7th Stop - Aarhus, Denmark

The moment we’ve all been waiting for (and by “we” I mean Delphine, Valérie, Jacob, Maxim, Erik and Charlotte, all members of JCI Pays Niçois): the 2010 JCI European Conference in Aarhus, Denmark! This was extra special for us since both Jacob and Charlotte come from Denmark and what better way to discover their country than at an international conference with more than 1000 other young active citizens from around Europe...

Erik and I left Potsdam together and arrived just in time to meet the others at the train station and take everyone to their respective lodgings. A big thanks to Delphine and Jacob for exchanging their apartment in Nice for an apartment in Aarhus. It was great to feel almost at home during our entire stay, with a big table for breakfast and great music (finally got to listen to an album from the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, 10 years after I saw them open for Spiritualized in Salt Lake City...).

The theme of this year’s conference was “learn, explore, share” and I think this aptly sums up the 6 days we spent in Aarhus. We kicked off our stay exploring Den Gamle By, literally “Old Town”, which is a replica of historic Danish village life. Whenever an old building in Denmark is slated to be torn down, if it has historic value, they take it down brick by brick and reassemble it in this park in Aarhus. Exceptionally well done, but what else could you expect in the land of legos!

The exploring continued Thursday afternoon with the public speaking competition on the topic “let us be the change”. I had the privilege of representing France and competing with some brilliant speakers. Congratulations to Solveig Malvik from JCI London who went on to win the competition and will represent Europe at the World Congress in Osaka, Japan!

The sharing had already begun Wednesday night with a fantastic welcoming party by our hosts the Danes, but I must say that the Germans took it to the next level with their party down at the docks in an old hangar on Thursday night. Try to picture a thousand people dancing with painted smiling faces, hagermeister and delicious German beer, sausages of every stripe and color, world cup soccer, smoke and lights, and music to keep you dancing till 4 in the morning!

I ended up learning the most on Friday morning. I am so happy I attended what I think might as well have been the best talk of the conference given by George Kohlrieser, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at IMD Business School in Switzerland, psychologist and professional hostage negotiator. George gave us quite a few insights on what it takes to be a leader. The things that stick out most in my mind however are that people aren’t born leaders. About 95% of being a leader comes from experience and learned skills. We also learned that people aren’t naturally opposed to change, but rather to the pain and fear of the unknown. I see this a lot in the translation industry. Translators are like nervous hens when you start talking about machine translation. They fear that they are going to lose their relevance in the near future. Only when they understand the benefit of change (such as embracing machine translation to become more productive) will they overcome the fear. Finally, he told us that meetings can be up to 70% more productive (meaning faster and better!) if you have everyone stand up. I can’t wait to try this during my next 6-hour Wordfast training ;-)

Later that day, members from the French delegation met with the Honorary French Consul in Aarhus, Jørgen Hansen, and the JCI World President, Roland Kwemain. This is a unique opportunity for JCI France members to meet with French ambassadors and other foreign service officials when attending international conferences. Mr. Hansen talked about Franco-Danish relations and trade. Annual French exports to Denmark amount to €2 billion while Danish exports are worth €3 billion. In Denmark’s biggest university town, with 40,000 students, less than 50 of them are studying French. I think that language is probably the biggest barrier to trade and that if France ever wants to balance its trade deficit with Denmark, they ought to learn more Danish. Perhaps it would be even more practical to learn English since virtually everyone in Denmark speaks it...

The rain finally let up on Saturday for the duck race and street painting events. Conference attendees purchased 667 plastic ducks for $10 each to compete in a duck race on the river through the city center. The proceeds from this action will be donated to the Nothing But Nets campaign. After lunch, Maxim, Valérie, Jacob, Delphine, Virginie and I did a giant mosquito street painting to promote an international sports challenge our JCI chapter is planning in the South of France next year. Proceeds from this event will help fund mosquito bednet purchases as well.

The conference ended with an awards ceremony and gala dinner, a great opportunity to share one last night of talking, laughing, dancing, and singing before saying goodbye. Thanks to everyone involved in the organization of this event (Danes and JCI World HQ), the French delegation and national board members for taking care of us all week, and the members who made this conference so cheerful, interesting, and fun! Looking forward to seeing everyone again in Osaka, Japan.

Next stop: Copenhagen!

6th Stop - Potsdam

Potsdam? This story starts last summer at the JCI European Conference in Budapest. I met the members of JCI Potsdam over lunch one day and we had a very nice discussion. One of their members was in Nice later that summer, en route for Corsica, and I invited him and his friends to stay at my house in Saint Blaise for a few days. We had a great time that culminated in a Franco-Americano-German summer party till 3 in the morning!

Steffen insisted that I come to Potsdam with some Jaycees from Pays Niçois, so we organized a visit! Erik Bottier, one of our newest members joined us.

Erik’s flight was delayed but he did manage to get in. First stop, Steffen’s house for a BBQ. Perfect weather and delightful evening, with kartoffelsalat, beer, sausages, steaks, whisky and Cuban cigars. Thanks Tammy and Steffen for an amazing welcome dinner!

The next day, we had the privilege to have a guided tour of the Sanssouci Park. for those of you who don’t know, Potsdam is home to Germany’s Versailles, and even slightly bigger. Beautiful chateaus built by German kings over the past few centuries, the most famous being Sanssouci which was built by Frederick the Great, the enlightened King of Prussia and friend of Voltaire. Our guides were Didier and Jorn, an historian and staff member from the Chancellor’s cabinet. A special thanks to both of them for their explanations, translations, and good humor! Thanks Olaf, JCI Potsdam local President for organizing this day.

The weather was too nice to have dinner inside so instead we opted for a lakeside beer garden and picnic. Thanks Ilona, Christian, Steffen, and Erik for a lazy summer Sunday evening next to the lake!

Early Monday morning, Steffen and I picked up Erik and we went to visit a local company, Pro Potsdam. Pro Potsdam builds eco-friendly apartment buildings and offers solutions for retired persons to prevent domestic accidents, including curtain rods that can be lowered so you can put on and remove curtains easily. Jörn-Michael Westpahl, the company CEO and former JCI Potsdam and National Board member, took time out of his day to show us the concept. Thank you Jörn-Michael!

After taking a quick tour of the Potsdam city center, we stocked up on goodies for the picnic later that evening. We initially planned to go canoeing on the river before dinner but there was too much wind. Instead, we talked some handball players into a soccer game! We were on our way to a crushing victory (sorry Erik, who played on the other team) when Axel got hit in the face with the ball and looked like Rocky after round 3.

The rest of the members joined us for BBQ dinner after their JCI general assembly. We talked about meeting again next year, but in Nice just before the JCI European Conference in Tarragona, Spain. Erik and I and the rest of Pays Niçois are looking forward to welcoming JCI Potsdam next summer and taking you up to the mountains for a pre-conference outdoor adventure! We sealed the deal with a toast of fine champagne cognac.

Thanks to Suzanne and Steffen for hosting me for my stay in Potsdam and in particular to Steffen and the rest of JCI Potsdam for making us feel so welcome! See you next summer in Pays Niçois!

Next stop: Aarhus, Denmark!

5th Stop - Berlin

Probably one of the foggiest drives ever from Prague to Berlin. I guess it was the barrier from bad weather to good weather because I was truly blessed when I got to Berlin. Clear blue sky and sun for my stay (the clouds you see above cleared up the next day)!

Claudia, president of JCI Berlin, whom I met in Stockholm during the European Capitals Meeting, put me in touch with one of her members, Chuy-You Phow, for a home-stay. Turns out, Chuy-You is from France! I made it to Chuy-You’s flat in the former Eastern side of Berlin and then we went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant. Chuy-You recently started a marketing business and is currently completing a degree program in sustainable development. She’s aiming to do consulting work for companies in regards to sustainability issues in the near future. After dinner, we went for a drink with Marcus. Marcus told me about a great IT-related advertising idea that his company, Godot, is working on.

The next day, we both worked in the morning, but couldn’t resist the nice weather for long. We headed over to a nearby park for a walk and lunch, bratwurst, beer and Kartoffelsalat (potato salad, one of the few things I know how to say in German!). After lunch, we walked around the park some more and soaked up some rays.

On our way back home, we took a detour and went to an old bread factory that has been transformed into studio space for artists. We ran into Sara from Italy and Javier from Colombia and chatted a while with them. Sara painted some wicked shoes, I can see them now: hot blue, orange, and yellow.

As we made our way out of the building, we were intrigued by some nice music coming from one of the studios. We hesitated for a minute in front of the door, then said to one another “If you don’t dare to do anything, you end up with nothing”, opened it and walked in. Inside, we met Pat Matshikiza from South Africa. Pat was very nice to us and told us about his work in South Africa and what he likes about working up in Berlin. I hope I get a chance to meet up with him again... maybe in Capetown in August!

Chuy-You left that night for a trip to Paris. She also left me her apartment which may come as a surprise to you... Knowing that I am a member of JCI, she had no worries and full trust in me. Apparently, I even managed to fix the leaking faucet in the kitchen sink and the washing machine. I don’t know how, but am happy to have unleashed the magic nevertheless!

Thursday night, I had the opportunity to attend a business training on how to dress for success, organized by JCI Berlin. Thanks to Claudia and all the members for welcoming me to this training. You’ve encouraged me to learn German! Good weather and good people in Berlin, I think I’ll come back one summer for a couple of months.

On Friday, I ran a one-to-one Wordfast Pro course with Christa. We had a nice time and covered a lot of ground. Best of luck to your Christa for your future translating endeavors!

Thanks to everyone for making my stay in Berlin so nice and a special thanks to Chuy-You for hosting me; I’ve bought 3 bednets in your name and you’ll help protect 3 families from malaria for the next 5 years.

Next stop: Potsdam!

4th Stop - Prague

After finishing up a translation on Monday morning, I hit the road again for Prague. As I got closer to the city center, I felt more and more lost. For some reason, I decided not to follow my printed out directions. Big mistake. An hour or so later and a spin through a parking garage by accident, I ended up getting pulled over.

Apparently, I turned down the wrong road. As I was following the patrol car, I must have missed the sign. Fortunately, I didn’t have a Czech money on me for the “fee” and the policeman let me off with a warning.

I met up with Milan Condak, another Wordfast Trainer from the Czech Republic and we talked about training and the future of Wordfast. Milan also showed me some machine translation software that works with Wordfast called PC Translator. Thanks Milan for traveling 8 hours for our meeting; it was a pleasure meeting you and I wish you lots of success for the future.

Milan and I parted ways and I went on to the Corporate Social Responsibility Powwow I had planned via ProZ.com. Generally, a powwow is an informal gathering of translators to network, share experiences and have fun. During this powwow, we talked about values and how to transform them into concrete actions via your business. I also invited local members of JCI Prague to talk about what they are doing in the community to create positive change and network with the translators in attendance. A special thanks to Ewen, Anthony and Adeline for joining us and sharing with us what you’ve been doing in JCI Prague. Thanks as well to Pavel for helping with the organization of this powwow. Pavel is going to be organizing a ProZ.com International Conference in Prague in early October and I know he is going to do a great job! I hope I can make a special detour for it... Finally, a tremendous thanks to the everyone in attendance. Together, we all chipped in a raised enough money to purchase 5 bednets!

During the rest of my stay in Prague, I mostly visited with Marika, Ewen, and Adeline. I learned that there is no tolerance for drinking and driving in the Czech Republic (0.0%) despite being the country with the highest consumption of beer per capita in Europe (the world?). Marika also showed me a really cool video on YouTube of a Spartakaida in 1985. Imagine 240,000 people coming together in a stadium with enough room for 6 soccer fields and performing a synchronized dance routine... if you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself!

Thanks again Ewen and Marika for hosting me in Prague! I bought 2 bednets in your name which will help protect two families from malaria for the next 5 years. Looking forward to a weekend in Prague next time ;-)

Next stop: Berlin!