Traineeship Report II
EXPO
2000 in Hannover, Twipsy, EXPO traineeship, regenerative energies, solar energy,
cultural understanding, …I had no idea what these things were when I left my
small city on the Adriatic sea to come to spend my summer in Munich, Germany.
All friends of mine were making fun of me (who wants to spend his summer after
graduation in a country which is not really famous for its great summers), but
with my three suitcases (the minimum necessary to be sure you can cope with
temperatures from 5 to 40 degrees) I arrived at the Hauptbahnhof were someone
from AIESEC Munich was already waiting for me.
You would expect that I stayed in Munich. No, too boring, too predictable. The
same day I went to a small city in the north of Germany, starting the first
of a long series of weekend seminars. What made it different from the usual
seminars conducted by AIESEC, was that all seminars were related to the topic
of the EXPO 2000: Humankind, Nature, Technology. We were introduced into new
concepts, like sustainable development, regenerative energies and cultural understanding.
And, of course, we were also introduced to another very important aim of our
traineeship: having fun.
We were the "EXPO trainees". Just normal trainees that were selected to work
in companies that were projects of the EXPO 2000 or that were related to the
EXPO 2000 organisation. Coming from several countries of the world, we were
almost all students that had already some experiences of studying or working
abroad. We got to know each other very fast and we understood each other very
well. Since we were having our traineeship in different cities in Germany, the
seminars were the occasion to meet each other again and they were therefore
always strongly awaited.
Life in Munich was to start and I commenced work in a young and lively solar
company were I worked in the marketing department. I have to admit that I probably
would have never entered in this branch if it hadn't been for AIESEC and I must
say that it was a great opportunity. I was really fascinated by the potential
of regenerative energies and I learned a lot. During my spare time I was practising
sports, visiting museums, travelling and drinking beer with friends at the Biergartens.
All my weekends were very busy since, apart from the EXPO seminars, I visited
the other trainees in Germany and I was travelling also with my company.
Oldenburg, Nuremberg, Erlangen, Hannover, and many other cities were the final
destinations. I spent many days at the EXPO 2000, as a VIP guest for television
programmes, as representative for my company and, therefore, I was really involved
in the event of the EXPO 2000. I understood that Twipsy was the stylistically
criticisable mascot of the EXPO 2000 and I enjoyed also the nights at the EXPO
2000.
What remains after some months are faces, images, memories of special moments,
special people you met, friends that will be at your side for the rest of your
life, an experience that changed your life, a period you will never forget.
David Korosic
Trainee, Italy