10x6 Expat Women, Networking event in Luxembourg

As an expat woman I am interested in stories of other women that made it in Luxembourg. I will not hide it, for me adapting to Luxembourg was and it still is hard. I still don't feel like Luxembourg will be my forever home, but a transit location and it's up to me to evolve and gather as much experience as possible and focus on the positive stuff, but Luxembourg is not for me.

I know it's mine and no one else's fault, I know it's all in my head, but these kind of social events help me find a group that I belong to, because I am not the only one English speaking woman who could not adapt to Luxembourg, despite English being more and more influential every year.

To put it short, the event, 10x6 Expat Women Conference was a networking event besides a conference. If you are familiar with TED conferences, this was sort of similar. There were 10 women who had 6 minutes to tell their success story in Luxembourg. Some of them were really high in multinational businesses hierarchy, some were freelancers, but their common point was that they all felt that Luxembourg is now their home. They adapted to Luxembourg and they raised valid points or pointers for someone who might want to do the same.

After the 10 speeches I was left with the hope that I could someday consider Luxembourg home, that it is possible, that Luxembourg has some advantages and most important that I am not alone in this.

As usual I never get a decent photo of myself. This is the best one, still you can't see my amazing shoes :)

After the whole shebang I'm left with a lot of advice and three magazines and a picture made at the photo-booth provided by the organisers.

Here is my tag, which I had to give back to the organisers. 

I was so surprised by this, that I didn't even keep the tag, cause I don't think they had much use for it. I wonder if at the next 45 euro a place event they will distribute the sweaty cords of this event to the participants. I hope they do wash them :)

On Instagram I've said that hopefully in 5 years time, I will be on a similar stage telling my success story in Luxembourg. Now I'm not that confident :)

If you made it here and you are still wondering what I am talking about, here are some useful links related to the event.

http://club.paperjam.lu/event/10x6-expat-women

http://paperjam.lu/news/femmes-expatriees-au-luxembourg

http://paperjam.lu/picture-report/10x6-expat-women

And I do encourage you to follow this link: http://paperjam.lu/videos/ekaterina-volotovskaya-course-we-have-adapt You will find the interesting tale of a Russian woman who had to change to fit in her very restrictive business sector, but still managed to keep part of her native culture. I loved her!

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Raluca

Germany - Travelling with a dog to Koblenz from Luxembourg

Travelling with a dog is sometimes challenging, but when we travel to Germany or Nederland I feel our stress is reduced by their friendliness towards dogs.

Let's start from the beginning. Even for one day trips that we often take from Luxembourg to the neighbouring countries, Luna has a proper luggage. We have to prepare a muzzle for her (Luna is a collie so by definition a friendly dog and she is even more friendlier than Dea, but still she is a dog and I do understand that in public transport, for example, I have to have a muzzle for her), a foldable water ball, some treats, fresh water, a toy, poop bags and a long leash. Usually we manage not to forget anything, but there are exceptions. It happen that we took all from home and we forgot them in the car, for example.

Once we have a destination and we pack all those things for her, Luna is ready to go. Still, she likes to travel, but she hates the car. So even though she doesn't associate the car with negative destinations, such as the vet, she still cries a lot until she finds her place. Just to give you an idea, on a trip of two hours, such as the one to Koblenz, Luna cried for maybe half an hour.

So after a "stressful" journey by car for her, I love to end up in a green city as Koblenz is. She is automatically relaxed and she is ready to see it all. And if the city is one that is friendly towards dogs, I know I will love it, too.

What I mean by a dog friendly city?

To sum all the components in one paragraph, a dog friendly city is: a city with a lot of parks or green areas, a city where Luna has access inside big shops (that happens a lot in Germany and Nederlands, sometimes in Belgium), a city where Luna has access in restaurants or terraces, a city where Luna has access in the major tourist attractions, a city where you find poop bags close to green areas and of course you find garbage bins, a city where in crowded areas you happen to spot a boll with fresh water or even treats for the dog.

All those points were met in Koblenz and that made our experience as tourists even more pleasant. I hope I will make a travel blog about Koblenz someday, but until then here are some pictures:

 If you like my article check my Facebook page, Dichisuri.ro.

Raluca

Belgium - Arlon Carnaval

Arlon Carnaval was actually a few weeks ago, but my busy schedule didn't allow me to focus on a proper post about it on the blog.

Here in this region once we burn winter the Carnival Season starts and we have carnivals in Germany, in Luxembourg and of course in Belgium. This year I managed to go only to the carnival in Arlon. It seems that every year that passes I am more busy or less interested in the "traditional" events in this region. I know four years ago I went to three carnivals, but this year I was glad I made it to the carnival in my town, cause for the past two years I missed it.

For Arlon, the carnival is one of the two or three major events that take place in a year, besides Maitrank and Christmas so it's a good reason to come and see it from Luxembourg. Most of the participants are small business associations or enterprises in the area, but there are participants that are more "traditional" than commercial.

There is the car of the Harlequins of Arlon an association of clowns, then some weird looking animals which are supposed to be "sangliers", boars, also an association based in Arlon. I don't know if these associations actually do something besides touring the carnivals in the region, but it was fun to watch them. Then there are the traditional Gilles. This year they were the highlight of the parade as they came in last. I didn't know much about them, except that they throw oranges sometimes at the crowd. The first year I came to Arlon I didn't pay attention and one of the oranges hit me in the head. Let me tell you that is not a pleasant experience. I've learned my lesson and now I pay attention to the oranges being thrown.

Another association I particularly waited for were the Arlon Giants. I like them because I assume they wear the traditional Belgian clothes and as I am interested in the traditional costumes of each country, I like taking pictures and finding more about that. As their name suggests there are three or maybe four giant dolls moved on wheels dressed in the traditional folk Belgian costumes and also the people that manipulate those dolls are wearing the traditional folk costumes.

Carnival is a season of laughter and joy and people are genuinely happy to come together and watch the procession. Children gather candy thrown by the participants of the cavalcade, adults enjoy a refreshment or two and everyone is happy.

If you like my article check my Facebook page, Dichisuri.ro.

Raluca

Buergbrennen Luxembourg - Saying good-bye to Winter in style!

We burned the winter exactly one month ago and it seems to have worked. For about two weeks we have sunny, warm weather and I even got my summer t-shirts out from the winter closet and started wearing them. I am still afraid and each morning I look circumspectly out the window to greet the sun, but up till now I saw it daily. Fingers crossed!

Now, what is with the burning cross, you ask? Well it's an old Luxembourgish tradition, coming back from the times when Luxembourgers were more preoccupied with working their lands than banking. Buergbrennen is celebrated on the first Sunday of the Lent, not just in Luxembourg, but also in Belgium and Germany. In the recent years over 75% of the small towns in Luxembourg are celebrating this tradition on the same day so no matter where you live in Luxembourg you are always close to a Buergbrennen.

Traditionally this Buergbrennen is a bonfire made in the shape of a man, I honestly couldn't find out where they came with the cross from, but in Bonnevoie neighbourhood in Luxembourg city this was Buergbrennen's shape. The burning of the Buergbrennen is preceded by a torch-lit procession from the nearby church to the place where they will burn the fire. It is believed that the fire will chase out the spirits of the cold season figuratively burning the winter away.

Last year, the day after we lit the bonfire in Luxembourg there was a week of snow and wind and cold weather, but this year, as I said, it seems to have worked. I guess you just have to believe it :)

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România - Iași - IA Aidoma la Palatul Culturii

Dragilor,

doar nu credeați că am ajuns la Palatul Culturii fără să trec pe la IA Aidoma?

Să vă spun două vorbe despre această expoziție, pe care dacă ați ratat-o să știți că ați ratat un lucru extraordinar și oricâte poze veți vedea pe net sau mai știu eu unde nu vor descrie exact această expoziție. IA Aidoma este un concept al Ioanei Corduneanu, fondatoarea grupului de pe Facebook, Semne Cusute în Acțiune și a blogului Semne Cusute. Dacă vă pasionează cât de cât iile sau motivele populare e imposibil să nu fi auzit de acest blog.

De ce zic că nu ar fi trebuit să ratați expoziția IA Aidoma? Pentru că în cadrul ei aveați ocazia să admirați 33 de ii cusute anul trecut de membrele grupului Semne Cusute în Acțiune. Așadar sunt ii noi, dar ii care aparțin unor persoane private din România, persoane care la un moment dat își vor dori creațiile înapoi, deci va fi dificil ca întreaga colecție să mai fie vreodată împreună, după ce va termina turul muzeelor din România.

Apoi, îi spune IA Aidoma pentru că toate iile sunt ”replici” ale unor ii răspândite în marile muzee ale lumii. Așa că dacă vă știți că nu aveți ocazia să ajungeți la New York, Londra, Lyon sau Sankt Petersburg, nu știu sincer de ce nu ați ajuns la Expoziția IA Aidoma, dacă vă pasionează subiectul, desigur. Spun ”replici” pentru că așa cum poate știți sau intuiți, mâna umana nu poate coase identic două ii, cu atât mai mult două mâini nu pot coase identic două ii și la zeci de ani depărtare. S-au uitat meșteșugurile, nu se mai fac aceleași materiale. În plus, cele mai multe ii aidoma sunt recreate după poze, pentru că nu sunt în expozițiile permanente ale muzeelor și cineva, cândva a făcut o poză unei ii sau unei mâneci și de acolo s-a pornit reconstituirea modelului sau a pânzei.

Pentru mine expoziția a fost o bună ocazie să mai aflu un lucru, două despre ii. De exemplu eu credeam ca ciupagul, la iile din Transilvania, e doar bucata aceea încrețită de la gât pe care sunt cusute modele. Ei bine am aflat că ciupag ar fi orice încrețitură la baza gâtului. Apoi am văzut și eu ce e ăla un încreț funcțional și cum arată el pe o ie, am văzut cum se coase firul metalic și cum se face acul persan. Mie mi-a plăcut expoziția și m-am bucurat că am avut ocazia să ajung să o văd.

La final am fost rugată să aleg o ie preferată, dar sincer nu m-am putut decide, mi-au plăcut toate. La unele am rămas surprinsă de măiestria cusăturii, la altele de model, la altele m-au atras culorile... Am fost bucuroasă că am putut să admir de aproape iile Prințesei Ileana, aflate acum la Ohio. M-a surprins că cea care a refăcut una dintre ii s-a gândit până și la năsturei și i-a asortat cu ia, ca nimic să nu supere ochiul privitorului.

Trebuie că cele care au făcut aceste ii sunt tare mândre de munca lor și au și de ce. Am să vă las cu câteva poze, nu multe, pentru că altfel nu ați mai vedea expoziția :)

”Încreț funcțional”, dacă vedeți strânge mâneca

”Ciupag”  

Altiță cu mărgele și steluța cu opt colțuri pe încreț. Steluța de obicei se găsește pe altiță, pentru că altița reprezintă cerul.

Ie și țesută și cusută

Cusătură cu fir metalic auriu în altiță și mărgele în încreț

Ia cu bisericuțe și din nou steaua prezentă în încreț

Foarte îngrijit lucrată ia asta. Eu zic că în altiță e ”ac persan”, da poate mă înșel.

Ie ”nisipită”

Ia cu cocoși
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P.S. Modul de expunere a iilor mi-a dat și mie o idee pentru o eventuală expoziție :)