Zdravo, na site moi grugari od Tutunska Bnaka!

I was asked to write a few words for my stay and my internship in Tutunska Banka AD, Skopje.

First, I want to say something about myself. I was born in the small town of Svishtov on Danube River , Bulgaria . Now I am 23 years old and few days ago successfully passed my state graduate examination. I could proudly say that now I am a Bachelor in Finance – Banking Activity. I completed my secondary education in State Commercial High School “Dimitar Hadjivacilav” – Svishtov, which is more than 120 years old, and my specialty is “Banking, Insurance and Social security Activity”. I have nearly 8 years of study about the banks and the financial system. I have the incredible chance to see how the bank system collapsed completely and how again is brought back to live. Issues for currency board did not exist in the textbooks when I started to learn. In some cases I studied the matter as it was happening.

During last couple of years in the summer I had a wonderful chance to spend my holidays in United Kingdom and USA . I learned a lot about western culture and way of living. In one moment I realized that I did not know anything from practical point of view about the countries around Bulgaria .

Therefore, I got really exited to go on traineeship with AIESEC. I had several proposals for neighboring countries of Bulgaria but I had to choose only one. I chose Macedonia . WHY? There are several reasons. One of them is that my great grand fathers (Andrei and Toma), about a hundred years ago had come from America to fight for the liberation of Macedonia and Trakia and then in The First World War. I was feeling that I am taking their steps but not for making a war but for the goodwill of everybody. Other reason is that I have heard a lot about how beautiful are the Macedonian girls and I wanted to see if this is true. But, the main reason was that I had a real chance to work in a bank. I had the real chance to put the knowledge that I have gained in practice, to compare the Bulgarian economy and bank system with the Macedonian and in that case to differentiate the basic things about banks and to master them.

In the beginning of my stay I felt very strange. Although in some opportunities I spoke my native language I was not understood. When people were talking to me they do not realize in the first moment that I am a foreigner. Just after I have spoken several words they would have asked me where do I come from? People form other departments of the bank did not see me as a trainee but as a regular new member of Strategic and Development Department within the bank. This for me was great.

As for the Macedonia I like it very much and its capital Skopje , too. People are friendly and there are more things that put us together rather than divide us. Although I was aboard I did not feel that I am away from home. At the end of my stay I could easily understand everybody and everybody could understand me. I hope that one day Bulgaria and Macedonia will be together in the European Family.

My internship in Tutunska Banka was a lifetime experience that I will ever remember. It helped me in my education and it was a successful part of my required learning program. I will always remember the wonderful people and the professionals that I had the pleasure to work with.

Petar Andreev
Let The Best Lead The Rest
14 March 2005

Zdravo!

Svetlana asked me to write a short story about myself and why I am here in Macedonia. So to start with the beginning: little over 25 years ago I was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands (or Holland). Some of you might have the idea that the Netherlands is often very cold. At least compared to here that is true. And I must say that I liked the snow a few weeks ago a lot better than this 30 degrees all the time. To me it's a miracle how you get any work or study done with this temperature. About my study: the choice to study economics hasn't been a really difficult one. Even in high school I already knew from the first year that I would do 'something' with economics. Five years after I finished high school I received my university degree. That was last September. What I would really like to do is something with developing countries. So I chose my last-year specialization to be in that direction.

During my study I realized that I wanted to do something 'different' before starting a real job. With different I mean: go away for a few months on my own and preferably also doing something useful. Unfortunately it turned out to be more difficult to find something I liked than I thought. The result was that it took quite some time after I finished my study before I could go and do something 'different'. Finally I found something that sounded interesting. Aiesec provided a chance to go to a country that I would normally never go to. And I guess the same goes for a lot of people since I have seen only very few foreigners here. My very first impression of Macedonia … the first thing someone asked me here at Tutunska was what I thought of Macedonia. The only thing I could think of, without starting an one-hour story, was; "Everything is different". Even after almost two months the differences are as apparent as in the beginning. To name just a few: Traffic; looking left-right-left before you cross the street here is an understatement. When you cross the street you get the feeling people actually try to hit you. The weather; totally unpredictable and extreme. One day it's 25 degrees (the first day I got here) and a few days later it is snowing. A couple of weeks later it is again 30 degrees. And something I didn't even really notice until someone pointed it out to me, there is almost no wind here. The people (and this is of course the most interesting part); the people I have gotten to know here have all been very kind and inquisitive but (yes there is a: 'but') people on the street or in shops are totally different. Maybe or probably that is also because of a language barrier. Speaking of language. To a Dutch ear, Macedonian sounds like angry yelling (no offense). The words sounds tough and people usually speak quite loud. It has happened several times that I thought that people were angry at each other while exactly the opposite was true. I guess that also means that to a Macedonian ear, Dutch sounds… cute (as someone told me).

Now don't get me wrong, those differences are not the things I don't like. Actually the differences are exactly the reason why I wanted to come here. Luckily as I said before there has also been something useful to my stay here. Though two months are to short to really work, we have been able to take a look at almost every department. In doing so we have gotten a pretty good overview of Tutunska. Conclusion? Again everything is different. To really explain maybe you should just come to my country and you will see.

So maybe see you again sometime, here or even in The Netherlands.

Ciao,
Ashwin

During the first year at School I took part of AIESEC-FGV, an international non-profit organization held only by students. I thought this would be a great opportunity to gain more experience, learn more about management decisions and put the acquired knowledge into practice. During the first eight months in Aiesec I worked in Corporate Relations as an Account Manager, being the responsible for maintaining a good relationship with some important clients and partners. After getting some experience in the organization I applied for the Marketing Coordinator post and started to develop some projects. During one year in this position I developed many skills, which can support myself in this international experience.

Despite of the great opportunity I was having in Aiesec, I decided to apply for an internship at Dow Chemical Company where I started my job in the Financial Operations Division operating foreign exchange and money markets. In this part of the internship I had the opportunity of learning about the processes and rules of the Brazilian Financial Market as well as Bloomberg and Reuters using. This experience motivated me to attend to a course of Financial Market in Bovespa (Sao Paulo Stock Exchange). After that I was invited to work with Risk Management where I stayed for two months before leaving the company.

I believe that after these two experiences I already had and the opportunity of doing an international practice in Tutunska Banka were the next step on my career. The life experience and knowledge that I got from it, dealing with other cultures and countries, enabled me to succeed on my personal goals and prepare myself to take further steps in my life.