THE GLOBAL VILLAGE By Anna Jonca

If your dream career involves travel, you must leave home, family and friends behind. At least temporarily. Anna Jonca took an international job straight out of business school and is making global contacts in a life on the run.

I am sitting at Starbucks on Mazaryk Blvd. having a grande frio latte in Chapultepec, Mexico City. My adventure started on April 15th when I departed from YYZ to Paris, France. I was there for only a couple of days, but quite adventurous. I walked the streets of Champs-Élysées, which is known as "La plus belle avenue du monde ("The most beautiful avenue in the world"), which remains the 2nd most expensive strip of real estate in the world (the first in Europe) after New York City´s Fifth Avenue. I stopped for a patio lunch at Brasserie Le Cardinal, and then continued my journey by foot, walking along the Seine and enjoying the gorgeous architecture of the city with its famous ´The City of Light´ (La Ville-lumière). The next morning I headed off for my first career training to Cuidad de Mexico on April 17th.

The team lives in Chapultepec, in the neighbourhood of Chapultepec Polanco, which comes from the word chapulin (grasshopper). It is a large hill on the outskirts of central Mexico City and has been a special place for Mexicans ever since the Aztecs made a temporary home on its central hill after arriving from northern Mexico in the 1200s. Today, Chapultepec Park, consisting of the hill and surrounding land of 1,600 acres has many attractions, including Chapultepec Castle, where Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota of Mexico lived. My area is one of the most active areas of the city and this is why I can’t say I’ve experienced much of a culture shock. Feels like Bloor St. in Toronto, except for the fact that everyone speaks Spanish (although most understand English).

Now about my job: the position consists of travelling the world with my team, to interview top level executives and political leaders in order to compose special country reports, which are then published in leading industry publications focussed on the oil and gas, automotive and pharmaceutical industries. Over the last few months I’ve been forced to quickly adapt to a new culture, new people, and new ways of doing things on a daily basis. What I love about Mexico D.F is that the people are very pleasant, genuine and even though you explain politely that you do not speak espanol ("no entiendo or no habla espanol"), they continue chatting to you with a smile! The way of doing business is also very different. Mexicans love taking two hour lunch’s everyday which means that no company calls can be made between 2-4pm. Here they welcome you with a cheek kiss (beso) and the "North American personal space" mentality is not present, this is why North Americans need time to adapt when they do business here. Another great thing is that here, they do sign contracts on the spot, which makes life easier at times, but you have to be more aware about cancellations because contracts do not hold as strong a significance.

I am very fortunate to already have met top Mexican and international leaders in the oil and gas industry, political, as well as top financial and consulting institution leaders. The one thing that I am looking forward to is meeting more women in the industry here!!

This project should end by October and that is when I will know where I am off to next. Maybe Spain, maybe South Korea or maybe Dubai.

The goal is to leave a mark wherever you because it truly is a global village.

01.10.2007

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