Episode Transcript
Femininity is powerful in all its forms, exceptional women, rare girls must be appreciated in every
way for their perspectives, actions, thoughts, and their unique ways of being. Such rare
girls are inspiring, and this is what this podcast is all about. Hello, my name is Aziz,
and my guest today is Daria Karp. Dasha is an active volunteer in the city of Kriulen in Moldova,
and currently studying in Elysee. Her hobbies include reading books in English, especially
those written by Colleen Hoover, going on long walks by herself in the forest, as well as listening
to music while doing homework. Dasha, how are you today? Hi, I'm good, thanks. I'm having a great day.
I'm happy. You're in a good mood, having good vibes, and I'm really curious about you. So,
I'll begin with this question. If your friends could describe your personality, what would they
say about you? I think they'll say that I'm really talkative and very open-minded because most of the
times when I'm meeting friends or new persons in my life, I usually go talk to them and just,
I'm really talkative, and I'm really a great friend because usually I help my friends a lot,
especially my best friend, Andrea, if I'm talking about her, and yeah, kind of like that.
Thank you. Then I'm curious because there is a stereotype that Eastern European girls have a
bitch face where they look very serious and mean and angry, even if they're in a good mood.
You said you're open-minded, you go talk to people, so you're smiling. Are you someone who
people describe and think if they don't know you, oh my god, that girl looks so angry,
or they never say that about you? Actually, they do say that a lot because when you're going to
meet me, maybe, but I'm like, I have a red space and everyone thinks that I'm mean or something
like that, but once you get to know me, I'm a really great person. Thank you. And to know more
about you and new people, do you have experiences where you have instant chemistry with a new person
that you feel, oh my god, I shall, I know this person for many, many years, even if it was
just two or three minutes, or are you friendly and warm but you need many meetings to know the
values and history and hobbies and commonalities with any person before you open up and consider
them someone you like to talk to? This subject is really, so I have like two perspectives because
once I was in a bus and I met the guy, like I didn't know him at all, but still I got up and
met him and we talked a lot and then it was like instant chemistry between us, but sometimes I
take a lot of time to open up to someone, so it's like 50-50. Thank you. And where does this attitude
of going and talking to strangers come from? Do you have some other talkative people in your family
or does it come from watching Hollywood movies and TikToks or how do you think or how was it
inspired? Like what is the difference in your mindset compared to most people who never do such
things? Maybe it's because when I was like little, I was so shy that I didn't like speak to anyone,
but once I got into elementary school, I decided that I need to change something about me and
decided to make a lot of friends. I got really talkative, but still when I was like at some
family gatherings, I was shy yet again, but with people that are my age, I'm really open and maybe
this is thanks to my also a good friend that because she inspires me a lot because she's
really talkative and I just want to be like her, so yeah. I like that your friends seem to inspire
you in many ways and have such a good connection and to understand you too. Is your culture mainly
Moldovan or because of social media, you're a little bit Korean with K-pop, a little bit Japanese
with anime, a little bit American with Hollywood and social media, a little bit British with some
of the series. Tell me more about this. I think I'm Moldovan, but I want to grow up
and just move to America and live this American life, British life. I want to experience it all,
but talking about the Korean things, when I was in elementary school, I actually
liked BTS and stuff like that, but now I'm like far away from that. Thank you. You describe that
you want to experience everything to try the American and British life. Can you tell me more
about that? What are some things that you would want to try that will make you happy that you feel
that opportunity will give to you? Speaking about opportunities, I think the opportunity that is
going to move me towards my dream is going to be the FLEX program, which includes being an
exchange student for one year in America and maybe this will open some new doors to me,
but I want to experience it all. I want to travel the world. I want to see it all, see new
cultures, meet new people and so on. Thank you. What would be your plan when you go to a new
country? In order to make friends and not be alone, of course, people will help. They will
want to know you, but do you think about it? How would you try to adapt to a new place? How
will you make new friends? What will be your strategy? I think my strategy will be to just
go to new people and meet them and maybe ask them do you want to drink a cup of coffee or something
and maybe I'll not get to a maniac that will kidnap me or something. I think I will find some good
people, but still, I think thanks to my talkative characteristics, I think it will be pretty easy
for me because once you get to know me, I will just not stop talking and maybe thanks to that,
I'll be good. Thank you. You said that you have a lot of the Moldovan culture in you.
Can you describe what is for you the definition of a Moldovan girl and how different is she compared
to other nearby countries or other parts of the world? I've been thinking about it a lot,
but still, I think being a Moldovan girl is like being a really hard-working woman, having many,
many hobbies and loving the families a lot. If we're speaking about the Romanian girls,
they're still very hard-working, but I don't think they love their family that much as we do.
Thank you. Can you speak about your own method for improving your English speaking abilities,
improving your accent and grammar? What do you do and do you feel that the educational system
in Romania has enough focus on English language or not? And if so, what do you do outside of school
in order to develop your English speaking skills? This is a funny answer. So, I learned English
thanks to my teacher that was in elementary school. When I got into high school, I started
to read more books in English. I had a friend that is from London and we often spoke just in English
and just wrote each other in English. I've been starting to write in my diary in English,
so no one can understand what I'm writing, so maybe this is a great thing. And actually,
I've been trying just to talk to myself in English, so maybe this improves my English.
And to grammar, I'm not really great at this. I can speak English, but if someone will ask me
to write a test only in grammar, I think I'll fail it because it's so confusing and stuff.
Thank you. Well, I believe in you and I believe you can do it all. And then to ask you even more
about people. You're talkative. A lot of people say, I don't know what to say. I have nothing to
say. So, what gives you topics or what beliefs do you have that allow you to be talkative,
while a lot of people feel, oh my God, if I speak to a person, I don't know. I don't know
what to talk about. I often ask people what their music tastes are. And if we're on the same page,
we just start talking about music a lot. And if not, I'm asking them, tell me a story that happened
in this week and it's like super awkward to you or super amazing to you. And we just start talking.
So, what's your music taste? Oh my God, it's so random because I like Russian songs,
country music and American music. Yeah. And what's a weird story that happened to you this week?
So, this week I'm in a little argument with my teacher because we have an upcoming thingy at
school and it's just so, I don't know, it's such a chaotic thing. So, yeah, maybe this is the
weirdest thing that happened to me. Thank you. That's interesting. And to ask you, do you have dreams
to explore the world, to live life, to experience everything? Are you someone who feels emotions
deeply or is it about learning and developing yourself or is it about you that you get bored
easily so you want some new excitement and novelty in your life? Or what motivates this desire for
a life in different places and new experiences? So, I've read a book and it taught me to,
if you're getting bored of doing something, you just need to drop it and start doing something
else because if you're just only focusing on doing one thing for the rest of your life,
your life is not going to be exciting. It's just going to be boring and stuff. So, I usually just
do something and then if I get bored, I just drop it and do something else. And then it's like,
yeah, I'm doing the same thing yet again. I like that. Tell me about your friends. What about them
allows them to be close friends to you? Do you like people who are a little bit crazy or do you
like them to be good listeners so that you can be talking a lot or you have memories with them
because you know them all your life? Or what characteristics or things allow people to become
not just acquaintances but close friends to you? Speaking of friends, I have a lot of them. I have
many group friends and it's kind of hard to manage because some of them are really talkative. Some of
them are like introverts. Some of them are just good listeners. But still, if I am talking about
close friends, I only have two of them. And what brought me to her being my close friends
maybe was because she was very talkative, a good listener, and she was caring about me. So, I think
if I will look forward to have another close friend, I'll look at the characteristics that my
old friend has. I like that. Tell me about walking in the forest alone because you cannot be talkative
when you do that. What does it add to your life? How do you enjoy it? What is different about that
compared to other things that you do? So, talking about the forest. So, I started like walking by
myself in the forest a lot maybe a year ago because in my town, it's like a really small town,
but still it has a beautiful, beautiful forest. And when I'm walking, I can just walk at night
by myself. Maybe, yeah, I'm scared, but still I'm just listening to music and thinking about
everything because I believe that if you stay with yourself for maybe 30 minutes, 10 minutes,
you'll think about life a lot and you'll make some new decisions. But then if you're going to
be like an extrovert and every time you're just going to be around new people or just in general
people, I don't know, you'll feel lonely because you'll just get like so dependent on the people
around. So, I'm trying to manage those things. So, usually I'm taking the weekend by myself
and just walk in the forest, think, sing randomly and just listen to music. I think I enjoy it a lot.
Thank you. You seem to be someone who likes to develop yourself. Two things. One, do you feel
that a lot of young people your age have the same attitudes, beliefs, motivations as you?
And when you see people who are similar to you, how do you recognize them? Do you feel energies
of people? Do you see fire in their eyes and it's shiny? Or they seem to be passionate and
talking passionately about their projects? Or what? So, talking about in general, the
youth that you know around, are they similar to you or are you different somehow? As well as,
how do you recognize people who are inspired in the same ways as you do?
Speaking of recognition, I don't really recognize them just by looking at them. But I'm just going
to recognize what a person they are, maybe just like me, by just talking to them, finding things
in common. But I don't think I have a lot of people that are like me, maybe one of two. But
I'm not friends with them because I'm really different from my friends. So, I think I'm kind
of unique in my town, but maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. Thank you. And that makes me curious about
you. What do you think created your uniqueness? Are you born that way? So, it's just you were born
to be different. Were there experiences in your life that turned you to be different or how do
you explain it? I think this is thanks to my brother because he's like an idol to me. When I
was little, it's like eight years difference between us. So, when I was little, maybe like,
I don't know, I was like nine years old, he often just was listening to music, going on walks alone.
And I was like, oh my God, I want to be just like him. So, maybe this is thanks to him because I
learned a lot of things from him. Because of jealousy, I learned how to walk fast and how to
draw and how to manage some complicated things in my life. So, yeah. Thank you. And tell me about
books, your favorite books, et cetera. What do you enjoy the most about them? Is it the emotions or
are there characters that resonate with you or what about that is something that fascinates you?
So, speaking of books, I have like my favorite book, Losing Hope by Colin Cooper. I think it
really fascinates me because of the way she writes the story. And it just, it gives me like
the emotion that I'm going to cry or I'm going to laugh. It's so interesting to like just read
something. And then when I start reading, I just cannot put the book down. So, yeah. Maybe this is
thanks to Colin Hoover because she has a really popular writing in all over the world. Maybe you
actually heard of her. So, yeah, kind of like that. Thank you. I really enjoy your uniqueness and it
makes me want to ask you about your future goals and dreams. Like what would be your future ideal
job that represents the unique sides to your personality? I've been thinking about my future
job a lot, like a lot. First of all, I want to become a doctor, like work with kids. But then I
started to enjoy more like watching people who travel a lot. So, I've been thinking to become a
cabin crew because I'm kind of tall. So, I know that cabin crews are tall. So, maybe thanks to that,
maybe I will become a cabin crew. Maybe, but I'm hoping for that. And once I become it, maybe I
will start to travel a lot, which is my dream. And we'll explore the world a lot just by doing my job.
I love that. I want really to understand what's truly unique about you. I know it's difficult,
but maybe in your journal, in English, you have thought about it and wrote.
If you could describe what is different about you as a person, what is unique compared to any other
people you know? What is it? Are they more like afraid, but you're more brave and courageous?
Are they more like they try to stay within their comfort zone while you prefer to open up? Are they
okay with routine, but you love to develop and explore new things? Or what about you makes you
able to feel that you are unique compared to the differences that other people might have?
It's a hard question, but everyone is unique and different in their way. But speaking of myself,
maybe I'm just a moody person because one day I can be really talkative and really outgoing
and extrovert. But then it's just a small thing that can get me mad. I will be just off. I will
just lay in my bed all day. So, I'm just a moody person. Maybe this is a different thing about me,
but I think everyone includes it. But being different is okay. It's good. It's normal.
But I don't know if it's really different about me. So, it's a trick question for me.
Thank you. And can you tell me about your moodiness? Can you explain it? Because you said
there are small things that could trigger you and put you in a mood where you stay in bed all day.
So, can you see any explanations for your mood changes? Or is it really,
really random where sometimes you don't even understand why, but it's happening?
Actually, my mood depends on others' mood. And just by looking outside, if it's raining,
I'm just going to stay in bed. That's it. And if it's sunny, I'm just going to be happy all day
and go on walks and stuff. So, it's like two factors, the weather outside and my mood
like my friend has. Thank you. Are you able to feel other people's energy and emotions easily,
and that's how their moods can affect you? Or is it only close friends and people that you open up
to totally? Yeah, because once I had a friend that was really sad all the time. So, when I was out
of her, I just felt just sad. But then if I went on walks or just ended up discussing something
with my friend that is just giving a really great energy, I felt the same way. I think it's a really
bad thing because I need to depend on myself and not on others. I think I'll start working on it,
but yeah, it's something maybe unique about me. Thank you. And when it comes to social media,
what's your opinion on it? Do you feel it's a positive thing that you can travel from
your phone or from home and explore different things and learn about the world? Or do you
feel a lot of it is people comparing themselves to photoshopped photos and people who seem to
have a perfect life, so they feel depressed when they compare themselves and think,
oh my god, that can never be perfect. So, they lose self-esteem. What's your opinion?
My opinion on social media is like 50-50. The first part is actually loving the social media
because I learned a lot about it, everything from social media. But yet again, in the
21st century, a lot of people have low self-esteem, which is really, really sad. But it consumes a lot
of my time. I just stay all day doing the lessons on social media, and this is bad. But still,
I learned a lot of things from it. But speaking of someone who compares themselves on social media,
it's a really bad thing. And I know people actually worked on it, but they still just can't do it.
I don't know why, but they just can't do it because now everyone just has some low self-esteem
and they just don't have that spark that people had when social media was never a thing. So,
I think it's like 50-50. Oh, wow. This makes me want to ask you about the pandemic.
Do you feel that a lot of people who were teenagers, etc., when the pandemic happened
and many needed to stay at home for a long period, did it make them more awkward? Did it reduce their
social skills and make them more shy and lose their ability to be confident? Or you don't think it was
a huge factor or a factor at all? I don't think it's a bad factor because this pandemic actually
helped me a lot because the time that I stayed with myself and just my family, my self-esteem
went up, up, and up. Maybe this is just about myself, but other people, when I'm looking at
other people, maybe they're the same as they were, but maybe a lot of people that I've met
are just the same as me. I don't know. Thank you so much, Dasha. I wish you to
realize your flex dreams. I wish you to become a cabin crew and fly all over the world. And
I am honored and privileged and happy that you participated. You're the first and only girl
to represent in Moldova on this project. So I thank you for that.
Thank you as well. It was a really interesting and fun project that you've made, guys. And I think,
I hope that the people that are going to hear me will not hate me. I think it was fun. I just
loved it. I hope we'll do it another time.
