So I've been really slow about updating everyone, and for that I apologize. In my defense, I'm really tired and lazy when I get home. Not good enough? Okay, I have to walk/ride a bike a distance from the metro station to home, after spending more hours than I care to count on my feet, oftentimes in a suit (though that last part I don't mind so much). We've been lucky enough the past few days to have discovered the Quinn's children's old bikes, so after a bit of dusting and work, we at least have those to ride to the metro every day now. Still, I'm tired when I get home, so cut me some slack. I have your updates now though, so relax and enjoy.
The last update brought you all the way up to this past Monday and the trip to Leuven. Tuesday was NATO, Wednesday a conference, Thursday at SHAPE, and Friday a trip to Maastricht. (Pictures will be added later, I won't get to upload any for a couple weeks).
So starting with Tuesday, we had an early start to meet up in town before taking a bus out to NATO. Security was pretty tight, and we didn't get to take any electronics in, so we didn't get any photos until the end. We had sit-down briefings with three individuals throughout the day, and we ate lunch in the NATO cafeteria before the last briefing. It was an enjoyable site visit, but the diplomatic side is less my forte than is the military hand of NATO, SHAPE (I'll get around to that one in a sec).
Wednesday's conference more of a workshop, will several presentations given both by academics and diplomats. The topics ranged in levels of interest, but wound down at the end with discussions on EU Security and Trade. It ended up being a fairly long day, but it ended nicely as I got a chance to meet up with a friend from the states, Alyssa, who had flown in to visit her host-parents from her time on this trip last year. Alyssa pretty much directly recruited me for this program, and she's pretty proud of herself for that, but I'm pretty proud of her too. Anyway, we went out to a cafe for a drink and some catching up, then walked around a couple blocks before each heading home for the night. I got back to the metro station and waited about 15 minutes for Henry to get there so we could ride home.
Thursday continued our first week of site visits with a trip to SHAPE - Strategic Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. Despite the early start at, and at an inconvenient location, the trip out to SHAPE wasn't so bad. I slept for most of the initial 45-minute or so drive to the base, which was much needed. Once we arrived, we were greeted at the front gate by our guide, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Polish Army. He boarded our bus and got us on the base very rapidly. We arrived somewhere, and he gave us our first of two briefings for the day, the other from an officer in the Swedish Air Force. Lastly, we had a Q&A with the two officers and an American Colonel, before heading to lunch at the Officer's Club on base. We were able to share lunch with our Polish and American hosts, which was a very enjoyable experience.
Of all the site visits [including week 3 visits] I have enjoyed SHAPE the most. I have a strong affiliation towards the military, and I can't state the amount of respect I have for service men and women, so I was almost awestruck to have the chance to spend an afternoon with a Colonel serving in the heart of Europe. We talked about his past commands, like his service South Korea and Kabul, Afghanistan, family life with military families, and various other things. And by the end of lunch, I was so caught up with the base, how much all three officers liked living there, and how nice they all made it seem, all the questions I asked revolved around civilian jobs at SHAPE. I'm loving Europe and I love the area. I could definitely see myself here a few years down the road.
After some schedule shuffling, Friday became a short day trip out to Maastricht in the Netherlands. Dr. B has a friend that is a professor at the University of Maastricht, and after a couple hour train ride to the city, he agreed to give us a walking tour of the city. He also had to fly out of Brussels that afternoon, so our walking tour was very brisk, but the city was lovely. First we walked along the newer half of Maastricht, sitting on one side of the Maas River, and later toured the older half. We got to see his faculty building at the University, the monument dedicated to the liberation of Maastricht during WWII, two converted churches (one into a classy hotel, the other into a 3-story bookstore), and several other gorgeous parts of the town. We finished with lunch at a cafe, and managed to make it back to Brussels before 5pm.
That night a few of us went out for drinks at a semi-touristy bar called Delirium. Delirium boasts having over 2000 beers in stock at the bar, and makes several of their own beers. Alyssa joined a few of us for the night, as she was leaving the next morning for more travel. We ran into a larger group of American students, and got to chatting with them a good bit before heading out around 11:30. We hate calling nights in early, but Henry and I live kinda far out, and public transport stops running just after midnight.
So all in all, week 2 was very fun and exciting, both inside and outside of the site visits. The following weekend was focused heavily around beer, and I will have that update as soon as possible. But my posts are somewhat sporadic, so just keep your eyes peeled.
"All non-believers stand aside and fear, a new day is marching through the door." - Coheed and Cambria
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