Why?

Blog is moving

2009-05-01T19:38:00.001+06:00

Dear all,

I moved my blog to another domain.

You are all welcome to visit it at new location: http://ekaterina-khaletskaya.org

All the best,
Katya

Juice or book?

2009-04-29T13:03:00.007+06:00

This is the juice shop near my office. They are making awesome banana shake.
To make those shakes, they take some power from city cable. Most probably they are doing it illegally.

Lets take a closer look what happens.

100 of juice shops like this in Karachi, and in the evening we will not have the power in the apartments for at least 1,5 hours.

Are you having a fresh shake in the morning or reading a book in the evening?

Unfortunately, it is still not up to us.

Being a foreigner in Pakistan

2009-04-26T22:43:00.009+06:00

Ksusha, Bogdan and I went out for a picnic in the park.

Having finished the dinner (and half of the chapter of my book) we saw a group of people, looking like a big middle-class Pakistani family, going straight to our place.

They shake hands with us one by one and then asked to make a video. After the video was made, one of the women put her palm up showing that she wants us to leave signature there. We had no chance to say no, and soon her entire palm was covered with ink.

One of the guys (he seems the eldest and the only one knowing English) started to talk to Bordan: where are you from, where you studied, and how he would go visit his country. Others listened adorably.

Ksusha giving autograth to a local woman

We smiled. Yet I didn't feel comfortable about the whole thing. I am the same human being as you are, and my white skin and English skills are not the reason for giving autograph to you.

We packed our things and went away, before a new group of people could have come to take pictures with us.

Since the times when India was ruled by British, citizens of Subcontinent have had a tendency to rate themselves lower than a "white" person.

It is more obvious in Pakistan where even foreigners, when meeting each other, look surprised - it is not often when I see them around.

Pakistanis do their best to impress foreigners: for instance, in cafes and other public places they are usually over polite, even some hostels in Pakistan are built for foreigners only and local people are not allowed to stay there.

When I go to the shop, market or talk to the ordinary people on the street, they usually think that I come from London. Or United States. All "white" are associated with these two countries. Russia would not even come in their first 5.

Поза дерева

2009-04-26T15:39:00.004+06:00

На прошлых выходных разговаривала с мамой по телефону.
Мы созваниваемся каждую неделю: как дела, как настроение, здоровье, какие новости, не тоскую ли вдали от дома.

Я заметила, что в последнее время, разговаривая с мамой, я прилагаю огромные усилия, чтобы вспомнить, что у меня идет не так.

Не может же быть так, чтобы все хорошо. Я к этому не привыкла...

Но, оглядываясь на прошедшую неделю: как я отмечала Пасху с ребятами из десяти разных уголков земли, с пакистанским "куличем", больше похожем на Christmas cake; смотрели с Шерми Ramchand Pakistani на языке Урду и понимали все без слов; ездили смотреть на крокодилов в суфийском храме, а потом, голодные, уминали вкуснейшее пакистанское chickem makni в Tandoori Hut; обсуждали с Марьям случай со студентом в Лахоре - когда же люди в этой стране одумаются и вспомнят ценности, заложенные в ее фундаменте; поздравляла Арсалаана с предстоящей стажировкой в Украине в местной школе; с открытым ртом слушали экскурс в историю Пакистана от Junaid'а - совсем молодого, а такого интеллигентного, и спорили, и делали открытия, каждый для себя и общие; укутывалась в Пакистанский платок поверх shalwar kameez'а, сидя на валике и слушая пакистанскую народную музыку в Университете Искусства; ездила на работу на местном автобусе, теснясь между школьницами в черных одеждах с тетрадями на коленках, - я молча улыбаюсь.

Я люблю свою работу, за которой рабочий день по ощущениям длится не 8 часов, а всего час. Моя работа учит меня жизненной мудрости и понимания людей, а также (в качестве бонуса), дает возможность приобрести полезные привычки - они всегда помогут мне в жизни.

И еще много всего, сказанного и не-сказанного, о чем хочется говорить ночи напролет.
Радостное и грустное - все здесь, и все это так завораживает!

В йоге есть так называемая поза дерева - поза баланса. Требует концетрации и силы воли. Долгое время я не могла ее выполнить. Плакала даже. А теперь - стою хоть бы хны.

Чувствую вину за то, что живу такой сбалансированной жизнью. И смущение - оттого, что я обустроила это все сама. И страх - когда следующий поворот и какое испытание ждет за углом?

Attention please

2009-04-22T22:31:00.001+06:00

Some notes on the walls in our office really make me smile :-)

Trip to Thatta

2009-04-22T13:44:00.003+06:00

Thatta is a city outside Karachi.
I have visited it recently with my friends.

Learned a lot about history of the land and Sufi way of practicing Islam.

Jumah prayer

2009-04-11T22:40:00.005+06:00

On Friday afternoon Jeremy and I went out for lunch.
After we'd had our food (awesome Irani/Afgani rice with meat), we went back to the office hoping to get there through the usual road that we take.

However, soon after going outside the cafe, we realized that it was Friday afternoon (1pm) which is the time for jumah prayer.

There were people everywhere on the streets which lead to masjid (mosque / praying area), including the street that we usually take. They were sitting on praying mattresses which are put on earth, close to each other due to limited space, and going up and down while praying. Imam from the mosque was reading Qaran verses, and his voice was heard in the entire Saddar area.

Islam as a religion has a strong focus on practices for the whole community. All main rituals in Islam are created in such a way that Muslims around the world are doing them at the same time of the day (which do not reflect time differences though). This is done to give a feeling of unity to community of Muslims: "while I am saying my prayer I know that all Muslims in my country and around the world are doing the same".

Surprisingly, public buses were passing by the people praying, so close to them, almost stepping on their foot!

So we had to go all the way around to make a circle and reach the office :)

Interesting experience.

This picture is from a different place (I didn't take any pictures that day as it's not really respectful to do so), I just wanted to show how community prayers look like.

Not as obvious as it might seem

2009-04-09T23:40:00.002+06:00

A week ago I had a dinner with Jeremy and Ahsan Kirmani, AIESEC alumnus who recently came back from United States from his Masters program and is now working in Pakistan.

As many foreigners (or Pakistanis who came back from abroad) and meeting in a restaurant, we talked a lot about Pakistan. What is different in this country, where it is going, and what can make a difference here.

It was a long talk, but one of the things that struck me most was about child labor in Pakistan.

Ahsan was telling us how, during his university years in Lahore, he was involved in one interesting research program. At that time some Pakistani companies were refused to export their production to Europe due to the fact that they “used child labor” which is against EU standards. So students were supposed to interview the management of the companies and find out why it happened.

My first thought was “Fair enough. Using child labor is not acceptable thing to do. It seems like the right solution”.

But then he told us what was the response of company management. They said: look, we have a choice. These 12-year old kids might not work, and they go begging on the street. Or we can involve them in production, pay them money, and they will have food to eat and go to school.

This is the paradigm that is very difficult to understand for a European people who have normal living standards and who can not imagine how employment can help someone survive from begging, selling flowers on the street, let alone sleeping outside and not eating for days.

On a related note, Mariam was even telling me that some kids are being paid by NGOs for going to school! If they weren’t, they would go begging which is the easy way to get money for food.

The same question is raised when people talk about servants in Pakistan. I mentioned some time before how every upper-class family in Karachi would have their own servants: cleaning ladies, drivers, cooks. “It’s not fair!” – you could say – “how could people be servants for others!” Yet if you look at things from the other side, you will see that these servants get the opportunity to earn money and send their children to good schools, so that they achieve more in life than their parents.

Things might not be as obvious as they look from the 1st glance.

Being in Pakistan, I learned to look from different sides.

1st April report

2009-04-04T16:13:00.011+06:00

It all started in the morning when I woke up and realized that it’s the 1^st of April, the only day in the whole year which is completely about jokes, and I want to live it to the fullest :)

First person that I met in the morning was Mariam Zameer, my AIESEC colleague. When Mariam came to the office, SIEMENS people had already played a joke on her, so I thought that mine would not work. But I tried.

Mariam: Katya, tell me about the meeting that AIESEC Karachi had yesterday, how was it?

I: Well, it was a disaster! We were taken out of auditorium and had to sit on the grass.. And, the saddest thing is… Kiran [Mariam’s direct report] was presenting her year targets, members started to criticize them, and Kiran said she’s resigning from her position. Mehdi [another Mariam’s subordinate] is taking her portfolio now.

Mariam: What??? Tell me all in details… Kiran didn’t tell me anything… I will text her right now and ask about it…

(after some time)

I: So did Kiran reply to you?

Mariam: Yes, she said she didn’t want to tell me before, but she is really leaving… Oh no… (5 mins passed). Katya, it was not 1^st April joke, was it?

After that Mariam was eager to take part in further jokes with me.

So we texted Jeremy and Saaim [my other team mates] telling them that SIEMENS people are kicking us out of the office space and we are moving to SITE office [far far away from everything]. The thing is that SIEMENS people were really thinking about moving office to SITE area at some point, but topic was closed a few weeks ago.

In addition to sms, we brought SIEMENS guards on our side by asking them to make fools of Jeremy and Saaim when they arrive to the office.

In the meantime, AIESECers from Oman received a letter with my resignation from position of President of AIESEC Oman that I recently became.

They were smart enough to reply: “Thanks for your letter, Katya, we decided to reopen application for a president, would you be so kind to take part in selection process as you already know the procedure?” I even checked MyAIESEC.net for notification about reopened applications…

(in 1 hour)

Saaim comes to the office with furious expression on his face, talking over the phone. Very soon we realize that he is talking to Sohail Wojahat, the CEO of SIEMENS.

Saaim (after the call): guys, pack your things, we are going to meet Sohail Wojahat at SITE office.

All: Why???

Saaim: He wants to see us. He is very disappointed of our behavior and jokes about moving the office. When you joke, please DO NOT joke about partners, OK??

Me and Mariam: We are really sorry, Saaim, we didn’t have any bad intentions! We thought you would not call the administration…

Oh if you could imagine what a reflection time I had during the next 2 hours!

My jokes are not funny at all. They disturb and harm other people. What kind of person I am… I should not live with people.

(in 2 hours)

Saaim: Well, I hope you got the joke, guys. I was not speaking to Sohail Wojahat, I was speaking to Jeremy. The whole SIEMENS office knows what April Fools you are :)

OK, I am not that bad in the end. Some people are even worse! Let’s continue with jokes … :)

My flat mates [foreign friends] were my next target.

30 min work with gmail, and they received a letter from Faisal Shaikh (our land lord) asking them to leave apartments that we are renting in Karach due to noise and not making payment on time.

In a min after having sent the email, I received a response from Bogdan, my Romanian flat mate:

“I'm very sorry to hear these things... I, myself, promise to be quiet on the stairs, clean after myself on the roof and pay my dues in time. Thank you for the notification!
Bogdan”

Hahaha!

(Bogdan wants to become famous, so he asked me to put his picture here)

Soon after internet in the office stopped working, and we moved to a café in Zamzama.

But my jokes didn’t stop :)

My friend Sasha from Moscow is looking for a traineeship in Islamabad [Pakistan’s capital]. And – “I just realized!” – that Pakistan International Airlines are giving free tickets to all trainees who are coming to Pakistan! But – what a sadness! – today is the deadline, and you should send me your motivational letter in 2 hours, otherwise you will be late for the competition.

I: To take part, you need to answer 2 questions: 1) why do you want to fly with PIA? 2) how will you entertain passengers during your free PIA flight?

Now look what Sasha, as a really determined person, sent me in 2 hours :)

Dear PIA Team

Next was Yahya, my successor, who got a message from me with request to send his introduction to Sophie, from AIESEC head office. "This is Yahya, and I am good boy :-) I am very excited for what I am getting into and I know that it will be one of the most challenging, learning experiences in my life, so lets get rolling!"

It was the late evening when my friend called my cousin (Masha) and my brother (Andrei) to invite them to my wedding in June. I will be the 2nd wife of Mr Faisal Shaikh (yes yes, the same one who is our land lord - I just liked how the name sounds :) and didn't tell my parents yet, because obviously they will be shocked, but I want to see my beloved cousin and brother at the wedding.

Masha (smart girl) was reluctant to believe it at first, but eventually agreed to come to Karachi in June.

But poor Andrei, he got it so seriously that even when I’d told him to check-out wedding website (www.apriljoke.com.pk), he started booking his ticket to Pakistan.

At midnight 1^st April was over and I went to sleep, happy for the fruitful day :)

Thanks everyone, you are the best!

:):):)

Bus Tour

2009-03-23T14:39:00.011+06:00

Yesterday Jana, Rahab, Shi Shuai, Bogdan (my foreign friends), Munib (Pakistani) and myself went to an adventurous trip around the city in a public bus.

To help you understand why I call this trip adventurous I will provide you with some facts.

1. Public buses in Pakistan are there for people from lower classes of society.

2. Some of my friends, students of good universities in Karachi, never traveled in these buses in their entire life.

3. There are no bus stops in the city. Bus doesn't stop when you put up your hand. What it does though is slows down for a while to give you a chance to quickly get in.

4. There are no schedules, nor a map of how buses go around the city. Some of them do not even have numbers, just names, which are in urdu (language of Pakistan).

5. Men and women have separate sections in a bus.

6. Junaid Ahmed, my AIESEC colleague, after having gotten to know that we're going for a bus tour, sent me the following message: "Oh my god! With who? Crazy people! Cover your head and be safe"

What's really catches attention is that local pakistani buses look very different from their peers in other countries:

I have heard that bus drivers tend to spend half of their salary on the decoration of their bus.
Like, for instance, this dude :)

If you are a guy, you have an opportunity to see the whole city from the roof of a bus. Unfortunately, women are not allowed to sit there, otherwise I would use the chance :)

Trip was very exciting by the way.

We were in the first bus for 1,5 hours, and then we stopped and took another one for another hour. We went to a place on the other side of the Clifton Bridge which divides Karachi into 2 big parts, in simple terms - rich and poor. So we got to see how is life on the "other side", and now the area where I live - Zamzama - seems much nicer than before.

At the bus changing point we - foreigners - became the news for local people. Everyone took pictures of us and talked about us.

After the bus trip, tired and hungry, we went to Boat Basin (food street) to eat karahi. With hands. Which we didn't wash before having food, pakistani style :)

Sometimes I travel with bus to the office in the morning. My colleagues are shocked. :) but I am here to experience the culture. And public bus is a way to feel the city, that I definitely can't do in the air-conditioned car :)

Money can talk

2009-03-17T18:15:00.005+06:00

So I looked in my wallet recently and realized that I have 6 different types of currency there.

Russian ruble - I went back to my home country in January, was very glad to spend time with family and friends.

Omani Rial - visited Oman this February. Amazing country with wonderful people! And I got Starbucks coffee for free in a food court!
Euro - this is from Italy where I went for International AIESEC Conference to meet 200 most talented young people from more than 100 countries of the world
Qatar Riyal - going to Italy, I stopped in Doha (the capital of Qatar) and bought a salad at the airport. Salad was fresh and tasty, and they gave me change in Riyals.
Pakistani Rupees - I have been living in Pakistan for 8 months already. It's been a fantastic experience so far. So many challenges, so many things I have seen and done for the first time in my life, so many tears, and so much growth in who I am.
American Dollars - they are always there for a "black day" :)

Money telling stories.

Chai chahie :)

2009-02-07T01:16:00.004+06:00

Chai chahie, chai chahie

Kopsi janab?

Lipton hi te ha

Mmm! Lya jabad!

...

Обожаю пакистанский чай! Люблю безумно!

И умею готовить: полкружки воды в кастрюлю, столовая ложка чая с верхом, 2 столовые ложки сахара - все на огонь; как закипит, добавить полкружки молока. Получается chai. А еще можно добавить специй, тогда получится - masala chai.

Совсем не удивительно, что слово для черного горячего напитка у русских и пакистанцев одно и то же.

...

В июне, когда я только начала работать в новом офисе AIESECа в Карачи, нам приносили чай 3 раза в день, как и всем работникам SIEMENS:

- в 9 утра

- в 11 утра

- в 3 часа дня

Что и говорить, чай в 9 утра мы периодически "просыпали", а когда не просыпали, то бывало, что разносчики чая не появлялись. Чай в 11 утро - как луч света в темном царстве - "теперь работа пойдет в гору" :)

Прекрасно помню: самую большую радость в течение дня мне доставляли именно разносчики чая, когда звенели за дверью маленькими чашечками, а через несколько секунд заветный молочный напиток оказывался на моем столе!

Чай в 3 часа дня - отличное завершение обеда или начало полдника - не давал засыпать в оставшиеся рабочие часы.

...

Иногда чай приносили на 30 минут позже, а то и на целый час. Это пакистанское чувство времени.

...

В какой-то момент я поняла, что я ХОЧУ ЕЩЕ ЧАЯ. И стала просить каждый раз не одну, а две чашечки. Коллеги шутили: ну, Катя, ты даешь! Казалось, весь AIESEC в Карачи скоро знал о моем пристрастии и "двух чашечках" вместо положенной одной.

Чай продолжали приносить в 9, в 11 и в 3 часа дня.

...

Во время Рамадана - месяца поста - нам перестали приносить чай.

Сложно поверить, но я поняла, что могу жить без чая.

...

Рамадан прошел и любовь к чаю вернулась с новой силой.

Чай продолжали приносить в 9, в 11 и в 3 часа дня.

...

Все поменялось, когда однажды я пришла в офис в субботу.

Честно признаться, когда я туда шла, я подумывала о чае. Но не очень-то сильно. Это же выходной - значит, чая сегодня не будет.

Но, к моему удивлению, в какой-то момент дверь открылась и мне принесли чай. Причем не кто иной, а помощник самого СЕО SIEMENSa!

Когда Майкл уходил, он сказал заветные слова - "в течение дня, если Вы пожелаете чая, пожалуйста, позвоните мне: ..."

С той чудесной субботы, мы пьем чай в любое время дня. Достаточно просто позвонить Майклу и попросить на выбор: чай, зеленый чай или кофе.

...

В один из выходных дней я решила прогуляться до продуктового магазина.

Рядом с ним находится чайная лавочка. Я попросила приготовить мне чай для двоих.

Я забрала пакетик и побежала угощать Янку :)

Life style

2009-02-05T15:01:00.007+06:00

Местные рестораны с пакистанской едой обычно выглядят так: на большом открытом пространстве стоят столы, на которых сложены подушки, похожие на валики. Люди подходят, снимают обувь и залезают на стол, усаживаясь на подушки-валики. Еду приносят на этот-же стол.

Когда я возвращалась из Лахора этой зимой, я сидела в самолете у окна. Самолет готовился к выезду на взлетную полосу, оставалось буквально несколько минут. Я выглянула в окно и вот что увидела:

Ребята-рабочие устроили обед прямо под крылом!

Через несколько минут, когда они поели, подъехала тележка и забрала их "стол" :)

Так забавно!

А сегодня утром я пришла в офис SIEMENS (в здании которого находится мой офис), смотрю - дверь закрыта! Да, я помню, что сегодня праздник, и никто не работает, но офис должен быть открыт.

Мои старания открыть дверь услышал ресепшенист и подбежал к выходу. Я вошла в фойе, а там - ресепшенист и 2 наших охранника обедают на полу :)

Они так уютно устроились рядом со стойкой reception, что я даже хотела их сфотографировать. Но потом передумала - вдруг они подумают, что я хочу передать их фото самому CEO? Не буду их смущать.

Вот такой life style :)

Наблюдение

2009-02-05T14:30:00.005+06:00

Хочу поделиться одним интересным наблюдением, которое я сделала о своем рабочем месте и о себе.

Офис AIESECа, в котором я работаю, - это уютная светлая комната, находящаяся в здании SIEMENS Pakistan. На стенах висят флаги, привезенные стажерами из разных стран, большая карта мира с именами тех, кто побывал в Пакистане, плакат AIESEC values и плакат We can do it с американской женщиной.

Это очень милый офис.

Но вот что интересно. Когда я только начинала здесь работать (в июне), я заметила, что не люблю работать здесь. Особенно не люблю возвращаться за свой стол после обеда! Половина дня проходила в ужасных мучениях! Настроение мое портилось постоянно, и это сказывалась на работе и отношениях с коллегами. При том, что работа, которой я занимаюсь, мне очень нравится. Что такое?

В середине декабря я уехала в командировку в Лахор. А из Лахора - сразу в Москву.

Вернулась в Карачи в январе. Прихожу в офис, а моего стола стоит новый стул. Это Сальман работал на моем месте и, видимо, привез новый стул.

Я подумала "ну ок, посмотрим, как на тебе сидится!" И села. И вдруг поняла, что я обожаю свое рабочее место! Как же удобно сидеть на новом стуле!

Мое настроение улучшилось, и работа автоматически пошла в гору!

Теперь я с радостью приезжаю в офис по утрам и возвращаюсь с обеда, потому что знаю - у меня супер-удобный стул, сидя на котором вся работа делается с радостью!

Сегодня я даже решила их сфотографировать.

Это мой старый стул:

А это новый:

Вот так одна маленькая деталь может повлиять на настроение и продуктивность человека!

Из Москвы – назад в Карачи!

2009-01-30T01:04:00.002+06:00

Помню чувство, которое я испытала, когда я приехала домой после 6 месяцев в Пакистане – будто бы я никуда и не уезжала вовсе :) настолько дома все привычно и знакомо. Как-будто эти месяцы в Пакистане случились давным давно или вовсе почудились мне во сне.

Наверное поэтому, по возвращению в Карачи я испытала другое чувство – похожее на то, что было в июне, когда я приземлилась в Пакистане в первый раз в своей жизни. Помню, как я с замиранием духа смотрела на голубые огни города из окна самолета, боясь даже представить, что меня ждет в этой стране.

И теперь – те же огни в ночной мгле. И вроде бы я знаю, где живу и с кем, где я работаю. Только вот было все это так давно! А может, я просто видела это в кино?

Интересно наблюдать, как меняется мое восприятие России и Пакистана – особенности двух наций и их образа жизни.

Сначала все казалось просто и понятно.

Например, пакистанцы не отличаются пунктуальностью (вернее – отличаются непунктуальностью :) что можно сказать и о русских.

Производительность труда пакистанцев прямо пропорциональна времени, которое босс проводит в офисе. Другими словами, люди работают только тогда, когда босс рядом; а когда его нет – не работают. В наших компаниях все похоже, не так ли? :)

Пакистанцы – очень гостеприимный народ! Накормят, и напоят, и спать уложат! Так и русские славятся своим гостеприимством.

Связи в Пакистане – непосредственный атрибут человеческого существования. Все основано на знакомствах! Как, впрочем, и в России – дела пойдут куда лучше, если иметь «своего человека» в нужном учреждении.

Пакистанцы жалуются: то не так, это не то. Русские тоже постоянно жалуются!

Поначалу я даже заскучала: «пакистанцы – они как русские, только их черты более ярко выражены».

Но через какое-то время я стала замечать более интересные вещи, после чего у меня даже не возникает мысли сравнивать две эти нации – настолько они самобытны и больше не представляются мне «ярким и менее ярким выражением одних и тех же качеств».

Как так произошло? Похоже, я начала разбираться в причинах проявлений того или иного поведения.

Возьмем, к примеру, пунктуальность. Почему русский человек опаздывает на встречу? Скорее всего – поленился и проснулся позже обычного, или – пробки в городе.

Почему пакистанец опазывает на мероприятие? Потому, что он вежливый человек. Серьезно! Если хозяева обозначили время «8 вечера», то на негласном языке это означает «10 вечера», и прийти раньше значит – обидеть хозяев!

Связи в Пакистане – нечто другое, нежели в России. В этой стране даже браки заключаются с целью формирования сети контактов (любовь – дело десятое). Девушка, которую выдают замуж, должна попасть в хорошую семью, в которой ей будет так же комфортно, как в своей. К тому же, одна из главных задач родителей в мусульманской семье – это найти перспективного мужа для своей дочери.

В России же связи нужны, прежде всего, для обхождения закона – «так куда проще». А в Пакистане законов нет, то есть и обходить особо нечего – все создается отношениями отдельных людей.

Люди в России очень глубокие. Мы любим пострадать, помучиться, себя пожалеть, пожаловаться на жизнь. Страдание – неотъемлемая черта жизни русского человека. Возможно, это связано с православием. Мы во всем, везде ищем смысл. Причину. Цель. И если не находим, то плачем.

В Пакистане же все не так. Люди, хотя и жалуются, но жалобы здесь совсем другого рода. Пакистанцы не жалуются на жизнь, у них все отлично! Они как-то даже и не размышляют сильно над этим. Живут и живут, все супер, так и должно быть. Они смотрят на вещи просто и практично. Покушать, поспать, купить новую машину или дом – вот это важные дела. А чтобы смысл жизни искать – это не про них :)

То есть по большому счету ребята довольны. Но в повседневной жизни, на работе, например, очень любят повозмущаться. Причем по всяким пустякам! Как привяжутся к какой-нибудь мааааленькой детали, так их не остановить!

Когда русский человек в беде, он молится всем святым. А зачастую ищет ответа во всякого рода гаданиях и предсказаниях будущего. Пакистанец же молится Богу. И только Ему. No god, but God – это про мусульман. Вера у этих людей сильна и направлена в сторону единственного высшего существа.

И еще кое-что. Россия – страна женщин. В горящую избу и коня на скаку – это про нас. Пакистан, на первый взгляд, страна мужчин. Мужчины здесь добиваются гораздо больше, чем женщины. На более пристальный взгляд, скажем, на устройство семьи – мужчина «на виду», но женщина заправляет бал.

Вот так я поняла, что самое интересное в международном опыте – это возвращаться назад :)

Moscow vacation

2009-01-02T00:04:00.006+06:00

Passport Control Officer: "Good afternoon Miss! Welcome back to Moscow... Lets check your documents... Oh you've been to Pakistan for 6 months!.."

Me: "Yes, and I am coming back for another 6!"

Passport Control Officer: "What are you doing there???"

Me: "I am working there. You know it's extremely beautiful country!"

Passport Control Officer: "Pakistan? Really? And... how do they treat you as a woman?!"

Me: "I have never experienced such a respectful and caring treatment

as there!"

My first minute in Moscow airport - and I am feeling like a change agent :)

Doesn't matter that I haven't slept for ages and my luggage arrived

2 days later, but I am home - on the land where forests spread for many kilometres and where there is a history in every stone, where people joke in Russian and believe in miracles...

Parents in the theatre where we went on 31st of December

My mom, brother and I near "Jan-Jack", French restaurant, where we celebrated the New Year

Me near church on Polyanka street

Wedding season

2008-12-25T20:28:00.002+06:00

Recently I got a call from female Pakistani friend of mine...

K: hi Katya, what's up? What are you doing tonight?

Me: i am going for a dinner with my colleagues from work. Why?

K: I am delivering methai to my relatives and friends, was hoping to meet you at the apartment.

Me: What is methai?

K: These are pakistani sweets that we deliver on engagement. You see I am getting married in March..

Me: Really? You never told me..

K: You know Katya I found it out a few weeks ago myself..

***

Many girls here in Pakistan do not have a problem of finding their husband.

According to Islam, one of the main duty of parents is to ensure that their daughter got married to a good guy. Its called arrange marriage.

That's what my Pakistani friends shared with us about arrange marriages during one of the discussions on the roof.

Sana: First the family of the guy goes to the family of the girl but without the guy or girl. They don’t talk about them but try to find out if they are economically or cult

urally on the same level. The girl’s family is very concerned that the girl moves in to a similar family as their own one so that she doesn’t have to adjust.

Faisal: The girl isn’t marrying the guy but the family.

Sana: In the cities the two have the chance to meet and go out with frien

ds to get to know each other.

Umar: But obviously it is arranged, you cannot get to know each other too much. But then one is more open for compromise because the expectations are lower as for love marriages. I asked my mom about that. She said it’s different. If you know you have to spend the rest of your life with this person, so you take an extra effort.

Sana: My parents are in love even though it was arranged.

Umar: Here love starts after marriage because you spend so much time with each other. If I like a girl I can tell my mom and ask her to get to know the family and do it the arranged way. By the way, in the Quran it says that you cannot marry a woman without her consent.

Sana: I am in the favor of arranged marriage if both are completely ok with it without pressure. There is a difference between arranged and forced marriage.

Katya: What about the love that happened before you get married?

Sana: Either there is an ‘arranged’ love marriage or you ‘date’ when you are engaged. Often these engagements brake apart. The way we are brought up is different. I girl is brought up to be a good mother in law. To fall in love is too sinful and too strange and only fall in love with their husbands after marriage.

Interesting thing is how a girl and a guy meet for the first time. Guy and his family come to girl's family. They sit in the living room and talk about business, politics, weather etc. At some point, a girl (who was in her room during all these) is coming to serve tea. While she is serving tea, guy's mother is checking whether she is worth for proposal or not :)

At first I couldn't really get all these. How can it happen that love comes after marriage?!

Yet I understood it when I got to know Pakistani society a little better.

Everything here is built on networks. If you are from the good family and have connections with business and government authorities, and know the right people, you will find your way everywhere. That's why marriage is not about love (too vague to be considered!), but about connections. And.. in the end of the day, its not that bad if mom finds you a husband - why to struggle if there is an easier way?

***

So a girl and a guy decided to get married... What's next?

Wedding process in Pakistan consists of several events:

Mayoon is a custom of the bride entering into the state of seclusion eight to fifteen days before a wedding. Mayoon is usually taking place at bride's house, guests are singing songs and girls are putting henna on each others' hands.

Mehndi happens in 2-3 days prior to the wedding reception. Friends and family feed bride and groom with sweets, give money and out henna on their hands.

Dholki is another ceremony of singing traditional wedding and other popular songs, and dancing dances.

Nikah is the name of official wedding ceremony in Islam. Nikah usually happens in groom's house with only close faimily and friends present.

Shaadi (or Wedding reception) is the main wedding day. Shaadi is being hosted by bride's family and takes place in a brightly decorated tent or a hotel.

Final ceremony of the wedding is called walima. Walima is organized by groom's side and where a couple is treated as a husband and wife.

***

I remember how I was preparing for the first wedding to attend.

The most important part of preparation is the dress. Wedding dress should be made either of silk or thick cotton, with decorations and embroidery of different types.

2 weeks before the wedding Kaukab and Wardah went with me to the shop to help me choose the right material. We found extremely beautiful orange cloth with circles, which I gave to the designer for stitching and making design.

After that, Kaukab and me went to choose bangles. Out of 1000 different types we choose organge-red churia which covered half of my hand...

In a day before the wedding I went to put henna on my hands - you already know that they call it mehndi.

And the last task in the list was to find matching shoes. All shops in Zamzama (street where I live) were closed, so I went to Sunday bazaar with Biya to have a look for shoes there. Haven't found anything nice, I decided to borrow Biya's shoes instead.

After everything was bought and I got ready - so pretty! - Fahad came to pick me up.

Wedding lasted for 2 hours: all what we did is eating, taking pictures with bride and groom, and gossiping about dresses of other girls.

The funnyest thing happened on the next day when Kaukab called and said that I am invited for Walima in the evening - "And.. remember that you should wear a new dress!" ... :-)

***

Eid Mubarak!

2008-12-10T03:25:00.000+06:00

Word 2003 doesn’t recognize the word Eid and marks it red even its one of the main holidays for Muslim society.

Eid in Pakistan started today :-) it’s the second Eid this year (first one was in October). I did morning exercises on the roof, ironed my new shalwar kameez, agreed on final celebration plan with Hassaan, closed laptop and went downstairs...

In the night before Eid people usually go for last minute shopping (churiya – bangles, clothes) and for putting mendi on hands. So we did take the opportunity to become more Pakistani :)

After we had finished with shopping, we went to the house of one of new AIESEC members, Hassaan, to celebrate Eid with his family. We all were extremely happy with such an invitation from Hassaan: what else can the foreigner in Pakistan dream about on Eid?! :) yet honestly I was not surprised – the hospitality of Pakistanis is something that I have never ever experienced before!

With our chand raat shopping we were late for a dinner, but it was very good anyways :)

Some games after food... And me and Jana went to sleep earlier than others – next day was expected to start at 7.30am.

When we woke up in the morning, men were already out for morning prayers. Women can go there as well, but they usually prefer staying at home. While men were gone, we got dressed in our made-for-Eid clothes and went to see the sacrifice of the animals…

Oh this is an interesting story :) Once upon a time (loooong time ago), God gave a son to Prophet Ibrahim when the Prophet was 70 years old. God did this to show that He exists and help people who have faith. 9 years passed, son became a young man, and God told The Prophet that if he’d got faith, he’d need to sacrifice his son by killing him. Many people asked Ibrahim not to follow these instructions, but his beliefs were so strong that he went with his son to a far away place, covered own yes and put the knife up in the air… When Ibrahim touched the body with a knife, took the scarf off and saw that his son was standing alive right near him, and there was a lamb that was killed. The reason is that God intervened and instead provided a lamb as the sacrifice. This is why today all over the world Muslims who have the means to, sacrifice an animal (usually a goat or a sheep), as a reminder of Ibrahim's obedience to God. The meat is then shared out with family, friends (Muslims or non-Muslims), as well as the poor members of the community.

I was very surprised to find out that Muslims usually buy an animal in advance, play with them, care about them, try to connect, and when they eventually start loving this animal, they need to kill it. The rational behind this is that Muslim should sacrifice the loved ones for obedience to God. God gives, God takes away…

So coming back to what happened in the morning today…

Everyone went on the street to see how people sacrifice goats and cows. When I came one cow was already lieing on the ground, and two goats were about to be sacrificed.

It’s definitely not an easy thing to watch… I could barely see it at first…

Yet after two goats I even went to see the same processes with a cow… Cow is obviously a lot bigger than a goat, so it’s tough to make it patient in order to cut the throat properly. Only professional can deal with a cow. A man takes a rope, puts it across legs of a cow and makes it lye on the ground until it gets calm. After that he takes a knife, finds the right place and cuts the vein.

My Pakistani friends told me that this vein connects brain and body thus cutting the vein the one cuts this connection, and an animal doesn’t feel anything.

Wanna see how the process goes? No way, that I will upload it here, pictures are more than enough for now :)))

Sacrifice of the animal is the main thing during Eid. Having experienced this, we went… to have breakfast :S Food as usual is amazing! Chken biryani, liver, kheer and my favorite paratha! Mmm!!! The rest of the day was long and lazy – I haven’t had similar kind of rest for a looong time, exactly what I needed!

Yeah, experiencing Pakistan is NOT an easy thing :-) but... so much fun!

Зима в Карачи

2008-12-03T02:34:00.000+06:00

У меня в Пакистане началась зима.
Я знала, что пакистанская зима обычно начинается в ноябре. Но вот пришел ноябрь, мы вернулись в Карачи, а тут такая же жара, как и летом! Через несколько дней я спросила свою коллегу:

- Марьям, как узнать, что началась зима?

Марьям ответила:

- Когда ты замечаешь, что начала выключать вентиллятор в комнате, или что закрываешь окна на ночь, значит пришла зима.

Я так смеялась :)

Если в России зимой расходуется намного больше энергии, чем летом, то в Пакистане совсем наоборот - вентилляторы выключены, а значит электричества расходуется меньше.

Я даже забыла, что такое power cuts. Летом у нас отключали электричество по 2-3 раза на день на 2 часа каждый раз. Было весело :)

С наступлением зимы в Карачи усилился запах города... Тут и так очень своеобразный запах (я нигде до Пакистана такого запаха не чувствовала), а с зимой он стал еще сильнее, заметнее. Он везде - во дворе моего дома, в подъезде, в комнате.

А еще солнце стало другим. Таким, как ранней московской весной - в марте, когда только-только начинает сходить снег, но солнце брызжет во всю, так, что свет вокруг без конца и края, и люди снимают шапки, и смеются... Вот такое здесь солнце в начале зимы.

Но прячется солнце очень быстро, так что на ночь достаю шерстяной плед и грею молоко с медом. Готовлю зимний shalwar kameez (с длинными рукавами :) - для поездки в Лахор и Исламабад в конце декабря.

Russian Week

2008-11-27T02:10:00.000+06:00

This week is a week of Russian movies in Russian cultural center in Pakistan.

I saw the advertisement about it on a wall in the supermarket - luckily last week - and told our interns and Pakistanis straight away! I was soo happy - Russian movies!..

So me, Jana and Vakar went to this place today to watch "Anna Karenina".
Movie was strange: actors were speaking in Russian, English and even in French with subtitles in English - cultural diversity :)

I was watching this movie and thinking about my country and how we lived at those times... Some things are so similar to current Pakistani society... Like as no one can understand and even escapes Anna Karenina when she divorces with her husband and start living with her lover - Alexei. Also, Russian villagers from those times ("крестьяне") reminded me about servants that there are here in every rich Pakistani house nowadays.

Vakar: I see that Russian traditions and culture are very similar to Pakistani culture, I can understand Russian people.
Me: yes, with 200 years difference :)

But these winter, churches, theaters, brave women and true love - like nowhere in the world.

We have Russian evening this Saturday on The Roof :-)

And I am in Moscow from 29th of December till 9th of January. See you all soon.

Trip to Lahore and Islamabad

2008-11-20T01:01:00.000+06:00

In the beginning of November we had an AIESEC national conference in Lahore.
After that Joan, Jeremy and myself decided to take a little break from work and go around Lahore and Islamabad (which is 5 hours away from Lahore).

That's what we found...

On the way to Lahore... Bus stop in the middle of nowhere...

Badshahi Mosque and Lahore fortress

Badshahi Mosque - Inside

Faisal Mosque in Islamabad

Joan choosing shoes in kusas shop (kusas are traditional Pakistani shoes)

My first kusas :)

Mavra and Ayesha :)

Pakistani children...

There are times when I forget that I am in Pakistan... The image of the country that I had before coming here is far too different than what I am experiencing in reality...

Experiencing Ramadan in Pakistan

2008-10-16T02:47:00.000+06:00

How I was making my shalvar kameez

2008-07-31T23:56:00.000+06:00

Shalvar Kameez is a national dress of Pakistanis.

Shalvar stands for trousers, kameez for a shirt. Women also wear the third piece called dupatta which is a long scarf that can be used in various ways: as a cover for a head under the sun, bad sheet in the train, warm cloth for cold times, and, finally, a nice part of the dress. The brighter the dress the better, especially for official meetings and weddings happening all year round.

When a foreign women is wearing shalvar kameez, people treat her as a local. Otherwise all men stare at her at the streets, that happened with me as well.

To make my own shalvar kameez I followed several steps:

1. Took a rickshaw and went to a gulf market with Tabinda...

2. Chose a piece of cloth I liked (took quite some time :)

3. Went to a tailor, left my cloth for a week...

4. Enjoyed wearing my first Pakistani dress...

Show in the air

2008-07-20T20:25:00.000+06:00

Last Sunday we visited another interesting place. It was not related to history, but sports.

One of my Pakistani friends, Sana, is fond of aircrafts. Once she found an association that is dedicated to aero modeling and operating planes. She took a course and learned how to make small planes move in the air. Now she goes there every Sunday, and that day she invited all of us as well.

The members of aircraft association have up to 20 different airplanes each. Small, medium and big machines are flying in the air making intricate movements. 6 months course, and you are a pilot of your own plane.

Visiting Mazar-e-Quaid

2008-07-20T16:17:00.000+06:00

Yesterday we went to see the place called Mazar-e-Quaid or Jinnah's Mausoleum.

I suppose this is the most important historical monument out of all that are located in Karachi. I’d seen it on so many pictures before I came to Pakistan and was eager to visit it myself.

...You might be wondering who Junnah is :)

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim politician and leader of the All India Muslim League who founded Pakistan in 1947 and served as its first Governor-General. He is officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam, the farther of the nation.

Jinnah wanted Pakistan to be a secular state and he mentioned it many times in his speeches, but his ideology never fully materialised because he died just a year after independence of Pakistan in 1948.

Now about the building itself. The mausoleum was completed in 60’s and is made of white marble with curved Moorish arches and copper grills rest on an elevated 54 meters square platform. The cool inner sanctum reflects the green of a four-tiered crystal chandelier gifted by the people of China. Around the mausoleum there is a park fitted with strong beamed spot-lights which at night project light on the white mausoleum. The location is usually calm and tranquil which is significant considering that it is in the heart of one of the largest global megalopolises.

There is a gallery near the mausoleum; you can see clothes, cars, furniture that belonged to Jinnah. For instance, there is a sofa where the farther of the nation ‘had made important decisions’ that influenced life of so many Indians and - in the future - Pakistanis.

My work and home

2008-07-13T08:37:00.001+06:00

I've drunk a strong chai (urdu word for 'tea', sounds familiar for Russians :-) and now don't feel like sleeping.

If so, let me tell you about my work and my home here in Pakistan.

For those who don't know, I am current Vice-President for Talent Management and Local Committees Development in AIESEC Pakistan. My term started on 1st of July this year and is supposed to last till 1st of July 2009. I am working in a team of four people: Jeremy from Australia is our President, Saaim and Mariam (both are Pakistani) are responsible for external relations and exchange program respectively.

Being in charge of talent management, I am handling all process related to this functional area such as: talent planning, talent recruitment, leadership development, and many others. Responsibility for LC development means reviewing organizational structure of local chapters and expansions to new universities (we are planning to open 3 more local entities till 2010).

The biggest challenge that AIESEC in Pakistan is facing at the moment is alignment between personal and organizational goals of its members that leads to the fact that potential of individuals is not fulfilled. Members are missing quality education, concept of training is unknown. Another challenge is a gap between the national body, which works quite professionally, and local chapters that do not even perceive themselves as an organization.

Being the one responsible for these issues, I have a chance to make a significant contribution to the organizational growth this year. I have a good plan, so lets hope it works, and wish me luck :-)

Besides, I am involved in local HR community in Karachi. HR market in Pakistan is very small, however the demand for this kind of services is huge, and every talent development professional coming to the country is very welcomed.

Apart from my work for internal AIESEC processes, I am an account manager for 2 our learning partners: Navitus (www.navitus.biz) and NarejoHR (www.narejohr.com). First of them is similar to intertraining (trainers' community in Russia) and second one is similar to Ward Howell (my previous employer company). Both are very professional, ambitious and worth learning from! Another company which core work is HR training and consulting is called Engage HR (www.engagehr.com), our intern Joan from Switzerland works there as a trainer. I need to mention that despite the market is small, HR internships organized by AIESEC Pakistan are known for their quality and challenging job descriptions.

My working conditions are very nice. We have a comfortable office with all needed infrastructure.

And this is my team: Jeremy, Mariam, me and Saaim.

Jeremy made a research about the working environment, that's why we recently changed an arrangement of the tables, so now we sit facing each other and not the white walls :)

Our working hours are from 9 am to 5 pm (thanks to Jeremy's social responsibility, we are working 35 hours per week like employees in Australia :)

When daily work is finished we go to our flat in Zamzama, or so-called Defense area. It is a commercial center of Karachi, all good shops, restaurants and some apartments including ours are located here.

This is our house:

This is our yard (children playing cricket):

This is how the flat looks inside:

This is a nice place to live, especially keeping in mind that not all Pakistanis can afford this kind of flat.

What I especially like about our apartment that we have a roof. It is one of highest roofs in Karachi, and it looks amazingly beautiful at nights. I will take pictures during the next roof gathering :)

Dear friends, have a good day.

Random occasion

2008-07-13T02:18:00.000+06:00

Teemu (Finland) and me witnessed an interesting occasion on the street today...

In the afternoon we went to Khada market near our place to buy some books. When we were done with shopping and were ready to go home, we suddenly noticed a huge crowd running to the main road. People looked so worried that the first thought we had - 'any car accident?'

Surprisingly not! A shop assistant told us that a thief had stolen someone's mobile! And all these people went to see who was the thief in order to avoid meeting him next time!

Police arrived to check the passengers of the bus. Finally they found him on the bus's second floor.

Dinner at Saaim’s house

2008-07-13T01:58:00.000+06:00

Saaim, my colleague from AIESEC, invited me and my friends to have a dinner at his place.

We were very happy to have a chance to visit Saaim’s house and try traditional Pakistani dishes.

I will give you a brief insight on living conditions in Pakistan.

Almost all young people I’ve met live with their families. Family is one of the core values of people in this society. People of one family group usually live together in a house (or several houses located next to each other, in case they have many relatives). When a son is getting married his wife moves to his house. When the son of this son is getting married, his wife is moving to this house too. That’s how family is growing :)

Another interesting fact, people tend to collect all the things that they got from previous generations. For instance, Saaim has a plate which was presented as a gift from his grand parents; this plate is almost 100 years old!

Now, if you have money, in Pakistan you can live purely light-hearted life! You can make everything done for you: hire cook and he will cook delicious food for you every day, hire driver and he will drive you wherever you want, hire a charlady and your house will be clean and shining all day long! I was surprised to find out that some of my friends have never traveled by bus, because they have two cars and a personal driver.

All in all, we had a very good dinner that day at Saaim’s house. We ate biryani, a typical Pakistani dish which is rice with meat and spices (masala); it can be also served with yogurt, to mild the taste. Food is a special theme for one of the next posts :-)

... Look how Menno (The Netherlands) and Jeremy (Australia) are relaxing in the living room!

Thank you, Saaim, for such a warm evening at your place!

Impressions - part 1

2008-07-07T01:34:00.000+06:00

It’s been 2 weeks since I am in Karachi. Experience is very exciting, time goes fast, and it’s difficult to capture all the moments that I’ve had here so far. Yet I want to try to highlight the most interesting observations.

Safety. First thing that people asked me about Pakistan “Is it dangerous to live there?” Of course I couldn’t answer this question when I was at home, but now I can say that I feel completely safe here. Life is stable, no issues with any fights nor crimes. The area where I live is known as a posh area of Karachi: fancy shops, cafes and nice apartments are located here.

Hot weather. One of my biggest fears of coming to Pakistan was the fear of heat. I remember it was the first sunny day in Moscow, when I went to a park and had sunstroke followed by a strong headache. That day I asked myself if I really want to go to the country where they live in a heat throughout the whole year.

...It was 5 am of June 23rd when I landed in Karachi, 30 degrees in the air! Yet I felt quite fine. Now I even enjoy the time when we walk during the day; I don’t feel like putting any sunblock on my skin, because it doesn’t get burned; I don’t cover my head as I haven't experienced any headache caused by sun.

Road traffic. This is something I got surprised about at the first day when we had a ride around the city. I reckon that if a person can drive on Karachi roads, he/she will manage to drive in ANY country in the world! Common situation is when 3 to 5 cars that come from different directions are stuck in the middle of the road trying to find their way! No rules, no policeman, everything is about a personal choice drivers! And, surprisingly, I’ve not seen any accident on the road so far, though in Moscow I used to see them at least 2 times every week.

Buildings. Second most surprising thing for me was an outward appearance of buildings. If you have a look at my photos, you will see what I mean. 90% of buildings here look like they were destroyed by some accident… Even famous multinationals like ABN-AMRO are located into grey half-ruinous houses!

However, the most interesting observation comes when you come inside… Clean, shining spaces, rich décor, and nice smells. Unbelievable! Pakistanis have different opinions about the reasons for that. I will write more about buildings later as well.

Cloths. “I take a bigger bag when I go out for a weekend!” – said one of my colleagues when he saw the bag that I came with :) When I was packing, I thought I wouldn’t be able to wear most of the cloths I wear in Moscow. It turned to be right to some extent. I can’t wear skirts and T-shirts in the office, however I can wear them at home. Besides, I was happy to find out that I can wear my favorite dress (which is pretty short!) … with trousers! Such a combination looks even more beautiful than a single dress!

For those who asked me, it’s not necessary to wear hidzhab here (piece of cloth that Muslim women cover heads with), a girl can wear it only if she wants, no one is going to force her doing that. Most of women that I meet on the streets cover their heads, but none of my female colleagues or friends does.

Traditional cloth is called ‘shalvar kamyz’ which stands for shirt and trousers that are usually worn with a kerchief. How it works. You buy a piece of cloth you want and go to a tailor who makes a shalvar kamyz for you. You can choose ANY cloths you want for your shalvar kamyz, there are different types and colors available: the ones for official meetings, the ones for home and walk, all of them are very, very beautiful! Yesterday I bought 2 types of cloth for my shalvar kamyz, let’s see how my new dress will look like...

These are some of my first impressions about Karachi.
In the next days, I am going to continue writing about impressions, events that are taking place, as well as about my work.

First week in Karachi

2008-06-29T01:45:00.000+06:00

Story continues...

Remember Taly from Dubai? (see previous post). So next day I get a call from him in Karachi. Taly invites me for a dinner with his family! I thought 'great!' Pakistanis thought "that's dangerous!" Here it's really uncommon for a girl to meet with almost unknown person in the evening!

So they suggested that another guy from my team would go with me, Saaim.
Saaim and me, both quite suspicious, went to the dinner. It turned to be the warmest welcome event ever! Taly has a big family, all of them are extremely nice people. Besides we tried amazing Pakistani food! Oh unbelievable, my first day in Karachi, and I am experiencing that cultural involvement already! What is going to be next?

***

During the following days:

- cricket match Pakistan - India within Asia Cap 2008 championship... India won, but still we enjoyed the game for 8 (!!!) hours , and i even understood the rules!

- meeting with Russian guy living in Pakistan... are you curious how i got his contacts? I went for a company meeting with NarejoHR (which is a learning partner of AIESEC), and when our contact person found out that I am from Russia, she remembered that her son has a Russian friend here in Karachi, and gave me his phone number straight away! At the evening on the same day I already knew Sergey! Seriously, that's how networking happens here, I love this country!

- bye-bye evening of Mike... Mike is from Kenya, he's been in Pakistan for a year on an internship, but he is leaving soon... We've become good friends with him, it's sad he will stay for longer..

- and exciting work! I've had meetings with 2 HR companies in Karach: NarejoHR (www.narejoHR.com) and Navitus (www.navitus.biz), both are extremely smart! I will tell you more about them later.

***

A short insight on my life here...

I live in the house with people from 10 different cultures. I've never laughed as much as I do here, and I've never played so many jokes on people as now. Every evening is someone's birthday/cultural night/random walk to the beach. Lots of work that I enjoy!

How does it looks like here in Karachi?

... view from my balcony

... view from the window

... street view

... Go Pakistan (cricket match)

Have a look at other photos here: http://picasaweb.google.ru/ekaterina.khaletskaya/FirstWeekInKarachi

Again, to be continued :)

New life started on Monday

2008-06-26T12:29:00.001+06:00

There is a common perception that if a person wants to start a new life, Monday is the best day to make it happen.

That’s what I did this week. It was 1am Monday morning when I arrived to Dubai in order to wait for a connecting flight to Karachi (Pakistan).

I didn’t even arrive to my final destination when things started to go crazy!

So what happened is that I missed an announcement in the airport. Yeah, these guys announced something, and I didn’t get what they’d said, and decided to ask a man sitting next to me. I asked, he answered, when asked where I come from, it happened he likes Russia very much, his name is Taly, and he is Pakistani by origin who lives in the US.

So we sat together in the plane, and talked about Pakistan till we landed in Karachi… Taly is a script writer and movie-maker, he is going back to Pakistan to present his new work which is a film about Qeta, a small Pakistani town near the border with Afganistan.

Taly told he’d be happy to meet me again in Karachi, and invited for a dinner with his family.

…

Pick up from Karachi airport was amazing!

6 or even more people came to meet me there!

Despite I didn’t sleep at all that night, we went to the office and worked the whole day long… :)

All in all, my flat is nice, 2 floors and a roof :) I am looking forward to having a separate room soon.

More news are coming…

My Colleagues :)

2008-05-07T17:27:00.000+06:00

The world in 2020

2008-04-27T21:51:00.000+06:00

Some months ago I received a study prepared by global PwC human services office. It’s called “Managing tomorrow people”. I enjoy reading forecasts for a future state of the world, especially if they are connected with human capital, so my attention was caught straight away! Today I’ve gone through it one more time and got anxious to share those ideas in the blog.

So the main idea is the following: there are several scenarios of how the world will be developing till 2020. According to scientists, all scenarios lie in 2 planes: collectivism vs individualism and fragmentation vs integration. Crossing those 2 lines gives us 3 worlds: Blue, Green and Orange.

What a research team does next is describe each of the scenarios in details: principles of living in such a world, major facts and figures in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2020 AND people strategy focus within these conditions.

Lets see scenarios closer:

The Blue World.

The globalisers take centre stage, consumer preference dominates, a corporate career separates the haves from the have nots.

I guess this is the state which early stages are quite noticeable nowadays in world’s business cities.

So what will be the role of people strategy if this scenario dominates in 2020?
Some of the points are:

The Chief People Officer (CPO) is a powerful and influential figure, sometimes known as the ‘Head of People and Performance’ who sits on the leadership board.
Metrics and data are used to drive business performance through complex staff segmentation strategies which identify thousands of skills sets – creating precision around sourcing the right candidates for the right tasks as well as on the job performance measurement and assessment.
People are graded and profiled at the age of 16 and categorized for work suitability both in terms of capability and individual preference.

Under this scenario HR function becomes similar to finance as it requires sophisticated analytical approach to measuring people’s performance and connecting it to business results.

The Green World.

Companies develop a powerful social conscience and green sense of responsibility. Consumers demand ethics and environmental credentials as a top priority. Society and business see their agenda align.

This is the scenario that some authentic organizations currently strive for, trying to attract attention of the other side of the business world.
How does HR function evolve under this scenario?

The CEO drives the people strategy for the organisation, believing that the people in the organisation and their behaviours and role in society have a direct link to the organisation’s success or failure. The CEO works closely with the Head of People and Society (HPS) who, with a team comprising a mix of HR, marketing, corporate social responsibility and data specialists, drives the social responsibility programme.
The common belief is that employees choose employers who appear to match their beliefs and values. The reality is that the talent pool for the brightest and best remains competitive, and whilst CSR rankings are a factor, the overall incentive package remains all important. Incentives however are not just reward-related; for example, they include paid secondments to work for social projects and needy causes – a popular trend post-2010.
Society fully focus on sustainability issues; talent management and realizing people’s potential for the good of the world drive corporate responsibility agenda of organizations.

The Orange world.

Global businesses fragment, localism prevails, technology empowers a low impact, high-tech business model. Networks prosper while large companies fall.

Communities and networks are being developed with a huge speed. Belonging to the one is one of the key success factors of being up-to-date and on top of global events. Yet I suppose that this tendency is not so much close to work related issues, that’s why its influence seems to be undervalued at present. So what can we expect HR function to become in case we get in 2020 Orange World?

People strategy is replaced with sourcing strategy, as maintaining the optimum supply chain of people is key to this networked world. The People Sourcing Director liaises with expertise networks and guilds to attract what they need for the best price.
People are more likely to see themselves as members of a particular skill or professional network than as an employee of a particular company. Specialization is highly prized and workers seek to develop the most sought after specialist skills to command the biggest reward package.
In this world business is represented as small enterprises focusing on particular area in the supply chain. People function is divided into in-house HR who is responsible for sourcing specialists and outsourcing HR – guilds – that organize education and development of members of particular networks.

So these are the 3 scenarios shown in the study. On the last pages research team combines all of them in the table and gives a brief analysis of similarities and differences.

Most possible state of the world in 2020 is likely to be a mixture of 3 scenarios, though each of those can dominate in specific industry sectors and countries. But the main question is: “In which world do you want to live in 2020?"

Choices in our lives

2008-03-29T22:53:00.000+06:00

Every day I look through approximately 20-30 CVs of different people. This is my job – to find the most talented person for the challenging job description of our client.

Almost all of these people are highly successful individuals, who manage departments of multinational companies or lead educational institutions or consult others.

At first all CVs for me were just pieces of paper with a basic description of one’s professional experience. But after some time I started to look at each of them as at one’s life journey.

The whole life at one A4 paper! Of course, it covers just one aspect of life – professional, but nowadays it is a large aspect in our lives.

Some people have a steady career, i.e. from junior brand manager to a marketing director. Some experience working in completely different spheres and then combine all of them perfectly. Some others change their function so sharply, i.e. from successful career of legal director become HR managers or vice versa.

Going further, early choices of people sometimes influence the whole career, but on the other hand I saw many cases when first job role or first employer organization mentioned in just 1 line in the bottom of the page... and then life turned into a different direction... Suddenly my glance goes upper to first lines of a resume: now being in the present moment and looking back .. these 1,2 first years seems so short! Maybe there is no need to worry too much about them?

Observing those things I once again thought about such phenomenon as a choice. I personally was always afraid to choose, always you see: what food to buy, what dress to wear, a book to read, a TV channel to watch, let alone my future steps in life… But luckily, having read so many life stories which people send me every day, I am not afraid any more. Moreover I became interested in making a choice!

Indeed, isn’t it exciting to design my own journey?

Isn’t it miraculous to observe what will be an impact of every choice I make?

Isn’t it wonderful to be an author of the book called life?

Y E S, it is.

Спортивная ходьба

2007-08-26T23:39:00.000+06:00

Позвонила Лена: «Давай встретимся!»

«Конечно! Предлагаю в Коломенском» (всегда рада случаю прогуляться с хорошим человеком по своему любимому московскому парку)

«Договорились, как насчет того, чтобы устроить пробежку?»

***

Раньше я очень любила бегать.

В школьные годы с легкостью преодолевала дистанции в 3 км на городских соревнованиях. Реакция у меня замедленная, а вот выносливость – хоть куда. Поэтому спринтер из меня не вышел, а наматывать круги на стадионе мне очень даже нравилось.

Когда я поступила в университет и стала ездить в Москву, то безумно полюбила этот энергичный, стремительный город. Здесь все всегда куда-нибудь бежали. А те, кто предпочитал ходить, либо уступали дорогу, либо учились бегать.

А мне и не нужно было учиться. Я любила в день побывать в 7 местах на разных концах города, с легкостью вписывалась в повороты и с точностью до секунды отмеряла расстояния в метро, чтобы успеть везде, где стояли разноцветные флажки моей беговой дорожки.

А еще мне было сложно с теми, кто не любил бегать. Я не могла (или не пыталась?) понять этих чуднЫх людей. Ну как можно быть такими медлительными? Да что вы успеете в жизни, если будете передвигаться как улитки? Что, даже не поедете кататься на коньках в крылатское после утреннего похода по магазинам? Какие же вы скучные…

Иногда мы с ними бегали вместе. Но они все чаще и чаще сходили с дистанции, не добегая до финиша. А однажды, сильно разогнавшись, я совсем про них забыла. Про этих, а также про тех, кто сидел и болел за меня на трибунах городского стадиона. И про тех, кто ждал у финиша с сиреневым махровым полотенцем. Забыла, потому что мои болельщики были другими людьми – они не любили бегать. Но мне было спокойно, ведь рядом бежали такие же, как я, а многие даже выносливей. Так мы и бежали.

Кстати, походы я тоже очень любила. Но после них всегда хотелось снова побежать.

… Уже и не помню, как это вышло, но очнулась я на снегу, с побитыми коленками. Все болит, и вокруг никого и ничего, только горы. Ноги болели так сильно, что больше я не могла бежать. И я пошла пешком.

***

«Лен, я бы с радостью, только, знаешь, я … совсем не люблю бегать»

***

По вечерам люблю смотреть на дерево за моим окном. Это самое обычное дерево. Но если погреть молока, пить его медленно-медленно и долго смотреть на дерево, то все вокруг вдруг обретает новый смысл.

Недавно заметила, что мне не нравятся люди, которые бегут по эскалатору. Так и хочется их спросить: «Ну куда вы торопитесь?? Так всю жизнь пробежите… Неужели не жалко? Неужели вы готовы променять красоту мира и теплые щеки близких людей на блестящий приз за победу на спортивной гонке?»

Я разучилась поддерживать разговоры о модных выставках, на которые нужно обязательно успеть в наступившем сезоне, и о том, кто куда продвинулся в компании. Родители купили мне спортивные сандалии, чтобы удобнее бежать до Европы. И рюкзак, чтобы увезти из Москвы десяток достижений. Нет уж, я лучше на плоту до Венесуэлы, с дорожной сумкой, а там пешком. В Москве скоро не ждите – это больше не мой любимый город. Мне стало сложно с людьми, которые любят бегать.

…А недавно я сидела на трибуне и заглянула в глаза бегущему по стадиону человеку. Потом встала и принесла ему махровое полотенце.

***

Лена: «Ууу, а что же делать?...»

Я: «А давай ты побегаешь, а я почитаю на травке и посмотрю на тебя!»

***

Моей радости нет предела, если я слышу слова о том, как кто-то что-то ЛЮБИТ.

И неважно, любит ли он бегать или ходить. Теперь мне одинаково хорошо с теми и другими. Главное, чтобы за руку крепко держаться.

Я вот люблю ходить. И дышать. И слушать. Но если у человека есть свое «что-то», что приносит ему счастье, и пусть это не ходьба, мы все равно найдем, о чем поговорить.

***

Лена: «Отлично! Я только схожу переодеться. Встречаемся в центре зала в 19.30!»

Benches

2007-07-13T01:25:00.000+06:00

You know, I love exhibitions in the open air!

There is the one opened a month ago in Moscow, Lavrushinsky side street (near Tret’yakov gallery). Young artists paint … benches! There are a lot of them put together one by one on the street! Now I have my favorite ones :)

First time when I came there, some artists were still painting and I was just excited by the beauty of the pictures.

(my friend took pictures:)

Second time the pictures weren’t new for me, so I was thinking about the whole idea and how it can positively influence people’s lives, and suddenly a question popped up in my head:

If I have my own bench on this street, what would I draw on it?

This question became soo interesting and worth thinking about, so I spent my trip home carrying it in my head. So, I came up with some ideas =)

If I have my own bench, I would likely to draw … happiness=)

However, happiness may be different for each of us, thus my bench wouldn’t show exactly what it is (who am I to give answers?). While looking at the picture, everyone would find his/her own answer.

Moreover, I would like that people that are coming to see the bench, find a new idea/thought for themselves every time they see it.

Another point, I would like my bench to be extremely beautiful that no one would ever want to draw something else on it. At the same time, I would like it to be so shiny and nice-looking that everyone would want to sit on it for hours.

It's should not be beautiful for everyone. But a few people would love it and come to see it from time to time.

Finally, it would be a little bit magic. Being near it you would want to join hands. To call your parents. To help your grandfather. To show this bench to your best friend.

It's a luck to have your own bench, isn't it? How much could we say, thus make a little change in people's souls.

Will Russia compete on a global market?

2007-07-05T01:48:00.000+06:00

Since school years we have been listening to the standard ‘facts’ about Russia. Living conditions are not that high. Political system is too bureaucratic. There is too less care about people.

We have been consuming all this information with a great pleasure, and now every student of economical faculty starts his/her diploma with something like: “Relevance of this topic is proven by the fact that there is a big problem in Russian … sector…” More than half of the news end like in the saying: “They wanted to do it better, but did as usual”. Everywhere on the streets, in cafes, on TV screen people are blaming their country. Is it a flash mob? =)

My parents dream to see me living in Europe, at least working in Moscow for an international company. “We will see how long you are going to stay excited developing Russian economy”, - smile they. Some of my friends would move to another country straight away if they get a lucky chance.

Once I got fed up with such an opinion and applied to the Summer School for young economists.
If you want to make a change, you should have a clear idea about the current state and possible needs of the country. That’s what I was eager to find out leaving for this seminar which has the theme - “Competitiveness of Russian business on a global market”.

I have been to a lot of seminars, but from this one I expected to gain theoretical knowledge and define my own opinion about the situation in my country.

***

Summer School exceeded my expectations!

26 participants is not a big number, but these are the people who want to know reality and challenge perceptions. I have never seen so many questions during the lecture! It must be exciting to be a professor for such auditorium =)

I learned about emerging markets, WTO regulations, modern production systems (e.g. Toyota Production System), global competitive industries and scenarios for Russian economy development till 2020. Besides, we had a project of making a national industry competitive on the market (we took automotive industry), in the end each group presented their solutions for professors.

The most impressive was to find out about 3 scenarios for Russia till 2020 which are being prepared by the Ministry of Economical Development and Trade (Director of the assigned Committee came to us to make a lecture).

Second thing is tourism that is truly the industry of the future: the most competitive will become countries that will create an infrastructure which attracts tourists from the globe (by professor of London School of Economics).

The third one – about successful business by O.S. Vikhansky (very famous Russian professor of management): why do some businesses succeed and some fail?
I had a lot of learning points after his seminar, but was impressed when realized that you are likely to fail if you are using strategies that were successful some time ago! Really, things change so fast nowadays, that you must always create new strategies, new methods, and new ways if you want to succeed.

All these people who facilitated our learning – I am sure – had a strong belief in the future Russian economy, and they transmitted it to us! That’s amazing: good to have knowledge, great to have skills, but that’s an attitude that makes a difference!

***

I remember the moment during one of the nights when we talked about what each of us would change in Russia if he/she has a chance. I do remember the feeling of harmony inside me when I was talking about my passion – life and business coaching to help people find what they really want to do in their lives.

I am not afraid to listen to the news and talk about Russia with my parents any more. I know what is a fact and what is an opinion. I believe in the third scenario =) and my abilities to make an impact.

***

On the third day we had excursion around Moscow. It seems I was mentally repeating again and again: “Such a beautiful city we live in!” And this is me - almost Moscow citizen for 10 years!! =)

***

Read more in Russian (with pictures:) http://www.icss.ac.ru/summerschool2007/

1000 years back

2007-06-16T13:06:00.000+06:00

I have just come back from a trip to Velikij Novgorod, which is the city on the north of Russia that has a history of more than 1000 years. We went there with Sveta, a friend of mine.

It’s even difficult to imagine – 1000 years! Yet, many historical monuments are still on this land, although were badly destroyed by wars.

You may read about the city in web: www.novgorod.ru/english while I will put some pictures that we did there and my personal impressions about the trip.

Impression 1 – Kremlin, cultural center of the city and a good place for rest in piece and silence.

Impression 2 – Cotton hare. Surprisingly, we came to Novgorod in its birthday, so took part in the celebration that impressed us a lot! The event was organized in such an interesting way that everybody could get involved in different activities: painting, weaving, sewing, dancing!

As for us, we learned to make cotton hares :-)

Impression 3 – Monastery life. There are a lot of churches and monasteries in Novgorod. Wherever you go, you will find them on your way. It’s strange and frustrating how some of them are surrounded by cafes, clubs, beaches etc. without any respect to monks. Yet these are just exceptions. And there is the one which impressed us the most, because of its blinding beauty and spiritual silence…

We heard the story about novices (“послушники”) who have to obey all requests of a parson (“батюшка”). No words back, no complaints, if you are told to do something you are to go it. Are we able to live this kind of life?

And this is an old church destroyed during Warld War II, now a home for some Novgorod citizens...

Impression 4 – House of Dostoevsky in Staraya Russa (town in Novgorod region). Fedor Dostoevsky is the famous Russian writer, we saw his small house where he lived with his family.

Impression 5 – Weird things. Some of them are funny, some are frustrating, the others are completely senseless. One of them is just STRANGE… like this drama theatre… :)

***

Thank you, my dear, for such a pleasant trip!

Corporate Responsibility

2007-06-06T00:33:00.000+06:00

2 weeks ago I attended a round table devoted to Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR (organized by AIESEC in Moscow).

CSR is one the areas I am passionate about, so I was extremely glad to participate in the mentioned event.

In order to keep the key learning points that I go out of discussions, I am posting them to this blog.

Some of them might be seen as obvious; however, it was important for me to clearly understand basic things, although I read books about CSR before.

First presentation got us into the topic and underlined 3 main challenges of CSR in Russia:

* not developed reporting system for CSR activities
* CSR is not a part of the general strategy of the company
* CSR is still perceived as a charity activities, although it includes 2 additional aspects

Eugeny Tutkevich, top manager of MDM-bank, pointed out another interesting question, and instead of talking about importance of CSR for companies, gave 5 reasons why companies should not do CSR:

* CSR is not the first priority for the company as it aims on making profit
* Companies pay lots of taxes, so it’s the job of government to do social work
* Charity attracts attention of government
* The more you give, the more people will ask you for
* “If I am asked to sponsor road building, why should I give the money if a road will be built anyway?”

Conclusion: company that doesn’t do CSR activities has far more benefits than the one who does!

So WHY CSR in this case? Because of 2 main reasons:

* Sustainable development: operating at present times company creates sustainable future for itself
* Stakeholders

Then, there are 3 aspects/levels of CSR in a company:

I – stakeholders (company acts in sustainable manner with its stakeholders, e.g. ethic way of doing business)
II – personnel (programmes for employees: corporate culture, motivation, rewards & recognition, promotion within company)
III – regional community where company operates (e.g. environmental programmes)

Another interesting point that caught my attention is that company should have such CSR policy that reflects its core work.

After introduction several companies shared their examples of CSR policies:
- bank declines credit interest rate for some groups of people e.g. young married couple with children;
- educational projects about healthy food of food company
- building a computer club for school children (example of IT company) or scientific institute (FMCG company)
- “green products”: TV set that consumes less energy, much higher lifetime reliability etc.
- providing opportunity for disabled young people to do internship in a company
- free professional education for employees
- developing pension system for a city for free

The concept of sustainable development for a company is based on the idea that it helps society which will consume company’s products in the future. As in the example of education of healthy lifestyle: company increases amount of healthy people, thus ‘create’ healthy society. Many companies focus on a help for children, because this is children who are future society!

And, the last point that was mentioned: it is government that should show to business what areas to focus on.

***

I really feel like reading more and more about the topic, besides will be certainly looking for CSR internship at one point of time!

One

2007-05-19T20:04:00.000+06:00

"Streets and highways connect every place with every other, but each driver chooses where he wants to go. He can drive to a beautiful countryside or to skid row, to a university or a bar, he can follow the road over the horizon or he can drive back and forth in a rut or he can park and not go anywhere.

He can choose his climate by where he drives, Fairbanks or Mexico City or Rio, he can drive a race car or a sedan or a track, he can keep it in perfect shape or let it go to pieces. He can drive without a map and make every turn a surprise or he can plan exactly where he's going to get there.

Every road he will take is already there, before he drives on it and after he's gone past. Every possible trip already exists, and the driver is one with them all. He just chooses, every morning, which trip he'll take that day"

This is an extract from the book I've read recently - "One" by Richard Bach. Interestingly, how it works with me & books.. when I have some problem, or a difficult question in mind, I usually find the book that gives me an idea on a possible answer.

It went just the same with this book. Sergey suggested me reading "The Bridge Across Forever" also by R.Bach, however when I went to the shop I found just a novel called "One", and, as I realized afterwards, that was exactly what I needed that time.

3 main ideas I got from the novel are:

1 - everything depends on our choices (perfect illustration of what it means is in the extract above)

For a long time I couldn't decide for myself what is my phylosophy about this topic: if the things are predetermined or not, if we really choose or just follow what is already planned.

It may seem difficult to live when you believe in idea of personal choice coz it's easy to hope for a planned-for-you-by-someone-else path. I decided to believe in choices.

Now, imagine any situation where you do not have influence. For example, your car gets brocken because some guy drove into it. Couldn't you choose? Almost no. Yet you have at least one thing you can choose, and this is your attitude to the problem.

2 - life is about learning (life is like a book, "when you turn to a page about nuclear war do you despair, or do you learn what it has to tell? Will you die reading the page, or will you move on to other pages, wiser for what you've read?")

3 - ideas are good only when are turned to work ("Ideas aren't thoughts, ther are engineered structure. Notice this and pay attention to the way your ideas are built and you will find dramatic increase in the quality of what you think")

And.. the most powerful message that I found for myself in one of the last chapters.

Main characters of the story (a couple: he and she) come to the place where they live and find themselves in the future.

An old guy reads a book by Richard Bach and then tells to his wife: "I could have done it! Could have done everything in this book! I tell you I damn well could have written that seagull thing he wrote! I used to go out on the jetty when I was a kid, watch the birds to fly. Wished it was me with wings..." His wife replies: "Maybe you could have, Dave".

This extract shocked me so much. After reading it I decided that I will always choose the path that - as I think - is for me, and believe in dreams. I would like to tell my grandchildren about what kind of person I have become and what impact I've made in the world, and what good things I have done for people, but not about the ones that I have dreamed about, yet didn't do.

"I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth it?"

True success

2007-04-20T23:06:00.000+06:00

There was a competition announced by Procter & Gamble in December last year.
The task was to write a success story of yours.

Fortunately, I got selected to take part in the final event with the other 16 finalists.
This is the link where I read about the results:

http://www.procterandgamble.ru/news/simple_news/&id=119&s=0

Snowy Almaty

2007-03-03T01:26:00.000+06:00

* on the way to free wi-fe cafe :)

* love name of streets in Almaty!

* happy me, skating :)

* hospitable people in LC Almaty

Servant of the Tsar

2007-03-03T01:22:00.000+06:00

In the end of the busy day in Almaty Maya (LC president), Andrey (ex-president) and me decided to go to the cinema. Andrey guessed our desires and bought tickets for a marvelous movie “The servant of the Tsar” (“Слуга Государев”).

The story begins in Russian army when soldiers are discussing a recent issue, case with black horseman who already killed many people. It’s a time of way between Russia & Sweden, besides France pretends to play a supervisory role. In the beginning we get in France where young queen is unhappy in relationship with a king and finds a lover from the guests of king’s ball. Right after the occasion during cards game envious man challenges him to a duel. Then, a king finds out about the duel he writes letters to Swedish & French kings and sends 2 offenders in the epicenter of the battle…

3 moments that caught my attention:

*scene with burglary of Russian village, one of the saddest moments of the movie. Innocent village people were robbed by Polish partisans and Swedish army just because of the fact that some time ago a Polish village was destroyed by Russians. Revenge doesn’t know concrete people, and you become responsible for actions of your country’s citizens.

*speech of Peter the Great 1 min before the final battle with Swedish army started. He said: “I don’t care what will happen with my life, the only thing that matters is our country, Russia”. In contrast, operator shows us the king of Sweden, who lies on a sofa with broken leg and shouts on doctors: “Do you really want a king to be an invalid?” Then, again, in the culmination of the battle, it was Peter the Great who galloped in front of his army in the fire place and all soldiers went right behind screaming patriotically. And it was Swedish king who chose to escape from the battle being afraid to harm himself…

*French soldier and Grisha (Russian solgier from Peter’s amusing shelving) fight together against Swedish. They went through a hell, and suddenly Grisha notices that his friend fell on the ground. Grisha does his best to help him survive. They traveled to Russia many kilometers. They speak different languages and don’t understand each other. However, human values and feelings are common for every human being, no matter which nation you belong to.

This movie is about bravery, mutual trust and support, true values and true love to the people and the country. I’d definitely recommend you to watch it and discuss with your best friends.

***

Film finished after a midnight and we appeared in a wonderful snowy Almaty in night!
Thank you so much, Maya and Andrey, for a meaningful evening and exciting excursion around the city!

Training our intuition

2007-02-19T10:27:00.000+06:00

Every week we get the economic magazine called 'Sekret firmy' in our MC-office.
Having took one of the issues with me, I found a very interesting article that catched my attention immediately.

I will use the space of this blog to outline the main ideas, as I really want this information to stay in my mind.

The article is about intuition.

First question is pretty clear: "While making business and personal decisions, should we rely on our intuition or our logic?" The answer is almost obvious, they say that intuition doesn't come from anywhere, however it is a result of our experience. Therefore, making a decision, even if we think like 'oh, it's a sign!' or 'I feel I need to do this, not that' we actually compare our past experiences and make connections.

Yet what I was really impressed by in that article is an advice on how to train your intuition.
The main idea is to learn how to connect your inner state with weak signals of external environment.

The author suggest following 3 steps:

1. Learn to describe your inner feelings. You may say: "I feel like a lion" or "I feel like a cat on a sofa". This method helps first to discover yourself and also to choose "whom to be" in a specific situation. For instance, when you are speaking on public informing about difficult situation, you would probably want to be a lion, not a cat on a sofa.

2. Learn to find positive signs of external environment (as you usually have just some parts of information available and known). To practise it you may put a minimum volume on your radio and guess what they say. Another one is to remember objects' bounds on a high speed. Or - to draw the clear some object's bounds when you can't see them correctly.

3. Learn to make a forecast. To do this you should connect your inner feelings to the weak signals - just what I have told about in points 1 and 2. To train this ability, you may guess the end of the story watching a movie or reading a book, finish a picture started by someone else or play improvisation.

It's amazing that we can really train such quality as intuition with these simple methods.

If you are interested, read the whole article (unfortunately, it's only in Russian).

La science des reves

2007-02-14T12:38:00.000+06:00

Masha and me planned to watch this movie 2 weeks ago, even before my trip to Chelyabinsk, yet that day there were no tickets any more, so we went to another one.

Yesterday we booked the tickets in advance, and became two of these lucky happy people who saw this wonderful French movie… :)

The story begins when a young design’er OR inventor (how he calls himself) from Mexico comes to Paris, the city where his mother lives. His beloved Mexican father died from cancer, French mother got married for the second time. She promised Stefan (the name of young man) he would have a creative job in France.
So, now he in the country of love! His mother rents a house with many apartments, and he lives in one of the rooms. In his first day in a new city Stefan went downstairs and suddenly becomes a witness and helper for 2 guys carrying piano on the upper floor. Piano falls down, Stefan hurts his hand and has to bandage a wound in the flat upstairs where he meets beautiful girl Zoe and her female friend Stefani. He immediately falls in love with Zoe, however it seems she doesn’t care, just the opposite to Stefani who does like the young designer…

Stefan knows a science of dreams. It was he who in the very beginning told us what all dreams are made of: a piece of day’s doings, adding some memories from the past (portion for 2 people!) and unhappy love.

However during next several months he will experience the real essence of dreams and reality appearing to be a dream…

You have an amazing opportunity to watch Stefan’s dreams mixed of exaggerated memories of the day and sometimes even guess whether it’s a reality or still a dream! :)

Sweet thing about the movie is its ingenuousness! Each of the characters is so unique, but at the same time all the people are different from what we call ‘a normal person’! Crazy employees from Stefan’s company are talking only about sex, boss calls them lesbians (why? – noone knows:) his beloved Stefani makes hand made toys and objects, our dear Stefan is the funniest personage himself as he invents 1 sec time-machine, and other strange devices!

…

Movie finished, Masha and me went out to the street and I started to tell her something about the broadcast I heard on the radio that morning. And you know what, I realized that I was not sure any more if it’s true or I dreamt it!

You start to feel that you became a bit strange as you now can’t define what is your dream and what your reality, what happened with you and what is the story of someone else… such a funny feeling!!!

It reminds me “Khazars’ glossary” (or how is it called in English?) and other books of Pavich, glorious Serbian writer. Pavich's characters also traveled across their dreams... :)

I think that each person is strange to some extant. This marvelous movie helps us to find this strangeness within ourselves.

The movie is a MUST WATCH to everyone no matter what sex, age, religion and creed you are.

Thank you, Masha, for taking me to the cinema yesterday!

Effectiveness

2007-01-30T19:48:00.000+06:00

Today I found the key to effectiveness :)

In the morning, if you first do the most important job and only after that check your email, you will achieve twice more!

Why? Just because :)

Done!

2007-01-27T02:47:00.000+06:00

***
State exam passed. Studies are getting to the end.

***

Oh, this exam! Of course, it couldn't go without challenges, because this is me :)

Look, they divided us into 2 groups. I am Khaletskaya, so I was supposed to go in the second part, which starts at 12.00. So, I decided to come a bit earlier, to 11. Woke up at 8, slowly dressed up and went to the university. It was 10.40, when my dean called me screaming: "Katya, where are you? State exam is getting over, you are the only one who left!" Can you imagine?

I am running to the classroom, taking a card and uff... Meanwhile my groupmates can't help smiling - "Katya, you are so funny, as usual". They still remember me coming to exams with a huge bag, because in several hours I am flying to Almaty.. :)

So, excellent mark and it's really over now :)

***

On my way back home I was thinking about my 5 years of studies.
I came up with the idea that during these years I've been following 3 main principles:

- Not to use cribes.

- Love what you study.

- Take much more care for what you really learned, and not for which mark you got. Well, I will put it differently. Of course, I wanted to get excellent, but only for the subjects I liked.

I realized that professors like when a student shows that he/she adores the subject.

I remember one case when I was passing exam and was asked a question about taxation for medium enterprises. While answering, I said something like: "Yes, I was also interested, why it is so..." I saw my professor smiling when I said "interested". I can imagine how rarely they hear these words from students..

This is the thing that often made me upset during my university years. Why do the people study? Just to get diploma?...

One more case. Once I was taking exam on economic analysis. It was my favorite subject of that semestr and I was so excited to study and learn! However professor said he's going to give me "4".

It was the last exam of the session, I could be deprived of stipend if I didn't pass. Yet I told that I was not going to have "4" on my favorite subject and I would re-take the exam. I did it! Although being refused of stipend 6 following months, I was happy to have "excellent" mark for the subject I liked.

Another case. During my 2 months in Siberia this year I was supposed to do 3 university projects for 3 different subjects. I spent a month for the first one - "Investments in regional economy", however (I am almost sure!) professor even didn't read it. I spent 1 week for the second one - "Taxation for medium and small enterprises". Those 2 ones I really loved. And I spent 2 nights for "Finance of the firm" despite it is the main subject on my faculty...

Not sensible enough? OR Choosing what makes me happy?

One-year Flight

2007-01-22T01:25:00.000+06:00

There is a saying: where you meet a New Year, you will spend your year in this place. Quite an old saying, almost a joke nowadays.

I met 2007 at the airport.

Did I intend to meet anyone there in the night? - No.

Did I plan to fly far away from Moscow? - No.

Did I forget about the-most-important-celebration-of-the-year? Not at all :)

It was my mother who was so anxious to find out - WHAT is happening at the airport during the New Year night.

And it was me who was away from parents' house for more than half a year, and so much willing to be with them during this magic night, therefore didn't care about the place.

***

We came to Domodedovo (international airport, the closest one to my home town) half an hour before midnight.

Almost no one there :)

A sudden announcement: "Dear passengers, aircraft XX with flight number XXX from Egypt has just landed in international airport Domodedovo..."

"If someone asks us who we are and where we are going, lets tell them that we are meeting our lovely relatives coming from Egypt" - my idea seems to be sensible :)

Yet people here don't care much about crazy Podolsk citizens.

Everyone has its own deals and thoughts:

- waitress in a cafe, regretting for a misfortune to work in a new year night... probably she has a boyfriend who has to be alone or with friends, but not with her... because she is here at the cafe serving visitors...

- poor passengers waiting for a flight to Ashkhabad (Turkmen airlines), which is delayed for 4 hours...

- a group of sleeping people spending night in the airport before their 6am flight to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (in some hours they will start a cross over 1/6 part of the world...)

... And near all these scenes... my family and me drinking coffee with cheesecake, taking pictures and laughing as we are aliens from Mars :)

***
Meanwhile it's getting to 23.59. The most important moment, the culmination of a trip, the beginning of the year!!!

What will they (=airport personnel) wish to their guests?!

"Dear guests, we congratulate You with a New Year of 2007! ... We wish you happiness, cosiness and nice flights with Domodedovo company" (actually in Russian it was even funnier: "уюта и приятных полетов с компанией Домодедово")

I wonder how these two things could go together :))) look, guys, your clients are waiting for 4 hours to get a flight which is delayed and you are wishing us cosiness with your company?!

I am just kidding - you can't imagine how much I was grateful to these greetings of a nice woman on the airport radio :)

... The passengers who had been sleeping suddenly woke up ...

... Clients of Turkmen airlines switched on a TV (yes, they a mini-TV set with them!!) listening to New Year speeches of a President (Which country? :)

... Male young waiter from another cafe opened a bottle of champagne and, screaming and rushing around, friendly embraced the waitress from our cafe ...

... We clinked glasses of filter-coffee, ate up the desserts and went home :)

***

While going to the exit my brother and me took some pictures...

Parents couldn't help asking: "Why are there so few people in the airport??"

My brother: "Mom, why for a normal person to go here in the NEW YEAR?"

I am smiling and thinking - WHY not? :)

Paris, je t`aime

2007-01-14T19:40:00.000+06:00

Movie pretends to be a masterpiece. Many people told it’s gonna be WOW.
Yes, it’s not a premiere any more, and I had too many expectations.

9.00 performance, the cheapest price ever, my favorite cinema near Moscow zoo. All these lead to an exciting morning.

***

2 hours passed and I can say. I liked it. 16 love stories made by different directors in the city of love, what is more romantic?

However there was something that irritated me. Today I realized what it was.

The message of the movie is obvious. Paris is the city of love, and everyone will find his/her love here, whoever you are: girl, guy, old woman, ugly man or even vampire!

Everyone goes to Paris and finds love! So simple. A good hope for someone who is looking for a love affair. The same thing like to believe in power of astrology, lets say Cancer and Sagittarius are not suitable for each other. What a naivety!

So, what do a movie suggest to the lonely person? Go and sit in the café waiting for a handsome guy or beautiful girl for 2 days until waiter stares at you? :)
OK, even if you meet him/her, nice news. Yet everyone can find his/her love in Paris, it’s easy, but try to do this in Moscow!
Look, these things don’t work with me. I would not go to Paris to find my love, and not because of the fact that I already found it 3 years ago.

It’s just too fondly :)

Another point I was thinking about is the duration of this easy love.
If you don’t put much efforts into the searching process (and the movie proves this fact!) you may loose it with the same speed as you found it! And, of course, in the same city :)

So, good luck!

It’s said “Paris, I love you!” Probably, people love Paris because it helped them to find their love. And now they love their city, and they made a nice movie about it.

…Meanwhile I am sleeping in the elbow-chair in the cinema. Luckily, vampires fall in love and start shouting – I am waking up. What’s the next story?

Coming back to important: WHY did they make this movie? To invite more people to the 'beautiful city'? To prove the stereotype about Paris? To bring some hope to a lonely person?

...At least I enjoyed French language :)