Orchid Story 26 - Gitti 2005?

December 2005

My Dear Orchid Story Reader

Suddenly I am plugging your inbox with a new Orchid Story... Yeah, that is me ;-)! Christmas is around the corner which means very shortly I will be off to home!

So let's see what is new over here!

1. Wake boarding: I can ski on the water!!!!
2. Marathon: So what is my newest mission?
3. Gitti 2005: Is it worth having a vision?



1. Wake boarding: I can ski on the water!!!

I am not too sure how to exactly describe this sport... The point is that you have got to stand on a snowboard-alike-board fixed to your feet and then you try to stand up on it while an instructor keeps talking to you and the boat is running up and down on the lake. I was certainly not born to wake board and I happened to fall for the first 5-6 times... Then a miracle happened: I managed to stand up and ski on the water! It was an absolutely cathartic feeling :-)!!!! For photos click here!



2. Marathon: So what is my newest mission?

One and a half weeks ago my friend, Diana invited me to the Singapore Marathon where she ran 21 km. Her husband, Sjoerd, Luis and I awaited her at the finished line. It was amazing! You could see her 'I did it! I did it! I did it!' rewarding feeling after the run! And Lars was all hyped up, too! I saw blind people running there, I saw typical Singaporeans being on a phone while getting to the finish line and I also saw a man with one leg who collapsed 50 meters to the Finish sign. The whole audience stopped breathing for that moment... I had tears falling when I saw the other runners stopping, helping him up and literally running to the finish sign all together. I was just looking at all the Marathon participants and wondered what on Earth I was doing on the side line!? So I got so inspired that I decided to go for a Mini Marathon (10.5km) in 2006 :-) I run three times a week for over a year by now so I 'just' need to triple the usual 3.82 km to train up for the event :-))))



3. Gitti 2005: Is it worth having a vision?

When I was 20, in the midst of making the first big decisions on my own, I dreamt a five-year-vision for myself. I imagined how I would like to see my life in 2005. I remember that many of my good friends were warning me from such a vision and I had many who saw fantasy in writing one. I had no idea whether it would work or not but I gave it a try.

After three weeks of dreaming-thinking, I created my vision 'Gitti 2005'. This short message meant my wishes and belief related to the future and ever since it has been a source of self motivation to me. Now, at the end of 2005 I thought it would be time to see what has become reality (family, private life, hobby, men, professional life, etc). If you are interested in learning more about it, scroll down :-)

Christmas is just around the corner and today I am flying home! Orchid Story to be continued in 2006 :-)

I wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Hugs
Gitti/ Margit/ Hugi

PS: Between 19 December and 1 January I can be reached on +36 30 3933 944 ;-)

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What do I want in 2005?

I have a foreign trade economist degree and I completed my master education.

Well, I did obtain the foreign trade qualification but the master… well, it is never too late! :-)

I am currently working in a company where the atmosphere is dynamic, my work is full of challenges and I work in a team. I am working with a professional group of people, I learn a lot from them and I enjoy doing my projects with them. Due to my willingness to continuously learn and grow, I am aware of the opportunities and trends of the labour market, I benchmark my abilities and know where to look for new things.

That is all right! Over the last years I have got engaged in many interesting projects with loads of learning (room for improvement) and also success! Work has not been always ideal but I certainly enjoy it now: I enjoy working with my boss, I learn loads from him and each day brings inspiration about the opportunities opening up in the future. Do I know the trends? So-so. There is no pressure about such now.

I have advanced business qualification in English and in French and I use these languages a lot. I restarted learning German and Russian, resulting in me being able to speak another two languages.

Well, I use English a lot ;-) My French knowledge is surviving, my German and Russian knowledge is still limited to 50-50 words. But I have learnt Mandarin, at least the key things to survive in today’s world: I can tell where I want to travel and what I want to eat and drink (though then I would probably live on chicken rice and orange juice till the end of my life ;-)).

I am an active alumnus, I keep in touch with @ and support it as I know how much I can thank to this organisation.

There are things that never change ;-)!

I continuously develop my IT skills, I am open to learn new applications and use them to make my life easier.

Well, I surely have learnt a lot and still have heaps of skills to develop.

As my time allows it, I teach (piano and languages).

Currently I am teaching English to Safwan, the little Indian boy and even though only to myself, but I am regularly playing the piano, too.

Within these five years I spend one year abroad: traineeship, holidays, visits, conference.

Yeah, the one year has increased to three and a half. My time has been spiced up with amazing new adventures and I really feel that the more I see of the world, the more remains to be discovered!

I see my parents and brothers every 4-5 weeks and I have time for family programs.

Due to the geographical distance this has not been really feasible but I believe that our virtual relationship works pretty okay. Because of the time and the distance we have re-valued the traditional ways of keeping in touch (as they are not really realistic) and we experience the warmth of our family life in a new dimension.

I have time for my good @ and old friends, we meet at least once or twice a month. I have lots of friends from all around the work and I meet them at least every two years.

Time tells... for sure! Some of my relationships have got stronger, some got weaker and new friends appeared in my life. Either I think of friends from my country or elsewhere, I believe that the last five years have gifted me with lots of heart-warming people.

I have a flat, comfortable for two people that I am sharing with my partner who I have been together with for one-two years.

Well, this is certainly not happening. But looking back to these five years I feel good knowing that I had four men in my life (not at the same time ;-)) who shared the beauty of love with me and with whom I became of that special dream world for a while.

I travel a lot because of professional and private reasons.

My passion is traveling, meeting new people and discovering new places. When I was 20, I would have never even dreamt of seeing twenty new countries in this short period of time! But yet again it proves that nothing is impossible! I believe that if I can do it, anyone can do it!

I learnt from my mistakes and this learning is a rewarding experience.

Time to time I need to remind myself that failures should not let me down. I think I am doing okay with this.

I exercise regularly and I spend at least one afternoon a month in the nature.

I exercise three times a week (tai chi, kick box, running), I also attend dance classes and try new sports. And what about the nature? Even after two years South East Asia stuns me… So I think I am at the right time and at the right place in this respect, too.

I read thought provoking books, at least six a year.

Well, I am still not a book freak but overcoming the number 6 has never been hard :-).

I learn to deal with kids so in a few years I can become a good mother.

Besides teaching the seven-year-old kid I don’t spend much time with kids. But slowly and surely that certain sense is developing :-).

I live with open eyes: I live with the opportunities arising every day!

Carpe Diem!