A Weekend in Lille

So this past weekend a bunch of the people in the group went to Lille, France for the weekend. We took the bus for short money and got to see a bit of the Belgian countryside on our way there. It reminds me very much of pictures I have seen of European farms, with windmills slowly turning and cows grazing in the fields, but it was a blessing for me to actually be there, its much nicer in person. When we arrived we grabbed food and walked around the quartier for a bit before checking into our hostel. The hostel was unremarkable, from the outside it looked a bit like an old hospital wing or something of the likes, but it was close to downtown and near some historic attractions so we figured it would do the trick. We walked around the city and saw the Palais des Beaux Arts (a classical art museum), a lot of old, rather grand, churches, and of course a bunch of bars and restaurants. When we were walking around Lille, we saw a large group of rather drunk, college aged kids walking around in robes. For a while we were weirded out by the ceremony, but after we realized it was some sort of fraternity event we walked in for a closer look. Eventually, a part of the group settled in near a monument with a bridge and a moat around it. The older "brothers" then proceed to try to drop custards off the bridge into the mouths of the assumed pledges (regarde le photo en haut ^). The whole occasion was rather comical near the end when the pledges were completely covered in custard and the brothers and our group were getting quite a kick out of it. After walking away, even though some of us had lost our appetite at the sight of the custard, we decided to look for a restaurant to eat at. The bar that we started our night at proved to be a refreshing spot for more than one reason. First, the beer was cheap...which is always nice. Secondly, the Lille football club was playing a game that night against FC Socheux, the French club who recently transfered in American Internationale Charlie Davies! It was a very good game, and of course the bar erupted when the home team scored the game winner with 20 minutes remaining. However the most surprising event happened when I sat down and started talking to the bartender. Naturally, he almost immediately noticed my accent and after a bit called over an older man and woman. It turns out I was talking to the owner of the bar, his mother and her boyfriend. They were all very nice people, outgoing, and they loved "the chemin de vie Americaine" (the American way of life). So we chatted about culture differences and various trips they had made to the US in the past and my plans for the future in the ever-changing US-EU relationship. It was nice to meet some locals of another country outside of Belgium and really refreshing to see that America's international public opinion is being restored a bit. After a few boissons graduits, I said goodbye to my new friends and we left the bar in search of a night's adventures. After that nothing too exciting happened and we returned to the hostel at a decent hour. The next day was a bit cloudy and chilly, but we proceeded to walk around Lille and see it's centre square and monuments, mainly in honor of the World Wars and various kings of France. All in all, Lille was an excellent first trek outside of Belgium, I met some good people, saw some excellent historical buildings, and it was a good chance to hang out with the group a bit more. Tomorrow I start my internship at the Royal Military Academy of Belgium and I'm looking forward to letting, ya'll know how that goes! Ciao

Classes, Interviews, and Brugges

This past Thursday we started classes with Jerry Sheridan, our program guide, teacher, and coordinator. He's an American Internationale of sort, with his first citizenship form the US and secondarily he is Belgian. He came to Brussels 20 years ago, wanting to teach about and study farther the EU and all of its intricate and changing qualities. He speaks fluent Dutch, French, and English and is very much aware of the histories of all three cultures, all in all a fascinating man with a lot to tell us about Europe, its history, and himself over the next three months.

Our first few classes have been introductions to the European Union governing bodies and also small overviews of the differences between European and American Politics. We also had a guest speaker, Colin Nimmens, an Irish Internationale, who has studied and taught his whole life the history of Belgium, of course, among an abundance of other subjects. This man was a riot, he interrupted his someone long and tedious lectures with hilarious anecdotes or Irish comedy that had most of the class rolling with laughter. I'd venture to say he is one of the most intelligent individuals I have ever been in contact with, knowing at least 4 languages, an extremely detailed history of basically everywhere in the world, and having lived for (my guess is) upwards of 80 years. At any rate it was an honor to sit in a class with him and I learned a fairly concise background of Belgium in 3 hours.

Another teacher who will be frequenting our class over the next 3 months is Jamie Shea, THE DIRECTOR of Policy Planning at NATO. Ha this blows my mind that someone this important and connected will be working with us this semester. He was also the NATO spokesperson during the Kosovo episode of the 1990s and has been an influential NATO officer ever since. I am really looking forward to learning from him and hearing all that he has to say.

These past 2 days I have been interviewing for an internship position with various institutions in the Brussels area. Its quite amazing, the organizations that AU Brussels hooks us up with. For example yesterday I met with The Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), who work with large companies such as Apple, GE, Deusche Bank, etc, to lobby for a more open and integrated market between the US and the EU. A few hours ago, I interviewed with the Royal Military Academy, who I am relatively sure I'm going to work for. The project entails helping the academy finalize its plans to create a European Defense University, where a universal educational system could better serve the potentially unified armies of the EU...Very exciting stuff.

And finally Brugges (this is the French spelling). Brugges was nothing short of incredible. I have never been to a place so old, and with so much history. Buildings there date back to the 1100s and beautiful red roofed houses create the boundaries of the canals lazily strolling through the town. Belltowers and church steeples dot the sky every so often when you lift your head from the aged landscape lying in front of you, as Brugges was one of the first cities to grow up, instead of out. However it still boasts the feel of a small ville, with cobblestone streets, quiet parks, and sculpture gardens. I've made up my mind that I would live in Brugges if it were a francophone city, but alas, Brugges occupies a plot of land in the north of Belgium, 12 km from the North Sea, and there is no French to be heard there, only Flammond and English. It was interesting to see a bit of the Belgian countryside, and a whole new style of Belgian life and I look forward to returning there later in the semester.

How ya'll are doing well and I'll post again soon. Ciao.

EuroLife

So its been 5 days now that I've lived with my host family? 5 or 6, but regardless, there are definite differences apparent between American and Belgian everyday life. The most obvious actually have to do with energy consumption, which is one attacking point that most Europeans have against Americans. First of all, there is a massive tax on most if not all energy goods: electric, gas, water, etc. This means that Europeans don't heat their houses as much during the winter, air conditioning is near unheard of in the northern countries, toilets use less water per flush, and showers are usually shorter. It seems as though it would be hard to get used to, but literally whole countries do it! and they save massive amounts of their money and the worlds resources per year doing so. It is quite a change, but indeed an eye opening experience (mother I know you've been trying to tell me this for years, and i gotta say you were right). However energy consumption is not the only drastic change in culture. Another main difference is meals. Its very much true, the stereotype that we give Europeans, that they sit at meals for hours on end having drinks and conversing after they are done eating. It seems strange to Americans, who are constantly rushed out of the restaurant because the manager just wants to "turn tables over", but in reality its a beautiful thing. As our instructor Jerry told us, dinner is the first part of a night's entertainment. You eat, enjoy a few of your drinks of choice, and then from there, depart au bar. It makes for more congenial and friendly atmosphere at restaurants and conversation tends to flow easier with your friends and neighbors than most people may think. And finally, there are the cars...everybody knows about them but to experience them is a whole other deal. They are tiny, like early 90's Hyundai Daewoo tiny. I can fit in the back of some, but I don't suggest anyone even slightly over 6'1" give it a try. And of course, once your squeezed into the backseat like a pack of sardines, you're in for a crazy ride. They drive crazy here. Signs and street lines dot the visage of the roads, but they seem to all be uninterpretable by me, the foreigner, and nonexistent to the resident drivers. All in all I think I'll stick with the metro. ciao