Yesterday (and remember) day June 29, 2009 I made my first presentation in German on the MBA. Seriously! Keep that date, because I'll NEVER forget that day.

I've done about 3 presentations in German, but all were in the course of German and all about something related to Brazil and always a topic that I chose. Moreover, the audience was composed of foreigners who were on the same level of German I and only a German charity, the teacher. (((-:

This time I had to talk about a topic that I have NEVER seen in my life (and never thought of having to learn), and worse, had to submit to a lot of Germans, and especially for the teacher who is also the Course Director . He imagined the drama? It is. The theme? Mezzanine Financing. Huh? Well, this is a type of financing that combines properties of funding high-risk and low risk. I had to speak of insolvency, interest, taxes, loans, priority of payment, membership, shares and so on. In Portuguese I would do (now I can say) with your feet on the back because it's something new to me in theory but in practice I know how it works VERY WELL loan. (((-:

But the question is that there was in German and the beast catches (not to be German, but because it is a language that is not mine). And to make matters worse, the presentation was only the end of class, that is, I spent the whole day there without being able to concentrate and before our group still had another presentation. During this presentation, I just could not breathe right and I started feeling sick and started to shake and ... and ... and ... Seriously! I NEVER FELT IT IN MY LIFE and look what I've done dozens of presentations at work, at conferences and in school.

As it was with difficulty to breathe, I decided to go out and breathe as I learned in yoga to see if I "centered." I was a minute or so out of the room and when I already felt "ready". Maaaas everything can be worse, ie, I was responsible for the first part of my presentation and two other German colleagues for the rest. I had to start with my "beautiful and fluent" German. (((-:

Well, do not ask me "And oh, how was it?" Because I DO NOT REMEMBER. Just remember to realize that my voice was so tall and strong and everyone was impressed or frightened face, whatever. I spoke quickly and almost without breathing. I just wish it was over, really. And it ended. (((-:

After the presentation my colleagues came to praise me and said, mainly that I performed with great energy and vitality (think too much for the patterns German and bounce world .. hahaha). One told me that only got me to believe? I guess because she is foreign and also because he wants to be my friend. (((-:

But today I heard something that really made me euphoric for a new colleague from Cameroon. Incidentally, I mentioned that my greatest wish was to meet here in Africa? DID IT! Anyway, she is already in the third quarter, but this matter for some reason she could not finish and is doing now with us. Today she told me she was impressed with my presentation. She said she saw a sun, as I spoke and said that even though I would not know Latin was the vitality with which I introduced myself. Moreover, said that most made me happy, I demonstrated LOT safety and that even if I did not know something, nobody has as suspicious. (((-:

Why it made me happy? Because before that matter, had a story in English that was "punk", where we learn techniques of rhetoric and intercultural communication. A precious material (You have no idea how "grown up" in those three weeks), but that made me cry horrors during their duration. The teacher was an Italian mad and full of jokes. I had to make presentations one day after another, ie, without time to prepare or even to train. One day I had an issue until the present, without knowing what it was and just in time to put the guy to run the power point is I saw the topic and had to explain unknown 13 slides on a topic unknown. As my English is no longer wonder that, since my German occupying 80% of my "HD", I had a hard time making presentations, as the German (language) was always in my head and I could not demonstrate safety, because the "tico teco and" not entered into an agreement in a timely manner. In short, in ALL my presentations the teacher criticized me saying I needed to be more assertive, I was very insecure. I was destroyed by the "fightback" diary, because I always loved making presentations in public and "thought" that even did well. It was a shock that triggered my self-esteem in an absurd, but thanks to God temporarily. )))) -:

And now, a situation that was, unlike the situations described above course, for real feedback I get a totally opposite to what had been receiving for three weeks! A feedback saying it demonstrated a safety absurd, even being a super complex issue and even having a hard time expressing myself properly this linguinha lazarenta. Needless to say, this woman is now my best friend, right?! ((((-:

So, the feedback I can say that was the first, was not perfect, but it was fantastic! Not great because of the content of the note or I'll take, but fantastic because I can tell, I feel it was one of my biggest overruns today. Anyone who knows me knows how much I am proud and know how important it is to me almost reach perfection in everything I do. Yes, it is a feature that has its good and its bad side. I know. But I'm so and, I swear, I improved a lot since I got here. Precisely because of situations like this, where I just can not be better because of the difficulty of communication, whether verbal or written. Daily I have to get my colleagues to understand that Germans can not serve me as a basis for comparison of performance, but I cant. I keep trying to overcome them as having reference to what is ideal, which is up to funny, because I know that today is impossible, because of my level of German and the difficulty of the content that I'm having to face.

But, lets all post about this for the first semester that I write. For now, what is more I want to share this SUPER-action. It is this feeling of having overcome barriers I had created it and have used my wounded pride to grow and do better.

That's it! Maira towards the second half!! ((((-:

June 21 was the first day, believe me, the European SUMMER! Well, I hoped one day with temperatures averaging 30 degrees, but it is asking too much, right?! We had a maximum of 20 degrees and we even feel cold. ))) -:

But nothing in the leg and flawless to beat, especially not fail to go through a Biergarten and take "some brejas." (((-:

We left home shirt and everything and decided to go for lunch in a beer garden on top of a hill, risking being cold, but we were. On the side that has a beer garden park that Ro said it was beautiful and convinced me to go to just pass by and I see what I mean even crazy to have a beer, I decided to give in to the wishes of bunitao.

It was well worth giving! Look at my happy face to face and he "won". (((-:

The name of the park is " Killesberg "and it really is GORGEOUS! In fact, live in Stuttgart has this super advantage, because it is one of the greenest regions of Germany and with many possibilities with regard to public parks. The park is pretty big boy and has an infrastructure that has a super cool variade endless things to do within the park (oops!). Once we arrived I was enchanted with the beautiful gardens and with a tower and moderninha you guys up and spy out the region láááá above.

But what made me more euphoric was to find LOTUS FLOWER-OF-one lakes in the park!! I was COM-PLE-TE-TA-MEN "out of it"! It is one of the flowers that I love, not for its beauty but by its nature. Incidentally, I have decided I will do a tattoo of lotus-flower for several years, now just need to find a good tattooist and bang!

These flowers are in that lake below. This part of the park was the park that most impressed me, because besides the lotus flowers, the place has these natural walls that I saw here a few times (or all?). It gave me a longing for the walls of Brazil. ))) -:

At the entrance of the park we came across a "mini-circus" improvised for kids, entitled to the carousel and the tent where teatrinhos happen to cheer the kids. Very cute!

If I were a child would not want to miss this park for nothing! Even mini-zipline has!

But the biggest attraction is undoubtedly the tremzinho giving a tour of the park tooooodo, pulled by a locomotive, believe me, the steam! Well, it's good to take advantage, because by so much smoke that the train loose, I can not understand how any German has not yet asked this prohibition. (((-:

Well, we do not need much to have fun whether here or anywhere, but the mini-zoo of them made us laugh a lot. It is here that in zoos (big or small), you realize how everything in life depends on the index. Here chicken, donkey and cow are always found in zoos. For us this is a bucado funny, but not in order to find that german is uninformed, but because for us super bugs are common, because of the way as part of our culture. Already here, because they most creations in a closed environment, animals are "interesting." But it's funny to see a donkey and chickens enclosed in pens as in zoo, ah. (((-:

The donkey was the best because I was thinking that me and him (the donkey), reverse live situations being here in Germany: in Brazil it only serves to carry weight, but here it is exotic and treated like a king, I was in Brazil intelligent and well treated, but here I only serve to carry weight and I feel a donkey. ((((-:

But even better was to find those chairs that gives to lie down and enjoy a little peace of the place and put finally the feet up after another week like that.

An almost perfect day: pleasant temperature, early summer, beer, salad, nature, relaxation, laughter and love of my life. Oh ... oh ... oh ... To be perfect, just needed to be in Brazil. ((((-:

On July 11, attention, will have a party there supimpa and probably will be there to experience this more local experience. Bora!? See more details at http://www.nuon-lichterfest-stuttgart.de/2009/home.html .

I received the text below titled "A matter of choice" of a super-mom friend and I decided to post it, because I think it deserves.

Not to present something new, because decidedly is not. But for reminding us what we already know, namely that we choose our paths, so our achievements and obstacles. And our ONLY life improves when we decided to take that as a fact and thus fail to blame all for our misfortunes. While we blame the world for our lack of luck, can not do anything, because the fault is in our head "out there" and "out there" we can not control anything. But when we decided to take our lives and therefore our faults and choices, oh yes we can do something, because if the fault / choice is yours, you make it whatever they want and can even turn it in excess, maturity or conquest.

Think about it you too, because I'm already thinking.