Si(i)mulation

How to become Market Leader in 2 weeks?

2010-11-10T18:14:00.004+02:00

In Japan, "I Lohas" (Coca-Cola) became the market leader (in a very competitive market space) in 2 weeks with selling the same thing that everyone else is selling... only slightly different. By giving a feeling of "Im kind of recycling - saving the Earth on my terms", the product has been hugely successful. Here is more on the campaign (link).

Entrepreneurship and The Great Financial System Swindle

2010-09-15T19:53:00.003+03:00

If you haven't still fully understood whats going on in the world of economics, then take a look at those videos.

If you think this is another "great story", then look here also: http://www.my2012.4t.com/index_1.html

The documentary itself is quite an eyeopener and I've found myself watching it many times thinking if the system was created out of extreme form of ignorance or the worst evil in a human form. History only knows, but sadly our generation has to deal with the consequences.

Looking back at 2009, where countries like Iceland, Latvia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria etc etc already went literally bust, one can only guess that the next wave is around 2-3 years time away, as nothing was really solved this time. The monetary system works exactly as it used to and obviously the banks got a lot of more power than ever before. Just to stress this again, entire COUNTRIES of people went bankrupt.

The system to slave people for the bank works like a Swiss clock. Economy goes down due to it's cyclical nature, a lot of people loose their jobs, cant pay back loan, property goes to bank, economy goes up for a while, a new bunch of people take a lot of loans and buy houses, bank resells property to the new kids against a new loan, economy goes down again, more people cant pay back the loan, more property goes to the bank etc etc. It's not a zero sum game and in the end of the day, the few on top win the prize (or already won actually).

In this context also, think now about the concept of Micro-Credit Lending, I get the creeps honestly... poorer become poorer and I've seen some pretty poor people... On top of that the average micro loan is given out probably with 20% to 30% interest rates. Sounds more like "I don't have anything, but I am willing to give my life to the bank in exchange of debt" deal. Back when I was a kid, that would have been awesome cartoon material for "The Devils New Adventures" :D

Not to be the chipsy on the street corner, but I can see a new potential era of socialism evolving after the next economic downturn, like previously in the history. Unfortunately the Nazis and Soviet Union systems didn't really nail it, so the "ordinary" person might just be better off with securing a gun, bunker and a years stock of canned food :D

So What...

I believe this topic is important for 3 reasons to understand:

1. If you're a banker, maybe you want to reconsider your career choice... No disrespect at all (we're all part of it), but probably your talents would be better in use somewhere else and not working directly to feed the machine. Unfortunately its too sexy to work for a bank nowadays, so Ill leave you with an alternative of a picture to memorize (Who said Farming is not Sexy?):

But jokes aside, there are other banking systems than you commonly might have not known, for example: http://commongoodbank.com.

Unless... :) you are one of those guys who own the ECB and US Federal Bank and just enjoy the game (possibly some major Karma debt involved!)

2. Though its a good idea to make peace with the thought that we are all part of a clever system. If you're not a banker and do something you truly Enjoy, by all means spread the Love. There is nothing more beautiful than a person who really enjoys what he/she does and it has a tremendous affect on the surrounding people. The energy we create with enjoyment and a fulfilled life is far beyond any swindling and financial genius.

OR

3. Work the system and earn as much money as humanly possible to posses a truckload of someone else's "debt" and lateron make some good use of it. To me, entrepreneurship seems like the only moral way to play the system... Time will tell :)

The Plastic Bag

2010-09-06T08:31:00.001+03:00

The Loneliness Business

2010-07-14T08:01:00.014+03:00

In many ways we live in a world of extreme blindness and despair. Marketers and admen have created a world of constant craving for more and the feeling of unrest when a human being is bored.

We can make you look desperately for a moisturizer when your skin is dry. We can tell you you're a fat looser, a misfit of the community while living with your mom and being 30. We can kill whales and make it look good. We can agree you to get lung cancer while looking fashionable. We can make you think buying love while sending your sister to Fiji. Most of all, we can make you feel good when your down, so you will get addicted. Advertisement is the best man made drug you have ever tried and never realised you're buying.

First off. What is Loneliness?

Life is very lonely, lets get this straight. You are all alone out here and nobody understands you. Let me stress this again, there is NOBODY in this world who really understands YOU, nobody. You can think of this as negativity, if it pleases you, or open yourself to a totally different realm of self by accepting that simple truth. Accepting lonely will make life a wonderful journey.

We can try to understand each others words at an intellectual level, but it is a very narrow perspective of life what we are able to put into words, and it always misses the single most important thing - the real comparative experience. Sure, one might think, when I have had done skydiving and you have done skydiving then we have something common to share, but the brutal truth is that the sharing goes only as far as words. Verbalizing is like looking at an amazing sea of vast variety with binoculars. One can never understand another on the deepest level.

That beign said, loneliness is ok. It is our most natural state of being and it is a good idea to accept it, otherwise you can find your life like a hamster running a constant wheel of trying to fulfill a well marketed hole with no bottom. Back many years ago, obviously marketers figured it also out - when you bring people away from the one thing that is truly inspirational in life, lets call it the loneliness state, then the human mind will be a perfect zombie to sell stuff to and will feed himself out of the everlasting desire to ask for more. Thus a model was created, where economy is built on the constant desire of people to fullfill themselves with goods they dont need and being restless when there is nothing "to do".

But...How do you market Loneliness?

Back in the good old days (or in "wild" category countries still), you went to a guy with: "Friend, my best friend of all times, also known as BFF, take my good advice and buy my cattle. You will become more powerful in our village and the folks (man thinks of folks=women) will adore you for your riches. Why leave money lying around if you can make it grow. Imagine a seed that has not been planted into soil my friend, what good is it to you. More cattle will help you become a more powerful man in our village and earn more respect".

In Translation:

- You need more, because it makes you a greater man.
- More stuff = You will have bigger chances of surviving in this world. You will be more popular among females, thus having greater chances for reproduction.

Well now... we have mass media delivering such messages in the speed of light and tons of it every day. Here is a little taste for you. Pay attention how cool is to spread misery, when youre lonely and the desire for understanding!

In Translation:
- Its cool to crave for somebody and its not ok to be lonely and accept it. Seek for somebody who understands you and you will find happiness.

So whats the point?

When a consumer is at that stage, where he feels it is very ok to spread the message of his misery, always seek to escape the lonely in exchange for happiness and pollute the world with piles of shameless verbal shit, marketing becomes very easy. Especially goods like movies, music records, apparel, alcohol, cigarettes and luxury sales will increase manyfold and instantly. After all, you dont want to look lame and lonely. Its about fashionably lonely and spreading the news "I feel like shit today, nobody understands me".

Lets have another example...

In Translation:
- "I just want somebody to Love"
- "I dont need nothing else, I just need somebody to Love"

Again, crave for understanding, because we have an assumption that people in Love understand each other, which is almost never true. Love, in 99% of the cases is just fear of being lonely, fear of not being able to reproduce in this world. Think about the moment what we call "in Love" and the fact how desperate that moment is. It is a very narrow one sided street, where a person has become literally blind by fear. Hardly, it has to do anything with actually caring about the world or anybody else besides yourself.

Were all Doomed?

In one hand, all of this makes me quite sad, at the same time, it defines What value can I really bring to this world. Step by step, open myself to the world and accept lonely and all there is, then person by person, support others to become aware. Life is wonderful experince.

No Facebook Week: So?

2010-07-11T18:21:00.009+03:00

Now its been a week with no Facebook and its been quite enlightening :)

Something I noticed meanwhile:

1. I had more moments of peace in the process. Especially the first couple of days, as the pattern of a habit was broken and the mind was not on autopilot. Which lead me to the conclusion that a life full of routine might just aswell mean going to sleep for a long time.

2. I started to become more physical inbetween working brakes. Started stretching properly and noticed earlier when I have slipped down the chair like a decent hip hop star on a sofa... Yo!

3. Facebook is really valuable for 2 things:

- If you want to get a group of boys and girls into an event, then its a lot easier to start an event through FB than calling all or sending emails.

- Its less scary for people to get contacted in social networks, hence its easier for some to start a conversation there at start. Asia in particular is a place where FB is enabling a lot of shyness to dissapear. People are more outspoken in chatting online.

PS: Love to be back in Malaysia :)

Picture courtesy of: http://www.hiphopreport.net/news/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lil-wayne-in-chair.jpg

No Facebook Week

2010-07-04T13:18:00.008+03:00

I started an experiment to cut my Facebook consumption. Current stats from my Rescue Time is 3hours 20minutes per week for Facebook and that scared the crap out of me...

To bring it in perspective, thats 200 minutes per week or around 26 minutes per day or 9600 minutes per year or 20 full working days per year. What a waste of life... OR the best thing ever happened to us. I will tell about my experience next week.

I've recently noticed my ever-longing affection for that space so its time to cut the veins and see what happens otherwise :)

Estonian Nature

2010-06-16T23:13:00.001+03:00

I've Been Away

2010-06-07T10:28:00.002+03:00

Its been 7 months now since I moved to Malaysia and time has really passed like never before. A very enlightning journey in many different ways. As Im writing every day tons of text, then this blog has been neglected and not sure what the future will bring. In a nutshell what has been happening lately:

- Learning Business. We are truning from a baby into a toddler, revenues are growing and clients delight us with being amazed on what we can pull off in online media monitoring. Investors are interested in us for a buy out. Though, the industry is as sexy as the tech industry has always been, so we are seeing new exciting companies being formed all the time. Some of them have really figured out a lot of problems related to online media monitoring and advertising effectiveness measurement.
On a personal note, one of the most powerful things have been the numerous awesome people I have had the honor to meet. Asia is slowly becoming more comfy and I see there is a lot for me to do here still.

- Being an Idiot. We recently had a very fruitful discussion with our Cheif on some of the biggest problems our tech is currently facing and when we again had hit a dead end....

Me: "Uh, this is though. I feel like a pioneer"
Chief: "I feel like an idiot"
Me (after a couple of minutes): "Whats the difference?"
We start laughing and Chief says: "Pioneer starts with a P"

This actually resulted in a brakethrough and we figured out a very challenging problem which will take our service into a totally different level. However when people say R&D is exciting, then only when you have actually figured out solutions. Until the point of really having a valuable idea, its all about bouncing the ball and hoping somebody throws it back, but it is definitely not as easy as a lot of people make it sound. Business is a tough gig in many ways.

- Removing barriers. Ive had a very strong education on what are the norms when we live our lives. And my parents where one of the most liberal ones I have ever known, supported me in every possible way. Which parents encourage you to go to Bangladesh for example? The other side of the coin, what I have recently started to realise, are the useless norms I have created myself since childhood. Like, dont do this, dont do that, its not polite to do this etc etc. Im not saying one should be a Fat Bastard (the awesome character in Austin Powers), but very often these "rules" are totally useless and create this a comfortable veil of safety around you, where you will never be able to live your dreams. Real dreams are often scarylooking and require exactly that kind of behaviour, where your mom would have said "watch out".

Sitting in a plane to Stockholm now and looking forward to seeing parents and friends after a long while. Though, I have the feeling my journey is just about to start in Asia.

Enjoying Malaysia

2010-05-16T17:54:00.003+03:00

The Shirtless Leader

2010-04-06T18:34:00.001+03:00

Video length: 3m 10s

Online Media

2010-03-31T20:39:00.006+03:00

Here are some questions I answered recently on Online Media.

1. What are the usual benefits for a company who decide to go into online and social advertising?

The benefits might be manyfold or might not be there at first. It is like letting the piggy or a nice cat out the sack. Some companies are being flooded with very negative customer reviews when they start, some will have a nice surprise and most will see that a lot of people don't really care that much about their brand.

One has to understand, that online and social media is nothing new and there are a lot of misconceptions around. The best way to approach online/social media is to think of electricity. It is everywhere we go, whenever there is a button, there is electricity involved. Online media is the same thing, it is having a conversation, being connected. A global web of always being connectedness has been created and that enables us to get in touch faster and with the right people.

If you are a SME, then using online media for finding prospects, marketing, branding, R&D etc is a must, it is the cheapest and most productive way out there for most, of course if you are selling in a country with developed infrastructure. In many countries in the world, it would make more sense to have have communication through cellphones rather than bulky websites.

Some benefits for a SME:

1. Instant access to customer thoughts, targeting.
2. Easier to keep customer always in focus and instant feedback on products/services.
3. Easier to build long-lasting relationships.
4. Building a brand, what used to cost millions through traditional channels.

For enterprises, it is somewhat the same, somewhat different. Big companies have scale and buying power, which will possibly lead to better campaigns and better positioning.

The benefits and potential are limitless. Initially, electricity was meant to light only bulbs.

2. What is the usual return on investment (ROI) for companies taking this step?

I would ask in return, how do you calculate ROI for electricity? or How do you calculate ROI for 1 phone call made?

It is the same answer, you can go look for the return on every step you take but it would be foolish. ROI has become a cliche word for people who don't get the concept of basic communication and are looking for proof that this "new thing" is worth my time. The theory still remains the same as known before, as we are all humans:

1. You have your short term goals for a campaign for example, getting a certain number of reach and awareness. And this can be measured easily, by number of visitors on site, downloads, subscriptions etc.

Then...

2. You have your long term goals for the company and where you see it standing in years to come. You see the picture of you and a horde of busy people in a designer office and a reputable brand. This cannot be measured easily. Sure, you can set numeric goals to have 10 more people in the office for 2020, but that is not wise, as it is limiting in How, but not answering Why. Underlying fact here is, that you will never know if the guy you just had lunch with, will have a car accident the next day or be your client in a month.

When building a brand online, the wisest is to first start listening your audience, then evaluate on what you could contribute to the conversation, be bold and execute more than planned. The only metrics you need to know is your revenue, did we do the right things last month(last year) to increase our revenue or not.

3. Are there any risk/threats to be aware of when entering the online media? In which ways can it damage a brand?

I personally think, that brands will not get damaged. If they start online and see the piggy runs out, then it just means the brand has always been weak, the the company was just not aware before.

But what to keep in mind is simple to grasp but hard to do. Whenever you start a romanic relationship for example, people have the tendency to be very open and smiling all the time, but often blindfolded and not listening. The most popular fatal mistake to any relationship, is not to listen. If a company starts only shouting out "Buy me, buy me", then obviously the relationship will end very soon. One needs to make sure to understand the counterpart first and then engage into a relationship.

4. Is the online audience different than an typically (offline) advertising audience?

The audiences are the same, we are all people. But the behavior in different channels is diverse.

Many studies have been conducted on the habits of surfing the web and our online behavior. We tend to have less patience and are used to having everything exactly how we want it to be. People skim a lot of messages and loose interest within seconds. It is vital to understand different online channels behavior pattern of users.
The same principle of engagement still applies though, before the sale, you need to have the customer trusting you.

5. In a global online community, how do you define a target-group?

Usually by the channels people use. Twitter users are mostly professionals, entrepreneurs, early adopters. Facebook has a wide array of target groups already, as the user base has grown over 350 mil. Teens use a lot of Youtube etc.

Currently the best strategy online is to use pull marketing and let users produce relevant content to the audience you think this is valuable, by giving enough incentives. In that case you will start building a community of your own, in a form of a blog, RSS feed, forum or whatever channel necessary.

Picture: http://www.jedelectric.com/images/Electricity.jpg

Social Media

2010-02-21T17:44:00.000+02:00

You're Welcome

2010-02-09T12:57:00.000+02:00

Cant beat the Sexy Pilgrim.

Transformation

2010-01-26T18:44:00.005+02:00

I have recently been fairly closed with most people, especially on the blog :)
There is a lot of work and I've had quite many hours(probably days all together) of self-reflection on what is going on and why. The whole topic is mainly about work and living in Malaysia now which comes down to the personality of course.

A friend once said that moving somewhere provides always the opportunity to only take the luggage you really would like to have with. The same process as before (Denmark, Bangladesh and now Malaysia), I have been engaged by evaluating my luggage also this time, about who do I really want to be and what is redundant.

Now I have been with Statsit for 3 months and it has mostly been very much like a roller coaster ride. For some reason I have the habit to remember the mistakes more than the successes so that is also why the whole experience seems to me like learning to ride a bicycle all over again, falling every day and sometimes with serious bruises what are even beyond stupidity. Everything what I have learned throughout the years is in our context mostly just wrong conceptions or not useful. And I think I am not being too harsh here - the industry is new, the responsibilities are mostly new, the region is new and the level of performance the jobrole really demands is way beyond my capabilities now. Most of all, my awareness level has to improve. As if a towelboy would be playing soccer in the champions league. I am learning to live in a whole new way than I have used to and now as I write I have started to embrace the change. Although, I know it is good for the personality and the end result can only be of the good kind, very hard work and many falls will be there. There are no shortcuts to personality transformation unfortunately, it comes gradually, one enlightening idea by another. I will master this game.

Pic: http://www.disciplemexico.org/images/Image005.jpg

Stuff like feeling proud, hope, engagement or commitment are slowly vaporising like a bums fart into thin air. The first time in my life, I see how damn destructive my mind can be. It is like a small boys mind actually, just the toys have changed, the game is still the same. Finding fears to grab onto, finding craving to attach or something similar, none of it has any use to really being happy and grateful about life. It's sad but revealing also in a way, as to the change starts with the notice that something is wrong. Transformation.

Peace.

Nature and New Years

2010-01-02T08:16:00.017+02:00

Happy tiger year.

I decided to go for a very peaceful celebration this year and went to a national park in Malaysia. The jungle surrounds the small village of Kuala Tahan and the rainforests in the park are one of the oldest in the world - 130 million years. Was really amazing, stunning nature, peaceful surroundings and very laid back people.

Interestingly enough, there was hardly any mosquitoes or leeches, which made the trip very enjoyable. I was warned by many, but apparently there is an interesting balance of nature, so the mosquitoes are just being eaten enough by birds, lizards etc. And the leeches where on the ground(not able to get to you) as somehow we did not have any rain, despite of the monsoon period :) On the contrary to other rainforests in the world, this was supposed to be quite uncommon.

From Taman Negara, Malaysia

Mindfullness

2009-12-10T13:38:00.001+02:00

Look beyond the surface of this video :)

A story about women

2009-12-05T08:05:00.003+02:00

They are everywhere. Bananatits, chubbyass, fit like aerobics trainers, you name it. Like men, they come in all forms and sizes.

A question, that has intrigued thoughts recently though: What are the roles of women and men in our universe? The masculine and feminine, the destroyer and keeper, the yin and yang.

We are both very different, no doubt about it. I have heared often people saying "the best friends in life will probably be from the same sex". And I think it has some truth in it, who are your best friends. In my case its undoubtably men, when we are talking about the people who know me more than anybody else (except myself).
The brutal truth is just that it is very difficult or maybe even impossible to understand women really, for me. We all play the getting together game, but do we ever really understand each other remains yet to be seen, for me at least. It is a very captivative topic, as everything unknown has this aura of mistery and triggers curiosity. Boom, and you land in the bed with a woman just to understand them. Is that bad?

There is a very good friend of mine in Estonia, who in many ways is very different from me, yet we have been really good friends since the age of 12. And one of the reasons I respect him so much, is the fact that he just does not know how to be someone else. How cool is that? I have never seen him in any other role than his true self. Even with women, he always remains the same guy with his often childish (but fucking hilarious) jokes, funny behaviour and thats his charm. The ones who take it, they stay around, the ones who dont, he cares little about. And the best thing is, he is happy how he is.

Of course that is my perception, but I know that many of us are like me. We want to please everybody and if not successful, then there is some oddness inside, as if my task has not been fulfilled. Where the fuck did that "task" came from? :)

About women and men, I agree with my awesome employer and friend - our role is to be our real true selves. And the rest we leave up to the Universe :)

Home

2009-11-28T15:24:00.004+02:00

Its sometimes weird, how the mind keeps on searching for something familiar in order to gain more confidence over the situation.

A couple of times, i`ve been taking the public transport here and its full on locals, who are occasionally giving the "what is that guy doing here?" look :) As if Im too white and too rich to be there. In one of those moments, looking around and feeling almost sure Im the only white guy on the bus.... Mr Jesse McCartney appears in the bus TV. What a douche, but the silly video just provided me the small piece of "home" that I needed at the moment.

Knock yourself out.

Working revolutionized

2009-11-17T17:36:00.006+02:00

As to some recent changes our company decided to abolish our office and welcome a new era of freedom - working from home. No office = no temptation to go there, no irrelevant commuting. So that everybody can use their time as they truly wish. Our company is interesting in many ways, what textbookish organizational behaviour is concerned. We dont really have working hours either, we do work here in certain hours, but it actually doesn`t matter, as to the end result is what counts.

Now we have practiced it for a week and I`ve noticed that ineffective habits are as projected on a white screen.

The first couple of days I was ok and managed to be very effective. Later, as we progressed, suddenly the inner nasty voice told me "whats up in facebook?". Similar crap eventually came up and I noticed myself being pulled in some weird websites with no relevance whatsoever (news, blogs, product reviews etc). At the same time the other and "responsible me" pulled myself to close those tabs fast again. Back and forth, back and forth. Until realized it`s not about being responsible, but really being interested in the work. Well Are you, dush? Took a moment..."yes, damn it, Yes". Started singing and went on with work. Several similar moments accured over the week.

It`s definitely something to get used to and I realized that Im actually grateful for this situation, as Im starting to push myself even more. Less and less external motivators needed - awesome.

Probably not for everyone though, many friends have become sadfaced after hearing I work now from home. "Are you sure they can pay your salary?" :)

Picture: http://www.aghollinger.org/images/Standard%20Family/AH_working_at_home_5-18-01_b.jpg

"Suicide man! Suicide!"

2009-11-02T18:11:00.007+02:00

"So mhm, what do you think how much would a bycicle cost here? Im thinking of driving to work regularly."

"Suicide man! Suicide!" - said the taxi driver with a hysteric Malay accent.

That said, today I still resisted the common sense everybody has been tying to share - use a bus, taxi or train in KL. I went on foot to work... The first kilometer was ok.

Having arrived at work, I had dodged speeding motorcycles, got lost and dehydrated, with a nice moist t-shirt for the rest of the day to remember it by. And! The distance was only 3,5 km.

A decent entrance starts with a bang, has been shared in every public speaking course. I can`t agree more - it was an awesome first day and maybe a great start in the morning even takes to get hyper.

Photo: Even W has had his first day at work.

Source: http://local.yodle.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/george-bush-sweating.jpg

Breaking News

2009-10-31T14:42:00.006+02:00

Im in Malaysia - boom.

I`ve been here for 4 days and got to say, it`s all what I thought it would be and even more. It`s hot (of course), truly Asian but also a lot western. Kuala Lumpur seems to be like a melting pot of very different cultures. One of the first differences between Bangladesh (obviously the mind tends to compare) is the fact that there`s a lot more foreigners to be seen. Besides, theres of course a lot of other uncomparable factors, mostly due to Malaysia`s economic success in the past decades.

Now, that I`ve already almost forgot the experience of my large backbag full of sticky sweet liquor in London (a Vana Tallinn Cream broke loose), Im thinking more about getting aquinted with the city itself. It`s fairly interesting that on the map distances might seem short, but due to so many people living here, it might actually take a rather long time even to go 1km. The city center runs on many different levels of transportation, where most tiers are heavily used.

The living place is gorgeous, I`ve never had a more beautiful surrounding (our Estonian countryhouse excluded). The houses are built in a mediterranian style, all white condos with a nice decent pool in the middle. Took the first dip today and have to admit that it feels oddly satisfying to swim in the open :)

Work starts on Monday, so there`s more exciting stuff to come. If you haven`t seen the next generation online media intelligence tools yet, then take a peek here www.statsit.com. I`ll get into that part later.

What more gets me excited about Malaysia, is the fact that the travel guides and books are all full of various stuff you can do. It`s a place full on natural beauty, cultural diversity and business potential.

Here`s some shots on the neighbourhood I live.

Autumn light

2009-10-13T12:20:00.001+03:00

Whats wrong with politics

2009-10-06T22:29:00.007+03:00

It`s local election time in Estonia. Starting from this week, we can e-vote in advance and then the final judgement day is scheduald for the 18th of Oct.

Recently in Estonia numerous famous people have joined parties (like every voting period). Political scientists over here call these people "peibutuslammas" or attraction sheep. Somebody, who is famous or well-known and will attract more votes for the party. Recently it has been the case for some sportsmen.

But, whatever the case and motive. It has made me think about parties as such and their relevance. Democracy is a nice regime (many good sides), but the party system neglegts the politician him/herself. The polician, who once joined politics probably for a very noble cause (ideally:to make the country a better place), will be forced into a fixed set of rules. Sportsmen usually are very open-minded, yet patriotic and full of willpower to serve. And now, they`re put in a box and said to think like everybody else in the box. Does it really make sense to align your beliefs with the party?

According to my common sense, I would say that any party system neglects or downturns innovation and generation of new ideas. A party is a very efficient tool to destroy diversity. How can there be diversity, if everybody who joins, agrees also on what to „believe” and what to present. What if there`s a better way than the party leaders have decided?

And, If somebody says, Who the hell needs innovation in politics, then think of the millions of ways these few people in the parliament/government actually influence our lives. From social benefits, to salaries, to what we study in the schools, to what is cheaper for you to buy from the shops etc. Ruling a country is a complicated job and needs more innovation than any damn logistics company in the world.

Also, It seriously annoys that whenever I vote, I can`t really be sure of the chosen person. Will he really get the job if enough people support or will the party choose somebody else. Is it my duty as a citizen to start thinking about parties hidden agendas? Shouldn`t the system support fair results and no quizzgames? Whatever the scientists or pliticians say, it`s making a fool out of the citizen. In any other context it would be considered fraud or lying, but in politics it`s considered normal process.

The Estonian politician Indrek Tarand however, made it recently in June to the European parliament! He`s was a single candidate (no member of any party) and well-known beforehand. That is the most successful case I know of, how a single candidate is accepted by the majority and gets enough votes. Is there hope for change? Can we neglect parties in the future?

Video: Even Mr.T pitys the fool! In our context, it seems that Im the speedwalker and politicians in parties Mr.T. There isn`t any Snickers for the citizen though, just give your vote and let the endless jargon of parties continue

Hypnotizing

2009-10-06T22:28:00.000+03:00

Tulpan

2009-09-21T13:42:00.002+03:00

A great and somewhat different movie than usual. It`s almost like looking at a documentary, very real.

PS: Runs now in "Sõprus", when you`re in Tallinn :)

Next chapter

2009-09-17T23:09:00.003+03:00

I`ve had discussions with a company for a while (since May) and now it`s finally so far, that I`ve got the tickets and we`ve pretty much agreed on my focus.

Im pretty excited about this and eagerly looking forward to the new chapter:)

Leaving on the 27th of Oct to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I`ll be responsible for marketing Statsit.

Living the dream

2009-08-28T10:59:00.005+03:00

You`re probably not alone with your dreams, there`s always someone who`s had a similar idea. Finding those people can be difficult at times, but worthwhile. The importance lies in the pursuit - living the dream.

Once in a while, I find myself thinking about the crazy "jumping over my shadow" period that was necessary for studying in DK - gratitude fills the heart. Grateful for the experience, great friends and learning. But, I had to give up doing only things I really wanted to do...

Now though, starting from January (going for the traineeship) I have finally started to only do the things I really want to do. Work I truly like, meet people that challenge me and a lot of learning. Isnt it a dream?

Internal memo: 90% the time doing the things I really like, achieved in 2009 Jan!

What will You be if you grow up?

2009-08-05T22:18:00.006+03:00

I`ve asked this question recently quite many times and I wanted to share some answers with you:

"Well, thats a damn deep question. I don`t know what to do really, but I`ve figured out that selling some crap to people is not my thing"

"I`ve always had the dream to become a National Geographic journalist. I hope it`s going to be reality one day"

"I`m going to be teacher one day. I hope that I will be strong enough to realize my dream"

"I will be a fashion designer. It has always fascinated me how they figure out the concept of a clothing line. I love great design"

"I will be an entrepreneur who is having a significant impact on people around me. Oh and by the way, I`ll be a loving father :)"

"I will find the cure for cancer or some other major disease in the world. I want to feel that my work will create a tremendous positive change and has a meaning"

Recognize yours?

sunday evening

2009-08-02T22:43:00.001+03:00

say Rock

2009-07-30T18:07:00.002+03:00

Haven`t really written for a while. Just that you know, its because life rocks too much :)

Summer

2009-07-22T23:25:00.004+03:00

On top of the World

2009-07-13T11:06:00.003+03:00

As a response to my previous post, here is a glimpse on how it is to be on top of the world.

Amazing.

Shock therapy

2009-07-10T12:46:00.001+03:00

Advertising agency: BBDO, New Zealand

Estonia

2009-07-06T20:45:00.002+03:00

Being back here has been suprisingly nice. I think ive learned a lot of new things about my country :)
Sometimes i feel like a stranger, dont know how to behave anymore, but generally its been a very cozy experience.

Here`s some pics about a unique event in Estonia, happening every 5 years. This time it gathered around 100 000 listeneres.

Walk the World 2009

2009-06-10T20:28:00.006+03:00

For last 2 months i was working for one of Dhansiri`s clients - The World Food Programme in Bangladesh. Amazingly my collegues have submitted the events invtitation card to Ads of The World and it was published. Feel honored :) Although i could write a better copy, i liked the result a lot.

By the way, in Bangladesh the event was participated by 4000 people, a little bit under our set goal, but a significant increase from last year (600).

Bangladesh Dialogues

2009-06-05T21:01:00.003+03:00

It’s around 16 degrees outside now and I am watching over Aarhus`s carefully planned profile. Returning here has been like visiting an old friend, I’ve had a great time in DK for 1,5 years before the traineeship. However, being away for 5 months in Bangladesh has been an interesting experience and left an impressive mark in me for years to come.

Bangladesh Dialogues is a summary of my experience in one of the most tensely populated countries in the world.

The standard questions for me included “Your country, sir?” “Are you a tourist, sir?” “Are you married, sir?” “What is your religion, sir?” and “What do you think of Bangladesh, sir?” I probably answered these questions more times than I wanted to, but for you, it`s a pleasure to do it once again.

“Your country, sir?”

“I come from Estonia – a small country North-East Europe”

I guess Estonians who have been abroad for a while, have discovered that actually very few or mostly nobody knows where Estonia is or how you eat it. I’ve been accused of coming from Africa, Latin- America and all sorts of places. Although, being not well known has sometimes also its bright sides. Nobody is accusing you for the war on terror or the cartoons on Mohammed for example.

“Are you a tourist, sir?”

“Well not exactly, I am doing a traineeship here”

Doing a traineeship in Dhansiri Communication – a 360 degree ad agency in Dhaka, was awesome. Honestly said, the company was at times missing a clear direction and systems where chaotic, but it was exactly those factors what let me take so much responsibility and use my entrepreneurial spirit to the fullest. I had more opportunities that I could’ve use and I loved it. I had the unique chance to work for UNICEF, the World Food Programme and several commercial giants.

“Are you married, sir?”

“No”

“Why?”

“Well…I guess I haven’t found the right girl yet”

“I will pray for you so you can get married soon”

“I appreciate it”

“But, what is your religion, sir?”

“Mhm (rethinking my answer as the asker is a rickshaw puller), I am actually not religious at all. My God has no name and for praying I go jogging, swimming or meditate”

Hardly ever, people grasped the concept of not being religious. Even if some younger folks made a smart face as if they would get it, the reality showed, that it is a very far concept for most Bangladeshi. Religion is still very much on top of the agenda in. The Imam is hardly questioned about his sources. Interestingly, I met also people who are afraid to admit, that they are not pro all the guidelines by the Quran, as it is a taboo. I am not here to prosecute anybody or force my views on, but I do believe that the all the major religions (and I mean all) are actually demoralizing God than paying respects.

“What do you think of Bangladesh, sir?”

“It’s very diverse, crazy and interesting. I like it!”

Bangladeshi are probably the most hospitable people I have had the chance to meet. I got mostly even more attention than I wished for, but it’s very nice to feel that I am cared about. The experience also showed me such diversity that I’ve never seen before – rich with 10 maids in the house versus poor on the street with a carton to live in. Unfortunately a lot of people`s lives are driven by personal gain, but there is also a countermovement (like AIESECars), people who are really eager to change the country. I hope the caring will win.

“Take care Bangladesh, well see you again, I am sure.”

Youre Amazing

2009-05-20T17:59:00.000+03:00

Where is your Mt.Everest?

2009-05-16T17:38:00.012+03:00

Photo: Pavel Novak

Nepal is still in my mind and very vividly. I had a lot of fun, experienced undescribable beauty and met a lot of cool people. At the same time, i also had a lot of time for reflection and just being with myself, as there where 16 hour power cuts on daily basis.

Kathmandu is in a way a very magical place, as it has probably the highest density of dreamers. A lot of people all over the world dream of standing on top of Mt. Everest one day, experiencing the priceless beauty unfolding. Some people also go for less, for one reason or the other, and dream of standing on top of "Lhotse", which is also in Nepal and also in the 8000m league. And some people go for Bulgaria to climb the highest peak - Musala (2925m), jet come back from around 2700 because of poor gear(thats me). But, How far would you go?

Nepal attracts a lot of people with shiny eyes, who are determined to make their dream come true. People come from all over the world for the same 2-3 minutes on the top - excitement, tiredness, cold, hard work and maybe a glimpse of happiness. Not even to mention, that a lot of people have got killed on the great Chomolungma. People have got lost in snowstorms, frozen to death, fallen in between an icefall or got altitude sickness. The last call is still made by the mountain, so much uncertainty. For some people it might even seem a bit ridiculous. Why jepordaise so much?

In terms of investment, if its a commercial expedition nowadays, then it costs around 60 000 to 100 000 US to go for the summit bid along with professionals. The client himself cant be a wuss also, but it definitely has it`s advantages to let yourself guide by guys who have been on the top already many times. Private expeditions go for cheaper budgets, but it is still a rather expensive undertaking.

Photo: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~shres20e/classweb/worldpolitics/2%20page.html

Mt. Everest is the roof of the world and i have been fascinated by the people who have the courage and determination to go for the summit. With all taking into consideration there cannot be any logical reason for such a goal, to stand on Mt. Everest.
Jet, isnt it beautiful when people have discovered their mountain? Incredibly, there is something undescribable when seeing a determined person who goes for his dreams.

Entrepreneurship

2009-05-12T21:10:00.001+03:00

They just have such a beautiful video, that i have to advertise their products.

Traineeship in Bangladesh

2009-05-08T13:03:00.000+03:00

A short video, originally made for AIESEC in Estonia.

Supporting dreams

2009-05-05T12:55:00.000+03:00

Ryad is a 28 year old man who lives in Tripoli, northern Lebanon with his wife and their child. Ryad has owned a coffee shop for four years. He also serves “narguileh” (also known as “shisha” in Egypt). Narguileh is an ancient tradition enjoyed by the people of the Middle East. A tall (or short) water pipe is used to smoke fruit-flavored tobacco. Narguileh is enjoyed in cafes across the Middle East, and is beginning to gain popularity in the US, Europe, and other countries. He requested a loan of 1500 US dollars from Al Majmoua in order to purchase merchandise and coffee machine. This is the first time that Ryad has requested a loan.
Ryad is special in his work because he knows how to treat his clients. His clients are his friends, neighbors and others. When he first started his business, he had difficulty finding the proper place to open his shop. Ryad decided on doing his business because he wanted to improve his income. In the future, he plans on starting a new business.

Here is a 25 bucks for you Ryad, hope your shisha business will flourish.

Loans that change lives: www.kiva.org

Outstanding

2009-05-01T11:32:00.011+03:00

By BBDO in Germany

By Forsman and Bodenfors in Sweden

By Leo Burnett

Traffic

2009-04-26T10:17:00.009+03:00

Traffic kills everywhere. It is actually going to be a nr 3 killer in the world by 2020, with an increase in absolute numbers by 77% (a jump from 9th place).

Living here, it has become somthing what can not be seen through the fingers. The traffic is horrible, pointless honking (everybody is so used to it already), countless traffic accidents, healthcare is not available to everybody, narrow streets, riskhaws cars and everything else on the same road etc. Officially it kills around 4000 ppl in Bangladesh, but everybody knows this number is by far a marginalization of the problem. A lot of people dont dare to call the cops because the police wants an immidiate pribe.

For example, if a person runs over somebody, with serious injuries caused, the police will maybe ask around 15 000 taka (around 217 US) for pribe. This is a case where you can consider yourself a bit lucky, because you can also get killed by runnind somebody over, which is being practiced more among rural people - the village rule. The sad part is, that the driver will always have the fault, even if the person has irresponsably ran on the highway.

Most of this crap can be avoided, if speeds on highways would be reasonable. Reducing vehicle speed is something that comes basically cost free - no new roads or expensive Volvos with twenty airbags. Usually the time lost from reducing speed from 110 to 70 is rediculosly little, compared to what the driver puts at stake - himself, fellow passangers, their faimily, the victim and their siblings. Its a nobrainer and jet there are so many who think its awesome to drive like a lunatic.

Havin the privilge that everybody is staring at me (as a white person) i thought of using the fact and designing myself a t-shirt which carries around a social message. After spreading the word though, it came out that some others think the same - awesome. This is my first T-shirt design and i have 7 people listed (including muyself) who will have it from our office.

Change starts by having a positive impact on one.

The restless mind

2009-04-23T07:29:00.004+03:00

Recently I posted, about everything getting clearer and I am getting used to a lot of stuff here in Bangladesh. But as an intelligent person you know, life is seldom as black and white as we are presented in political poll campaigns or ads. Pretty much in every case, anyone can say „But on the other hand....”. Even writing the last sentence you can notice „pretty much in every case” – there are no absolutes.

We just recently promised to a lot of people that if you buy this particular cement, then you can be sure that your construction is safe and sound. But what happens if the engineers have done a lousy job and a next small earthquake will make the house collapse? Generally speaking, no guarantees can exist in our ever changing world.

Apart from the seriousness of an earthquake, it was hilarious to generate ideas to sell cement, by the way.

Getting back to the experience of Bangladesh, the coin has a lot of sides. At times I feel the bliss of beauty, at times I want to hit some guy in the face. Embarrassing to admit for having the thought, its true. Some occasions have tested my patience to a level, which they have never been tested before.

A seemingly simple picture in our mind – expectations, are probably the cause of the unwanted excitement. I have noticed here, that some people have a very short fuse and are even ready to kill for their imaginative thought about what they want to happen. A terrorist expecting to see limitless respect towards his God and ready with grenades in pockets. On a slighter note, I expected a rikshaw driver to know the city, but instead ended up in the middle of nowhere and being asked more money, as the ride took a long time. In the end, it is still about expectations, what we people hold so preciously on to. A picture probably worth lives, millions of green and everything we can imagine of.

Expectations can be scattered like glass on the ground to countless pieces, leaving us with disappointment and frustrations, or raise from little, like a piece of dirt into a mountain, making us excited and joyful. Jet, there is the knowing that there are no absolutes. How confrontational can the mind be?

Naturally Nepal

2009-04-20T12:23:00.003+03:00

If you have a big idea

2009-04-01T21:53:00.005+03:00

Pic: http://www.therefinishingtouch.com/blog/uploaded_images/Virgin-Atlantic-Plane_March-16-732829.jpg

and are trying to find the right people whom to pitch. But struggeling with finding investors or anyone who has still some coin after the crunch. Here`s a new initiative by Richard Branson, called PitchTV. Everybody can upload a pitch and if others think it is as awesome as you do, then it is going to be shown on the flights of Virgin Atlantic planes and you never know what might happen then...

Pitching democratized!

Beauty

2009-04-01T21:28:00.004+03:00

The human being is probably forever an unsatisfied animal.

Not long ago i moved here to Bangladesh, to get the kick of lifetime and before i know it - i am used to it...Not all of it, but enough to feel comfortable again. It is as with every moving or change of environment the muscle of adaptation gets stronger and stronger. Where does it end up? Well, who knows:)

Beauty is all around me and the weirdest thing is just after a couple of months having been here i started to notice some details what i have never seen before.

While jogging, have you noticed how beautiful the rain is. Or, while eating rice, how some pieces of rice just stick to one another and others are loose. Or, how streetkid sleeps, despite of the heavy traffic around him. Or, how actually a city lives like small ants, when being on top of a shopping mall....

Ill leave the social problems, what i wanted to write about, for the next time:)

mhm

Source: http://static.guim.co.uk/Guardian/environment/gallery/2008/mar/10/climatechange.arctic/dhaka_630-9406.jpg

Nepal

2009-03-30T08:52:00.003+03:00

Ill be heading to Nepal from 10th til 17th of April. Partly because my visa is expireing but also because i have always wanted to visit the roof of the world.

Being excited and putting some plans together, i just want to let you know that i am open for all kinds of suggestions on what to do there or whom to visit:)

Enjoying life

2009-03-27T22:20:00.007+02:00

Streetlife.

A Moghul time fort near Dhaka.

Instead of bars or nightclubs, the local youth hangs out at ice-cream cafes:)

Bangladesh`s independence day celebration the night before.

Thats how the US embassy is being built:)

Domesticated gecco.

The schoolbus.

Fuck California

2009-03-23T19:24:00.004+02:00

Sweet bananas here pineapples, grapes there,
Oh, what would i do without these fruits dear?
Fuck California i say, and buy the ticket,
Bangladesh - the country of cricket.

Love

2009-03-21T12:17:00.002+02:00

The Singing Revolution

2009-03-18T13:04:00.004+02:00

If you havent seen it - do so:)

I did a screening here at our office in Dhansiri and the people loved it. The CEO gave an emotional speech after it and everybody seemed to start reflecting on their memories about the independence war here in Bangladesh in 1971.
Estonia is now well known by another 15 people on our dear planet.

Adventures

2009-03-14T16:32:00.005+02:00

I just arrived back from an unforgettable weekend. We went to the North-East of the country, to a district called Sylhet. The main objective of this was to visit a tea plantation and spend a night in a cottage there, to get some fresh air and relax from the city`s overwhelming jungle. Sylhet is famous for it`s tea plantations and beauty of nature. However, the trip turned out something different than i could ever imagine.

The small remote cottage in Sylhet is from Dhaka city around 300 km, but it took us amazing 6 hours to get there. The highway experience in this country is something to be seen. There`s a wild mixture of pedestrians (Yes on the highway!), rikshaws, scooters, baby taxis, cars, buses and trucks. But all of those run in very different speeds of course and the road is narrow, so the car can hardly drive with 90km for more than 5 minutes. Its a constant hassle to make life hazardous drive-bys. In numerous times our car was forced to drive on the part where there is actually no tarmac anymore. The bizarrest here is that it`s considered so normal, to play the „who chickens out first game“, that in the beginning i had chicken skin as 2 trucks approached, one taking over another :) At the same time trying to push my leg through the car, as if i had a brake pedal. Everything went well luckily, but it is still disturbing to see how easily the Bangladeshi`s take the traffic issue, as it kills as many people yearly as malaria for example.

As we were approaching the cottage in Sylhet, driving on an extremely narrow gravel road, a bus approached us from behind and started hysterically to honk. We didn’t see this to be much of an issue, as there was really nowhere room to let the bus pass. After a couple of kilometers, the bus pushed harshly pass us, ramming the side of the road, and stopped in front of us. And all of a sudden a bus full of extremely pissed off little dark guys came out running towards our car. I was in the car amazed, schocked and thinking „is this crap for real? Do these guys want to pick a fight for not letting them pass us?“. The situation ended luckily with our guy, who was driving, getting a couple of punches and a ripped off T-shirt. I was literally shocked, what the hell just happened…

All of us 4 where considering we got off lucky and calmed our friend off, but that’s of course not where the story ended. As we were guests of the manager of a huge tea plantation, then he sent his workers to catch the bus. While we were drinking sweet tea, the driver of the bus and his helper-the-angriest, where caught and brought to a nearby small village. As this country is 90% corrupt and people have lost all faith in the police and officials generally, the situation was decided to be cleared according to “local rules”.

We went to the village where the guys who attacked us where held, as our host got the call that the bus owner wants to negotiate and discuss the issue. Got to the village – a huge crowd welcomed us and offered quality tea, negotiations started, driver and his helper got a decent beating from the bus owner employees in front of us, asked for forgiveness and mercy, negotiations go on with oral lessons about life, bus owner gives the promise to lay off these guys, a few more punches, negotiations end with huge crowd smilingly waving hands for goodbye. Of course I was even more shocked about this process than the attack itself, but getting my emotions aside, I would say it was probably the best solution in this case. As the people here are very hot-blooded, then there was an alternative of torching the bus also…

Getting finally to the cottage, we found ourselves in front of a over a 100 year old British colonial building with antiques and luxury. It was the surrounded by mesmerizing tea fields – this beautiful sight was just indescribable. This was by far the closest place to paradise I have ever been to. The total plantation was around 50 hectares plus rubber tree plantations and additional forest - about 816 hectares in total. It was owned by a private company and ran pretty much like in the colonial times. Whole families lived in these areas with both parents working on fields, kids going to the company sponsored school, in total about 3600 people. We got a fabulous tour around the plantation and where treated like royalty, the evening ending with Indian beer.

At night i had an amazing experience waking up at early dawn and realizing i cant move my right arm. I panicked and thought i was somehow injured or what the hell is going on. After a couple of minutes, the hand was ok again. The following half hour i heard weird noises and felt some kind of weird energy in the room. Nothing i have ever felt anywhere, it sounds unbelievable i know. In the morning it came out that there have been numerous suicide cases in this house and the maids told also about bizarre visits. The case became even more weird, as i started to take photos early morning and on every single photo there are some kind of orbes (see the slideshow). No comments :)

Incredible Bangladesh.

Amazing world

2009-03-09T20:34:00.003+02:00

We people

2009-03-04T20:48:00.007+02:00

Education is important, no doubt about it.

The human body is probably the most powerful tool we will ever control. Everything what we know nowadays as our clothes, food, spaceships, cars, paintings, books, houses has been created by people who could use their human capacity in the best possible way. And these people have gained in the social scoring system the highest possible grade - the societies have accepted, appreciated the idea and are actively using it.

Well, but what happens when people dont use their capabilities in their best possible way?

I believe these are people like any other. It might be yourself, your neighbour, father or just a stranger from a far away land. The only difference might reflect in attitudes or you might call it values. And what a difference can that be!

Last weeks dramatic mass murdering (death count at 52 and said to be started because of small pay and disrespect from generals) in Bangladesh very vividly illustrated again the power of knowledge. Education is like a toolbox an entrepreneur said in Denmark. I cant agree more, it gives you the ability to be creative, if being able to use it the right way. It gives a human being the knowing that there is more he`s or her`s eyes meet every day. The world is full of opportunities and doesn't end in the corner of the block. In a free country - I am in control of my life and nobody else should be held accountable.

Yesterday articles where published where it was given rationals for believing that the Mumbai terrorists (assuming from Pakistan) where behind it. The Daily Star (a well respected English daily here) even published a short article about strangers have been seen in BDR uniforms (mutiners uniforms).
As the country has a history of war with Pakistan and common trust is still being built up, if so at all. Then it is very logical for the people to seek guilty ones elsewhere. It is always easier to blaim than to give solutions or to actually do something about it. I am not saying it is not true, but i think it actually does not matter. People are dead, wives mourning, children left without a father, lives scattered into small pieces that take a lot of time to put together again.

Pic: www.nytimes.com

One of the skill that education usually provides is the ability for the society to use the knowledge we have and look forward. Be in the now, but look forward. I haven't seen a single article or opinion about how to avoid this situation in the future, expect some hotheads thinking of giving the army actually the right to kill now the mutineers. What is now happening, is that the government is acting very fast on behalf of the public pressure to bring out the guilty ones and probably make the headlines with severe punishments.

But, how come it came to such an event after all? Why do people go for their rights with guns?

This is a bit beyond my understanding and experience, but i believe education is the key. Education would have made from these mutineers either more effective mutineers or socially aware citizens. History shows the last is more common.

All in all it is a horrible waste and a tragedy which probably most of you don't feel to be anything severe at all. This region has such a history of violence, that people elsewhere have started to ignore the messages. Like i am fighting myself, not to become a bastard and ignore begging people, because there is so many of them, people have accepted the fact that violence is common over here.

Incredible Bangladesh

2009-02-25T14:53:00.003+02:00

"The situation has just solved and some agreements have been met"...

I went home early from work today, as there was a mutiny case among the army, in Dhaka. The border control started to shoot the army officials and the situation was quite tense. A curfew was declared at 15.00 and since that time were sitting home, watching TV and seeing whats going to happen next. Our boss said us to go home, dont leave the building and hope the situation will be solved soon.
And by the way, the border control guys started the shooting cause of their low salary! That is what we know from the news on TV.

Recently i have heard a lot of incredible stories, but i guess this one really makes the picture a lot clearer. I have never had to see political instability like this and it is amazing, jet sad. Sad because i know that a person can do so much good for the mankind and for the planet, that it seems just stupidity when seeing something like this.

Reisid Vabadusse

2009-02-25T07:14:00.003+02:00

reisidvabadusse.ee

Some good friends of mine, started up a eco-tourism thing:) Check it out.

Its those damn potatoes!

2009-02-21T17:04:00.003+02:00

This important message is in Estonian!

Elu oleks palju ilusam kui kartulid oleksid igalpool samasugused. Kindlasti oled minuga nõus, kui ütlen, et ükskõik kuhu sa ka ei rändaks, siis Eestis tehtud praekartul on ikka Eestis tehtud praekartul.

Minu viimase aja püüded õpetada oma teenindajat praekartuleid tegema on kõik üks puhas lörr - avastasin täna, et asi on hoopis kartulites.
Sama avastuse tegin Taanis ja ka mujal olles - elu on ebaõiglane. Vastik.

Visiting a salt mill near Dhaka

2009-02-21T15:23:00.004+02:00

As i am part of a project for Unicef and the Bangladeshi government we were visiting a nearby salt mill to get a good understanding about the process.

Some remarks:
- In Bangladesh, Unicef estimates that only around 51% of population take adequately iodized salt. Eating not adequately iodized salt can reduce your intellectual capabilities by 13 IQ points, cause Goitre and severe brain damage. A major issue in developing countries all over the world.

- The guys seen on the pictures, who actually work at a mill 5 to 6 days a week like this, get a monthly salary of around 5000 to 6000 Taka (852 to 1023 Estonian Eek or 73 to 87 US dollars)

- I shot a picture about raw salt on my hand. I would have never imagined salt would look something like this. If it is being grown on plastic, not direct soil as the one on the picture, then it would have been a whiter. However, salt can not be naturally as white as we have them in the shops, its being bleached that way chemically so that people think it is pure. Some scientist claim that chemically bleached salt causes cancer.

Results of global warming

2009-02-19T11:56:00.003+02:00

www.willitblend.com

Recent highlights

2009-02-18T07:22:00.007+02:00

Pic1: A pack of biscuits saying "All ingredients are Halal", meaning you dont commit a sin eating those.

Pic2: Local talent

Pic3: Everyday Dhaka

Pic4: We met some very friendly Hindus while sightseeing in the weekend and eventually ended up getting free lunch from them. Eating in a large hall and enjoying the good veg food.

Pic5: A Buddhist monk and a temple in Dhaka

Pic6: Chris and the temple

Pic7: Local pupils enjoying the super weather

Pic8: retro

Pic9: From street dwellers to luxury - Bangladesh is a country of contrast

Pic10: A delicious dinner with local AIESECars

Pic11: The all famous baby taxi, what brings me to work every day

Learning through others

2009-02-14T10:57:00.006+02:00

Pic from: http://lh6.ggpht.com/getwonder/SHRwuCNxr1I/AAAAAAAAC48/RSYY5ZJZZk0/s800/base-jumping-14.jpg

Getting to know more people on this pale blue dot, has brought me to a point where i can truly say i know myself better than at any other point of time earlier. A long way ahead of course, but nevertheless I feel more and more comfortable in the body I have born in.

I think it`s not the culture (whatever that is) nor physical environments who actually teach me about myself – it`s still the people who surround me and ask me the most bizarre questions or form unexpected emotions about something that I could not foresee in any way. And the beautiful thing what happens in these situations is the inner conversation "wait a second, that`s not right....or is it?"

Some call it questioning, self-reflection or whatever the name might be, it remains a focal point for any learning process, I believe. Having doubts and being brave enough to let loose a bit of myself, in order to get rewarded by new ways of thinking. It is like letting myself fall into a ditch of unknown, as a base jumper.

Recently i learned, that i can actually draw at some level, which i never really considered for anything.

Beautiful! Learning is exciting.

Create a change!

2009-02-07T21:20:00.005+02:00

The birth of the idea from youtube (24 min). Check it out:)

Awesome times

2009-02-05T20:53:00.003+02:00

Just arrived back home, from a play in the national theater. Our CEO was playing there one of the main roles:) She is like a national star here, starting from the times, when Bangladesh in 1971 became independent and her father fought in the liberation war.
Also, tomorrow i am going to her wedding reception - awesome:)

Frankly said, she is only one example of really incredible people in this country - there is heaps more. I`ve been lucky enough to meet a lot of people around the city and i am amazed every day. Bangladeshis are warm hearted, intelligent, sincere, caring and fun to be with. I am not exaggerating! Most people i have met here are just awesome. I could name various examples, but ill spare you the reading and invite you all here:)

For all of those who have plans to go to Latvia instead, ill share some examples:

1. Siim is flying from Qatar to Dhaka and sitting next to a Bangladeshi business man, who is dealing with auto parts as he claims. Having talked about a 15 minutes i get the offer to contact him in Dhaka, get a place to stay at his place in case my fellow friends from the organization (AIESEC) dont show up and he offers to show me around, as i have never been to Asia or Bangladesh. Siim receives warm wishes and a business card.

2. Me and Chris are in front of a shopping mall and trying to get a baby taxi. Unfortunately, all of them want more money than the fare is worth, just cause were whiteys. Obviously we don`t want to pay more than needed, so decided to wait. Suddenly the street kids find the 2 whiteys and start to offer all sorts of stuff to buy. After some sales pitches like "Popcorn 10 Taka" and "Boss! 20 Taka flowers", street kids understand they are barking under the wrong tree. But as the kids are so nice and they don`t really have the fault of being there, we start having a really nice chat with them. The kids are great and before we know, they start going around every possible taxi and ask the price we offered in the beginning for the fare. We felt so touched - around 10 kids running around from taxi to taxi and bargaining a good price for us. And they don`t have any interest in this line of business, cause they make a living with selling popcorn, flowers, begging etc. We got a taxi with no time and a great experience about the warmness of kids in Bangladesh.

These are just 2 random examples i remembered from the top of my mind. The impression though has been carved in me from the start and it has proven right in 99% of the cases:)

Pic1: A nice rickshaw puller

Pic2: Some random kids who wanted some attention as i started to take a photo

Pic3: Chris and Santa`s little helpers, in front of the shopping mall:)

Everyday Bangladesh

2009-01-31T19:52:00.007+02:00

I arrived in Dhaka, Bangladesh already a little more than two weeks ago. It is still a bit overwhelming to think back 3 weeks and imagine what the life was back then. What an amazing transformation of environment. I have to say that still, a lot of emotions and thoughts I have not managed to think through, as the life here is so different. Nevertheless, I’ll make my best effort to cast an image about my everyday Bangladesh in front of your eyes.

Usually my working week is from Sunday to Thursday, with sometimes work on Saturdays. So I wake up around 8 o`clock and get around the flat having an usual morning routine. With one exception - preparing the breakfast, which is being done now, instead of me, by our caretaker as we call him (a maid). Me and Chris, my flat mate, new friend and probably the coolest Australian I know, get out of the house around 9ish. After some negotiations on the fare price, we get on a baby-taxi (a motorized 3 wheeler) and take off to Banani, the area we work in. The ride takes around half an hour and is full of dangerous traffic situations, some jams and beggars asking for money when the taxi stops somewhere. I have to mention, that I have seen so many types of disabled or diseased or extremely young or just poor beggars, that i could have never imagined in my wildest dreams.

We step into Dhansiri Communication`s office and greet other colleagues. As the working day goes by, with meetings, discussions, individual work, meetings with clients etc, we also have some lunch at the office. It is kind of a tradition there and a good way to bond, everybody sharing food and eating with bare hands, as it is common over here. The usual meal is about curry, vegetables, fish or beef – everything spicy of course.

I am working in the marketing department, which currently means a lot of sales materials preparation and meetings with clients. Luckily, I have also a chance to get to know the creative side of campaign and communication development. Our company has a quite a diverse portfolio, from banks, pharmaceuticals to world famous NGO` (World Bank, Unicef, UNDP, BRAC). For example, I am working on Bangladeshis safe labour migration, promoting more ionization in salt production and at the same time with a weight gain product. It has already though me a heaps about the different approaches of social and corporate communication.

As work is quite interesting it takes a lot of time and I am free to go sightseeing in the weekends. Have been around Dhaka for now and I`ve got a lot of places to see still. We`ve been around many restaurants, markets, some local sights and fellow AIESECars houses. As I`ve appointed a “buddy”, by AIESEC, there is always someone to turn to, in case I get accidentally bored :)

Picture 1: Diverse Dhaka - a high-end expat club, the Nordic Club

Picture 2: Chris and new cool whiteys we met on the way:)

Picture 3: Yeah!

Picture 4: Missing an office has never stopped a real entrepreneur!

Picture 5: Liberation statue near Dhaka Uni.

Picture 6: One of Dhaka Uni`s campuses

The background of the stroy

2009-01-24T11:17:00.005+02:00

Bangladesh has a very diverse and interesting history. The main reason of me writing this, is to bring together the yesterday and now.

Here is my opinion about the 3 top influences from the past.

1. Islam. The Buddhist Bangladesh was conquered by Muslims in the 13th century and remains the main religious belief in the country. Around 90% of the population are Muslims, following by Hindus, Christians and Buddhists. Bangladesh is the 3rd largest Muslim country in the world, with around 130 million people following. Despite the large scale, it is a moderate Islam what is being followed here. The majority are Sunnis. The difference with Shia is that there are less customs(Hadith), so it is more flexible and gives more room to freedom, in my mind.

In some other traditional Islam states (Qatar, Bahrain etc), it is prohibited to listen to certain "indecent" music for example. Here the word "indecent" seems to be more flexible as you can hear a lot of western music in public spaces. Also, women are considered equal in many areas of life. Bangladesh even has a female prime minister (Sheikh Hasina). However, the ground rules of Islam remain.

The young generation here are a different topic itself, because it seems to be a trend in the world for the young to move away from religion into more modern beliefs. Many young dont follow the 5 times a day prayer call, smoke weed and tobacco, consume moderately alcohol and even have intimate relationships before marriage.

2. The British Rule (from 1858 to 1947). The era is mostly described as the industrial revolution in the whole area. A lot of construction took place, which was never seen before in the region. Railroads, canals, roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, universities, common law were established. The GDP actually decreased, but took off rapidly as the era ended. Besides mentioned, the government as such got an organized structure.

3. Not looking too far behind, Bangladesh was established 1971, by defeating West-Pakistan, with the help of India.

"In 1970, a massive cyclone devastated the coast of East Pakistan, and the central government responded poorly. The Bengali population's anger was compounded when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose Awami League won a majority in Parliament in the 1970 elections, was blocked from taking office. After staging compromise talks with Mujib, President Yahya Khan arrested him on the early hours of March 26, 1971, and launched Operation Searchlight, a sustained military assault on East Pakistan. Yahya's methods were extremely bloody, and the violence of the war resulted in many civilian deaths. Chief targets included intellectuals and Hindus, and about ten million refugees fled to neighbouring India. Estimates of those massacred throughout the war range from three hundred thousand to 3 million." (source: wikipedia)

All of this has a major impact in Bangladesh as it is now, some for the positive, some for the negative, depends on perception.

Picture 1: Probably the most popular Danish food product worldwide - Lurpak butter:)

Picture 2: A local marketplace filled with leaflets about the local municipality (Upazila)voting

Picture 3: Restaurant experience, me and Faisal (Bangladesh)

Picture 4: Sarah (Bangladesh) and Fion (Hong Kong)

When was your last visit?

2009-01-15T16:38:00.029+02:00

Driving around, i felt like the world doesn`t make sense anymore. Everything what i saw, seemed as i was dilluted: heavy traffic with barely non-existant rules and reckless speeds, wild dogs in many places, poor merchants selling stuff on the streets, extreme litter and dirt, people living on the street, begging with the whole family...

No matter how many books you read about any experience/country, it will never get into your head as an understanding, until the moment of reality strikes.
I am in Dhaka, Bangaldesh. The country of a few rules, the Bengali tiger and extremely friendly people.

I arrived on Tuesday evening and have had 2,5 very interesting days here. Probably one of the most world-view shifting since the meditation camp.
The first visible changes in culture and people behaviour occured already in the plane from Qatar to Bangladesh, where small dark guys just ignored all the regulations of the flight attendants. Just a second after the plane touched ground (starting to break), everybody jumped out and started to search out their stuff from the plane cabins and under seats. Poor female airline workers tried as they could, but the masses of guys did not listen, besides a few foreigners.
2 great local AIESEC chapter guys came to greet me and we drove with a taxi to my living place. As it was dark, i did not grasp much, but enough to get my first cultural learnings. Everybody races through traffic as never seen by me before! Theoretically it is a left lane traffic system, but this rule is not "obligatory". The main point seems to be getting from one place to another, as fast as possible and compromising everything else, like eco-driving or safety. Nevertheless, everybody actually does not seem to get exited about it, expect me:)
The living place is very nice. I kind of feel like an aristocrate here, because the difference compared to "normal" people is huge. I am living in a diplomatic zone, where all the embassies are situated. Got my own room, with a bathroom, balcony, a maid, air conditioning.

The city of Dhaka is supposed to consist of around 12,5 million inhabitants and i actually believe that there could easily be so many people here. I have not seen anywhere such crowds everywhere, some rock concerts excluded. So in such a rock concert, people go around with living their lives. Some driving taxis, polishing shoes, sewing in a garment factory or working in a fancy office.

Before joining the crowds in front of Dhaka airport - „When was your last visit sir?” asked the border guard.
„None sir, i havent been here before” i replyed, and left to the unknown.

Pic 1: Dhaka

Pic 2: Dhaka

Pic 3: Dhaka

Pic 4: rural nature

Pic 5: Gov buildings from the old capital times (14th century)

Pic 6: Hey AIESEC!

Pic 7: A boat ride?

Pic 8: Washing cloth

Pic 9: Local roller coaster

Pic 10: Bridge and water pipes combined. I corssed it too!

Pic 11: My kids

Destination Bangladesh

2009-01-04T23:34:00.006+02:00

Until departure on the 12th of January, there are quite a few tasks, what need my full attention. Nevertheless, i have managed to read some interesting facts about the country:

A piece of BD culture.

- BD is one of the most tensely populated countries in the world, around 1045 ppl/square kilometer. Putting into context - in Estonia the number is 29 people and Denmark 127,8 people per square kilometer. The territory is roughly the same as England and Wales combined.

- Before the 12th century it used to be a Buddhist country, but now the main religion is Islam - 89 %.

- Bangladesh used to be a under the British rule, which has left significant traces. English is widely spoken for example.

- In 1971 Bangladesh become as we know it today, with the cost of around 3 million people dying. Bangladesh broke apart with a bloodbath from Pakistan.

- The concept of micro-credit lending has come from Bangladesh. Mr Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, recieved a Nobel Peace prize for lifting millions out of poverty in 2006.

- To fight the environmental problems, Bangladesh has made some very bold steps, what even the western countrie have failed to implement. For example, recently the government has banned usage of plastic bags in all of the country. Also, in the capital, Dhaka, all petrol and diesel vechicles are banned. The vechicles in the capital city are now running with CNG (compressed natural gas). Bangladesh - the country which is one of the smallest contributors to greenhouse gases emission!

...... and a lot of other interesting facts. Which of some i hope to see myself and write then already about experiences, not just reading.

Oh and by the way - God nyt år!

Mr Einstein

2008-12-30T15:46:00.004+02:00

Recently i have acquired an extremely interesting piece of writing - "Einstein: His life and Universe", by Walter Isaacson.

Now, you might think that everything important has been said in the first sentence... Well, you can carry on with washing dishes then - a clean kitchen is a clean kitchen.

However, briefly, why the book is good, although its damn humongous (18 CDs or 704 pages):

1. Besides all of the physics, being sometimes in too much detail described in the book, it gives a relatively interesting picture about the strange Jewish guy from Germany. Well written! Also, exceptional discoveries need crazy people. I want to become crazy!

2. Every biography i have read contains bare naked sides of the person. Beautifully pure! The point of me reading biographies - the main character is under a magnifying glass, with no pants on. Everything is being said directly and described with different experiences from their lives. If i want to become crazily awesome, it requires, firstly, some habit changes, but most of all the right values. Trying to learn from the best.

I am not even half way done and already here babbling about it. No biggy, buy the piggy!

Holidays in Estonia

2008-12-28T22:42:00.001+02:00

Internet Marketing

2008-12-18T23:07:00.003+02:00

Here is a cool cover about all the internet marketing offers out there. If you havent discovered, then there is like a million and most of them follow the same routine.

With this important message, i will continue packing my bag and getting ready for Christmas in Estonia. Weeee! Going to stay there for 10 days, 19-29.12.

Closing a chapter

2008-12-11T01:13:00.011+02:00

Some time ago, we decided with our company guys, that it is time to move on and to close our company for Christmas, til its still beautiful. Closing now - leaving when we`re still on top of the game.
The main reason is that 3 of us will be going abroad for traineeships and at the same time we thought it is about time we change the industry:)

Some figures:

- Operated from April til December of 2008. I started planning in Dec 2007.

- Began with 7 guys, although 4 of us took over pretty much in the real start in April.

- Clients: around 15+ clients we served, which around 8 where returning. Mostly pleasant!

- Turnover created: around 75 000 DKK (13 000 US)

- Promotion: 400 flyers distributed in selected houses + 20 posters in supermarkets + many business cards distributed + 4 newspaper portrait articles published + website + personal contacts + 1 short film (not published jet)

- Official working hours: around 300 all together. Not including meetings, hassle with the tax authorities etc - only cleaning.

Some learning points:

- I love entrepreneurship and this is what i am going to continue working on - my dream of becoming a real entrepreneur! We are already working on several new ideas. The steering wheel of life lies in your hands and your hands only! Better start believing it now, or you`re still after 20 years, wondering why the hell You did not develop this or that idea further by starting a business your own. Each moment counts, use it.

- The main factor of success, in anything, is people! Its not about your Nissan from the 80`s, its not about you thin wallet, its not about you not knowing all the aspects of the business jet - it is creating the right habits and values you have!

- When you want excellent results, expect nothing less than many many hours of work and exercise. As this was a project in between of my schoolwork, Danish classes, networking and another job, then i can not expect nothing more than i have invested in it. It is as simple as that - invest to get a return.

All in all it has been a beautiful experience and i am more than grateful for the team. We`ve done a good job, enjoyed the process and deserve the party on Thursday! Amen!

Weather and it`s effects

2008-12-07T15:20:00.002+02:00

Weather can be a topic always and by anyone. Mostly at this time of year you hear only complaints when it rains, the wind is too strong or it is cloudy.
Here is an excellent post about the effects of weather and the results on our emotions. You might be surprised!

Picture: Mr Saarlo showing a great example how to cope with bad weather!

Exciting times

2008-11-26T14:44:00.005+02:00

"Rock on!" has become a phrase for me, which has use in every situation now :D Just because some phrases just get stuck for a longer period of time....

It all started when i came to Aarhus Denmark, 1,5 years ago already, and in the first week i saw a street performance. Now imagine a guy, who tried hysterically to get out of a straitjacket (the one for mentally unstable). He had a small mic attached to his chin, so he made jokes and generated excitement around the performance, of how he will get out of the jacket. In the background there was some rocking music and it really seemed like magic - "wow! this dude will try to get out of a straitjacket! Awesome!" i told myself and enjoyed the show:D
And then, there came a moment, where the artist requested some silence, because he had to concentrate. He said if it is being done wrongly, then he can loose his arm! The crowd was mouse-still! Nobody of the hundred or so people around him didnt dare to move.
And then all of a sudden, a drunk or high on hash probably, voice in the background just jelled "Rock On!......dude! Allriiiight...!!!!" I looked at towards where the voice came and saw a really goofy looking guy who was as if he was in a deep trans :D
Of course the whole crowd just started to laugh.

"Rock on!" however has stayed with me still :D I know, you must be thinking i need a straitjacket, but ill assure you, it is just my twisted humor, what still makes me laugh about it.

Picture: Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images

Rock on it is, dear reader! There is news which is worth mentioning, i am going to Bangladesh, Dhaka in mid january. After getting to know, that the company, which was offering me a traineeship place in Shanghai, got into financial difficulties, then i immidiately contacted my dear AIESEC people and now it is official - i am matched. Beautiful, my AIESEC experience is going to be full after all :)

More about the exiting times ahead, in next posts...

Meanwhile... ROCK ON!

So....What the fu*** should i care? How much do you offer?

2008-11-17T20:44:00.002+02:00

A lot of young people nowadays want to get rich - FAST god damn it. Throughout my student life times and even before, money has been something that I´ve noticed being very important to a lot of people. Also to myself in some extent.
People leaving high-school are saying their aim for life is to be rich and to enjoy the wealth. People who are already middle aged, state money as being very important and is what wakes out of bed to take on the burden of work, what generally is not liked. I`ve met a lot of people stating the same thing like a lot of others - i want to have more money. Well, how much is then enough?

Our world has changed and will continue to do so, but sometimes, i am not sure if we are on the right path. Is there enough people in the world, who are not putting material first than purposefulness and mission? What is money for a human without a passion? What can money buy, that can make you happy for 20 years? Teeth, an artificial heart, a golden watch from Rolex?

It is a hot topic all around the world and will probably create fuzz until some very drastic changes take place - i hope i will see it. What would a world without money look like, i wonder?

How would it be to sell your old cupboard on EBay? Would you give it away, if money was not there? How would you get milk every day for your kid, to make porridge?

Different scenarios can take place...:)

Who am I?

2008-11-04T22:29:00.002+02:00

Skandinavia is very beautiful! I took a trip recently to visit some very good friends of mine Deniss and Siim. We had many interesting discussions about the life that we are currently living and how different it actually is. As I am in Denmark, Deniss in Norway and the other Siim in Sweden. One of the topics what has intrigued me for many times are integration and immigration.

As mentioned sometime before, there are many many people here who are not on their homeland. A true global society, with many religions, beliefs, customs.

Living here in Denmark has thought me that for some people the question of identity is more important than for others. I`ve met here a guy from France, who`s father is a Kenyan and mother a Frenchman, a Danish, who`s mother is a Somalian and father Danish etc. A lot of mixing with skin color, cultural belief, religions, every day habits, sense of morality etc.

The issue will be always for me beyond real understanding, because i come from an Estonian family, but it has made me wonder and curios about individuals so diverse. Many of them have claimed in one way or another, that it is relatively hard sometimes to choose the side. If my family is fasting, but i am an Iranian-Dane, should i be fasting also. Or if my family is muslim, should I be a muslim too. Very important questions, when a person seeks for his identity. A very important question, when you want to know what to do with your life, because before heading anywhere it is of great value to know where I am staying or who am I.
And what is an identity?
According to wiki: "personal identity refers to the essence of a self-conscious person, that which makes him or her unique"

Do you know what makes you unique? What makes you special?

I believe it is of great importance in nowadays to address this question, also in schools and especially higher education. Pragmatically, just because if you don`t know where you are, how should you know how to get to your dream destination or simply achieve your mission/goals in life.

Who am i really? :)

2008-10-24T00:53:00.003+03:00

Lately i have been overwhelmed with a lot of topics, that i find currently relevant in my life to focus on. School, a very special girl, our company, Danish classes, preparing for my traineeship in Feb, reading books, doing sports...

In moments like these, when the focus has a bit faded, i am taking some time off to relax to be on my own and look through my goals for the year and get energized. So that is what is happening.

In terms of personal planning and enjoying life as beautiful as it is...

http://www.43things.com/ - A start to implement your dream today site

http://www.dreaminder.com/ - A remind yourself of your dreams site

Fame and Glory 2

2008-10-05T23:33:00.004+03:00

http://www.urban.dk/article/20080928/nyheder/709290002/

and

http://aas.e-pages.dk/view/6733/353/section.html (page 6)

How to become a monster?

2008-09-28T20:46:00.003+03:00

The tax office adventures

2008-09-19T00:11:00.005+03:00

Having a start-up meant for me already in the very first days of existence, that i should be really clear about the taxes in this country. Like in most of the modern societies, also here, it is often more offensive to cheat the government than do any harm to another person for example. Even Al Capone , once a very famous US mobster, did not go to jail because of the lives he took, but for evading regular payment of income tax:)

From the very start of the idea, we made one rule very clear and that is simply to be honest in every way we deal with customers and each other. This also means, paying taxes fairly and transparently.
Now, in Denmark the tax system is quite complicated and it took me some time, until i got the point. And there are definitely issues, i am not aware of, because like said it is a complex system.

All nicely thought, but when it came to real life and concrete issues, the tide turned. We pretty soon figured out that the tax office is in very many cases a bit like a "potjomkin" village, like the russian people would say:)
The saying comes from the soviet regime times, where there was much put on the visuals and the image of events/politics/social standards etc, but usually the quality was missing - a show off culture. For example, my father still very vividly talks about a time where he was in the army and was put to colour stones and lawn, because a higher offical was coming for a visit, in a spring month. I am always amazed when hearing those stories.

And now, just as like from a history book, we face adventures in the tax office here in the 21st century in Denmark:)
So whats wrong?

Probably the best example is the fact that we have sent 4 times our ownership changing papers and still waiting for it being "processed". Every time we have got the answer, that they have been lost. Now, if a small kid looses something it is ok, but the tax office? In my mind it is a symbol of the governments presence and integrity in a democratic country. The only thing what i can not say anything critical is the attitude and nice smiling, it is always there and every time makes me feel that everything is going to be ok - like a "potjomkin" village:)

Other questions what we have had while going there have more or less being settled, but every time it took more effort than was initially planned. I do the papers, send them, 2 weeks passes, i ask for results, "there has been a delay" or "they are being processed", i do papers again... etc.

To sum the story up. Probably the reason why i decided to write about this is not because i don`t like DK, vica versa. But what i think what You need to be aware is, when wanting to start your own business one day somewhere, have patience:) It is a matter of expectations and i expected something very professional with well developed systems, but it more seems like a bunch of very happy people not knowing what is really going on:)

Incredible life

2008-09-14T12:28:00.006+03:00

Being in DK has thought me a lot of stuff and one of them is taking some issues more easily:)

Today, something historical happened - i got fired for the first time in my lifetime:D Never thought it would happen, when i treat people with respect and do my best, but it did. The reason why? Because of a half full bucket, which was supposed to be full! It was supposed to be full, because the supervisor had thought out a system on its own and implemented for 20 years. Now, you might think, that maybe it was the most important bucket full of water in the world, but i have to disappoint you. The water was just to wash a table:D Spearing you the details, it was funny and incredible at the same time.
The poor guy who was my supervisor was very much into his system, that he missed out the point of the activity, in my opinion, that doing business is not about any system itself, than offering the best service for the clients.

If a client hires you for example to change a tire on a car, then in the end of the day it does not matter if you put on the handbrake on or use the 1st gear instead, to block the tires. The only thing what the client sees is the result. "Is the tire changed and the car ok? And how much does it cost for me?" are probably the questions of the person in need. As the service is like a commodity, like buying toilet paper etc.

Amazing the world is:)

Picture: http://toughsledding.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/fired.gif

Am i fit to be an Entrepreneur?

2008-08-12T21:41:00.009+03:00

Picture: "Run Fatboy Run"

The name of my blog has been "becoming an entrepreneur" for a almost a year now.

At that time, the decision was firm and very goal oriented, as the name itself says.
I remember landing on Denmark`s ground and facing many sorts of challenges. Could not find any work, money was running out, non-stop crappy weather, no friends (a few acquaintances), new environment with a new language, general stereotypes about Eastern-Europeans and quite frankly I was feeling pretty lonely. Nevertheless, periods like this make only stronger and probably teach one the most. That was the period when i put down new and very concrete goals for myself and made important decisions. I believe that all of this also made me more to think about my life`s purpose and where do i want to see myself. Of course i had done it before, but the soapy water just became much more clearer. I wanted to become an entrepreneur!

I read many books for guidance/inspiration, discussed friends and many many possibilities ran through my mind, answering the two utmost important questions at that period - how do i want to see myself in 5 years and what steps i should take today.
Now ive encountered that many, trying to answer the first question of "How do i want to see myself living in 5 years?", might be directing into a "MTV" dream of a big house, lots of cars and naked maids. A very easy place to get lost and forget all about the purpose of the initiative. There is nothing wrong about this dream if you feel it is yours, but the question is often misunderstood. I believe it is important to see beyond the naked maids:) If i am having all that i possibly dream of, then what would i do? How would my day look like? The question refers to the time, youve finished counting money, had a go with the maids etc.

When i answered the question, i thought of many various activities what would make me and others happy and made me realize an important thing. That i want to discover more of my creative side and enjoy life as it is. There were very few things in the activities list that actually needed any money, mostly it was a question of decisiveness. Somehow, all of those activities formed into a picture of an entrepreneur, it started to make sense.

A big part in this process was also the fact that i had to let loose of my ego or the image of myself i thought i was. The Siim what i had created in my mind was obviously not handling the situation and i didn`t like to stay like this. Putting down the goal made me see that success is not bound to come with a personality like then. I had to make a choice. I believe that letting go of my ego, simply enabled me the first prerequisite of a successful entrepreneur - the will to drive change.

Now would be the perfect place to say that i just bought my own island in the Mediterranean and have built a tremendous organization with a large positive impact... but i am not going to say it. In some years - probably:) But what i can say to myself honestly, is that i have made my best effort and enjoying the process all the way. Every meeting with my team, in our small company, makes me feel i am on the right path, and if not one then some other project will work anyway, because the strong will is there.

The reason of this post is simple. I needed encouragement and i got it, i got a lot of support from various people. And the reason why - i asked for it. Many dream of being their own boss and having freedom, but only a few really try their best.

Ask and you shall receive!

2 weeks in Bulgaria

2008-08-04T22:47:00.003+03:00

Here are some pictures from our summer trip in Bulgaria. Shortly..it was great:)
Bulgaria is a very diverse country. On one hand, I saw poverty what i have not seen before (chipsy slums mainly), and on another, very fancy villas on the shores of the Black Sea.
We were in the mountains in the beginning of the journey and later went on to enjoying the beauty of the Black Sea.

VisualDNA

2008-06-28T21:40:00.002+03:00

MovingOut

2008-06-18T23:17:00.002+03:00

Long time no see :)

As for my upcoming plans, then they are pretty simple - vocation:)

I am getting on plane tomorrow from Billund to Riga and from there to Valga, with a train. The following week will be pretty much about being with friends and family.
After that, 2 weeks in Bulgaria to hike and unplug myself from this reality, as being in a forest somewhere in the mountains of Bulgaria. 3 great individuals will join.
Then.... some more vocation in Estonia:)

All in all about 1,5 months - nice. The previous spring period has been pretty intense. A lot of company related developments, which some have shown positive result. At the same time schoolwork with an exam, Danish classes (2 modules passed) and other work.
I feel i have deserved it and am glad about my achievements with important people around:)

Also as kind of a sign of finishing one period and changing it for another, i moved out from my previous dorm and are officially now homeless:) I am happy, that i have really began to like the country and can`t wait to get back to work/school in august.

Enjoy the moment!

Summer in Århus

2008-06-18T22:54:00.003+03:00

Saturday

2008-06-01T02:07:00.002+03:00

A cool Saturday!

Stillness speaks

2008-05-29T20:45:00.002+03:00

Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle has been a very influential book what ive read recently.

It is challenging to put it into words, so therefore i suggest to just read it:)

Generally i can say that indeed like the heading says, it also talked a lot about stillness. It showed some patterns of thought, which give hints about life, relationships and one`s impact.
It made me also more confident about the ideas i gathered from the meditation camp.
If you are in pursuit of figuring out the life you live, if you are finding the world you live is superficial, if you seek for more than happiness... Then this book is for you.

Paranoia

2008-05-21T21:34:00.006+03:00

A person who i look up to, Peep Vain, has said once: "You would be insulted to know how less people actually think about you!"

Living abroad has opened my eyes in many aspects of life. The experience has showed entirely new doors inside myself, which i was not aware of or denied for a long time.
Surprisingly many issues, maybe even all of them, i guess people are actually aware of. The barrier however is often the common sense and boundaries set by societies/family etc. However, that has been the case for me.

One of the discoveries has been my way above normal and exaggerated sense of sensing the world. I guess it can be described by psychologists as a slight version of paranoia of some kind, where a person actually thinks everybody gives a damn about all the things he/she does and other people`s opinions actually matter. Starting from the shoes i wear to what kind of education i choose, just so that every little detail of life is acceptable by others. Fact is, when i have noticed how much i care about these things in others lives, then a total honest answer would be...Not much. So, why should others?

About a few months ago i really sensed the first time that i had results in overcoming this imaginary "others relevant thoughts" sickness.
It was like a major relief or like some people describe, a major rock falling from your shoulders.

Me and my close friends had registered our cleaning company by the officials and we were nearly ready with our website www.timeoutcleaning.dk. One day an acquaintance, who got to know what i am up to, asked me: "Siim, do you really think cleaning should be your activity? Couldn`t you do something better?" Funnily, the question did generate only positive feeling inside me. I though that this person has not really understood who is a change agent:)
I guess a year ago i was also far from the idea of starting a cleaning business, but nevertheless it has happened. Frankly, i think that no matter the area of activity, everybody can drive innovation and change the world we live in. Starting up new NGOs or bringing food to small starving kids is definitely not the only way to save the world. Of course my pattern of thought could be argued, but i think a lot of people don`t realize, what the big picture is about. For me, a big part of it is giving a better chance to international students for funding their studies.
Nevertheless, i felt really that actually i care about people, but obviously he can not know my point of view, because he does not have a similar experience. So i just should put this opinion on the "not relevant" shelf and carry on, i don`t give a damn actually:)

Usually i would have made the conclusion, that maybe the person really cares and maybe i should do something else. Not happened this time however, because i realized that this was probably just something he would not like to do and expressed his opinion with a question like that.

Change is bound to come, no matter what activity i choose to pursue:)

Tripping in DK, near Ebeltoft.

PangeaDay favorites

2008-05-13T23:27:00.004+03:00

I took the time on 10th and watched the whole 4 hours for the most tolerant media i have ever seen :) I think it was really great and i hope this event will continue also next year. It triggered many thoughts and opened my eyes from a lot of perspectives.

The most important however, i think, was that it brought closer the feeling of oneness. That despite of all the numerous differences: religious, color, cultural - we all share many important and underlying similarities as humans. We all feel, want to be loved, have meaning in our lives, be happy etc. Hopefully the millions also watching felt the same:)

Anyway, the ones who did not make it to watch the short movies have a peek, most of them are either uploaded on youtube or pangeaday.org

Here are 2 which i especially liked:)

Pangea Day

2008-05-06T00:17:00.004+03:00

This will be a major event. If you do care, then please accept this opportunity and be part it! I will.

Amsterdam

2008-04-29T01:26:00.012+03:00

My first days back in DK and it feels somehow like a cozy place to return. Good old dorm, with some modifications - spring has arrived:)

Amsterdam was great! I needed to get a zip of fresh air in my life, because i have managed to run so fast and without any notice whatsoever happens around me, that i have found myself in a situation where i lived here in Denmark for 9 months and barely discovered the country itself. Luckly some exeptions i recall.

Besides all of schoolwork i did in a weeks time in Holland, i had also much time to get away from the daily life and discover the beauty of the city. I found it quite remarkable and definitely a place where i would consider settling for a year or two. Also, i found it very exotic how the atmosphere of the city has been shaped by so many different people. On one hand you see a boathouse where no toilet exists and people use a lamp from the 19 century to bring some light into the usually dark Netherland`s weather, on another, there is a beautifully constructed building with very daring design, standing out of the crowd like a green zebra. It is strange and somehow mystical how each piece of architecture contributes to the feelings that people generate, when looking at it.

A rather interesting feeling was also to discover that life is cheap there. Besides Denmark, rarely any country exists on our planet currently, where there are higher prices i believe:)

Of course, like all of the tourists i enjoyed also the "usualities" of tripping in Amsterdam - smoking joints. Also this was a rather joyful experience:)

Life is beautiful and i am happy i got a change to remind myself again.

Fame and Glory!

2008-04-22T17:29:00.001+03:00

Spring!

2008-04-18T18:09:00.002+03:00

How are you enjoying your spring? :)

The Moses Code. What about it?

2008-04-18T17:38:00.003+03:00

I had a really great evening watching the "The Moses Code" movie, partly cause of good and beautiful company of course:)

Again this movie also was a even more cheesy than "The Secret". For me a big distance was created, because of frequent use of the word "God", but nevertheless i tried to gather up the ideas behind it.
Besides the American style of making movies and "God" i would actually say that it was the best film about spirituality i have seen. Reasons why...

1. Lots of links with my personal experience. I found many many bits and pieces of ideas that were very similar to my meditation experience. For example, the feeling of total pointlessness after a bliss of enlightenment etc.

2. Meaning. The movie has a mission and i guess it is meant to be seen by everybody, although i believe it can not reach many people for sure. It just has too many elements of Christianity in it. Nevertheless, i really value the makers, because it is not just another moneymaking project.

3. Spirituality.. I believe spirituality is something that is going to be included in a couple of years on every serious training company`s portfolio. More and more discover the deeper meaning of themselves and i think it has already become a movement. And it think it is only healthy to be curious about yourself.

Freedom of speech

2008-04-02T18:36:00.007+03:00

With the publishing of a Dutch politicia`s short movie about islam, i have had also some talks on this subject with the locals here in Denmark. Mainly because i live in a neighbourhood where a lot of coloured people live in Aarhus. Here are many muslims from all sorts of different places and it influences this country very much.

It is an interesting topic, many people are afraid to speak up their mind and say "they are ok" or something like that, then i have the feeling that it is just a part of Danish politeness. Some others say that muslims are ok as soon as they respect us, learn the language and work.
There are many many thoughts, but to generalize it up i think the opinion is quite like mr Pat Condell says it.

It is definitely an interesting phase the western world is going through, but frankly said, i agree totally with Pat:) In a liberal and free world, there is always the question, where to draw the line? What are an individual`s rights? When are we actually surpressing minorities and when not?
However the questions, the important thing is still to answer them, in my mind, but to keep in mind the general balance. Because it is also very easy to slip on the other side of the axis and suddenly find yourself in a situation where the minority suddenly is dictating above the majority.

The Moses Code

2008-03-27T23:24:00.007+02:00

... Is the name of the next big film about self-development.
Everybody who liked "The Secret" should also like this one.
For me at least the film "The Secret" was a bit too cheesy, but it had an interesting element of thought in it. Definitely it is worth seeing, even if the approach of the picture does not fit your standards, it initiates thoughts of movement and change.

"The Moses Code" is going to be seen all over the world on the 5th of April. Just go to this website to see where is your nearest screening or organize one yourself:)

My entrance is granted, i contacted an organization that is hosting a screening here in Aarhus. If anyone feels like sharing about it afterwards - write me :)

The world we live in

2008-03-17T01:09:00.002+02:00

A 12 year old girl giving a speech in 1992 in UN, amazing and a bit shameful that some things have not changed.

F*** Awsome!

2008-03-16T22:24:00.011+02:00

That is the description of my current life phase.

Pictures?

1. Started our first company: TimeOut Cleaning I/S www.timeoutcleaning.dk

2. Schoolwork only gets more interesting. Here is a picture when we played "Decision Base" for 2 days, which is a great management game.

3. Bought a scooter to get more faster around and reduce costs in the long run. Margo and Aprilia:)

4. Enjoying life with new friends.

What is music there for?

2008-03-11T20:23:00.002+02:00

Finally somebody has thought about the essence and role of music in a more structured way, at the same time made it available to everybody.

www.musicovery.com

Here is a site, which makes it really easy to find the most appropriate music for any mood or occasion - for free:)