Karthikeyan is not a common name, and in a personal interview the first question that  I asked him was if he knew the meaning of it. He was not sure, but he explained to me that this name is common in the Southern Part of India. Doing a little bit of research, I found that it means, “Son of Shiva.”

With only 21 years old, Karthy left his home country India, and moved to a foreign destination in order to have better opportunities. He comes from Chennai, and at the moment he is in Scotland completing his studies in Computer Science.

“The Scottish accent, is very different, it is very strong. At first I couldn’t even understand a word. My school education was in English. I learned how to write, but to speak is something different, it’s not an easy thing.

What gather your interest for studying computer science?

“Once I completed my school, I follow what the majority of students focus on, and that is computer science. It is very common, since you have a wider-range for job opportunities. It’s quite interesting though, I’m not a writer I’m more interesting in the science stuff, and the technical field”.

Why did you go to United Kingdom? “I took in consideration that they provide a top good education. I started my application process at the end of august, which was not an easy task, I had to apply within a year ahead”:

Taking a bit about the cultural differences he encountered he joked saying: ” It is a completely different culture and if you look at the weather is freezing, in my country I am used to 30 degrees”.

Could you tell me some difficulties that you encountered?

“Oh, first of all what was really different was eating. I do not use spoon to eat, in India you use the hands. My first experience when I noticed this was when, I went to a Christmas party, and everyone was using spoons, forks and knives, it was so different, that was my first time when I had to use this tools. Now its nice to start adapting to the culture”.

He is looking forward to improve his English skills, and gather more experience “I’m looking forward for an exchange program, maybe Holland”.

Now he is doing his first internship at Toonari Post, he claims: “I like the training, and how I’m being taught, it’s quite good fun, I’ m doing word press and Php recording.

What is the thing you like the most in U.K?

What I like is that there is no upper class, or lower class, if you go to India you can see people begging in the roadside, you can notice the class differences. If you are in India you do not afford to go to holidays. 99% they don’t know what holiday means. Holidays in India will just be the time that you enjoy with family at home.

A final message that he wanted to say was that: “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard-work and learning from your failures”

The article Karthikeyan Palaniswamy, There Are No Secrets To Success appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

“I am 21 years old, I take advantage of being young in order to experience new things, and hope that I won’t change as time passes by.”

Rafael comes from Paris, and loves to travel and discover new cultures. In a personal interview he said, ” I spend four months in Sahara in Niger. I’ve also been to Laos and Panama. What I love the most about traveling is the free drinks you get on the airplane! (Joking) You discover so many things, you get to eat and try new food, eat in restaurants any time, you get to see new girls in bikini, which is always nice for a man! I guess. But the most important thing is that every time I travel I have the opportunity to feel alive, because I am always learning and discovering new things. For me, if I’m traveling its like I have more chance that something will happen to my life, sometimes something great, sometimes something bad.

What is it for you being part of ToonariPost? ” I always saw this like a bright light. I just think this is an interesting experience, cause you get to know about other cultures. You are just discovering, and when you discover you make your own hypothesis and theories. It’s like being a scientist but without the boring part!”

When you write you are making sociological comparisons within cultures. How did you come up with this idea? “Well, I don’t believe in politics anymore. They are always the same thing; the economics don’t grab my interest. It’s always about capitalism and liberalism. The only thing that will, and keeps changing, is the culture. The culture is what makes something different, and there is much more to talk about when you are talking about culture.

What things do you take into consideration when you write? “Anything is funny, and you can even explain why the German, for example, behave this way and not that way…why the Panamanian behave this way and not the Ecuadorian’s way. With this aspect you are able to understand why this man is acting in a certain manner, I’m not taking this like a criticism cause nothing is wrong. You just get to learn the culture of the other. If something is normal for others and different for me, I have to accept it and mainly understand why they do or belief so. I just try to understand; most of the people offend cultures without any purpose, and they do this just because they don’t know about the other culture really.”

What is a message you want to give to your readers? “Well I would end this interview with two quotes of Shakespeare, that I think when both are connected they intend to sell a very interesting message.

“‘Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed”. When you are doing something, just do it 100 percent of yourself, go for it, and don’t mind what other people say. “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below, Words without thoughts never in Heaven go”. Body and mind have to be connected 100 percent, if you just are sure 99% about something don’t do it, cause this little one percent can change anything.”

The article Rafael Stuhrenberg, Discover New Cultures appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

She was born and raised in Denmark, and as a child she discovered how much she enjoyed reading. “I am a big fan of reading all kind of stuff. When I learned how to read, I would always read everything.”

Becoming a journalist was always a secret dream of hers, but after reasoning that it would be hard to find a job in such a competitive field, she decided to study a less career specific subject and got her bachelor degree in international studies and English. Once finished, she went to England to study International affairs: “I had already realized that I didn’t want to be a politician, but I was interested in the events and developments on the global scene and wanted to tell people about them”.

Her search for a suitable internship began like many others. “I submitted my CV online and Toonari Media found it! I started out hoping it was going to be interesting. I didn’t have any expectations, but as the days passed by my expectations were fulfilled beyond my imagination.”

She was one of the first interns to join Toonari Post. Even though her adventure has just begun, the past months have already challenged her. “I had a hard time when we started doing interviews. I think I could be a journalist in the future though. I have an interest that is big enough for me to pursue a stories. And Toonari Post is one of the best mediums for this. They give us some guidelines but they allow us to explore the field ourselves, give us responsibility and make us want to improve. I always feel I want to contribute to Toonari. In other work environments you can’t expect this freedom. It really helps your motivation to get involved as a writer, as an editor.”

Also, the internship at Toonari Post offered her a virtual experience that other newspapers seem unable to provide. “I think it’s the future. It was something that I hadn’t thought about before. The more I worked with people virtually, the more I got used to it. You get to meet people from so many different countries. Get a completely new perspective on collaboration, and you don’t really expect it, everything just comes to you. You just open the door.”

Claudia shared one of her experiences, when she did her first interview with an Openleaks member. “The whole thing about getting the interview with Mr. Snorrason, finding a contact from Openleaks, was an expedition. The task of finding a way to reach the organisation seemed impossible. We ended up getting immensely frustrated. Finally, when it happened it was such a relief but you realize that the process is so long – you interview, you hear the recorded version and you think, “do we really sound like that?” Then you transcribe the whole thing and have the audio edited. It’s an ongoing thing, it feels so far away but its not”.

Being part of Toonari is a different experience. “It feels like I’ve worked here forever, it feels like home, but despite this familiarity you continue to learn new things, meet new obstacles, new experiences – and new people every week, joining the internship.”

The mentoring part of the internship is a very important part as it takes your training to a new level and gets you to advance your knowledge, skills and leadership abilities. “In the meetings, I try to find a road to develop. I realized how hard it is to explain to people what I mean, to train them, and to get them to learn and understand. For me it is like trying to explain how the universe expand! Every week there is a new challenge, I still get exited about work and every day is just a new chapter.”

Claudia wanted to share a message to all Toonari readers out there, and new people that want to join the internship. “Our concept has a great potential and once we’ve reached out to the masses, we can make a big deal out of it. We encourage young talented writers to become media active people, and awesome journalists. Keep your mind wide open, and take responsibility for your own fate and luck as a writer. We just need interest, and enthusiasm; this is going to be a big step in the right direction.”

The article Claudia Sondergaard, The World is My Home appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

As any other Toonarian, Philip started this internship because he wanted to learn and accomplish his personal goals. But when launching a website, there is a whole process behind it. One of the main pieces for a business to run adequately is to have a business plan. Every company wants and needs a good business plan in order to get investors and achieve greater developments. Philip, in this case is the person in charge of doing the business plan for Toonari.

He comes from the Netherlands, and at just 21 years old he made his way all the way to United States, and now lives in a town near Kansas. He was looking for an internship, but he mainly wanted to focus on the marketing part. He applied online and one day he received a call with one of the best opportunity for him. “This is actually my first internship, I feel content, happy and I just keep enjoying and working as much as I can. It is not like a common job in an office, when I get my work done I send it, and if I complete my tasks earlier than expected then I have free time to focus on other things. You can do your own thing, be more independent, and get to work and do whatever you need to on the computer”.

With already having an international interest, this is something that grabbed his attention. “The international perspective, I find it very interesting, because you get to speak and work with a diverse mix of cultures and backgrounds. The one thing I do miss, is having the opportunity to grab a beer after work with your colleagues, since this is something not possible. Unfortunately for us, we are all located in all parts of the world. But it makes me think and hope one day we can have a reunion somewhere and meet personally.

The business plan is a strategic part of ToonariPost. “ I enjoy working on the business plan the most. It is important, so that makes me work harder. My main goal is to look for investors and show them what Toonari can offer. The Business plan is the argument in which you persuade people to invest in you. You try to communicate what are we working on, and what we believe in. It is essential for the communication process of the company to find out how to analyze it and how to improve it.

ToonariPost tries to offer a global perspective to its readers. “It is very limited what you get in the news. I think that a website such as ToonariPost, keeps to date what is happening in the world. It provides a broader point of view, and keeps people updated to what is happening at a global scale.

With more interns, editors, and writers, ToonariPost will get bigger little by little. “At the moment, the work atmosphere within Toonari is still flexible, but the older and more experienced it gets, the more rigid and mandatory it will become. As soon as they start putting into place their requirements the amount of interns may drop, but then the ones that will remain will provide the best.

“I have something to contribute to our company, and if everything works out fine and Toonari becomes successful I will feel content with myself because I am part of it. It’s like we are planting our seeds here and we are just waiting for the blossom.

We help it grow!

The article Phillip Sterling, From Holland to Kansas appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.