I spent the past week in Brussels, Belgium with my core course, touring around EU institutions and getting to know my classmates and the city. Since this was such a packed week, this is going to be a packed post, with highlights of each day instead of highlights of the week!
Sunday was spent entirely in Brugge, an adorable and quintessential European town about an hour away from Brussels. We spent the entire day walking around and taking in the sites, the history, and most importantly, the food. Belgian waffles definitely live up to their hype, and I had the best one in Brugge (and that’s saying something because throughout the week I had at least 7-8 waffles – rip my stomach and wallet).
On Monday, we headed to Brussels where we spent the morning meeting with diplomats at the External Action Service, the foreign service of the EU. It was really interesting and a great chance to expand what we were learning in the classroom. Afterwards, my class split up into small groups to conduct interviews. I was sent to interview someone from the Lithuanian representation, allowing me to learn more about working in another facet of the diplomatic sector. Afterwards we had time to explore the city, so we went to the grand place, the royal palace, the mannequin pis and tons of other touristy things. Brussels itself is full of different neighborhoods, half feeling old and half feeling extremely new, because of the presence of the EU, so the city itself runs on an interesting dynamic. At night, I had to go out and try a new beer (its Belgium and I am all about getting those ~culinary~ experiences), and I actually managed to find one I liked – probably because it was 90% sugar and cherry flavoring!
Tuesday morning was spent at the house of European History, followed by free time in which I visited to the Magritte museum. Major preface: Magritte is my all time favorite artist, and I was fully prepared to cry over his work (no shame, I totally cried in the Dali museum in Paris). However, I was a bit disappointed with the museum. While it had a lot of his work, most of it was sketches. However, the paintings they did have were still really cool and it was definitely worth it to see. Afterwards, I met my class at the European Parliament, where we got a quick tour and met with someone working in the Danish Social Democratic party.
Wednesday was spent at the European Economic and Social Committee followed by more small-group interviews (this time I went to the representative for central Denmark). The highlight of Wednesday was definitely Planete Chocolate, where we learned how to make different types of chocolate. Not only was it SO delicious, but it was also fun and informative. Another cool thing from Wednesday was Delirium, a bar in the middle of the city with over 2000 beers on tap. It was a really fun atmosphere in which I got to get to know my classmates more (which is half the point of the trip).
Thursday was mainly filled with meetings at the European Commission, which were possibly my favorite academic lectures of the week. This was followed by a visit to an escape room with my class, which was a new and interesting experience to say the least.
Friday, our last day, consisted of just a short visit to a think tank group that ran like a lobby group (although they were not keen to be called lobbyists). Afterwards, two girls on my program and I rushed to make it to the airport for our flight to Stockholm – where we spent the weekend (and which will be the subject of the next blog post).
Overall, my major takeaways from the trip to Brussels were really positive. I enjoyed getting to practice my french, as well as getting to know the city for more than a day or two. Although a lot of my friends on the trip didn’t love the city, I could really see myself working there and at an institution like the EU in the future, which was really exciting to discover.
My favorite view I found in Brussels (New LinkedIn Profile Pic??)
That’s all for this week, I spent the weekend in Stockholm so look out for that post coming up soon! Au revoir!
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Maya is a senior International Studies major, spending the spring 2018 semester in Denmark through DIS Study Abroad in Scandinavia.
Read more from Maya at travelingpapaya.wordpress.com
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