. Acum fix o saptamana Bloguletzul a implinit acesta venerabila varsta.

Multumim celor care au fost alaturi de noi in tot acest timp.

Stiu ca e foarte greu sa smulg cateva cuvinte de feedback de la voi, dar fiind la ceas aniversar imi incerc totusi norocul. Lasati si voi cateva vorbe despre ce va place aici, ce nu va place, ce ati vrea sa fie altfel … stiti voi… feedback…

Nu, n-am uitat de promisiunea de a scrie in engleza, dar nu stiu daca vreau sa trec definitiv pe engleza. Uneori mi se pare natural sa scriu in engleza, alteori… mi se pare fortat si stupid (avand in vedere ca nu am nicio certitudine ca am si cititori care nu stiu romana). Pe de alta parte si sa scriu asa un post intr-o limba, altul in alta limba, e destul de aiuritic.

Ma bate gandul chiar sa fac 2 variante de blog: una in romana si una in engleza. Dar cum spuneam: nu stiu daca merita eforul. Deocamdata cred ca doar o sa fac o noua categorie pentru posturile in engleza (integral sau partial).

Aveti vreun sfat in domeniul asta?

Can you believe it? 3 years have already passed. Eactly a week ago Bloguletz turned this venerable age. So it’s a good opportunity to thank those who have been with us all the time.

I know it’s very difficult to pluck a few words of feedback from you, but – being an anniversary moment I will still try my luck.  Please write a few words about what you like here, what you dislike, what you want to be different … you know … Feedback …

No, I didn’t forget my promise of writing in English, but do not know if I want to swith totaly to English. Sometimes it seems natural to write in English, sometimes … seems forced and stupid (considering that I have no certainty that there are any readers who do not know Romanian). On the other hand, to write a post in a language, other in another language, may be quite confusing (assuming someone is trying to read it, without knowing Romanian).

I thought even start 2 versions: one in Romanian and one in English. But as I said, I don’t know if it worth the effort. So far I think I’ll only make a new category for posts in English (wholly or partially).

Do you have any advice in this area?