I recycle. Do you?

I can still remember the first time I recycled....it was all my books and notebooks from the 1st to the 8th grade. They were all filled with memories and I just didn't want them in the trash. They were not garbage...they were the notebooks on which I learnt how to write, make calculations, draw and develop my general knowledge...they were in a way like a treasure to me. Luckily my father has always been a green person. At the time, he was a geography teacher and very much involved in ecological education and school camps. He is the one who made me believe that if I recycle my notebooks they would not become regular garbage, but would return to life in a different way, and all my experiences will be out there forever :)

I still recycle, though it's not easy to do that in Romania. I recycle about once a month one full bag of paper and one of plastic (also some glass from time to time). To make my life easier, I bought a double sided laundry container from Ikea, and in one of them I collect plastic and in the other one paper. This makes it easier when you have to put them in the containers. I keep them in the kitchen as this is a "garbage" that does not smell or cause any problems, so you don't have to worry about that.

I recycle anything paper and anything plastic. I had some doubts about whether in Romania all plastics are recycled, so I contacted several different recycling companies and NGOs, and they all replayed the same: any type of plastic is recyclable.

The other BIG question is about the fact that usually materials are collected together. This basically means that you struggle to sort them and in the end the all end up in the same place. Again, I received the exact same answer from every organisation I contacted: they are indeed collected together, but that does not mean that they all end up in the regular garbage. Romania recycles too little and so the industry is not very well developed, and as a result not enough investments come this way. For this reason, not enough trucks can be bought to transport the material...that's also the reason why at some point the containers get full and nobody comes to collect them in time. If more people would recycle than the need would grow and as a consequence more money would be put into this.

The important thing I found out in my quest is that the city hall (or district representatives) can be forced to bring special recycling containers next to your house....but you have to request that. You can easily do that by writing an official letter. You don't have to have your legal residence in that place...you just have to live there. I have not tried this, but it's next on my list :)

To make it easier, you can download the letter model from here:
http://www.viatadupacolectare.ro/resurse/trimite-o-scrisoare-autoritatilor

The movie I received from one of the NGO's is perfect for this post, and I really advice you to watch it. I am sure you will identify yourself in many of the questions raised and be sure that you will receive your answer.

I was so happy in Denmark because they make you recycle by law and you had special containers everywhere. I hope that some day this will also be available in my country...a very very very far away day from now. 

I know that many of my friends recycle, but I wonder how many? It's so easy to do it...the only trouble you get yourself through is taking the materials from your house to the containers. If you manage to get a container next to your apartment building that it's even easier. It's like everything else in life, one you do it for the first time, then it doesn't seam as hard anymore. I really think it's a matter of lack of education and laziness.

Don't expect things to change if you don't/ are not willing to change....

Today I took a bite out of the pavement....

...I fell. This morning I was running after the bus and just when I was about to hop on it, I fell next to the door. I didn't realise I hurt myself, so I just got up and hoped on the bus...that's when I realised "the situation". My favourite black jeans were ripped and under all the dirt there stood a small wound. My skin was just a little bit plucked and small drops of blood turned my white skin into a beautiful red bruise.

I was nothing bit smiles...I was actually happy. I haven't fell since forever, and soon I'm having my 27th birthday, so I just receive my proof that I am still "growing". What better gift could I have made myself than a bruise in my knee?!

It brought back so many memories of when I always used to have my knees and elbows full of wounds, and was proud of my scars. I remember we even had some sort of a sadistic children's contest on who gets to fall for as many times as possible in the same place, before the old bruise gets healed. Imagine that...my left knee made me proud back then...I had 5 or 6 falls on it and the bruise is still vaguely there...

Job Searching Saga

We all go through the experience of making a professional change at least once in our lifetime. Things used to be different when you would start working in a factory at 18 and spend all your work life there. Now, once out of the shadow of the communist regime, we have to challenge ourselves and discover our strongest points in order to identify our place, reach our limits and find "the perfect job".

My saga started with a New Year's resolution for which I've been basically just waiting for the right time to make. I used to have a great international job, where I really blossomed into a professional, and my biggest proof is the fact that my new job is simply awesome, and I wouldn't have gotten it if I didn't develop my experience before. Unfortunately, things changed a lot in the past year at my previous job...what can I say...Romanians are a special nation :)

I decided to basically announce my resignation before actually finding a job. I've been called crazy for this, but I like to be fair. I wasn't under any pressure financially and I wanted to play the cards right. Extra to that, I wasn't looking just for any job, but a really good job and this basically meant having time to sort things out. 

Starting January I went to 1 - 2 interviews/ week. My goal was to have at least 1 interview/ week...and if I didn't get a job, at least I wanted to make sure that everybody knew I was looking for one. So, my main channels were: my friends, job portals and any social media available (FB, Linkedin and my blog of course). I tried to connect and interact with as many people as possible especially via Linkedin. Not everybody replied, but to my surprise more that I expected did.

So, considering all the above mentioned efforts I went to about 10 different companies for interview and rejected about 5 invitations...so January - March = 15 interview invitations. With some of these companies I went to "second base", but fortunately they were not the place for me. I've been rejected, and I also got to reject a few offers myself...I had some very professional interviews and some very, very bad, totally unprofessional meetings.

I have a pretty strong background in the recruitment industry and I know a bad interviewer when I see one...and when that interviewer is a lot likely to become your next boss...you don't want that. To my surprise one of the worst interviews were with a Communication agency, a pretty big one I would say. Totally unprofessional...they had me waiting for 45 min. and I've only been told bullshit during the interview such as: "are you a volunteer just because it's cool to have that in your CV?" or "you've done all these internships without "knowing" anyone?...I can't believe that". These are questions that cannot be argued, because only very frustrated people could imagine and give voice to such thoughts. A lot of people would give a positive answer to both questions, I know, but an interviewer never puts the problem like that, especially without knowing the person they're talking to.

My second worst interview I have to mention was with a Canadian telecommunications company (not very well known one, but very promising). I can't even comment on this experience. All I can say is that I wanted to get up a couple of times, and just leave the room. But I just didn't do it out of common sense. I did self withdrew myself (if that exists..well I did it :) from that recruitment process...I would have never wanted to have anything to do with that company.

The most professional interview I had was in a very large pharmaceutical company. It was super sharp...the only thing is that I never got any feedback from them...though that's what they said...

I'm not claiming to have been the perfect candidate. I was probably not a good fit for most of the jobs I applied for, or the companies I went to. To my surprise, though I have been an interviewer myself in the past ,and I know the "rules", I was nervous before every single meeting :) 

As you can see it was a great experience!

I never thought, but always wished, to work in a communication agency. This is a like a super dream coming true. I will work in a Romanian - German team of professionals and will contribute to organizing international events for the company's biggest client in Europe. I am the happiest there is and can't wait to begging this new chapter. I will work together with professional, creative people and will have the opportunity to push myself to an edge where I always wanted to be. 

This experience proves again that when you truly want something, it will happen, and experience is the key to everything....you can learn as much as you want on a topic and be super enthusiastic about it, if you don't experience it and it doesn't really attract you...well then all the studying is in vain. You don't have to "know" the right people to find a job. At the end, I got my job through a simple job portal add. You just have to hang in there and never stop trying...and I have to admit that having all my "recruitment world" friends around me helped a lot, but not because they were arranging job interviews for me, but because each of them are great motivational examples...and in such situations you need your friends and family's support for sure.

So...my holiday is over...I really enjoyed it, but I hope I don't have to take it again for a while :)