I've learned so much.. how can I put this into words?

So, it seems that I find myself tonight done with exams, with traveling around Europe and learning more than I ever imagined, with learning about belgian culture and learning how to communicate and live with my family here.. this "ending" should be a deep realization, but I don't think I will really miss this until I get home and remember what normal school and life in America is like. This "academic" program has felt the least tortuously "academic" than anything I've done in my life before in school because here- I learn about the commission and then I go visit it.. everything I've learned about here has become manifested almost immediately after into a living breathing human THING.. and this experience has made learning so much more magical. The best way to sum up my experience is to say.. I just feel a heck of a lot smarter! Here is why:

Before this program, I had no idea where the "Balkans" were, and had a vague idea that there may have been a war there once.. but wow, now I really understand both the history of the Balkans and the relevance of the issues there in today's world and the future. Issues in the Balkans have not disappeared and if they are ignored, could turn violent again. Visiting Bosnia was really wonderful- it was shocking to stand where bombs went off and people died only 15 years ago in the city of Sarajevo and also to see the fresh graves of those thousands of genocide victims in the massacre of Schrebinitza, Bosnia- only just 15 years ago...we were given a tour of the memorial by a young man (abour 35 years old) who barely managed to escape death by genocide by luck about 20 yards from where he stood... wow. How could I not have known about this before? Probably because the news is fickle and moves on quickly to the newest events...anyway, I think these are historical events everyone should be aware of the same way everyone is aware of the Holocost.

While our group was there, we got to hear from the ministry of Foreign Affairs in Serbia, survivors of the bombardment of Sarajevo and the massacre of Schrebenitza- all because of ethnic and religious divisions that were incited by politicians looking for legitimacy in a post-communism Yugoslavia... disgusting and amazing at the same time- but it was amazing to meet youth like us who went through this, enjoying their culture and their freedoms just like us.. people aren't that different around the world- and ethnic cleansing has happened all over the world and throughout history- therefore we cannot look down on these people... there are good and bad people everywhere :) ...

Yes, I think that is one of the lessons I've learned more deeply this semester. Good people are capable of horrible things and generally bad people are capable of beautifully selfless acts of kindness... therefore, forgiveness is key to our success and peace in life. This has reverberated in my personal life as well; I often find myself debating in my mind where I can place this person, in the category of good or bad...but I am always caught by the truth that this is impossible. Instead, don't take the goodness in people for granted and be forgiving of yourself and others for mistakes or ill-willed deeds that they are sorry for.

The Balkans was deeply moving and.. as you might tell- I spent a lot of time while I was there asking questions to others and to everyone I met as to the root of these issues- being an American (although we have dealt with many ethnic and religious divides), understanding the beliefs that could fuel ethnic cleansing and war on this scale was very difficult to wrap my mind around, but I think I have a decent understanding of it now.. America and the ideals of America are very unique in the world and that ethnic divides are common, especially is struggling parts of the world. Also, leave it to corrupt politicians looking for a reason to extist to bring up old ethnic conflicts- blame the other group for all your problems! you see..

Anyways, that is the tip of the iceberg of what I learned in the Balkans. Then I returned home (brussels) and continued my studies, finished up my internship- said goodbye to our Austrian friends in the parliament and said goodbye to the big, beautifully international institution that we (Alissa and I) had the priviledge of working in this semester! (tear) Our boss congratulated us on being great interns and making friends in the parliament. We visited the US embassy to the EU and the NATO and SHAPE headquarters.. which was really cool ofcourse. Then we had exams.. which were pretty hard core- preparing 17 essays for each 3 exams (17 time 3) about EVERYTHING haha. My hands are still sore from writing the exams.. but it was a good excerize to put everything together and make some opinions of my own. I even wrote two essays about my opinion of the war in Afghanistan and the future of NATO to.. oh JUST the strategic planner for NATO.. NO BIG! haha.. yea I'm using a lot of CAPS in the paragraph..

I keep thinking of more to talk about.. but I must go to sleep! I'm going to Copenhagen tomorrow and then Paris! Looking forward to going home- yay christmas and family and good friends!

Peace and LOVE, Flo

So Much NEWS! SO little Blogging!

OK, so lots of news:

1. I was in an Environmental Committee hearing yesterday when it was announced that the Czech republic finally signed the Lisbon Treaty! Everyone in the parliament clapped, because this treaty gives (while marginally) the parliament more power in legislation.

2. I saw "This is It," the Michael Jackson movie with marietta in Brussels monday night- it was amazing- everyone in the audience loved it and clapped after every performance. I danced in my seat and well as cried at the realization that he is gone.. what a loss of great talent and a great soul. It was interesting to feel from outside the US what an impact he has around the world- no wonder they think American culture is special.. not that others aren't, but we certainly have had some very revolutionary performers.

3. Today I was in the last ENVI committee meeting where the Commissioner for the Environment came and spoke with the parliament about his goals for Copenhagen and his hopes for the parliament's participation there! The room was PACKED.. seems that the environmental committee is a very popular place to be this month, this year and I CAN'T BELIEVE I'm here to watch it all first hand.. now I just have to figure a way to get involved at COP.

4. Tonight I'm having my first real, authentic belgian waffles- cooked by my homestay mother. Marietta is here, which has really made everything a bit easier for me- because she balances me out.. and makes me less awkward at the dinner table! haha. Apparently it is normal to eat at least 4 or 5 waffles for dinner.. Etta and I can't believe this.. but we will see!

5. Etta and I saw the pope and was blessed by him!

Everything is really so interesting now.. and getting really crazy.. I have to write reports about several topics I attended debates on in the parliament. I have a test tomorrow on EU economics.. and I have my 15 page internship paper about construction products regulations due next wednesday! Yikes~! This is all after my week long break of traveling to Barcelona, Venice and Rome with Etta- look at my pictures on facebook- warning, I took hundreds of pictures. It was such an amazing trip! the Segrada Familia by Gauti in Barcelona blew my mind with its uniqueness and connection to nature- its the most vibrant and unique church I've ever been to - its really fantastic. The culture and people in Barcelona is really nice too.. very laid back and calming.

Venice was a dream come true. Everyone told me that is was dirty and smelly- but I didn't experience anything but beautiful blue water and crisp fall air. The buildings and boats were awesome.. besides how touristy it is, it really is as beautiful as I had imagined.. and I just got such a kick out of a "metro" which is a boat! The only thing lacking was the Venician people that you see in old movies like "Casanova".. most of the locals have left because its so expensive to live there (everything has to be shipped in), but the locals that remain own hotels or hostels or are gondoliers. We found a nice Gondolier for a good price.. it was a crystle clear day when the sun was begging to set.. it was perfect... a dream come true, I will remember it forever. The hostel we stayed in "A Venice Fish" was perfect too. It's a small hostel where you meet everyone who is staying there and they cook you breakfast and dinner- it is run by young people who try to show you a good time, even though there is really no night life in Venice- we had fun hanging out with them. I bought a beautiful hand made journal in Venice that reminds me of the night sky and a glass ring which looks like it has a galaxy inside it :) I also bought two masks from a young woman who makes them by hand. One for me and one for my mom. Mine is gold with tall peacock feathers spraying out of the center, my mom's is gold with read feathers on the side.

Then Rome! Rome was amazing even though I had been there for a day when I was 15 studying abroad in Spoleto. The best part was the tour guide we met because he gave us a free tour of the pantheon. We learned that the dome in the Pantheon was a really PERFECT and unrepeatable construction done by the Romans -whose architecture was a mystery for thousands of years after. It weight 50,000 tons - and there is a whole in the center at the top. To demonstrate how perfect it is, if you took the dome and made another one just like it, but inverted it and fit them together- it would make a PERFECT circle! The pantheon is called the Pantheon because "pan" means all and "theo" means gods, but now, ofcourse, it is a catholic church. Then we took a tour with the same guy for a good price of the Vatican museums, the Sistine chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. The Sistine Chapel meant a lot more seeing it this time because he explained the meaning of the different stages. I like that the first seen you are supposed to see is that of a drunk Noah being made fun of by his sons- its meant to represent the sin that we all hold within us.. but that we may still be redeemed and experience the light and faith of God after. I like this.. because it reminded me why so many people were drawn to Christianity- because it is a faith of forgiveness and redemption.. which I think most people seek. I know I do. Anyways, I like this message. I also, like the rest of the world, love the scene of the life force being passed from God to the lifeless Adam- you know, the famous fingers pointing to eachother post card?! Well, it really is beautiful :)

After a deeply spiritual experience at the Vatican, ironically, it was Halloween! And we were prepared, with the Venetian masks I bought. It was an unforgettable experience walking around Rome with Marietta- both of us the secret, Masquerade Ladies- it was funny watching people's reactions- and most people did react. I loved when we made people smile, and it was fun to wink at cute boys.. for all they know- I could be the Most beautiful girl in the world they will never see :) Halloween was crazy! Lots of silly american students, but also Italians... it was almost too crazy to have a good time at a bar because you couldn't move! I ran into my friend from American Hannah Oppenheim and K.P. at an Irish Bar- so that was funny! We weren't out long, we went back kinda early and I watched Larry King Live interview MJ's family at the premier of This Is It. Then the next day, on Sunday, we went to the Vatican at 12 and saw the pope come out of his window and give his blesssing! It was so cool, I wore my small gold cross to get blessed and etta bought a rosarie to bless - which she will give as a gift (won't say who to give it away). As we walked away after, I said to etta "blessed by the pope, Check!" haha.. one more thing down on my list of things to do. That last day was so beautiful and we spent it exploring the smaller parts of Rome, we walked down the river in rome which is lined by big beautiful trees that hang over the side of the river - the light through the yellow and orange leaves was so beautiful.

Well.. its almost time for Waffles and I should probably be studying the economics of the EU and not blogging, but I couldn't resist the urge to FINALLY update my blog! Lots of Love to all my friends and family- I've having the time of my life :)

Internship and Lille

As I crack open a delicious almond cookie and watch the rain fall outside my window from the comfort of my bed in this quiet, beautiful house, I reflect on the fact that it is so nice to relax . After a long day of classes and walking around, I've changed into my pajamas and I'm calling it a day. I finally have the time to realize, its been 10 days since I've posted! A lot of things have happened. Last week we had interviews all day tuesday and wednesday, which was exhausting. I found out last thursday that I got two offers for internships, one researching African Security with the Royal Military Academy and one with Wilfred Aspinal- my top choice!

side allegory: the funniest thing happened during my interview at the Royal Military Academy. The whole time I was feeling very nervous and uptight because, the RMA is kinda an uptight military place! The serious guy in uniform who was obviously of some high rank and influence said about half way through my individual interview ".. and I see here on your resume, the most important part... (long pause).. that you area hip hop dancer!" That was hilarious and definitely broke the ice.

It's kinda hard for me to explain my internship with Wilfred, but basically, he's a cute, old, British man who does consulting for the EU on environmental and energy topics because he also works with private construction companies and such that try to build more environmentally friendly buildings and such! Oh, and my friend Alissa and I will be working together! I think he chose us because we are both very outgoing, friendly girls and he said he needed people who could network. I'm interested to find out what we will be doing specifically, besides visiting hearings and conferences at parliament and such on relevant topics (which will be awesome!!) It's funny that Alissa and I will be working together because we had 4/5 of our interviews together! She's a great girl from Seattle who knows a whole song about the EU and also loves to sing and dance like me- needless to say, we get a long very well :)

This weekend we visited Lille, France. Today, I am limping because of the large and painful blister I have on the ball of my foot, in between my foot and my toes. This is gross, but I can't pop it because it's really deep.. ugh. I got this blister from all the walking and dancing I did in Lille in the same sneakers. Hopefully it will go away soon, or else I'm sure I will resort to stabbing it! Lille was fun, Ben and I made friends with the bar tender and his parents at a bar one night and we got un Beurre gratuit (a free beer) which was fun. The difficult part of the trip was doing things with 11 people. It was hard making decisions with such a big group, but it was fun to visit france -we saw so many people walking around with bagets the next morning! I also had a chocolate Crepe which was very good! I'm looking forward to visiting bigger cities though.

Today I explored "Carrefour," the belgian equivalent of Target, with Alissa. We were dismayed that they don't offer the kind of pocketed folders we were looking for. Instead they only had these kind of folders that are kind of like boxes.. its difficult to say, but it wasn't quite what we were looking for!

From the sound of it, people are returning in my house. I'm sorry this post was so random, its difficult to write after 10 days. Anyways, tomorrow I have my first day of my internship! So I will report back about how it goes!

How do I summarize the last 3 days? GREAT!

So! It is 9:08 am here in Belgium and I am sitting in the classroom alone because I was too lazy to check the schedule last night after a night of dancing and fun! So, this might come as a shock to most of you, but I am an hour early to school today! But let me reassure you that I thought I had overslept today and I thought I was going to be late for school- harharhar. Anyway, this is good news for my blog stalkers (kat and mom) because I have a wee bit of free time to blog! Wow! I realized this after I had already borded the metro- I considered going home but decided the 10 minute walk would be pointless. This morning Geraldine was the only one at breakfast with me, which was nice because it is really nice to talk to her about her boyfriend and other stuff she doesn't talk about in front of her parents. I told her I enjoyed talking to her and I told her if she ever wanted to come hang out with a bunch of Americans I would invite her sometime. She smiled and said that would be fun and that none of the other students had ever invited her or Alexi to hang out with the group!

I'm having a BLAST! Everything is going super, my home-stay, the group, the belgians! To catch you up, since I blogged last, I've had a grande tour of Brussels with Jerry- my favorite part was walking to the top of The Triumphal Arch! (I stupidly chose to walk to the top because Jerry said it was only four flights of stairs.. it was more! I arrived at the top panting to a group of composed students that took the elevator- but it supplied a good laugh for the others :) From there we could see most of Brussels- which helped my orientation of the city a lot! The Triumphal Arch was concieved by King Leopold II to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Belgium's independence in 1880. But it wasn't completed until 1905. On both sides of the Arch there are museums, one of old cars and the other of old planes! We went in the museum about the planes, it was very cool! It also housed a lot of old weapons- cannons, swords etc which was cool to see. There are a lot of old planes there- Its like a museum of the evolution of flight. That night I met up with my Belgian friend from AU, Paul Sturm, downtown at an Irish bar called the Old Oak which is near where he works near the fancy EU buildings downtown. (His parents are American but he grew up in Brussels, he studied at AU in DC until he graduated this spring and since he has moved back to Brussels.) It was nice to be with a bunch of English speaking kids in an English speaking bar for a change. His friends were very funny and we all played a trivia game at the bar and I was helpful with some of the American music and movie directors!

The next day we came to school (which is two metro stops away from the metro in my neighborhood - very convenient) to learn about our internships! We had individual consultations about the interviews we will be going on for our internships next week. I have five interviews and I really like the different places I'm interviewing. One is for a member of the European Parliament, another is an important consultant for the EU who consults about many things including Energy and Environmental issues. Another is called the Polar Conservation Organisation and another is the Environmental Policy center. The last one is the Royal Military Academy- doesn't sound as close to my interests but I hear it is very interesting as well! I have to do research about all of these organizations and people before the interviews so that I might impress someone and get an internship!

After that, my friends Supriya and Autumn and I decided to go exploring! It was super fun! we went downtown and sat by the fountain in the Royal Park (its near the Palace) for a while. Then we found the Botanique - a nice garden and beautiful glass building with funny statues all around. We went inside the building and I spied on cute musicians practicing and we found a schedule of a lot of indie bands- some I know like the Grizzly Bears-that are going to perform there! Then we took the tram- a train that runs in the middle of the street to the petit Sablon - which is where the "people who think they are cool" hang out. I saw many a cool person there- riding bikes and wearing Raybans. There are a lot of good cafes and antique restaurants. After walking around for a while we sat down and had a beer and talked for an hour or so. It was so fun!

That is a pretty good summary of the highlights of the last 3 days, and my computer is dying so I have to go! Peace and Love, Flo

Yaaay Brussels!! Today, my first FULL day in Brussels was very eventful. We got up early and went for a tour of the Grand Place, Dr. Sheridan, or Jerry, knows an incredible amount about the "story each building has to tell" in the Grand Place. This is what I managed to retain from his tour.. the Grand Place was destroyed by the Spanish, all the building were destroyed by the fire that the canons and torches showered on Brussels. Except the town hall which was built circa year 990 because the belgians spent so much effort putting out the fires to save this building which meant so much to them! (its the building on the right in the nighttime picture I put up) The rest of brussels was basically flattened. So... they rebuilt it! But not only that.. they rebuilt the Grand Place and 4000 other buildings in 3 years! THAT is an accomplishment - I don't think that could be done today.. and you should see these buildings- no this isn't the cheap stuff developers throw up nowadays either. NO these are building that tell stories! In the Grande Place, each building represents a different guild in belgium- such as the tailors and the cabinet makers. Each has beautiful sculptures and inscriptions about the foundations of society and the purpose of different aspects of each guild, as well as philosophical statements about humanity.

On more personal news, today I also moved in with my home-stay family! I was elated to find out that I would be living with a family with kids my age and a dog and a pool! Geraldine, 20, and Alexi, 18, picked me up and helped me lug my gigantic american bag downstairs and into their cute little european car! They explained that their parents were out of town until Sunday and that their aunt was staying with them for a couple days, so I can't move into my room yet. So for now, I'm in their music/play room. I like it! There is a guitar and a piano and a view of the pretty back yard and pool! But eventually I will have a room near the stars and the door that has its own bathroom and desk :)

The house is beautiful, and I enjoyed hanging out the Geraldine and Alexi's friends today.. but its been kinda stressful for me to adjust to a lot of the changes. They know english decently, but its a chore for them to speak in English. My french has become very rusty over the last 3 weeks, so my brain has been scrambling to make sense of all this french conversation flying over my head. But its slowly coming together. It's frustrating when you realize at a dinner conversation that every time you say something in english you interrupt the flow of conversation :( And as most of you know, its not quite natural for me to be quiet and speechless.. but I've been taking on this new persona somewhat- to spend the time listening to things I can pick up. This is definitely incentive to pull out the French/English dictionary and take some notes! I'm sure many of you are glad to hear I'm doing the listening for once!

To end on the most beautiful part of the day. I met to awesome belgium kids that I'm getting to know! They are very well mannered...I'm envious of this and other things about them. My favorite moment of the day was sitting in their beautiful back yard with Geraldine and her boyfriend and the Dog (BEST DOG IN THE WORLD), playing with the dog, talking about music..and laughing. Its a beautiful place, and though its stressful and awkward to adjust to foreign people in a foreign country, as I looked out the window of the car tonight into down town belgium I felt how much I love adventure. This is it folks. :)

On your mark, get set..

Here is a summary of all the reasons I wanted to study abroad in Brussels, other than the famous Waffles, chocolate beer, and french fries!

Brussels is rapidly emerging as the capital of Europe. It is the home of the European Union and its accompanying array of diplomats, politicians, lobbyists and reporters. It is the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the key institution in transatlantic security cooperation. It is the meeting point for thousands of international corporations and non-governmental international organizations. When you are in Brussels, you are in the center of European decision-making.

During my studies of International Studies at AU, I became very interested in International Environmental Agreements. As many of you know, one of my greatest passions is for the environment! I've been fascinated by the Kyoto Protocol and progress made on the international arena to try and preserve the environment. Europe has been much more progressive than the United States in its efforts to prevent climate change and to find and implement alternative forms of energy. I'm interested to learn about how the EU works, isn't it fascinating that all of those countries are working together to try and meet common goals on many different levels? I'm sure its a messy process, but maybe a sign of growing peace in the world!

Today is monday, I'm leaving to fly to belgium in 3 days! I'm pretty nervous right now about getting to know everyone in the group and meeting my home-stay family in Brussels! I'm sure it will be great though!