Matt McCormick

Since being back in Canada I've been working on some websites.  You can check out my first one launched at http://www.aiesecplatforms.com.  The goal is to improve the interaction among AIESECers all over the world.

Working on the Congress Committee of AIESEC's International Congress 2006 is one of the most challenging situations I have faced in AIESEC.  I am leading a team of 10 people - 5 from Poland, 5 from elsewhere - who are working together for a total period of 5 weeks.  During this time we have to learn how to trust each other well enough in order to be able to execute some of the most difficult and challenging tasks during the conference - transportation of delegates and logistics of the venue.

Of course there are many challenges I'm facing in this position.  Some within my influence, other challenges having been initiated by other people and of which I have little influence.

Whenever I'm facing a tough situation I always hear the temptation of comfort calling out to me, sweetly saying to return to a comfortable life where things are easy and relaxed.  I need to constantly remind myself during these episodes that, while temporarily uncomfortable, challenges are good and that the difficult times will pay off in the future.

Challenge, good.  Comfort, bad.

Postscript: Check out the Global Village advertisement.  Now playing in Multikino cinemas all across Poland.

I wonder how Hollywood will survive.

I saw Pirates of the Carribean 2 this weekend.  Earlier tonight I was watching Anger Management until I realised I could be doing something better with my time.

I worked in a movie theatre in high school where me and my friends went almost every week to see a movie because it was free.  During that time I saw a lot of bad movies.  So this is not a new trend.

The entertainment industry has such a different business model than any other industry.  They promote their product the same way each time and in most cases it fails to live up to expectations.

I've always wondered what actors think of the bad movies they're in.  After they watch the screening do they ever think "Man, I can't believe I'm a part of this.  What was I thinking?!"  And yet, they still have to go out and promote the film as if it is the best thing ever.

It is no wonder that Hollywood and big media in general targets young people under 20.  They are naive enough to believe the big budget marketing hype.  As long as there are young people who haven't seen enough bad movies yet Hollywood will keep plugging away at putting out a bad product.

Speaking of movies, one of my pet peeves is people asking who is my favourite actor or actress.  Most of the people just answer based on looks.  This is so dumb.  What does looks have anything to do with whether someone is a good actor or not?  I'll usually answer that I don't have a favourite actress and the person asking just gets the "deer in the headlights" look as if I'm just supposed to answer who I think is the most attractive.

By the way, my favourite actor is Kevin Spacey.  He is able to play a diverse range of characters which is something more of a rarity to see.  Respect.

This was also posted on our CC IC blog (http://cc2006.nomadlife.org).  I'll post it here as well.

Here is the spam that was sent out on the UK community:

Good evening AIESEC,
We hope you're enjoying your summer wherever in the world you may be.
We have recently received some disappointing news that Rahul Kumar, one of
the National Exchange Managers selected to be on your MC 0607, has decided
to stay in India to further his career there. We wish Rahul well for the
future.
We truly believe that London could be one of the largest exchange cities
in the world and remain committed to increasing the capacity to deliver
ICX in London. We are therefore re-opening applications for another
National Exchange Manager of AIESEC UK 0607 to work closely with Aneta.
This application can be found on Insight XP at TN-In-UK-MC-1629. We
strongly encourage all AIESECers with relevant and extensive exchange
experience to apply for this amazing opportunity.
This is a really exciting role combining the opportunity for an individual
to not only to work as part of the UK MC in London but also to work in an
important area of great and growing importance to the organisation. The
successful candidate will be managing, servicing and delivering exchange
partnerships in London, gaining experience within a different business
environment and extensive interaction with clients.
AIESEC in the UK is looking for a dynamic, proactive and outgoing
individual with a strong background in exchange marketing, relationship
managerment and networking to take up the position of National Exchange
Manager to begin in July/August 2006.
The deadline for applications is Wednesday 26th July 2006 12:00 British
Summer Time.
All applications (UK & international) need to be submitted in the
format outlined on the www.aiesec.co.uk/national-accounts website and
emailed to laura.johnson@uk.aiesec.org.
Please contact Harmandeep Singh (harmandeep.singh@uk.aiesec.org) or Laura
Johnson (Laura.johnson@uk.aiesec.org) with any questions.
Will you be the person to make the UK MC 0607 complete? Go on, step up to
the challenge.
Take care, Your MC 0607

One week later I still have not received a reply.  I must remember to follow up this week.

Dear Laura,

Thank you very much for the job offer for National Exchange Manager which you sent to me by email last week. Before I decide whether or not to accept this position I would like to clarify some points.

1) Financial compensation. I understand that the job pays 40,000 pounds per year but there seems to be a typo on the TN form and attached file saying only 17,500 pounds. Nevertheless, I would not consider working for under 50,000 pounds per annum plus benefits.

I realise you are offering me this position as a result of my superior skill-set and ability to put people in their place.

2) So, if you are serious about your offer, why are you starting the negotiations at such a menial level. Quite frankly, I am almost insulted.

3) Can you tell me who the Board of Directors are and is there any way they could be accountable to me instead?

4) Would you possibly be able to make an exception to your rediculously harsh and unreasonable CV format specifications and be willing to accept my 17-page CV? Otherwise I will be forced to eliminate many of my amazing and nearly unbelievable talents. I do not think this would be fair and could be considered discriminative towards people of superior intellect.

Many thanks for the offer. I do hope you accept my preliminary terms and conditions. They are subject to change without notice.

I look forward to working with you.

Best regards,

Matt McCormick

I was told something along these lines this week:

Going to work for a company is bad for the economy.  What do companies do?  They recruit all the highly talented fresh graduates and place them in a position that, while challenging, is limiting in responsibility and decision-making therefore stunting their growth.  These people should be out developing their own businesses not working for a boss.

The biggest problem facing the world today is not corruption, the environment, religious issues, fascism, rasicm or wars.

The biggest problem is that people don't believe in themselves and their abilities enough.

Right now I'm sitting in the IC CC office in Warsaw (one of them anyways).  Arriving here I'm getting quite excited to start working for the Congress Committee for the largest annual AIESEC conference.  Right now, besides the core CC and the IS Team Leader, there is only one other Team Leader here - Caroline from the UK who will be responsible for HR & Agenda.

I took the overnight train to Warsaw from Budapest making it a 15 hour journey.  Stupid me, I just assumed that since it was a night train I would automatically have a bed.  That's not true.  Also I found out when trying to reserve a bed a couple hours before departure that bed reservations must be made at least 6 hours before leaving.  But luckily I could purchase a bed on the train from the conductor so I didn't have to sleep sitting up all night.  It was pretty nice too.  I had a 6 person room all to myself.  I guess most people just sleep upright.

Budapest

Budapest is an amazingly beautiful city.  Out of the cities I've seen, this one impressed me the most in terms of architecture and upkeep.  She has some very amazing buildings such as the parliament, the citadel, the basilica and the castle.  What's more, they are kept up quite well especially compared to the other places that I have visited.

Saki and I were grateful enough to have Gabor and Inez provide us with personal tours of the city.  Its still wonderful for me to just see how much local people know about the places that they live.  Not only in Budapest, but other places in this region, I find that the locals will be able to tell you everything about their city from the complete history stretching back hundreds and hundreds of years to interesting little details that you would otherwise never find out.  Its something that is rare to see in Canada.

Hospitality

Another thing that greatly differs from Canada is the level of hospitality that people show you.  I think Canadians would generally consider themselves quite hospitable people.  But once you start traveling you find that to be erroneous.  The hospitality I have witnessed throughout my trip has been stunning and I am grateful for everyone who has made me feel welcome.

In every place people have been generous enough to host me for my time there but that's just the starting point.  In Mostar, since the AIESECers were having exams and couldn't find someone with space to host me, they booked and paid for a private room where I could stay.  In Bosnia in general, it is common for one person to pay for everyone else in the group if you are having a meal.  Sebi allowed me to make use of his bed so that I could feel welcome and his mother made excellent food to feed me.

When I think back to my time in Nairobi, there these situations were also common.  Two brothers I stayed with rotated taking turns sleeping on the couch so I could have a bed.  Families would make sure I always had enough to eat even though it might have been expensive for them to feed another person.  There is a saying that even if a family had empty cupboards they would find a way to provide meals for their guest.

While reading Malcolm X's autobiography he tells tales of similar pleasant surprises during his pilgramage to Mecca.  Someone who had only heard of him gave up his suite for Mr. X to stay in while traveling through.  People went out of their way for him in ways that are not usually seen in North American culture.  He was invited as a special guest to visit many country leaders.  These situations led to an incredibly fast and amazing change in the mindset of Mr. X who was brought up in Harlem where everyone is out for number one.  Upon returning he said "While in Mecca, for the first time in my life, I could call a man with blond hair and blue eyes my brother"

Its incredible how the hospitality of people can dramatically alter the way a person sees the world.

Its an amazing place, this world.

I saw X-Men 3 a few weeks ago.  (If you haven't seen it, don't read).  I thought this was a great movie.  The moral of the movie was excellent.  In the movie, it is discovered that Jean is immensely powerful.  However, while this power could be used for good, she is unable to control it and her power ends up controlling her.  in the end, this leads to her being killed.

Isn't this the truth?  One can look throughout history to find cases that compare to what happened to Jean.  That's what I love about super hero stories.  While the stories are incredibly ficticious, they can still be related to life.

And that's also why I can't wait to see the new Superman Returns.  Superman is my favourite action hero because he's the only one that was born with his powers.  As such, he's had to develop "super morals" to find his purpose in life.  In my opinion, Superman relates much more closely to people.  Everyone has the power within to choose good over evil.  Everyone has the ability to make a difference in the world and everyone does have more power within them then they could imagine.

People say that in the real world, the difference between good and evil is much more blurred.  I don't think that is the case.

Pictures

I've uploaded all my pictures from my trip around the Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Belgrade and Oradea, Romania).  You can check them out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattmccormick

I am currently back in Zagreb for a day to collect my things and go out for a final coffee.  Tomorrow morning I'll be off to Budapest for the weekend (which is already sounding like it will be a lot of fun).  Then Sunday evening I take the night train to Warsaw.  It's been almost four years since I last took a night train.  I can't wait to get to Poland!

I'm here in Skopje for my last night in Macedonia.  I was supposed to leave today for Belgrad but people here twisted my arm to stay for International Dinner night...and I'm not one to pass up food :)

While in Macedonia, I've had the chance to only visit Skopje and Ohrid.  Patty took me around Skopje when I arrived.  Its quite a small city and not much in the way of tourist sights.  Nonetheless I've enjoyed my time here.  Its been good just to relax a bit.  Now I'm understanding how traveling can wear people out.  You go from one place to another and you're always doing something.  It's almost like I feel guilty for taking a break during traveling knowing that I should be out seeing or doing something as this could be the only time I come to this place.

I spent 2 days in Ohrid.  Its west of Skopje - 174km to be exact as I was told .  Its a very nice city and reminded me of the coast of Croatia.  They have a lake there and the city is designed similar to the Croatian coastal cities.

Disappointment

While my year spent in Croatia was an intense development experience I can't help but leave feeling a little disappointed.  One of the goals I wanted to achieve was to learn the language.  I put in effort at the beginning but was nowhere near as consistent as I needed to be in order to accomplish it.  Setting this goal and not achieving it has lead me to think about the real reasons behind it.  As I see it, my failure consists of not connecting this goal to the vision for myself.  I've spent some time re-reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" in order to help with this.

Still, I believe setting this goal and not achieving it will help with future goals that I set as I'll be able to better commit to them and see them through.

Pictures

I haven't been able to post any pictures yet since I haven't had access to fast enough internet.  I'll probably have to wait until I get back to Zagreb or to Poland.

On the road again...

Tomorrow morning I'll be heading to Belgrad for a couple days.  I'm looking forward to seeing this city.  Most people say its one of the must see places in this region.  Also it will be interesting for me to compare and contrast it with the other countries and cities in the former Yugoslavia.  After Belgrade I'm heading to Romania where I'll be spending some time with my good friend Sebi.  Romania will be followed by a brief stop back to Croatia to pick up my luggage and hopefully see Vukovar (and possibly Osijek again).  Then its off to Budapest to see the city and Ines and afterward my final stop, Warsaw!