Experience story of Joep Obdam.
On the 26th of February I went to the country of tequila, sombrero’s and mustaches; Mexico! At least, those were my first thoughts which came up when I heard about Mexico. Soon I realized Mexico was far more than only these thoughts. Mexico has a lot to offer, it is a beautiful country. Not only because of its beautiful beaches, natural resorts and pyramids, but most of all, because of the different kinds of people and traditions you can find there. The Mexican culture is in all ways different from the cultures in Europe which is great to experience!
When I arrived in Mexico two Mexicans from the local AIESEC committee picked me up at the airport and started to explain all the basic things I needed to know about Mexico. The first week I spent with Jorge from the AIESEC committee. He introduced me to all of his friends, the other trainees and people from work. In the first week I met lots of new friends from all around the world who were all inviting me immediately for all kinds of activities. I ate with their families, I spent nights in bars with them, I travelled together around in Mexico etc.. In the four months I was in Mexico I wasn’t bored for even one minute! AIESEC made me feel comfortable from the moment I arrived. AIESEC was not only helping me to integrate with the social communities in Mexico, but they also helped me with arranging my VISA, my salaries and, for example, my vaccinations. They told me to call them as soon as possible even when I had a tiny little problem! Of course they didn’t help me always immediately, I think that was part of the Mexican culture, but the intention was there.
AIESEC helped me in finding an internship at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Mexico-City. I liked this internship because it was a prestigious job in accounting at a big multinational. During my internship I was helping people from, for example, Canada who were working in Mexico and who had to pay Mexican taxes. We worked in teams, which was great. There was a competitive atmosphere, people were very ambitious, but at the same time my colleagues helped me with every question I had and were very flexible. I always had lunch with the other trainees from all over the world from different departments in PwC. We created a very cozy and nice environment for everybody. I was saying “yes” to all invitations I received from my friends in Mexico. By doing this I was able to discover easily the way of living in Mexico. For example, in Holland everybody is always in a hurry and has a tight schedule. In Mexico this is not the case. The traditional Mexicans (but also my friends from Latin America) don’t respect time. In Mexico the idea of being too late is not like 5 minutes, but they start feeling uncomfortable when they are 45 minutes or more too late. I had to get used to this concept, but when you are waiting one time like 30 minutes, you will make sure it will not happen again. Mexicans are very friendly and will always find some time free to start a conversation. They are very hospitable and they are open to meet new people. Every weekend I tried to travel to another city, just to see as much as possible from Mexico. When I finished my internship I made longer trips to the beaches and natural resorts which were amazing. You can see things in Mexico which you cannot see anywhere else. You can see the people changing when you are travelling through different parts of the country which makes it very interesting to try to start a conversation with them. During my stay in Mexico I discussed a lot the differences between the poor and rich (which is huge), nationalism, ambition, politics, economics and, for example, the differences in opportunities for Dutch and Mexican people or another part of the world.
Some remarkable things of Mexico-City: Mexico-City is one of the biggest cities in the world, you can find the biggest and most prestigious buildings, but at the same time you can find people living on the streets begging for money or food; in Mexico-City you can buy food on every corner, because the typical Mexican likes to eat a lot and during all day; walking on your own on the streets after 10 pm is too dangerous, the criminal rates are enormous. All these little things made a huge personal impact. I discovered a part of the world I haven’t seen before. It is really different from Europe and even sometimes it makes you feel guilty, for example, because in Holland everything is arranged very well, you can choose your own future path and there are lots of opportunities for everybody, but in Mexico the poor people don’t even go to school, or some students cannot go to study abroad, because they don’t have the money for it or will never get a VISA. During my experience I learned a lot about different cultures and every moment helped me understanding more the different views of life in the world. I would recommend this experience to everybody. Going abroad with AIESEC opens your mind and is a great experience!
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
18.3.12
Experience: Servaas Frissen, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
Now this is a story all about how,
my life got flipped turned upside down,
and I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there,
to tell you how I worked as an intern in Ciudad Juárez.
Sorry to startle you all with the whole reverse Bel-Air routine there, but bear with me please, the story actually gets interesting as you read on. To get going with the thrust of it, I can absolutely positively advise everyone to spend time working abroad. I got a neatly wrapped package of the warmest, most educational, and most useful experiences I’ve had in a good while, and, remarkably, ran across all of those in a year I spent in the most dangerous city in the world.
About three months after I enrolled into AIESEC and went through the entry procedure, I managed to obtain an acceptance note for a 12-month internship in the Intercompanies department of the automotive branch of Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI) in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican bordertown with El Paso, TX. My title there was ‘Intercompanies Analyst’, which in this case meant I was assigned some plants acting as buyers and suppliers in the automotive industry of Northern America, the bookkeeping of which I had to maintain. On a monthly basis books had to be closed, meaning they had to balance out as closely to 0 as possible. My department had made a reputation as the closest community in the Shared Service Center (SSC) it was part of, even though 8 of its 35 employees were AIESEC trainees. All this was as good as it sounds in theory. All members of my department were genuinely interested in, and ready to help and cooperate with, the trainees (which, incidently, came from Greece, the Czech Republic, Iran, Brazil, Sweden, France, Colombia and Chile), whether they came to Juárez Spanish-speaking and well integrated in Mexican culture, or new to all of that and shy. In the various departments in the SSC, 14 interns enjoyed the same warmness.
The same applied for AIESEC Cd. Juárez, our intermediary for all official business with JCI. Right from the start, I think I speak for all of the interns there if I say AIESEC made us feel welcome, at ease, and at home, even though most of us travelled half way around the world to get there. On some occasions we noticed that the LC members were learning new things about their functions as they went along, especially in issues with migration and the red tape which is usually associated with that. Even though the major part of the issues was not their fault, nor their responsibility, they went to great lengths to solve all of them.
What were the aspects of working and living in Mexico I noticed the most about? Well, they work like horses, to begin with. 10 Hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week, tardiness not accepted & personal phone calls seriously frowned upon, we were completely theirs until the workday was over. Seeing as we were all in the same boat, it didn’t bother me to be honest. After all, gaining experience in my field of study was one of the reasons I came there. But, coming from a reasonably cold country with quite the uninteresting landscape, every day after work felt like going on holidays to me. Get off work, go to the gym, work on your sun tan, drive your Cadillac around spilling cheap gasoline, and pick up some friends to go drink in the park, or in one of the cheap rooftop-bars the city had to offer. Sounds like an apt compensation for the time and energy lost at work during the day, don’t you agree?
As time progressed, the work vs. holiday ration became even better. I got experienced and learned to work more smoothly, created some teams to work on various projects aimed at simplifying, improving, and speeding up our department’s processes, and all my colleagues became warm friends I hung out with after work too. This had to be it: the AIESEC dream. Working a job which is as interesting and challenging as you choose make it yourself, with people you appreciate and who appreciate you back, knowing you’ll leave your imprint on their work after you leave, and combining all that with a constant feeling of being on holidays after work, getting an in-depth view of a culture which is as unusual as it is interesting. Oh, and did I mention that the salary I received was twice as much as I needed to survive aptly?
Specific elements of the culture which were unusual to me? Women and relationships was one I got involved in on a personal level. Women were to be treated as princesses constantly, which meant I roamed the city holding open doors, paying for food and drinks, and waiting for the third date (hehe, I’m kidding. I never did ;-)). Dating there was a hasty game, as a non-negligible share of the girls my age was engaged or married and / or had children. Another group of people to treat differently from what I was used to, was the government and governing organs. I drove my Cadillac without licence plates, I didn’t have a driver’s licence, nor car insurance, and yet, somehow, a mere 20 dollars managed to get me through the 5 time the traffic police stopped me. You do the math. A little clue: any health insurance pass can be used as a driver’s licence if it’s in Dutch.
In all seriousness, I had a fantastic year there. I figured the best way to prepare up front for its culture was to realize that perfect preparation wasn’t possible and that I had to be open for whatever was going to happen. I spent as little time as possible in my comfort zone, said yes to every proposition, and tried my hardest to insult no one in the process. I came back with loads of experience in my field of work and in my life, I learned to speak Spanish, to drive a car, to teach piano and I gave a piano concert at the end of my internship which was visited by over 200 people. I embrace Ciudad Juárez, its people, AIESEC, and the whole experience of doing an internship. As a fact, I’m looking for another AIESEC internship in Latin America now because I haven’t nearly had enough of this. Time to get to it!
Servaas Frissen from Tilburg, Holland
Servaas.Frissen@gmail.com
my life got flipped turned upside down,
and I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there,
to tell you how I worked as an intern in Ciudad Juárez.
Sorry to startle you all with the whole reverse Bel-Air routine there, but bear with me please, the story actually gets interesting as you read on. To get going with the thrust of it, I can absolutely positively advise everyone to spend time working abroad. I got a neatly wrapped package of the warmest, most educational, and most useful experiences I’ve had in a good while, and, remarkably, ran across all of those in a year I spent in the most dangerous city in the world.
About three months after I enrolled into AIESEC and went through the entry procedure, I managed to obtain an acceptance note for a 12-month internship in the Intercompanies department of the automotive branch of Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI) in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican bordertown with El Paso, TX. My title there was ‘Intercompanies Analyst’, which in this case meant I was assigned some plants acting as buyers and suppliers in the automotive industry of Northern America, the bookkeeping of which I had to maintain. On a monthly basis books had to be closed, meaning they had to balance out as closely to 0 as possible. My department had made a reputation as the closest community in the Shared Service Center (SSC) it was part of, even though 8 of its 35 employees were AIESEC trainees. All this was as good as it sounds in theory. All members of my department were genuinely interested in, and ready to help and cooperate with, the trainees (which, incidently, came from Greece, the Czech Republic, Iran, Brazil, Sweden, France, Colombia and Chile), whether they came to Juárez Spanish-speaking and well integrated in Mexican culture, or new to all of that and shy. In the various departments in the SSC, 14 interns enjoyed the same warmness.
The same applied for AIESEC Cd. Juárez, our intermediary for all official business with JCI. Right from the start, I think I speak for all of the interns there if I say AIESEC made us feel welcome, at ease, and at home, even though most of us travelled half way around the world to get there. On some occasions we noticed that the LC members were learning new things about their functions as they went along, especially in issues with migration and the red tape which is usually associated with that. Even though the major part of the issues was not their fault, nor their responsibility, they went to great lengths to solve all of them.
What were the aspects of working and living in Mexico I noticed the most about? Well, they work like horses, to begin with. 10 Hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week, tardiness not accepted & personal phone calls seriously frowned upon, we were completely theirs until the workday was over. Seeing as we were all in the same boat, it didn’t bother me to be honest. After all, gaining experience in my field of study was one of the reasons I came there. But, coming from a reasonably cold country with quite the uninteresting landscape, every day after work felt like going on holidays to me. Get off work, go to the gym, work on your sun tan, drive your Cadillac around spilling cheap gasoline, and pick up some friends to go drink in the park, or in one of the cheap rooftop-bars the city had to offer. Sounds like an apt compensation for the time and energy lost at work during the day, don’t you agree?
As time progressed, the work vs. holiday ration became even better. I got experienced and learned to work more smoothly, created some teams to work on various projects aimed at simplifying, improving, and speeding up our department’s processes, and all my colleagues became warm friends I hung out with after work too. This had to be it: the AIESEC dream. Working a job which is as interesting and challenging as you choose make it yourself, with people you appreciate and who appreciate you back, knowing you’ll leave your imprint on their work after you leave, and combining all that with a constant feeling of being on holidays after work, getting an in-depth view of a culture which is as unusual as it is interesting. Oh, and did I mention that the salary I received was twice as much as I needed to survive aptly?
Specific elements of the culture which were unusual to me? Women and relationships was one I got involved in on a personal level. Women were to be treated as princesses constantly, which meant I roamed the city holding open doors, paying for food and drinks, and waiting for the third date (hehe, I’m kidding. I never did ;-)). Dating there was a hasty game, as a non-negligible share of the girls my age was engaged or married and / or had children. Another group of people to treat differently from what I was used to, was the government and governing organs. I drove my Cadillac without licence plates, I didn’t have a driver’s licence, nor car insurance, and yet, somehow, a mere 20 dollars managed to get me through the 5 time the traffic police stopped me. You do the math. A little clue: any health insurance pass can be used as a driver’s licence if it’s in Dutch.
In all seriousness, I had a fantastic year there. I figured the best way to prepare up front for its culture was to realize that perfect preparation wasn’t possible and that I had to be open for whatever was going to happen. I spent as little time as possible in my comfort zone, said yes to every proposition, and tried my hardest to insult no one in the process. I came back with loads of experience in my field of work and in my life, I learned to speak Spanish, to drive a car, to teach piano and I gave a piano concert at the end of my internship which was visited by over 200 people. I embrace Ciudad Juárez, its people, AIESEC, and the whole experience of doing an internship. As a fact, I’m looking for another AIESEC internship in Latin America now because I haven’t nearly had enough of this. Time to get to it!
Servaas Frissen from Tilburg, Holland
Servaas.Frissen@gmail.com
10.1.11
Experience: Lotte Hinkel and Christianne Kerkhofs, Mexico
Hoe vat je in een A4tje samen wat wij deze zomer hebben meegemaakt? Bij voorbaat: dat kan niet! We gaan het toch proberen, en we hopen jullie net zo enthousiast te maken over het Ambassadeursporgramma te maken als wij. Want deze zomer was echt GEWELDIG!
Samen zijn wij, Lotte Hinkel en Christianne Kerkhofs, op 1 juli vertrokken naar Mexico City. Dit is een wereldstad die bekent staat als gevaarlijk, druk en vies, maar wij hebben er de tijd van ons leven gehad. Aan het werk met de lokale AIESECers, kennis maken met alle Mexicaanse gebruiken, het eten en de cultuur. En dit was pas het begin van onze reis! Wat ons nog te wachten stond hadden we ons nooit kunnen voorstellen… Alle bijzondere mensen van AIESEC die je leert kennen, de gastvrije families waar we mochten slapen, indrukwekkende humanitaire projecten en on top of that een prachtig land om doorheen te reizen.
Bij de verschillende comités van AIESEC hebben we geholpen waar we konden. Zo zijn we naar bedrijven geweest om traineeships te regelen, zijn we op de Mexicaanse televisie geweest om AIESEC te promoten en hebben we geholpen met het rekruteren van nieuwe leden voor AIESEC. In onze oranje jurkjes zijn we menig klaslokaal langs gegaan om te vertellen wat voor geweldige kansen AIESEC je biedt. We zijn in totaal op bezoek geweest bij 5 lokale AIESEC kantoren door heel Mexico verspreid, op deze manier leerden we dus ook al een groot deel van Mexico kennen. Hoe mooi is het om een zakelijk gesprek te voeren met een tequilabedrijf in het dorpje ‘Tequila’?
Wat grote indruk op ons heeft gemaakt is het humanitaire aspect van het Ambassadeursprogramma. Zo hadden we de kans om een week mee te lopen in een tehuis voor straatkinderen, Fundación Renacimiento. Een geweldige maar ook confronterende tijd. Helpen bij een groot sportevenement voor 800 straatkinderen in Mexico City, de extreme verschillen werden op die manier heel zichtbaar… Overdag werkten we namelijk met kinderen die op straat leefden en ’s avonds belandden we weer in de wereld van welvarende studenten en fancy clubs, die Mexico City ook te bieden heeft. Ook in Cancún, wat bekend staat als een feestoord, hebben wij de andere kant van de Mexicaanse maatschappij leren kennen. Waar de toeristen uit hun dak gaan werkt de lokale bevolking dag en nacht en blijven hun kinderen alleen in huis achter. Wij hebben meegewerkt aan het opvangen van deze kinderen, en het creëren van een veilige omgeving.
Naast al deze mooie ervaringen hebben we natuurlijk ook heel wat kilometers afgelegd. We zijn in 8 weken door heel Mexico gereisd en hebben ongelofelijk veel gezien. Zo hebben we in een hangmatje in de jungle geslapen tussen de aapjes en hebben we de mooiste stranden bezocht. Erg aangenaam om vanuit je bedje zo het strand op de rollen met de azuurblauwe zee op twintig meter afstand. Ook de Maya tempels konden we natuurlijk niet laten voor wat het was, je kan je maar moeilijk inbeelden hoeveel ruines dit land rijk is. Daarnaast hebben we veel privétours gehad door de steden waar de AIESEC leden wonen. Want dat is ook amb: opgevangen en opgenomen worden waar je maar komt, een kijkje achter de schermen van een compleet ander land. Dit is ook zeker één van de aspecten die het ambassadeursprogramma zo bijzonder maken!
Na deze zomer kunnen we echt zeggen; ‘Viva Mexico’. Het is een geweldig land met een levendige cultuur, de mooiste natuur en de liefste mensen! Muchos saludos,
Lotte y Christianne (Ambjes Mexico 2010)
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