Young versus Old

last Friday I attended a conference organized by and for young purchasers. The topic immediately had my interest when I heard it: Cultural alignment in global procurement. I work for an international company with the responsibility for strategic procurement. So this event as almost one-on-one made for me. The oldies who shared their experiences with cultural differences were CPO's from Philips, Nike, Starbucks and AkzoNobel.


Other interesting speakers on the day and who I would recommend to attend a presentation were Wouter Faes and Jitske Kramers. Wouter Faes works as Assistant teaching professor for the University of Hasselt. His speech was amazingly funny with his anecdotes about the negotiation table in different countries. A big surprise was to meet was Jitske Kramer - trainer / coach in the field of communications, international leadership and teamwork. I follow her blog for a while now and to meet her in real life was very nice. To give you an impression of her presentation I enclosed a link to a movie of one of her presentations: Rhythm of Cultures. You just had to move your body as you will see in the film. Jitske Kramer's presentation - Rythm of culture

Some of the Lessons learned during the conference:
- Do not want to take over another culture, but become aware what the differences are;

- West is strict and direct vs India is chaotic not completely honest - they think 'impossible' whilst they say 'may be';

- Be yourself - the color of your skin betrays your different background;

- Working with different cultures is balancing between adaptation and acceptation;

- Try to use cultural differences as an opportunity to be yourself - errors will be accepted if you show that you are aware of your mistakes.

Up to the top

For my photography course I went this weekend outside to play with my camera. One of the assignments was to take pictures from a different sight. Normally you take pictures from eye heights. Nice, but pictures can be more exciting form different perspective. My creative eye told me that it might be interesting to take pictures form the beautiful houses on the canals, but than not from the other side of the canal to get the complete building, but then from bottom to top. I daily pass those houses on my bike, but I always forget to look up. That's a shame because most buildings in that area have amazing facades. 

Standing on the streets and pointing my camera to the rooftop, gave these nice views. Ok, the beautiful sunny day also was really helpful.

Dutch habits & traditions on the radio

I'm very proud to mention that I've been on the radio last week. Radio Razo is organized by Helen and Larry, an African couple. One from Nigeria the other was born in Uganda. The channel can be received in Amsterdam. The show has been broadcasted at Monday morning. The number of listeners at that time can come close to 30000. Quite exciting. Luckily you don't see all those people during the conversation. I hope you'll enjoy the show.


radio link is http://www.salto.nl/streamplayer/razo_ondemand.asp?y=11&m=05&d=09&t=0800&s=1800  Select the hour 8.00-9.00 and scroll to the 36th minute! (It actually is from 8.36 till 09.05 am)


Larry and Helen, thank you for this great opportunity! It was so much fun to do. Hopefully I can get the opportunity again one day.

Enjoy the city that never sleeps

What pops up in your mind when you think about New York? To me it was crazyness, crowd, big buildings, weird Americans, hurry hurry hurry, coffee to go on sneakers. During my visit to The Big Apple around Easter I recognized all these things. But also more than that, much more. It really is the city that never sleeps (Apple store offers 24/7 service). To show you what I mean, I've added some of my pictures. 

Let's start with the American prototype: big sunglasses, phone, dog (piece of accessorize. Could have been a handbag as well)

 American are always busy and in a hurry. Getting from A to B while they are on the phone, doing some work, making appointments.

And then there are the big buildings. You feel so small when you're walking around. You don't only feel small, in fact, you are extremely small. The massiveness of the buildings is so impressive. Every other corner again gives you a different view.

 Oh wauw, and then there is Elmo! A puppet on the streets, just like that on a Monday morning? And what's the conversation about with the police guy? It seems quite serious. Or not? This only happens in New York.

Of course the flags. Americans are so proud at their Stars & Stripes. Where The Dutch only show the flag in special occasions, here you see them everywhere. 

What you also will probably recognize is the steam on the streets. Where it is coming from (yeah from below, under the ground) and why it is there, I don't know. We don't have it here in Amsterdam. But I must say, it gives a beautiful image

Besides all these funny and remarkable, typically American/NY things, I fell in love with the city. This city is the best model you can find in the world!

My new front porch (hopefully) - Upper East, tulips - I would not mind living here

Last but definitely not least, the parks. They are so beautiful and green. And although you are not alone, the atmosphere is extremely relaxed.

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Queensday!

30 April is Queensday in The Netherlands. Queensday is a national holiday to celebrate the the birthday of former Queen Wilhelmina. And that's what we do: celebrating! It is a complete madhouse. I think it is one of the best days of the year!

I invited one of the participants of my workshop Dutch habits & traditions to join me and my friends on our tour through Amsterdam. We started at my place in the historical centre, the Jordaan. I live near the canals, which were packed with party boats: people, music, dansing, drinking, joy and of course ORANGE.  Everybody is dressed in orange and/or our national colours red, white and blue. It's crazy, people look crazy, people act crazy. My colombian friends were completely amazed by the whole show on the water.

Party boats on the canals

We continued our way along the canals via different stages with singers and DJ's. Also the parties in the streets surprised the Colombian guys. So many people and everybody was dressed op in with crowns, flags, painted faces. Weird Dutchies!

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