Big update ahead! My computer died last sunday, so I won't be able to post as much, sorry! Anyways, last week I was super busy working in the ITB Berlin 2014, a tourism fair in which almost every country in the world participates. It was amazing. I was asked by a friend to work with her for an analysis company to make interviews about the fair and the productivity of many companies while in the fair. I sounded really simple so I went for it. Little did I know that it was going to be due-at-the-end-of-the-day task and I had to rush to complete all my work, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that it was really stressfull, but I enjoyed myself and I learnt so much from it!
Until now I've never had to have a job to support myself, like some of my friends have, and I'm really lucky that I don't have to be in that kind of situation because I have far less things to worry about. But the opportunity to feel for two days what work is like was more than a lesson.
While doing the interviews there were some people that rudely rejected me and said that they had no time for me. They looked at me as if I were a school kid trying to play in the big leagues and I think that's one problem that I'm going to have to deal with all my life. I'm petite, 155cm and have the face of a 12 year old, which leads most of the people to ask if I'm underaged. I always get the same question, Darf ich ihr Ausweis sehen? (May I look at your ID?) and the conversation always follows the same path: you look so young, I wouldn't have guessed and so on. Most of the time I take it as a compliment. Hell, when I'm 40 people will think I'm younger, that's definitely an advantage! But in situations like in the ITB, where you are trying to get somewhere and you are rejected by how young and "inexperienced" you look, it's definitely worrying.
Even though I was under pressure, I tried to enjoy myself and look up and the positive things and the objective I had to achieve at the end of the day, and not think about the people that turned me down. Plus, I got to eat some delicious colombian treats like banana chips, yucca chips, wheat soda and colombian coffee. Colombian coffee.
Sadly, I was working on the days that everything was happening, and on Saturday and Sunday it was open for the general public to assists, and those were the days I took to actually walk around the fair and go to every single booth. I fell in love with Henna tattoos in the arab section, with the food and the music in the african section, with the people in the latin american section and I tried out my Russian (without any success) in the Siberia section. Europe didn't really need anything to impress me, but what did catch my attention were the nordic countries. I want to go to Sweden so bad. I even talked to a girl from Uppsala, the town I want to visit the most, and she talked me into definitely making some kind of arrangements to just take a plane or train and go. I have only some quick snapshots,I was carrying 5 different bags!
They even had a section dedicated to the LGTB community.
The Haiti stand was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l
I'm loving these guys right here, they brought a piece from Colombia all the way to Germany!
I don't even know how I was able to stand up, my feet were swollen for two days after that
My friend Emilia is crazy about car. This was in the czech section.
This year we will be celebrating 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
People were wearing costumes of all countries, it was so beautiful! Now this fair triggered my wanderlust. I got brochures from all the places and I'm not throwing them away til I get there (collector alarm). But what I did make sure I got from every place I could where pens, pencils and little notepads. Nobody loves stationary like I do. I think I'm the biggest client McPaper has!
By the way, you should add me in Twitter, I swear I'm funny and I'll keep your timeline entertaining
Where do you wanna travel and why?
xx Andy
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