Ok, you’re about to travel. So what? Let’s plan the journey!Budgeting

Packing

Documents

Other important things

This document describes the exchange standars, of AIESEC globally,what are the repossabilities of home, host entity and exchange paritipants,complain procedures etc. Please read carefully to know what are the benefits you should recieve and responsibilities:

Find the document here: http://bit.ly/1tOvfjR

Exchange program polices

How will the whole journey look like? How should you behave?AIESEC Cultural Shock-As a very diverse and international organisation, AIESEC has its own organisational culture, which meansthat we like to dance “:rol calls” and sing and shout our own country motto’s. Be open minded. -Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of people wearing AIESEC shirts, bracelets etc. You might receive one as a gift:)- Projects might not go all the time as planned, try to contribute to imporve the project when is neccesary..

-Please remember you’re going in a place where people don’t do or act the way people do back in your country andprobably work in a team of dierent nacionalities -the whole point is to get out of your comfort zone and TRY - try to UNDERSTAND, TOLERATE, ASK-Keep in mind the phases of the Cultural Shock

General Cultural Shock

How to manage the hardships?

Yourself :)

The country, the people

-Keep busy and active, don’t allow yourself to get bored-Don’t take things so seriously - what sort of adventure “everything’s safe” stories are you going to tell your grandchildren? try to loosen up, look at the fun side-Don’t isolate yourself, try to find people you like spending time with-Know your weak points when you’re under stress-Take the lead, don’t wait for things to happen to you, be proactive-If you have the feeling of giving up, of going home,, DON’T. Remember why you started.-If you have the feeling of giving up, of going home,, DON’T. Remember why you started.

-Meet the locals-Yes, maybe not everyone speaks perfect English, but perhaps they were not as fortunateas you, maybe try to learn some expressions in their own language-Remember people are inherently good at heart-First reflect, then act - it’s their culture, it’s nobody’s fault-Don’t surround yourself with people who only complain: they’ll influence your mood (and complaining to the hosts might o end them)(and complaining to the hosts might o end them)-RESPECT is an important value to remember

“See cultural diversity as a challenge and a chance to develop yourself by accepting others, while not losing your identity as well.”

How to represent Finland?

Tell them

Show them

You are now an ambassador of Finland, everything you do is what they’ll remember about the country! :)

-Maybe people have no idea what Finland is or where it is,- tell them, and explain our history-Try to break their own stereotypes about Nordic region or Europe.

-Try to bring food, if you can -Have a Finnish flag with you -If you can wear a traditional costume, it’s best, even student overall works-And anything else you can imagine! :)

What’s the purpose behind?It’s very important to be aware of the fact that this is not necessarily“another journey in your life”. AIESEC’s purpose in the world is to achieve because we dream of a better society. We are a leadership organisation, not an exchange one. Through our programs, we develop young individuals to become change agentsand create a positive impact around them.and create a positive impact around them.

Global Citizen’s purpose is to “encourage cross-cultural positive impact and personal development of participants through working abroad for social and community development projects and issues.”.

These are the 4 characteristics in AIESEC’s leadership development model that we want to enable through all our programs.

Leaders who are self-aware - understand their personal values, strengths and weaknesses, follow their passionLeaders who are solution-driven Leaders who are solution-driven - adapt to challenges, take risks, don’;t give upLeaders who empower others - develop other people, communicate e ectivelyLeaders who are WORLD CITIZENS - interested in world issues, takeresponsibility for the world

potential”“peace & fulfillment of humankind’s

What’s the purpose behind?We develop the four fundamental blocks of leadership by designing eachof our programs with a specific personal development process.

Part of the exchange program, there’s the inner & outer leadership journeythat the Exchange Participant goes through.Outer journey - is represented by the challenges of the external environment Inner journey - is represented by the self-reflection process, before, during, after

What’s the purpose behind?Elements of the Outer journey

Individual responsibility and goalsTaking individual responsibility with clear goal is a first step in the outer journey of leadership development.

Challenging role and environmentYour role and environment surrounding you pushes to goout of the comfort zone and enables you to learn.

Interaction with multiple stakeholdersDiversity of stakeholders and its quantity influences on leadership development. For example, interaction with diverse cultures or dierent types of stakeholders (boss-customer-colleague; AIESEC-company-NGO, etc.).

Support systemIn the outer Journey there should be some support system for the inner journey. It can be a mentor, coach, buddy, etc.Support system can be provided by AIESEC or any other external stakeholder.

What’s the purpose behind?

Elements of the Inner journeySet personal goalsInner Leadership journey starts with understanding where you are currently and setting goals for what youwant to get from the experience

Reflect on your experienceGoing through self-reflection exercises to understand how you are achieving personal goals, changing throughoutthe experience, and capture your learnings and realizations.

Understand your personal valuesBy living the experience and going through inner journey you realize the fundamental things about yourself – yourvalues and how it impacts your everyday life.

Reinvent yourselfCapturing the learnings from this experience to use it in the future;Understanding your „new self”.

Why do you really, truly want to take part in this opportunity?

What would you like to learn about the place or the community you’re going into?What is exciting to you about this?

How are you going to overcome the challenges that may occur?

What new skills or knowledge do you want to develop?

How can this experience help you in your future plans and goals?

WHat do you want to learn about yourself?WHat do you want to learn about yourself?

How will you know you have reached your initial goal?

You cannot do this again, in the same way, with the same people,with the exact same you.

So what will make it worth it in the end?

Why is this important to you?Here are some questions to help you reflect on this upcoming journey.

AIESEC in finland will always be there for you :)