Orchid Story 49-50 - Diploma, Mandarin, dance and career

November-December 2007

My Dear Orchid Story reader,

The four words above, diploma-Mandarin-dance-career don't quite interdepend in my life 100%, however, they well describe my last two months.

1. I completed my MBA! I did it, I did it!
2. Me and my Mandarin: one letter = 1000 km ;-)?
3. Dance, dance and dance: in the excitement of performances
4. Changes at work: I've got to experience this, too

1. I completed my MBA! I did it, I did it!

There are miracles, ay!!! I felt that way at least when on 17th November I received my MBA transcripts from the university. I completed my MBA! My 1.5+ years was sometimes spent in self-pity for the long nights of studying but they brought the desired completion and it feels amazing! :-). The graduation ceremony will take place only in May but until then I am daydreaming about what all I can do with the extra 15-20 hours per week as new hobbies. At first I signed up for Spanish! Como estas ;-)?

2. Me and my Mandarin: one letter = 1000 km ;-)?

On the weekend of the religious festival of Hari Raya, my friend, Amit (IN) and I decided to explore a bit of Southwestern China. Guangzhou itself is not quite interesting, it is big and grey industrial city but we soon decided to target Yangshuo, the place famous for its Chinese picture-like sceneries. After a long while I could use my tiny Mandarin knowledge again which funnily enough took us into some fun trouble: instead of Yangshuo, a place 8 hours away, I mispronounced the name and ended up buying train tickets to Yangzhou which is 26 hours away ;-). One letter... get real ;-)! Hehehe. After 5 hours of traveling we noticed this though and somehow made it to the destination. It was breathtaking - definitely worth it! In numbers the trip would look something like this: 20 hours of sightseeing + 42 hours of traveling and transit + 14 hours sleep = 76 hours of adventures ;-) (Pictures can be found here.).

3. Dance, dance and dance: in the excitement of performances

As a small girl, I used to often daydream about being a revu/ musical dancer. Even though I did not end up becoming one, in November I got two dance performances to hype up my life: at the company dinner & dance annual ball with my 8-people-HR team we performed a bhangra & disco dance (video here) and later with my dance studio we did an Egyptian belly dance choreography (video here), too. It was a fantasic experience and in some ways I lived that dream of the young Gitti ;-).

4. Changes at work: I've got to experience this, too

Besides all the fun moments there were some challenges along the way, too. Due to downsizing and re-organising at work, the professional aspect of life that I have always taken for granted was shaken up. This got me to finally evaluate where I am and what I am doing and also led me to do a more thought over career planning. My new portfolio at work is still shaping up, it is expanding. I see fantasy in it as I am excited about my specialisation so there should be another interesting year to come.

2007 is about to get complete. I would like to thank you for coming along with my on the sometimes flowery, sometimes rocky route of it, even if often just virtually ;-). I wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!



Love (now) from Hungary ;-)
Gitti/ Hugi/ Margit