Roxana Negoita was in an international intership in Turkey, in Ankara. She wrote 38 things that she misses about Ankara.

My name is Berche Roxana and I was an exchange participant for 2 months, in 2010, in Izmir, Turkey. During my Development Internship I was part of a local project called Myself My world. My main responsibilities were: organizing learning circles for high school students grades 10-11, encouraging students to speak in English, giving lectures on subjects such as Effective Communication, Time Management, Presentation skills, Leadership and preparing social activities such as art, drama, music, sports related to the previous lectures to make students interested.

You may ask what did exchange mean to me? more…

Romania and New Zealand may be very far apart geographically, but being on exchange here has made me realise that it is not the world is not so small – and despite differences in culture, it is the actions of people that are important. I arrived in Romania not knowing anyone, but immediately felt at home thanks to my friends at AIESEC Cluj Napoca.

 My birthday was one day after I arrived in Cluj Napoca – but still, the LC threw me a surprise party, something I will never forget. The LC arranged group trips to sightsee around Cluj and there was never a moment where I felt lonely or without someone to talk to.

For 6 weeks, I worked on a development internship with disadvantaged children in Cluj, gaining work experience with a Romanian NGO. It is expected that there will be some challenges when working in a different country, more…

To me, travel means adventure; so I ignored the raised eyebrows and headed straight or the unknown- into the lush green lap of Transylvania, Romania. I don’t think I could have asked for a better AIESEC experience.

Romania is a land struggling to get back on its feet, both financially and politically. Yet there is always place for beauty- you’ll see her revealing her pretty face through colorful cottages, dancing crimson tulips on window sills or the adorable cobble-stoned piatas. Having spent most of my time there in Cluj Napoca, more…

Hello, my name is Gaurav Sathe, a trainee from Mumbai, India, on an internship in AIESEC in Cluj-Napoca in May-June 2010. Here are some important things I feel you should know as a new trainee in Romania:

1. It is always good to learn one to ten in Romanian as it will help you out from time to time. Learn simple words such as good night (noapte buna), good (bine), thank you (merci), yes (da), apa (water), etc. since it will help you build relations with people such as the watchman, canteen-guy and other such persons who will be happy to help you since you are making an effort to learn a bit of their language.
2. Don’t be late. Things here work on time and Romanian people are too nice to tell you that you were late but frankly I feel it is considered very disrespectful in their culture to be late.
3. Be involved with the LC as far as possible. Especially if you are an AIESECer back home, it is really nice to see how AIESEC here is different from AIESEC at home.
4. Use your trainee buddies. As I understand it, these guys signed up to help you out with whatever you need. Do not feel that you are exploiting them; I feel that every time they are successful with helping you out with something, it gives them great joy in doing so, and in not asking them for anything you are simply not allowing them to reach their goal, i.e., making your experience special.
5. 

   Alcohol is cheap, I know. Especially to my Indian friends, keep the level of drinking at moderate. Don’t get too excited and lose control, it has several consequences. I learn this the hard way.

6. Culture shock may happen to you and you may not realize it, but these are the symptoms: you will try as far as possible to stay alone or at home, not go out and talk to people. You will miss home and think of when you will go back. But here is how you can beat it-call your trainee buddy and ask them to take you around the city. This can help as you will see things that are not like home, and will remind you how lucky you are to be here. more…

What made you decide to apply for Exhange?
I always looked for a way to visit Germany, get connected to foreigners and work. The exchange program was the only and the best opportunity for me that could satisfy my criteria.
I also got in touch with other friends who already went abroad and I was very excited about their stories.

What would you say to a friend who is thinking of going in Exchange?
If you want to live on your own, travel and work with foreigners, then AIESEC exchange program is what you need.

What type of person do you think it might be suitable for Exchange?
Under graduate and master students.

What was the most difficult part in your Exchange? more…