Norbert Palanovics

Please, introduce yourself briefly (What do you do now, what was the road leading there? What motivates you in your work? What do you think is the most important about you?)!

I was born and raised in Pécs. I have been living in Japan since 2004, presently I am the leader of the Tokyo office of Pick Szeged. A UP scholarship allowed my first trip to Japan, but the desire for travel and getting to know the world had started earlier, during an Erasmus scholarship in Sweden.

The most important motivating factor in my work is that I enjoy it. Day after day I keep looking for new challenges and set the bar higher and higher, so that I can develop, progress, and have the chance to see and experience new things.

What major stations would you mention in your life and work since you finished Pécsiközgáz (either in your profession or private life)?

After graduation I was teaching for one year at a private university in Mexico. In 2004 I was awarded a Japanese state scholarship, then I became a PhD of international relations at the university of Nagoja. Besides research I was working as a reporter working from Japan and Asia for Hungarian daily and weekly newspapers, which allowed me to get to know parts of the world that I would never have seen otherwise. Pick Szeged contacted me in this period, as a result of which the building of the Pick brand started, through Mangalica pig, on the then brand new Asian markets.

What does success mean to you (either in your professional career or your private life)?

Success is not necessarily reflected in visible things, and it comes the easiest when someone does what they like and enjoy. Persistence, curiosity and the joy of creation may be the best ways to lead to success: it is like when a mountaineer conquers a difficult mountain peak.

What did Pécsiközgáz give you (What are the values and experiences that you got from the Faculty? Why was (is) it worth attending the Faculty?)?

Pécsiközgáz opened up the world for me. It gave me an opportunity to try myself in several fields, it gave me a community and friends; it opened up doors to rooms full of knowledge, adventures and new experiences, where I could decide through which door and to where to enter.

If Pécsiközgáz was a super hero, what do you think it would be like (What does he fight for? What is his main weapon, super capability? What does he look like, what does he wear, and what is his nickname? etc.)?

I would imagine a hero whose strength lies in the inside, not in the muscles or visible things. He is not a one-minute hero and not a real celebrity; only those can know his real character who spend a lot of time with him. He is capable of influencing conscience and to change the attitude and thinking of people he has mesmerised. He is a person who can give you pleasant surprises.