AIESEC Sydney - Stories from Past Exchange Participants

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Stories from Past Exchange Participants

Contents

Uganda - HIV/AIDs (page 2)

Taiwan – Education (page 6)

Poland – Entrepreneurship (page 8)

Cambodia – Education (page 12)

China – Cultural Awareness (page 15)

Mauritius – Education (page 16)

Malaysia – HIV/AIDs (page 19)

Ukraine – Cultural Awareness (page 21)

Romania – Education (page 28)

Poland – Education (page 31)

China – Education (page 33)

Turkey – Education (page 35)

Poland – Education (page 37)

Malaysia – Community Development (page 40)

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Uganda – HIV/AIDs

Martin Cheung

Bachelor of Engineering / Bachelor of

Commerce, 2nd year

Teens Uganda – Kampala, Uganda

Internship duration: 9 weeks

Please describe what you did there:

I worked for a small, local NGO called Teens

Uganda, an organisation that deals with the local teenagers in the poor suburb of Kawaala. My

role was to organise fun, educational and motivational activities for the youth. For example, I

had a large part in organising a Sports and HIV Day, with very limited resources and funding. In

addition, I also taught in the holiday program,

which aimed to develop the teenagers’

leadership skills and life planning skills, and

also provide an opportunity for goal setting

and confidence boosting. Besides this role, I

was also given the opportunity to assist in the

operations at the nearby Kawaala Health

Centre, which was a partner to Teens Uganda.

Here, I assisted in testing, counseling and

educating patients for HIV/AIDS.

What did you enjoy most about your

internship?

There were too many things in my internship

that I enjoyed, but perhaps the best part was

the positivity from the youths at Teens

Uganda. They were so appreciative of every

little bit of help and advice that I gave them.

Every day, the kids would be friendly and

cheerful; never would I notice any pessimism,

despite of their underprivileged circumstances.

Other than that I enjoyed being able to thoroughly experience local African life. From the first

day, I integrated in the local life and the other interns taught me how to use the ‘taxis’ (minivan

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transport) to travel to work. From the moment I arrived I was eating local Ugandan food and

street food.

I also participated actively in the life at Teens Uganda. Every day, after the holiday program, the

kids would practise dancing and I would enthusiastically join in. The highlight of my Teens

Uganda dancing career was definitely when I performed a salsa routine at their New Years

Celebration!

Finally, I enjoyed the portion of African life that occurred at night, namely, parties at the intern

house and going out to the bars and clubs in the city, with the international interns and local

Ugandans. A most memorable event was hitching

a ride home on the back of a truck at 2am in the

morning!

How do you feel after finishing your internship?

I feel that must return to Uganda in the future and

reunite all the friends I have made. And the kids that I worked with – I’d love to see how they

are going in a few years’ time.

Any words of advice for future exchange participants?

Make sure you find out as much as you can

about your internship and its location before

you confirm. Ensure that your role is exactly

what you want, so that you are not

disappointed when you arrive.

While you are undertaking the internship,

take the initiative. Do not wait for someone

to give you work to do, as this may not

always happen. A lot of the time, you may

have to ask for more work or to offer your

services, if you want to get the most out of

your internship.

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Uganda – HIV/AIDs

Sophie Ritchie

Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies)

Arise and Shine Uganda – Jinja, Uganda



Arise and Shine Uganda is a young non-government organisation that promotes sustainable

development through community education. I personally worked on projects that were directly

related to Sexual Reproductive Health. More specifically, I started a birth control program in a

rural village in Uganda, out of which many of our products were based. In addition to this, I did

workshops with young women regarding sexual risk and behavioural change; all of which is

related to the HIV/AIDS endemic present in much of Southern, Central, and Eastern Africa.

What did you enjoy most about your internship?

I enjoyed so many things about my internship. Firstly, I loved working directly with and for local

inhabitants of the country I was placed in. With many development initiatives, I think it is

essential that those who are being assisted afford a sense of empowerment and self-

determination. For this reason, I was glad to have chosen a Ugandan NGO. Secondly, I loved

working with young women; teaching them about issues that we so often (in the industrialised

world) take for granted. The spirit, motivation and determination of the people we worked with

were very inspiring. Also, Uganda is a beautiful country. Physically, culturally, socially; it’s a very

easy place to spend some time.


Initially I was very confused. At the same time as feeling very enriched, and fulfilled to have

lived the experience, it was very hard to leave my life there. It’s difficult to partake in such an

intense and emotionally full-on experience, and then to return to ones’ normal, and

comfortable life. It was definitely harder coming back than it was going. But after a few weeks

of course I re-adjusted back into my life in Sydney and am now very happy.


Just try everything (within reason of course)! Try to be as open-minded and as culturally

sensitive as possible, even with regard to issues you feel very strongly about. This doesn’t mean

you have to change your set of values or alter your moral compass, merely try to relate to

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someone else’s perspective, and understand how such differences in opinion are possible

between two human beings. Relax, but be careful. Just try to enjoy all you can; the time will fly!

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Taiwan – Education

Steven Ly

Bachelor of Commerce and Arts, 4th year

Touch the world – Wulai, Taiwan

Internship duration: 2 months


Touch the World is an educational

development project where you work as

a volunteer teacher for a school in Taiwan. Basically my job was to help the school build a

better English-learning environment for

their students and I did this by enriching

their English content with “Aussie” culture.

These included Australian animal arts and

crafts, Aboriginal dreamtime picture

stories, a video showcase of Australian

music and dance etc. etc. Apart from

formal teaching, I also helped the students

review and practice their English, plan

Christmas activities for the school, looked

after and kept the children entertained

during evening classes at the local church twice a week, being a judge for the school’s English

speaking competition as well as helping out at the school’s English speaking club. The list goes

on.

Outside the school, Wulai is an adventure

in itself. Being the ONLY intern WITHOUT

a host family in this remote mountain

town had a lot of advantages! It

encouraged me to step outside my

comfort zone and talk to the locals more.

I became really good friends with my host

teachers, improved my Chinese a lot and

discovered a lot about the local 泰雅族 or

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Atayal Aboriginal culture in this place. This included sampling all the unique local cuisines (my

favourite was 山豬肉 (mountain pork) and 竹筒飯 (bamboo tube sticky rice)), hiking the local

mountain trails and bathing the local hot springs (which was provided to me FREE OF

CHARGE!!). It certainly is a very unique and different experience from exploring Taipei city and

the rest of Taiwan.


internship?

After working with the school for some

time, I began to learn more about some

of the bigger issues facing the students

and the school. For example, about half

the children I taught come from single

parent backgrounds and the school

often finds it hard to retain properly

trained English teachers for the next semester (mainly due to the school’s remoteness). In fact

when I started this internship, the school was already short of English teachers and left me in

charge of the 7th grade as the sole English teacher there. This gave me the right motivation to

deliver only my best efforts for the kids and to leave no regrets. So despite all the travel I did,

being able to make a meaningful and positive impact to the children’s schooling lives is the

most enjoyable aspect of my internship. These experiences taught me how to continuously

adapt to new situations (which would aid me greatly in my travels). As a result, I feel as though

I’ve matured not only as an individual but also as a global citizen as well.


At first, disbelief because was over… then a brief

period of reverse home-sickness followed by a great

everlasting sense of achievement that you’ve done

something awesome, meaningful and impactful and

just wants to brag about it for the rest of your life.

By ‘brag’ I should say ‘share’ because sharing is

caring =)


Be prepared to step outside your comfort zone. That way you can enjoy your exchange

experience to the fullest extent. Nothing is better than trying new things because that’s what

being on exchange is all about.

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Poland – Entrepreneurship

Leslie Li

Bachelor of Commerce – International Business

& Business Information Systems

Academy of Perspectives X - Wroclaw, Poland

Internship duration: 01/12/2011 – 18/01/2012

(6 weeks)


I prepared and facilitated workshops about

Chinese Culture, Communication, Learning Techniques, Time Management, How to Deal with

Criticism and Creative Thinking. There were 3 senior high schools and 1 junior high school that I

went to teach. I had approximately 3 hours of teaching daily from Monday to Thursday, and

usually travelled during the weekend. In addition, I also participated in the Global Village

organised by the host AIESEC committee to promote Chinese culture. Moreover, I was also

invited to the host AIESEC committee’s Christmas Party and Christmas Eve party organised by

the project organisers, and Christmas

parties in my high schools and so on.


internship?

First of all, I really enjoy living, working,

travelling and having fun with the other

14 exchange participants from 7

different countries in 3 continents. I

met the friend of my lifetime and

shared unforgettable memories, such

as moving our luggage from hostel to

hostel, skiing on a 1200 meter high, travelling with a group of 15 people, doing stupid things on

the street and taking stupid or crazy photos.

Secondly, I was welcomed and looked after by the local Polish people since day one. I would not

have learnt so much about Polish culture if they didn’t take me to all the places, such as 100ml

Vodka shot and all kinds of different alcohol.

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Lastly, the learning experience - living with people from different culture backgrounds taught

me to be patient, active, positive, tolerant and caring, as well as finding my position in the

group; learning the teaching techniques

to adjust my teaching according to the

age groups, and also learning new things

while preparing the teaching materials.

How do you feel after finishing your

internship?

I feel proud and empowered. I am proud

because I have done things that I have

never done and I have achieved all my

goals. The reasons for being empowered

are the strong friendship I attained made

me felt I am not alone anymore, and the love I gained from the other exchange participants and

local Polish people made my heart feeling warm and strong. I can actually look back and smile,

and feeling motivated.


Challenge yourself - Do the things that you don’t dare to do as long as it’s legal, e.g. I was

busking in the centre of Wroclaw. Take part in everything – don’t be isolated and embrace the

party! Write down everything that you have learnt along the way, so you can remind yourself in

the future. Lastly, take tons of photos and videos!

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Poland – Entrepreneurship

Brendan Yanada

Bachelor of Arts (Languages) - Chinese

and Chemistry

Academy of Perspectives – Wroclaw,

Poland

Internship duration: 2 months


My job while in Poland was to teach

middle and high school students

various topics such as my culture and

soft skills in English. I worked in a team

of three and organized class material and activities before class. During class, we took turns in

presenting the topic to the students. Everyone in the team played an important role in

maintaining order in the class, and assisting students who were in need of help. While teaching

at schools, I was able to develop my teamwork, leadership and time management skills. It was a

wonderful experience. When there was time, after school, myself and all of the interns would

immerse ourselves in the culture of Poland by meeting up with the local AIESECers in Wroclaw

and get to know them better. We also tried a range of Polish food and visited some culturally

significant sites.

On weekends, I went travelling with the other exchange

participants to cities around Wroclaw, such as Krakow,

Berlin and Vienna. It was fantastic!


I enjoyed immersing myself with the locals and the culture

while in Poland. Everything there was new to me and that

is why it was so fascinating. I also enjoyed working as a

team with the other interns, as we became very close

friends by working almost every day with each other.

Going travelling and having fun with all the interns in the

program was also a priceless experience and memory.


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I feel sad now that the program has ended

and everyone had to return to their home

country. However, I feel satisfied that I have

completed my job and created a lot of great

memories with everyone while in Poland.

Any words of advice for future exchange

participants?

I highly recommend this program to anyone

wanting to experience something new and

different. The memories and bonds you can

make while over there are priceless.

However, just be prepared for anything that may not go to plan – as I found, because I was

overseas and an intern, I didn’t have much control over my plan and didn’t know what to

expect until I actually arrived at my destination. Also, bring some things from your country and

do some research about Poland and Europe in

general before going there.

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Cambodia – Education

Yasutoshi Park

Bachelor of Commerce / Arts

Erudite Orphans - Cambodia, Siem Reap

Internship duration: Six weeks


The main purpose of my internship was to teach English to

children in an underprivileged village, children who

otherwise would never be able to afford such an

opportunity. These children were aged between five and

fourteen years old, and I would teach an hour from 8am,

and another hour from 4pm to two separate classes, in

total around eighteen children. The lessons, as well as the internship in general, depends purely

upon your own initiative and creativity, so what I taught and did with the children was

completely up to me – I personally decided that focusing on everyday phrases was the best

course of action, and planned lessons and games based on that.

However, an equally significant aspect of the internship involved personal relationships with

the children and the villagers, and a direct immersion into their lifestyle and culture. I would

spend hours every day playing with the children - teasing them, throwing them around and

chasing after them, trying to talk to them and getting to know their lives. With the other EPs I

often organised outings for the kids, such as to the local shopping mall, or to the nearby lake –

due to their poverty these are places which they’ve only visited once or twice in their lives, and

I was able to help them to see beyond their village and experience more of the world through

this. Language was initially a problem but with

a bit of effort I began to pick up on their

national language Khmer, and even that in

itself was an amazing experience.


internship?

I’m not sure if enjoyed is the right word, but

spending time with the children of a very

different cultural and economic background,

coming to understand their individual

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personalities, their likes and dislikes,

observing the way they interacted with one

another, and beneath all that finding a

sincere and even desperate need to help

them and leave them with something

before I left, I think that was the most

precious thing about my internship.

Although I had a lot of free time, I

chose to spend most of it in the village – I

arrived at 8am for my lesson, and there

were many times when I only left the village

after all the kids went to their homes at 7pm. I got to observe how truly difficult they were

financially – for showers, cooking water and water for toilet flushing, they had to take buckets

to the pumps located throughout the village. They were the same clothes, often ripped or dirty,

for a week straight, and sometimes skipped meals simply because they couldn’t afford it.

A moment that epitomised all of this came during my second week – I was sitting down

in the village when my favourite student came past me with her brothers, riding bikes with bags

attached to them. It was already pitch black outside, and I was wondering where they were

going so the NGO person explained to me that,

because their family had no income, their kids had to

go out to the city every night to rummage through

rubbish, collect empty bottles and cans, and then sell

them. When I heard that, I felt absolutely crushed.

This was my favourite student, a very beautiful,

cheerful and cheeky girl, just thirteen years old, and

she rides out to the city at 7pm, often returning at 11

or 12. What kind of world is this that children have to

do this kind of work just to live?

That moment was when I first began to feel that what I was doing was truly, actually

having an impact on their lives. In Siem Reap, tourism is the predominant sector, and being able

to speak English almost guarantees a job and decent living standards. By me coming down here

and giving them education that they otherwise would not have, I can give them a chance to

change their lives, I can give them a little bit more hope for a brighter future. How profound is

that? How precious is what we were trying to do. I came to personally and individually love the

children I met in those six weeks, and that was what made my internship a beautiful

experience.

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Slightly deflated – I didn’t feel that I was able to accomplish in my time there anywhere near as

much as I wanted to. In fact, after reading an article about the impacts of volunteering in

Cambodia, I realised that I did many things that I perhaps should not have done or could have

done better.

Overall however I feel that this was time well spent, and if I went back in time I would

still go on the same internship, there are no regrets there. I experienced so much in my time

there, and accumulating experience is always a valuable thing. I broadened my understanding

of people and the world, met some amazing exchange participants and made friendships which

I know I can count on to still be there down the track, experienced living alone and being in

control of my day, I feel that I came out of this internship a more mature and complete person

in a variety of ways.


It all comes down to you and your initiative. You have to be there to make those amazing

moments happen. You have to be pushing and challenging yourself to not settle into a boring

and tame routine, but always find more excitement and fun in a day. I can’t communicate this

point enough, although there are uncontrollable factors in any experience, in the end it is all up

to you what you do with the cards you are dealt, and it all comes down to you whether you

have a boring internship, a fun internship or an amazing internship.

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China – Cultural Awareness

Swapnil Mindhe

Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal

Studies)

Explore China – Shanghai, China



I worked in Arts Education in the

Education department of Himalaya

Museum. This involved organising and

participating in workshops with children between ages 9-12. The workshops were focused on

educating and promoting potential young artists. I also worked in the design, planning and

promotion for future exhibitions the museum will hold.


I enjoyed the friends I made the most. They really defined every moment for me and cheered

me up despite the strenuous conditions of my work.


Initially I was quite depressed the experience of living in a less communal atmosphere did not

suit me well. I miss my friends and the city that I was becoming a part of. Now it’s gotten better

and I’ve come to that things aren’t over as I initially though and I can use the lessons my

experience taught me to better

myself.

Any words of advice for future

exchange participants?

Open mind and be friendly. Great

things will happen you just have to

let go of your inhibitions a bit and

enjoy the ride.

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Mauritius – Education

Saskia Dumas

Combined degree: Bachelor of Engineering (Biomedical) and

Arts – 3rd year

Know about Cancer - Mauritius



Know about Cancer is an educational development project

where by interns work with NGO’S regarding cancer

treatment and awareness. The project consists of three

sections.

First section concerns the palative care aspect of cancer

treatment. Interns visit numerous hospitals in Mauritius with the opportunity to talk with

doctors and patients with cancer. They talk with the patients regarding their life style choices

and how much they knew about cancer before being diagnosed. They also have to opportunity

to see the various treatment centres in Mauritius. Mauritius is very behind when it comes to

cancer treatment. The technology they have is very old and breaks down quite often. As

Mauritius has a 13.5 % cancer diagnosis rate, every hospital has to cope with hundreds of

people coming for cancer treatment every day, and cannot sustain the numbers. One of the

aims of the project is to show the government that more money needs to be invested into

cancer treatment.

The second section of the internship

involves thorough researching and

collaborative work with the World Health

Organisation Statistics branch. Through this

research interns will create a professional

pamphlet to hand out to the public. Also

interns will also create a National survey

and go around to popular areas and

conduct the survey with members of the

public. The survey is used to create a

national statistic database that is then presented to the local government in order to provide

proof that there is a huge problem in Mauritius.

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The final aspect of the program is to present

in front of numerous schools and women’s

centres in Mauritius. The aim of this is to

create greater awareness of cancer and

healthy living. It may seem like a daunting

task however, everyone is so happy to see

you there. They love volunteers!

This all may seem like a lot of work, and it is.

However it is the most rewarding work one

could do. You can see the impact it is having in the nation straight away.

Despite all this work, you have HEAPS of spare time too. Mauritius is a small country with a

population of 1.3 million. You can drive from one end of the island to another in less than 2

hours. It is a beautiful country blessed with magical beaches surrounding the whole islands and

breathtaking coral reefs! My spare time was spent visiting all these amazing beaches,

snorkeling for hours at a time, hiking up volcanic mountains, sailing, parasailing, clubbing,

shopping and much, much more.

I lived in a house with all the other interns throughout the 7 weeks. There were 10 of us. The

interns came from various parts of the world; India, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Egypt. For the

7 weeks we cooked together, cleaned together and worked together. You all become

extraordinarily close. It is your family. Everyone has been selected because they show real

enthusiasm to make an impact.

Mauritius has almost 120 interns arrive for

an AIESEC internship every year. December,

January and February are the busiest

months for AIESEC Mauritius. As Mauritius

is a very small country, all the interns in

each project tend meet up quite regularly.

So you get to meet quite a lot of interns and

become very close with them. They come

from almost everywhere in the world. It is a

great opportunity to create friendships and

networks with people from all around the world.

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Initially I was so sad. I had just left some of the

closest friends I had ever made and I had had

such an amazing time, I didn’t want to go home.

However after re-adjusting to my normal routine,

I think back on the whole experience and think

WOW! I can’t believe I achieved so much and had

the best experience of my life so far! You also

learn a lot about yourself and your strengths and

weaknesses, and you learn so many new skills. I keep in touch quite regularly with the other

interns of my project. Next year I am planning to travel overseas to visit most of them .


Go on the internship prepared to step out of your comfort zone and embrace the new culture

you’re experiencing. It will be different to your life in Australia, however doesn’t mean it’s bad.

You will get so much more out of the internship if you can embrace everything as an experience

and try new things.

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Malaysia – HIV/AIDs

Lily Cheng

Bachelor of Commerce/Law

Red Ribbons UM - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Internship duration – 6 weeks


I worked with on numerous projects in

Malaysia. In my 7 day a week, I would dedicate

myself 2 days to working at a drop in centre for

children who live in the red light district or who are disadvantaged. Most of the cases the

children’s parents are affected by HIV/AIDS and they do not have access to education funded by

the government. They either don’t have permanent residency in the country or they come in

for extra support in the holidays. The main focus of my project was about HIV/AIDS. I also

worked twice a week in a HIV/AIDS anonymous testing clinic in data entry and reception. I also

witnessed testing methods and socialised with volunteer doctors.

During my odd moments, the other interns and myself had to conduct workshops at different

high schools, universities and colleges. This meant presenting slides and demonstrating how

HIV/AIDS can be transmitted though games and interactive activities. Other projects included

excursions to the NSEP (Needle Syringe Exchange Program), which changed my life forever. I

went to the see drug addicts in the back street alleyways and in the slums and in homeless drop

in centres. I also participated at University

operating workshop booths and

information booths about HIV/AIDS.


internship?

My most favourite part was travelling

alone. I spent the first 3 weeks of my

journey alone and it never stopped

surprising me how much potential I had in

myself to get lost and find myself literally

and metaphorically. I never realised how open and confident I could be. I started conversations

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with strangers on the bus and wherever I went. My most memorable moments would be

becoming close friends with a girl from Kazakhstan, whom I met on a 6 hour bus ride and we

spent our weekends exploring Malaysia - and who could forget my flatmates, who teased me

about my horrible Australian accent and partied hard with me on new years in a paradise called

Langkawi. They were the only people that

I knew who would book a ticket to a

tropical island the night before we had to

board.


internship?

After my internship, I felt like I could

explore the world and I felt there was so

much more to life than being stuck in a 9-

5 day job. I fell in love with travelling and I

daresay I got addicted to the rush of going

from one place to another.


For future exchange participants, sometimes life throws you opportunities and its up to you to

take advantage of them. Life doesn’t stop for you reconsider. Also there is so much to learn

about the world and culture so

don’t feel nervous or shy,

if I learnt anything, the

greatest gift from my

parents would be a beautiful

smile. Don’t feel afraid to

ask for advice or directions.

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Ukraine – Cultural Awareness

Kenneth Lim

Bachelor of Commerce - International Business

World Without Borders – Kiev, Ukraine


Please describe what you did

there:

I went to Kiev to ‘train high school

students to develop their

leadership potential, soft skills

and cultural understanding’. This

required me to do in-depth

research on the topics in which I

was going to present to them,

and come up with an effective

method to deliver the session. I

had to come up with 2 different

ways of getting the message

across for each topic as I had a class of 14 year olds and another 16/17 year olds. I had the

opportunity to teach in 4 different schools during my 6 weeks there, which allowed me the

chance to interact with many different people and to make friends from all around Kiev!

I was also chosen to speak at a career development conference in front of professionals in

various industries and close to 150 high school students about to graduate and move on to

university. I also facilitated discussions and activities among the students.

I participated in a Global Village, in which I had to set up a booth displaying items representing

my country. We had a space in Kiev’s biggest shopping mall and it was fantastic to see booths

representing so many countries – Vietnam, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Greece, Egypt,

Bulgaria, Brazil, Colombia, Serbia, Georgia, and South Korea. There were many Ukrainians who

visited us and it felt good explaining to them what my country was about and the interesting

things about it. There was also a 3 minute performance from each of us that was supposed to

represent our country’s culture. I tried searching for a cultural dance for my country, Singapore,

and found out that there really wasn’t one that I wanted to do (Wikianswers stated Singapore

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doesn’t have a cultural dance). So, I decided to be the ONLY person to sing and I performed my

national anthem. It was embarrassing, nerve wrecking but very fun at the same time. I have 0

talent in singing but I still went ahead with it! I received a stunning round of applause – perhaps

it was out of sympathy. It was great to see my former ‘students’ (whom I never saw as students,

but as friends) cheering me on despite the horrible performance – something I’m thankful for,

still.

Outside of my project requirements, I also volunteered in orphanages where I would entertain

children with games or deliver cultural lessons / information about other cities in Ukraine. I also

managed to learn the Cyrillic alphabets for the Ukrainian language, during my free time. I can

now read almost everything that is written although I cannot make sense out of almost all of it!

However, I guess this was what really impressed the people there - that I bothered to learn

their language and culture. Students and a teacher from the first school I taught at, became my

good friends and organised an English speaking guided tour of the world war museum for us!

The teacher treated me to a great, and expensive, Ukrainian dinner after I finished teaching

that class. When I went back to give an extra ad-hoc lesson, the classroom was packed. There

were students who weren’t

even from the class and they

all wanted to listen to me. A

classroom for 20+ people

became filled with 60 people

or so. And they gave me

another performance (they

gave me one on the last day

of my teaching schedule)

where they sang for me and

invited me to their school’s

concert.

On the social side of things, it was an amazing experience living together with other exchange

participants. The cultural diversity was eye opening and it really taught me that people from

different cultures do things way differently and that it isn’t right or wrong, it’s just how it is. It is

puzzling and amazing at the same time how a Greek, an Egyptian, a Singaporean, and a

Ukrainian can bond so well to the point of being such close friends. I managed to visit my

friend’s grandparents’ village slightly outside of Kiev and when he first invited me along, I was

sceptical because I’ve never slept in a straw house but to my embarrassment, it turned out that

villages there do not mean houses made of straw or whatnot. It was such a beautiful house and

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his grandparents had their own bee farm. They cooked the best dinner I’ve had in a long time

and gave us the most delicious wine I’ve ever tasted. I’ve never been a fan of wine but the wine

they offered us was home made! One was called honey wine (made from honey) and the other

was normal wine. There was no sugar added but it tasted so much better than any wine I’ve

ever had – the right mix between sweet and bitter. Words cannot describe how beautiful it

was. Even the fragrance of it was..

unforgettable.

I’m not going on any more about the other

social activities I did because I think this would

bore you further, if you aren’t already bored.

I’ll sum it up – I challenged myself by going out

of my comfort zone to do things I would never

have done in my life, no matter how daunting it

seemed and I got rewarded with a mind

blowing experience. From snowboarding, to

attempting to speak the language, to singing in

front of a hundred over Ukrainians, to traveling

alone to a small town in Ukraine, and more..

These experiences are worth more than any corporate internship could offer. I would NEVER

trade those 2 months even if I got offered the most prestigious internship with lots of money in

return. This AIESEC exchange has given me SO much and I’m glad I made the decision to go on

one.


Honestly, I cannot pick just ONE thing that I enjoyed the most. I’ll explain briefly a couple of

things that I will NEVER forget.

1. Ukrainian hospitality: I’ve never experienced such sincerity, and generosity before. I’ve felt

more welcomed and accepted in those 2 months than I’ve had in the last year or so since

coming to Australia! I’ve met some of the kindest people in my life there. I went to Ukraine with

the stereotype that they are very rough, and criminal like (this is very stupid, but it was the

truth). I was actually prepared to get mugged – I bought a very cheap and ugly looking wallet, I

bought a money belt, I hid money in my shoes, etc. But, what I got instead was immense

kindness from people whose command of the English language isn’t very good. Most people

who couldn’t speak English at all still took so much effort to make me feel welcomed.

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For example, my friend’s grandparents gave me a large bottle of their homemade wine. They

took care of us when we stayed over and drove us back to the bus station when it got dark. The

teacher from my first school, Lyudmila, went out of her way to organise an excursion to the

world war museum for us interns, together with an English speaking guided tour. She also

bought me tickets to go ice skating with her and her students. She would ALWAYS ask us to sit

back for tea after/before classes to chat with us for a while despite being busy with other

academic matters. She also treated me to a very good meal on my last day, which I am ever

thankful for. My students, we became friends and they kept taking me out to show me around

Kiev.

When I went traveling to another city in Ukraine, my best friend – Gleb, called an AIESECer in

that city to host me for the night and true enough, someone called me to host me despite it

being very last minute! She cooked for me,

she called her boyfriend over and we ate

together. Her boyfriend took me to the bus

station the next day to make sure I boarded

the bus to the correct destination and told

the bus driver that I did not know the

language and to inform me when it was my

destination. If he didn’t help me, I would not

have been able to get to my destination as it

was not easy to get the tickets and find the

correct bus.

Gleb also gave me a winter hat that was

about 40 years old for my birthday! It was

genuine fox fur and it was so touching for me

because these things must have had

sentimental value to him, seeing that it was passed down to him. He gave it to me because I

kept telling him I wanted one of those ‘Russian winter hats’ and kept asking him where I could

buy one. His parents invited me on my last night in Ukraine for dinner and brought out

imported cognac they reserved for special occasions to drink with me. I’ve never had a whole

family drinking together while eating. His mother, father and older sister were drinking to me

and it was really touching because it was my first time meeting his family.

My students performed for me and invited me to their school concerts as well. It brought tears

to my eyes when they told me to end the class early because they had surprise for me on my

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last lesson. They gave me handmade gifts, sang traditional songs, and played the piano for me. I

had tears in my eyes and I couldn’t say much to them except to thank them. Remembering it

still brings tears to my eyes, even as I am writing this close to half a year later.

My friends in Ukraine took the effort and time to understand me, while at the same time

showing me their culture. I am ever so grateful to have had been given the opportunity to learn

from them. I enjoyed all the meals they cooked for me, songs they sang for me, drinks we had

together, laughter and tears we shed.

2. My superstardom in high school! I am not exaggerating but after the first lesson, I felt I was

like a superstar in the school! People started coming up to me, trying to speak with me even

when they had a class that they were late to go to. So much so that the teachers had to pull

them away. They mobbed me and

the younger ones ask me for my

‘autograph’! I would be constantly

interrupted in conversation with

my own students when other

people would come up and start

talking to me. It was amusing but

I’ll admit that I enjoyed it! :P

3. Ukrainian cuisine. I would order

so much food and gobble it all

down because it was so delicious! I

can’t even describe it.

4. Public transport: Bus and train fares cost around $0.40 per trip in the city. Train lightings

would dim for a moment when it was approaching the next station! Initially, I thought the train

was going to break down and had no electricity! The buses were most interesting because

people would board the bus and then pay the fare by passing money to the bus driver with the

help of other passengers! For example, a passenger at the back can pass $10 to someone in

front of him and the person will continue to pass it on until the money reaches the bus driver.

Then the exact change will make its way back to the person who paid! Such an interesting and

fascinating system!

4. Ukraine: I loved everything about it except the winter! The people, my friends, the food, the

culture, the language, etc.

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Because it was the best experience in my entire life, I did not want to leave. I extended my stay

till the last day of my VISA expiry, instead of my original plan to travel around Europe – I loved it

too much. It’s been almost half a year since my

project, but I still think about it EVERY day.

I’m not ashamed but the last few days of my

stay in Ukraine were the WORST ever. I was so

sad that I was going to leave and I ended up in

tears talking to my best friends from Ukraine,

Egypt and Greece. It was really painful knowing

that I had to leave these amazing people. I

never believed I could make good friends within

a couple of weeks, and I would have never

imagined it possible with people from countries

so far away from mine and with cultures so

dissimilar. Those tears would not stop streaming

down and I have never felt this way. My other

friends were caught up with similar emotions and it ended up in a group of guys being all

emotional, which is pretty hilarious from an outsiders point of view. But those emotions we

shared, were raw and sincere. We all knew that we found special friends we would never have

met and we all knew that it was time to part ways soon.. that it would be a very possible and

likely scenario we never meet again. But I guess we were all thankful for the wonderful

friendship. However, we have since remained in constant contact and are planning to meet

again at the end of this year!

This AIESEC internship has helped me

find out more about myself. I have

learned what I like and what I dislike.

It has opened up doors I would

otherwise not have had a pathway

to. I found out I really like teaching,

even though I am from a commerce

background. It banished my stupid

and embarrassing stereotypes of

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Ukrainians. It showed me that the people all around the world share the same need: love. That

it doesn’t mean we cannot be close friends even if we don’t speak English as our first language,

or that we come from far aw ay countries, or that our cultures that we grew up in are so

different, or that our eyes/skin/hair are of different colour. I learned that friendship transcends

ethnical, racial, language, and geographical boundaries. I learned that I only know so little about

the world and that the world is a lot smaller than I thought it was.

My advice to anyone who is

thinking of going on exchange is

to go. Go, and don’t look back.

Go, with an open mind. Go, but

be willing to challenge yourself.

Go, to get out of your comfort

zone for this is when you will

learn so much about the world

and about yourself. Go, and do

your best to see everything and

understand cultural differences.

Go, with no expectations

because you never know what you’re going to get. Each exchange holds a different experience

but it is still going to be life changing. Go, because life is short and if you don’t, you’re missing

out on a wonderful opportunity. Go, because you will not have any regrets.

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Romania – Education

Alistair Kung

B. Arts, 4th year

Money Sense - Romania



The project I participated in is called Money

sense, a project sponsored by RBS (Royal

Bank of Scotland), which runs throughout

Romania. The program’s objective is to

offer access to information and financial education to as many people as possible, both young

people, as well as existing and potential clients.

In a nutshell, what I did was to teach students about how to create a personal budget via

various ways, and some essential financial knowhow, like opening a bank account, applying for

different sorts of loans from different kinds of financial institutions. In my city, we carried out

the project in 4 high schools, so me and my partner from Moldova, Marina (the other trainee)

were the only two teachers who carried out the program in the city of Galati.

Outside the classroom, I have also become good friends with my colleagues as well as my

students. We always go and grab some food to eat, usually kebab (Romania is right next to

Turkey, the Origin of Kebab), and can easily talk for hours about all the differences between

eastern Europe and Australia (or Europe and China, where I am originally from. Students

sometimes even organize activities

unbidden by themselves of us

(teachers), like ice-skating and

football, which surprised me and of

course we all had a looooot of fun

Apart from carrying out this program,

I was also lucky enough to participate

in the AIESEC National Conference in

Romania, which is called the

Romanian Youth Leadership Forum

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(RYLF). As any other people who have been to an AIESEC national conference would know, the

experience is absolutely mind-blowing. I was totally amazed of the enthusiasm and the amount

of energy they have got, (They don’t need to sleep….at all!) and how much they have achieved

all by themselves, on a national level.


I would say …every part of it really, all the good things and bad things happened during this

internship. Or…to be more specific, I really liked the fact that the organization (the local

committee of AIESEC in my city) had given us all the freedom we need to in deciding what form

and method to take to deliver the knowledge to the students, they have really allowed to

….’express ourselves’, or to ‘let our creativity into full play’. It’s almost like making a mini

curriculum for a summer course for high students. Without a doubt, it’s a challenging task, but

when it’s such a valuable experience because this is probably one of the very first time in life I

am doing something without any guidance or idea of how I should do something, we actually

need to plan and design everything by yourselves. Although it’s quite a lot of hard work, but

when you see the students actually learn from the lessons you ‘created’ and actually learn

something out it, it feels so rewarding!


A bit of shock at first, all the volunteers were all like: I can’t believe this is over already! When

we first finish all of us still felt like we have classes the next day. After seven weeks of teaching,

when you get so many free time (with preparing stuff for classes, etc) you really would feel kind

of lost, and don’t know what to do.

Apart from that, I think all of us were really of

proud of what we have accomplished, that we

have exactly taught our students something. Also,

we really do cherish all the friendships we have

‘make’ with all our new acquaintances – our

fellow Romanian buddies, both colleagues and

students.


Check all the details about the internship before you go, e.g. accommodation, distance from

accommodation to workplace, is the travel costs going taken care of by the organisation, how

many meals do they provide per day? And what form is it going to take, e.g. are they going to

give you the money, or provide you an actual meal, etc. I know all these sounds miscellaneous

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and naturally you would think: come on, when they offer you an internship, it’s only natural

that they will take care of all these kind of stuff. But you don’t want to presume they will

provide you with something, and then

when you arrive there, turns out they

don’t. This is only to ensure you own

rights as well as theirs.

While you are taking your internship,

don’t be put off by the differences

between the the local culture and you

own, you are in a country that’s half a

world away, it would be bizarre if they do

things and have the exact way of thinking

as you. STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT

ZONE, because afterall, that’s part of what this is about!

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Poland - Education Theresa Wong

Bachelor of Commerce

Enjoy My Origin - Wroclaw, Poland



I was a volunteer to teach English at a Primary School in

Poland. The school consisted of 6 grades, and within each

grade 3 classes. Over the 6 weeks I interned there, each day I

would be allocated a class, until I eventually went through all

the classes. I would teach them about the Australian culture

through a PowerPoint presentation I made, show them

videos about Australian animals, foods etc and also play

games that required them to practice English, for example Mafia and Celebrity Heads.

What did you enjoy most about

your internship?

Making new friends and forming

close friendships with new people

and stepping out my comfort zone.

I also learnt to respect the

teachers I had in school, and also

my lecturers for continually

making an effort to teach kids that

do not want to be taught. I understood how hard it was for teachers to not be biased or

prejudiced, and above all I learnt to be more respectful of other cultures. I became close friends

with my supervising teacher, as well as the other interns. But I think the best thing about the

internship is being in a completely different environment, with no idea what you’re doing, no

parents to watch over you or make sure you make the “right”, and to wake up each morning

with no responsibility and no stress.


At first I was glad to be home, glad to shower in my own bathroom and glad to sleep in my own

bed – we had communal showers and toilets in Poland. I also came to appreciate how beautiful

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Sydney was (when I was driving past the Anzac

Bridge, I couldn’t stop admiring how beautiful

it was). However, after one day, it hit me I had

returned to reality and was starting to miss life

in Poland. I have to say, I have never felt so

foreign in my life. I could not speak their

language, let alone attempt to read or

pronounce the words in Polish. I looked

different too, due to my Asian background.

The city I was based in was not a big city, and there were very little immigrants. Needless to say,

I stood out like a black sheep and everywhere I walked people would stare. That was definitely

an experience – communicating by acting out what I was trying to say, walking in minus 20

degrees everyday for 20 mins to and fro school and attempting to learn Polish.


Go with an open mind, be prepared to make a lot of new friends, and step out of your comfort

zone. In your internship, you are given a choice to either stay in your dorm room everyday, or

venture outside and meet everyone. It’s up to you how much you want from the internship and

at the end of the day, you go on the internship because you want to experience new things – so

make the most out of it!

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China - Education Ben Huynh

Design in Architecture

Meet the World – Guangzhou, China



"Meet the world" is more likely the program

that the students in China were told of us as

Exchange Participants who come from different

countries. In classes, our roles were to prepare

an interactive time for the students for them to learn about each of the exchange participant’s

backgrounds, cultures. I was in a team with

five other EPs who are from Brazil,

Columbia, Indonesia, China and India.

Therefore, each of us had to prepare our

own PPT slides and teaching materials

before the classes. Classes were on 6 days

weekly so only Sunday is free. Mostly my

team had classes at primary schools where

students were at grade 4 or 5, so to help

them cooperate with us, we usually give

away some gifts and candies for any right

answer. The theme for classes was

changed every week, some themes that I

could recall are Introducing the country,

Festivals, Music and Art etc. In our free

time, we mostly spent to discover food, any

kind of food. Besides, there were few joyful

trips heading out to the countryside.


internship?

At first, I felt really comfortable to get along

with Chinese people. They, the local

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committee members, always try to put their best to help you out once problems arise. For

example, if I wanted to go shopping for a particular good, they will probably assign one

exchange participant buddy to go with me to help with the translation. Then, another thing that

made my trip enjoyable was teaching with the kids. They are extremely good, in the sense that

they are good listeners, well behaved and respectful. China was a very different experience in

terms of traveling (in Asia), Guangzhou was just too crowded and that made traveling by train

unforgettable.


Well a little bit of pity, because most of the exchange participants in my team I can now be able

to keep in touch, some of them are even living Sydney. I also felt really proud when I brought

back home some gifts that my host AIESEC committee prepared for me, as well as some

"certificates".


This will be a very different experience that you may have, and you could not do anything to

predict this except being well prepared before you go, ready to meet new friends and please

learn now if you can not or don't drink much alcohol. Just kidding, you will love the kids.

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Turkey - Education Hanh Dinh

Master of Management

My Self My World – Izmir, Turkey



My Self My World is the educational development

project designed for high school students (year 10 to

year 12) in Izmir. It was a massive project that involved more than 50 interns from over 20

countries. Our job was to work with students who were still on duty at high schools in local

(Izmir), organize learning circles and discussion sessions about local and global issues to

encourage students to speak English. In groups, we provided lectures to students about topics

such as effective communication, time management, leadership and self-exploration.

Outside of classes, I had got chances to hang out

with local students, learn Turkish language, eat

Turkish food and shop Turkish brands. Moreover,

I had the best host family in the world who

treated me extremely well, I felt like home from

my first day arrived Izmir. I also had a chance to

travel around Turkey, which now makes me love

Turkish people even more.


There were heaps of things to try and learn. That is the thing that I enjoy most about my

internship in Izmir.

Not only did I get the chance to learn the Turkish

culture in its own country, I also met lots of

people from many other countries, even the

countries that I had not heard the name of.

Moreover, teaching students about team

working and leadership, I was learning it at the

same time. It was one of the best experiences to

learn how to solve conflicts and problems in

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multicultural teams. After all, I had grown a lot after the internship.


internship?

6 weeks passed extremely fast and it was

really emotional to realise that the internship

was over. I was starting to get used to the

routine of going to class, seeing smiley faces

everyday and it was hard to believe that it had

to end. However, I’m still in contact with the

friends I made in Izmir, and that has been comforting my “Turkish-homesick” quite well.


Be Brave!!!

Be brave to try new things even if you are scared.

Be brave to eat new food even if you think it’s disgusting (sure it will get better if you have to

eat it again ).

Be brave to talk to new people even if you think they do not know English (use your body

language, that’s fun).

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Poland – Education

Kim Van Vu

Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Arts – 2nd Year

AIESEC University – Wroclaw, Poland

Internship duration: Eight weeks


AIESEC University is a project designed to enable university students to further enrich their

English language skills through classes with a native English speaker. In this program, I was

based at Wrocław University

of Economics (UE) teaching

students aged between

approximately 20 and 26

years. On Mondays to

Thursdays, I had two 1.5hr

classes per day with a half

hour break in between

classes. In total, this added

up to two Intermediate

classes and two Advanced

classes, each with two

lessons per week.

Within the program we were given a sample syllabus whilst everything else was up to our own

imagination. The approach that I chose to employ was to structure each lesson with mini

debate topics to enable students to practise their language skills within a more formal context.

Subsequently, the classes approached issues ranging from the controversial to basic issues

affecting young people. For example, some of the topics used in the classes included

euthanasia, capital punishment, terrorism and world politics. Such issues effectively

encouraged students to practise their speaking skills as they required little background

knowledge whilst almost all students held a strong opinion, allowing for constructive debates.

Meanwhile, reading and pronunciation skills were also enhanced through the use of short,

informative articles that acted as a starting point for debates.

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Outside of the classroom, living in

Wrocław allowed for plenty of

opportunities for both travelling

and simply getting to know (and

partying) with the locals. One of

the key benefits of the AIESEC

University program was that many

of my students were my age and

subsequently always keen to take

all of the EPs sightseeing around

Rynek (the market square) during

the day and to Wrocław’s best

clubs (i.e. Mundo) at night.

Meanwhile, the weekends allowed for adventures around Europe - totaling 6 countries and 13

cities over 2.5 months (admittedly with some travelling beforehand).


Without a doubt, the most amazing part of my internship was the opportunity to meet people

from all over the world. To start off with, the key advantage of my program was that my

students were not just my students, they were also my friends. Many of them were the most

welcoming people I’ve ever met. For example, some invited the other exchange participants

and I went out partying with their friends, others to their place for a Polish dinner whilst some

even invited me to Warsaw or the mountains for the weekend. In addition to such Polish

hospitality, I also had the opportunity to form friendships with other exchange participants

from Brasil, Colombia, Indonesia, Panama and many other countries. Overall, such friendships

enabled us all to discover new languages, new cultures and even new music - many of my

current favourite songs being in Portuguese, Spanish and French.


After finishing this internship, I feel like I have grown and perhaps even changed as a person.

Now, I am more willing and able to step outside of my comfort zone and discover new things. A

rather unexpected revelation has been that language (or a lack thereof) is in no way a barrier

towards forming friendships. Through my interaction with other cultures (many of whom did

not understand Australian English) I have also gained greater patience and tolerance. But

overall, through the conversations with other exchange participants as well as my students I

have become more aware of issues around the world and how these affect individuals in those

countries. By meeting individuals from countries strongly affected by issues such as

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communism and high levels of corruption, I now more strongly recognise the reality of such

issues.


Don’t hold back - be prepared to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. Yet, at the

same time, always exercise reason. Be assertive and ready to stand up for your rights and

beliefs, yet always be ready to recognise social and cultural differences. Sometimes, agreeing to

disagree may be the best option. And overall, get to the know the locals, the other EPs and

even the receptionist at the hostel - all of these people have an amazing story that may even

change your perspective on life itself.

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Malaysia – Community Development George Koshy

Bachelor of Engineering (Biomedical) and Medical Science

Share the Future - Semenyih, Malaysia



The Share the Future Program is a Global Community

Development Internship, which required me to work at a

home for underprivileged children called Desa Amal Jireh.

Most days consisted of assisting the staff with the daily

maintenance duties of the home such as painting, cleaning

and conducting fund raising activities. At night after the

boys would come back from school we would conduct private one to one classes for boys who

were struggling with their studies. I taught English and maths while other interns would teach

according to their strengths e.g. the intern from china would teach Chinese and science. Aside

from the work aspect we would also go out sightseeing on the weekends, travelling around

Malaysia.


internship?

Throughout the day there were many

opportunities to sit down and bond with

the boys. We would joke about and talk

about music, sports and the daily

happenings of the home. There were

times when the conversations would

take a turn to the serious side and we

would talk about their lives, what had

happened in the past and what they

aspired to become in the future. Being

able to find a connection with each and

every boy I met in the home gave me great satisfaction. I loved that I was able to make not only

a positive impact in their schooling lives but their overall wellbeing.


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At first I couldn’t believe it was all over. But

afterwards I felt satisfied that I’d given it my best and

that I could walk away from there with no regrets. It

was a good feeling to have spent my holidays in such a

productive way and I look back on it with fond

memories. I still keep in touch with many of the boys

and staff there and I plan to visit in the future. I feel

like I’ve grown much more as a person and I’ve

developed a more global awareness that I never had

earlier.


Expect the unexpected. No matter how organised and prepared you think you are, there will

always be something unanticipated. Its how you are able to adapt and make the most of every

situation that allows you to develop as an individual and that’s what this whole internship is

about.

AIESEC Sydney - Stories from Past Exchange Participants

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