Delft in Pictures

Ah, Delft. A small little town just south of The Hague with charming canals. It is home to the painter - Vermeer, the father of international law - Hugo Grotius, William Prince of Orange (who later became King William III of England and married Mary Stuart), and Delft pottery (which was a painting style that blended the styles painted on porcelain from China with European styles and became popular when the Chinese porcelain became unavailable after the death of Chinese emperor Wanli in the 17th Century).

The town is only 10 km from The Hague and makes for a great little day trip.

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"Istanbul Was Constantinople, Now It's Istanbul Not Constantinople"

March has been a busy month! Life in The Hague has continued along at about the same pace. I've noticed that the biggest demand on my time here (aside from working M-F) is socializing. And I definitely do not regret all the socializing because I've met incredible people from all around the world and formed some great friendships.

Unfortunately, while I've been socializing I've been neglecting my blog updates. So this posting will be less detail and more summary of the month of March so far.

The first weekend in March my friend Rob and I took two days off from work at the Tribunal to head to Istanbul for an extended weekend. This was my second time visiting the city. I first visited the city with my friend Lena three years ago, while on my Fulbright. I was dazzled by the city and was anxious to go back. This second definitely did not disappoint and there were many improvements that I noticed (perhaps coinciding with Istanbul being named Europe's Culture Capital in 2010?!?!).

It was much different traveling with a guy than with another girl. We still experienced heckling, but instead of being leered at by Turkish men we were frequently met with greetings like "Nice couple, want a Turkish rug?" or "I can help you spend your money" or "Nice honeymoon couple, come inside for delicious dinner." Traveling with a guy also made it much easier to experience a flavor of the city's night life.

Over the course of four days we walked a lot, saw numerous sights, and ate a lot of delicious Turkish cuisine. I had seen some of the sights before, but the addition of new audio guide tours assisted me in learning much more than I had before. We visited the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, The Spice Market, Grand Bazaar, Blue Mosque, and Basillica Cistern to name a few (some pictures are posted above).

We also paid a visit to a Turkish Hamam (a Turkish bath) for some much needed relaxation. A Turkish bath is a much different than any other "spa" experience. The himam experience this time was also slightly different than my previous himam. Typically the baths are segregated. You are given a towel (which looks a bit more like a picnic blanket than a towel) and taken to a changing room. There you strip down to nothing but the towel and are led to a room with a hot stone slab in the middle. You lay on the hot stone slab for a spell. In this instance I was then directed to the sauna where I steamed for about 30 minutes before a bath attendant (read: large Turkish woman in a bikini) fetched me and guided me back to the stone slab. Once I was comfortably laying on the stone slab she sloughed my top layer of skin off and proceeded to give me an incredible soap massage. I had purchased the deluxe treatment so after being exfoliated, suds-ed and rinsed, a different attendant came over and gave me a massage with honey. I think the honey was probably mixed with some type of oil because it was not sticky. After the honey massage I was led to a water spigot so I could wash the honey off and from there I was taken to a cold pool where I was able to swim for awhile. Finally, after feeling properly relaxed and rejuvenated I was taken back to the changing room to put on my clothes and head out for a night on the town.

The week after returning from Turkey was crazy. My friend and roommate, Marion, had a birthday and so my other friend and roommate, Becky, and I decided to throw her a surprise party. Miraculously we managed to keep the whole event a surprise. There was one moment where I almost cracked and confessed the surprise to Marion because she was so sad. To her it seemed like nobody wanted to celebrate her birthday. Other plans had been made for the weekend and when she tried to invite everybody to meet her for drinks after work nobody RSVPd or showed up (because immediately after she sent an email invite we sent an email around reminding people of the surprise party). I feigned fatigue and passed on going to drinks saying that I needed to go home and nap but set the stage for luring her back to our apartment by explaining that maybe after my nap we could go to dinner. Becky bailed on drinks with an excuse that she had to work late. So while Marion was at our favorite after-work watering hole with just a few people, all of the rest of our friends were gathering at our place to prepare for the surprise. When Marion finally arrived and everyone yelled surprise, she was INCREDIBLY surprised and happy!

That same week was a sad week in that a few of the close friends I've made here left to return to their homes. My roommate and friend Anna Clara and my friends and office mates Rob and Rabea both completed their internships and headed back to Brazil, DC, and Germany respectively. It was sad to see them go and their presence will be deeply missed here in The Hague. In order to provide a proper sendoff, however, the week was filled with delicious dinners, after-work drinks and a Crazy Hat/Silly Hair party. In my opinion, you couldn't ask for a better sendoff.

Last week it was business as usual and life was a bit calmer. The weather is finally taking a turn for the better and it is enjoyable to bike in the sunshine on the way to work. I had one minor bike fiasco on Thursday when I was biking along and my pedal suddenly flew off my bike. Luckily it was an easy and fairly inexpensive (17.50 Euro) fix and I was enjoying my bike again by Saturday.

Saturday I biked to the train station and then Marion and I took the tram to Delft. Delft is a quaint town about 10 km south of The Hague. It is famous for its pottery and also was home to Vermeer (painter who painted "Girl With The Pearl Earring"), Hugo Grotius (father of International law), and William of Orange (Dutch Monarch). Marion and I spent the afternoon wandering through the tiny canal filled town. We took in the sights and sounds of the market and ultimately camped out at a table in the sun for a late lunch and some delicious Belgian beer. I'll post some pictures of Delft soon.

Today was another vitamin-D filled day. I biked around The Hague with Becky in order to run a few errands. Then when Becky and Marion headed to work (yes, on a Sunday) I ran a few more errands and then took a nice run in the sunshine. It was a wonderful start to Spring!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

I can't believe it is already February and that I've been here in The Netherlands a full month. Where does time go? At least I can report that the time has not been wasted and that there has hardly been a dull moment.

Work at the Tribunal continues to go well. It seems that almost every day I learn something new whether it is because of the work I'm doing, a conversation that I have with somebody at the Tribunal, or a presentation I attend. This past week I attended a talk by one of the Defense attorneys, Peter Robinson. Robinson is the Defense attorney for Radovan Karadzic and he spoke about the development of the right of self-representation....well I should say he spoke a little about the right of self-representation and then the rest of the time he spoke about himself, his "legal thriller," The Tribunal, and how great he thinks Karadzic is. Karadzic was the Bosnian Serb President during the Balkan war conflict and he is an accused war criminal currently on trial at the Tribunal. Peter Robinson gives the impression that he is the greatest man who ever walked this earth. I'm paraphrasing but here's the gist of what he said about Karadzic: "He's a psychiatrist and a poet. He's very intelligent and warm and charming and interesting to talk to. He's very grateful for all the defense interns and he cannot believe so many people will work for him for free." I must say I've never heard a criminal defense attorney sing the praises of a client to this extent.

The portion of the talk that was devoted to the development of the issue of self-representation was, however, interesting. Robinson contrasted the self-representation issues that have occurred in various cases including Slobodan Milosevic, Vojislav Seselj, and Radovan Karadzic. Milosevic's style of self-representation was to barely participate in the trial at all and ultimately standby counsel (basically an attorney who will step in and represent the individual and conduct cross-examination if the Accused is unable to) had to be appointed due to his health and the need to keep the trial progressing. Seselj, on the other hand, sought to be as disruptive to the proceedings as possible and when standby counsel was appointed he commenced a hunger strike in protest. Finally, Karadzic differs from the others in that he has legal counsel (Robinson) to assist him with all the legal pleadings but he conducts all of the cross-examination of witnesses himself.

The defense talks will apparently occur about once a month and will feature a different attorney. It will be interesting to see what topics the other speakers choose and to note whether they also think so highly of their client.

Enough about the law, here's what else has been going on here:

* I've done a bit more exploring around The Hague and have a good idea of where many things are. I took some more photos (posted below) of the city. Unfortunately, the weekend days have been overcast so the photos are not the greatest.

* Last weekend I traveled to Hamburg, Germany to attend the wedding of one of my best friends. The wedding was a lot of fun and I was happy that I was able to make it. The venue was incredible. It was an old building that used to be used for storing ice that was collected from the Elbe river and used for refrigeration in the days of old. All the brick work and the addition of candles and flowers made for a very romantic and cozy ambiance. While I was in Hamburg I also went to the Kunsthalle, which is an art museum. At the Kunsthalle there was a great exhibit which featured art that was made by cutting paper into shapes (ala Henri Matisse). It was a very unique exhibit. I've posted some pictures of the art exhibit and the wedding below.

* This weekend has been low key. I was going to go to Amsterdam with some friends but between the wind (30 mph with 54 mph gusts) and numerous people fighting colds and other ailments we decided to stay at home. It's probably a good thing that I've been home because I've been able to catch up on my "to-do" list. Scholarship applications are due at Lewis and Clark next Friday so I've been working on those, doing laundry, and making arrangements for my trip to India (for those of you that don't know: at the end of May, I'll be heading directly from The Hague to Delhi, India where I'll be interning for 2 months at an Indian law firm!).

Well, that's all for now....hopefully I'll have a chance to write more soon.
Stroopwaffels - these are delicious! I had discovered these before (and I think they sell them at supermarkets or Cost Plus World Market in the US) but the fresh warm ones are divine!

Some Dutch food. I am not sure what the names are of most items, but some are bitterballen which is a fried outside with an unidentified but delicious filling. They have both meat and vegetarian options.

The Peace Palace (Vredespaleis), which houses the International Court of Justice.
The Grotemaarkt. This is a little area of town and the site of numerous bars that we've visited for Thursday night drinks, 80s/90s dancing, etc.

The bride, Maya, and I at her wedding in Hamburg, Germany.

An example of the artwork at the Kunsthalle exhibit that was made entirely by cutting paper into shapes. I only took a few pictures as examples because there were so many neat cut paper / shadow exhibit.


This was not made of cut paper, but was an art exhibit in the lobby of the building. I liked the colors in contrast to the white walls and white flooring.

Whirlwind Week

Wow! What a week it has been here in The Hague. I could probably have written a lengthy post each day this week with all of my experiences and impressions of the past week. But instead I'll try to post just some interesting highlights.

Last weekend I was in Germany, visiting my "German family" in Cologne. I returned to The Hague late on Saturday night and was greeted by a new roommate named Marion (who is from France). On Sunday, Marion and I ventured to Scheveningen (the beach in The Hague). We were incredibly lucky in that the weather was sunny and, while not exactly warm, it was warm for January. We walked around the beach a bit and then stopped off at one of the beach front restaurants for some fish and chips. The Dutch version of fish and chips is different than how we think of fish and chips in the states (not deep fried, and a bit bland). After relaxing at the restaurant for a bit we caught the tram back towards our apartment but made a quick stop at the ICTY so that we could make sure we knew where we had to go on Monday morning. I've included some pictures of the beach below.






Interning at the ICTY

Originally I was to begin at 9 am on Monday morning, however, I had received an email a few days prior to the start asking me to arrive at 8 am instead. There were 26 new interns that were scheduled to begin and apparently there were also numerous new interns for the Defense that also needed ID badges to be processed. We spent about the first hour handing in paperwork and getting a brief orientation and then we were taken to our individual placements. I was placed in Trial Chambers and have been assigned to work on a really interesting case. Before I attend the required security briefing I can't say much else about the case I'm working on or my assignments (other than to speak in general terms) because there is a high degree of confidentiality with everything I'm working on. I can, however, direct you to the ICTY website where you can read about the alleged war criminals that are currently on trial. Trials at the tribunal last quite awhile, but you have to remember that the amount of evidence that has to be combed through and presented is voluminous. There are also constantly new legal issues emerging and new challenges being made from everything to the jurisdiction of the tribunal to whether an accused should be limited in the time allowed for establishing the defense. You can read the indictment, the trial briefs, and many of the other legal documents (basically anything that is public record and not filed under seal) as well as watch the trial proceedings live here: http://www.icty.org/. The trial proceedings are available to be streamed except when there is a closed session because a witness has been afforded special protections or a matter that is being discussed is confidential.

There will be days when I will be in the courtroom because of certain tasks that I have to complete and it is possible that you would see me on the live feed (not speaking, but sitting at a desk). At some point in the next two weeks (and probably numerous times through the rest of my internship) you might be able to see me on the live video feed. Of course I will not be presenting, but I'll be observing and working on an assignment for the Chambers.

Anyway, I am enjoying the work and the atmosphere at the ICTY tremendously. I was immediately introduced to the legal team (of about 10 people, including myself) that I will be working with and they are all wonderful. They have all been incredibly welcoming and helpful in bringing me up to speed on what I need to know as well as any legal issues that are emerging may be of interest (even if it is not something we will be working on directly). They are also great about keeping me busy with a variety of challenging work but not overwhelming me with too many assignments and responsibilities. Once assignments have been completed they provide prompt positive feedback suggesting any necessary corrections.

The ICTY atmosphere is great in general. It's such an incredible experience to work with people around the world. I think that being in this environment is also unique in the sense that everybody is an expat so they are welcoming and interested in getting to know you and share their culture and learn about yours. I share office space with a bunch of other Chambers interns and it is fun to get to interact and work with people of similar age and with similar interests. Lunch is never boring because there are also people to go to the cafeteria and chat with. The ICTY interns are also a fun group to go out with and explore The Hague. The interns from the ICTY, the ICC (International Criminal Court), and the STL (Special Tribunal for Lebanon) get together for drinks and dancing or other events every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening. There are social coordinators at the various institution who are responsible for publishing a social newsletter each week that also announces various events of interest that will be occurring in The Hague.

Well, that's all I'll write for now. This weekend should be fun - tomorrow a few of the other interns and my roommates will be venturing to a market and to the city center for some shopping. I'm also going to look at an inexpensive bike that I might purchase and investigate joining a gym.

My Apartment in The Hague

Ik ben aangekomen (I have arrived.)

Note: I wrote this post this morning but am only now getting a chance to post it.
After spending approximately 17 hours in a plane (24 hours if you count the time 9 hour time difference from Portland) I made it to The Netherlands. The flights were fairly uneventful except for some US Airways customer service problems. In Portland I was in boarding zone 5 which meant that I was one of the last people to board the plane. Because other passengers had brought so many carry on bags there was no space and I was forced to gate check my bag. The plane was at maximum weight capacity, and the ground crew in Portland ended up over-fueling the plane by about 100 lbs. so we sat on the tarmac for 20 minutes with the engines running in order to burn off the excess jet fuel. Over-fueling seems like quite an expensive mistake to make in terms of cost, environmental impact, and time loss. The delay on the Portland tarmac caused the plane to land in Phoenix at the exact time my connecting flight was beginning to board so I got in some cardio by having to sprint from one terminal to the next. Luckily I made it to the plane and the flight to Philadephia arrived on time and did not require sprinting.
I arrived in Amsterdam Schipol, made my way through passport control and customs and headed for the trains. Schipol is only about 35 minutes from The Hague by train. That is, of course, if you get on the correct train. There are multiple trains routes that run through The Hague and multiple train stops in The Hague, but not all of the routes stop at the Central Station. When looking at the train schedule I had just looked for The Hague and assumed that the train would stop at the Central Station. This was a big mistake. Luckily I figured the mistake out while I was at the last stop in The Hague (and only 3 minutes away from the Central Station) instead of when I had arrived in Rotterdam or some other city.
At the train station, Gerbrand, a friend and neighbor of my landlords (who are currently vacationing in Spain), picked me up and drove me to my new apartment. Gerbrand is a very nice older man who works in the library at the Peace Palace (where the International Court of Justice and the International Court of Arbitration are located – I’m hoping to arrange a tour through him as the building is closed to visitors). He also hosts a few interns in his apartment, which is located in the same apartment building where I’m living and we will all (the three other interns I live with, the two interns that live with Gerbrand) be getting together for coffee sometime in the next week.
My new apartment is quite small but it is cozy and in an ideal location. The building is located in the international section of The Hague (which is where all the embassies and international courts are located) across from the Peace Palace and the main police station. I believe I am only about a 30 minute walk or 10 minute tram ride away from where I will be working.
The apartment has 4 bedrooms, each of which is occupied by a law student from a different country. It also has a shared kitchen, living room, and bathroom. Two of my roommates are also interning at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Anna Clara (from Brazil) is in the Office of the Prosecutor and I’m not sure which section Marion (from France) is in, as she has not yet arrived. Lynnette, my third roommate (from Kenya / the U.K.) has actually already graduated law school and currently works at the International Criminal Court.
There is a supermarket close by the apartment and I was thrilled to learn that it is open 7 days a week and on Monday – Saturday it is open until 10 p.m.! While we are used to grocery stores being open 7 days a week and long hours of operation in the US, I was preparing for operating hours that were similar to those I experienced in Germany. In Germany the supermarkets were only open Monday – Friday and on Saturday until about noon. If a holiday backed up to a weekend, the supermarket would be closed for days (I learned this the hard way when I lived in Germany and returned from my EU seminar late the Thursday before Good Friday and had no food in my cupboards or refrigerator). Since the supermarket would be open on Sunday, I was able to purchase just what I would need for Wednesday night dinner and Thursday breakfast and lunch.
After the quick trip to the grocery store I took a short nap and went to work unpacking. It didn’t take too long to unpack and it felt nice to be situated. Anna Clara’s mother is currently visiting and she cooked a delicious dinner of bruschetta, seasoned beef, and potatoes for Anna Clara, Lynette and I. It was so nice of her to cook dinner for us and I have a feeling that we will be spoiled during the next two weeks she is here because she has already informed us she will be cooking a Brazilian rice and beans meal. Lynette has also offered to cook a Kenyan/British fusion dish at some point in the next two weeks. I would love to cook something as well, but need to figure out what a good “American food” dish would be. Suggestions for something to cook are more than welcome in the comments below.
Dinner was a nice way to spend the evening getting to know my roommates. I look forward to spending the next two months with them (Anna Clara is only in The Hague until the beginning of March and Lynnette will have to change to another apartment at the end of February). After dinner and some more chatting, I retired to my room to sleep.
Thursday morning I packed some clothes into a carry on bag and headed for the train station to catch a train to Cologne, Germany. I will be in Cologne visiting my German family until Saturday evening. It was a bit surreal being on the train and passing through Duisburg (where I lived in 2007 – 2008). It almost feels as though I never left. There is snow / ice on the ground here (from the big snowstorm a few weeks ago and the current rain) which is an unusual sight to behold. Romy, my “German mother,” told me that Thursday (yesterday) was the first day she was able to drive in over 3 weeks!
It’s time to bring this first post to a close and enjoy some German breakfast (which I’ve been looking forward to for days!). In Germany, for breakfast there are always brötchen (rolls) which can be topped with cheese or meat or nutella (tons of options) and lots of coffee. Breakfast is a truly relaxed and enjoyable experience – which is probably why they have a verb in German which means “breakfasting” (Frühstucken). So I’m off to breakfast.

EU/NATO Seminar

This month I had the opportunity to participate in a week long seminar about the European Union, NATO, and their relations with the United States. Throughout the course of the week we were given the opportunity to speak with diplomatic officials and bureaucrats from both the U.S. and Europe. We were wined and (mostly by the Fulbright commission, although NATO did pay for one of our meals) - I am now afraid to step on a scale after our week of three course meals. There were 35 total Fulbright participants - of whom only about 10 or less had just completed their BA. Most of the participants were MA or PhD scholars. It was refreshing to speak with other Fulbrighters from different countries - many of them older and more experienced and wrack their brains about opportunities and possible paths to take in my future.
This seminar was possibly one of the most informative and interesting events that I have ever participated in in my life. I have a new motivation for my project and feel more engaged in learning and discussing issues - a part of me that I had sort of forgotten in the past few months of being a member in the German University system. I am now re inspired with regards to my research project and I discovered new angles to focus on and explore.

Below I will give a break down of the week and what I experienced and some of what I learned by day. This is very much abridged as my brain took in so much information over the course of the week and I don't have the energy to relate it all. At a date in the future I plan on reorganizing and typing my notes and will gladly make those available to anybody who is interested in learning more about these bodies.

Day 1 - Arrival, Departure to Luxembourg:
I arrived in Brussels (after an early morning of train travel) in order to meet other participants and catch the bus to Luxembourg. Originally we were scheduled to attend a dinner at the U.S. Embassy in Luxembourg, but due to an untimely death our dinner was canceled and we ended up spending time in the hotel and getting to know one another instead. Dinner was still excellent - we just didn't have the opportunity to speak with the U.S. Ambassador.

Day 2 - Court of Justice, Lunch with the U.S. Deputy Ambassador, Court of Auditors:

We left the hotel in order to view a court session at the European Court of Justice. This court cooperates with the individual courts of all the EU nations and it takes action against countries for failure to act or meet EU obligations. It also reviews certain decisions of the EU and evaluates whether or not a Country's law or EU law should apply to certain situations. There are 27 Justices on the Court (one for each member country) and 9 advocates general who sit in on proceedings and make unbiased recommendations to the justices for a ruling. Only 1 advocate general sits per case and typically Justices sit in combinations of 3, 5, or 9 depending on how complex they believe the issue to be. When an issue concerns a particular country's law the Justice from that country typically is seated for the proceedings in order to answer the questions of the other Justices about that country's law. When the justices deliberate they meet in secret without any translators, staff members, or advocates general. Deliberations are conducted in French. The votes they cast are secret and there are no dissenting opinions that are issued (as is the case with the U.S. Supreme Court).
The case that we watched was a matter of Italian law v. EU law as it applied to debtors/creditors and the differences in collecting payment between private and public entities - not the most entertaining of cases that I think we could have witnessed and in fact it was difficult to follow without extensive background. One of the Justices actually fell asleep during the proceedings - interestingly enough we had been warned by the Court not to fall asleep as that would be considered rude. The most interesting part of the proceedings was the fact that at the beginning there was about 30 minutes spent reading the opinions of the court on other cases and those opinions were all read in different languages. When the case is concerning a particular country then the proceedings are conducted in the language of that country. Similarly it was interesting to watch all the translators in their window boxes as they interpreted the Italian proceedings into English, French, Slovak, and German.
After watching the proceedings, we headed to a delightful lunch in which the U.S. Deputy Ambassador to Luxembourg was in attendance. He was - in his own words - our consolation prize for the missed dinner the night before. I was fortunate enough to be seated at his table and partake in his discussion about U.S. Politics - especially foreign policy, how he anticipates policies to change after the election (he does not expect much to change - other than other countries will at least for a short time be more excited to engage with us), and how to become a diplomatic official.
After lunch we were escorted to the Court of Auditors where we met with the British Court Auditor's Chief Aid, Peter Welch. The Court of Auditors reviews the budgetary spending of the EU and creates reports that explain whether or not the money is being spent as it was planned and whether or not objectives are being met. He explained that in the EU budget about 50% of the money goes to farm subsidies, 1/3 to Social Security policy, 1/6 to research, 1/6 to external aid, and 1/6 to administrative expenses.
I was expecting the Court of Auditors to be incredibly dull due to the fact that it is an institution of accountants, however, Mr. Welch's wit and speaking style were surprisingly entertaining and it made it enjoyable to learn about the subject and engage in a discussion on monetary issues.
Finally we loaded up the bus and headed back to Brussels where we would spend the remainder of our time.

Day 3 - European Commission Briefings:

On Friday, March 14, 2008 we spent the entire day in the European Commission (the executive branch) , speaking with various bureaucratic officials. We learned about the EuroZone -where countries are on the Euro and how the concept of the Euro Zone was created, the EU's potential enlargement (and the prospect of Turkey becoming a member), EU structural reforms, the European Neighborhood policy (in which the EU cooperates with neighboring countries and provides them with targeted aid and incentives in order to become more democratic), the EU security policy, and EU/US relations.
The speakers were very impressive and it amazed me at how frankly they spoke with us about various issues. I don't want to bog everyone down with the details, but if you have any questions you may feel free to e-mail and ask me as I took extensive notes and feel like I now know a lot.

Day 4 - College of Europe, Brugge Tour:

On Saturday, we headed to Brugge in order to have a lighter day and tour the city of Brugge (which is called the Venice of the North). Brugge is a preserved Medieval City - the street pattern has never changed, largely because of the earlier poverty of the city. It was the original large trading post between the North and the South and as a result was prosperous until the trade routes were moved to Antwerp and then to Amsterdam.
Our first objective in going to Brugge was to attend a sales pitch at the College of Europe. The sales pitch itself was not that interesting, but we were also given a lecture on the politics of European monetary policy. The lecture on monetary policy was informative. According to the policy, much of the expansion within the EU is in order to preserve growth. The Eastern European countries have room for their economies to expand and they have labor resources that the aging Western European countries need.
After our lecture and lunch we were given a tour of Brugge. It is a lovely city and provided the breath of fresh air in a quaint village that was needed after 1/2 a week of intense seminars in a large city. The city is now overpopulated with tourists, but it was an enjoyable day filled with walking around, learning about the city history, and sampling chocolate.
The fact that Belgium is so small and that you can easily make it from Brussels to another city within about an hour adds to the livable atmosphere of Brussels. We returned that evening to Brussels and later that evening we met up as a group at the bar Delirium which hosts the Guiness World Record for the most beers on the menu - 2,004!

Day 5 - Unscheduled (Sunday) visit to an open-air market, the Town Hall, and Horta Museum:

Sunday was a free -day and so I went with a small group of other Fulbrighters to a large open-air exotic market. The market was mostly run by an immigrant population and was complete with fresh fruit and vegetables, baked goods, other food items, and of course junk. I was delighted to find some fresh strawberries and fresh nuts that made for a delicious (lighter than the rest of our meals - which was needed) lunch. After the market we began our stroll towards the Brussels castle, however, after misreading our map (5 Fulbright fellows - go figure) and receiving 3 sets of incorrect directions, we never made it there. We ended up by the Town Hall (Hotel deVille) after a lot of wandering around and sat on the steps in order to eat our impromptu picnic lunch. Then we wandered further, first to a cafe for some coffee and a bathroom and then to the Horta museum. The Horta museum is the old house/office from Victor Horta - a art nouveau architect. His house was spectacular - elegantly designed and decorated in the art nouveau style (pictured at right).
Our group split into two after the Horta museum - half returned to the hotel and the other half (which I was a part of) headed off towards the center of Brussels to explore the famous chocolate shops and look over the entire city. It was an enjoyable stroll and I took a lot of great pictures. I did not buy any chocolate at this point - primarily because the chocolates at places like Pierre Marcolini (the most famous of the shops) was incredibly expensive and I wasn't convinced that it was worth that price when there are other nice chocolate shops around in which the chocolate is not cheap but it is not that expensive.

Day 6 - Council of Ministers, U.S. Mission to the EU, and the European Parliament:

The day started out with a visit to the Council of Ministers where we were briefed about the outcome of the European summit that had finished up the previous Friday. The council set legislation for issues like climate change, external relations, immigration, and security. The decisions by the council are political intentions, but as it is only a political intention it has no legal weight and cannot be challenged if nothing comes about from it. Our speaker, Wolfgang Ploch, was well versed in the workings of the council but primarily in issues related to climate change. He commented on how the EU has gained astonishing importance even in just the past 15 years and that although it has a ways to go in gaining authority on some issues it has made leaps and bounds.
After the Council and another delicious lunch we headed to a briefing by the U.S. Mission to the European Union. At the beginning we met with a public affairs officer who explained a bit about the mission but after a short introduction from him we had the opportunity to speak with - or should I say be tongue-lashed by Special Envoy Gray. It should be noted that Special Envoy Gray was a Bush recess appointment as he would likely not have been confirmed by the Senate. He is a staunch Republican and immediately came out swinging at our group after somebody asked a question about climate change and the U.S. failure to sign Kyoto. He immediately became sort of agitated and made the claim that nobody would ever give credit to a Republican for passing something environmentally favorable (to which our group responded by naming Schwarzenegger and the first Bush among others). He also called our group un-American (and it should be noted one of our group members is a member of the Armed Forces), overly critical of our government, and biased by the liberal media (again it should be noted that about 5 group members are journalists). It was shocking to have a diplomatic official address individuals in such a manner and I certainly hope that he does not conduct diplomacy in such a manner as that certainly will not help the U.S. image abroad. Our program director was of the opinion that he was seeking to challenge us and engage in a rousing debate, however, I think that it could have been done with a little more tact and respect. Special Envoy Gray did make a few comments with which I have to agree. He noted that this election - with both Hillary, Obama, and McCain running is historical (a woman, an African American, and the oldest candidate) and that it demonstrates to Europe our ability to integrate - not perfectly but certainly better than Europe itself is able to integrate with various minorities. He also noted that a good reason to be ashamed of America and the government would be the subprime Mortgage crisis and again I must agree. Although there are numerous other problems within our country that is one that has large implications for both our domestic and foreign situation and it really should not have occurred in the first place.
Finally, after an intense emotionally stirring experience we finished off our day with a speaker, Michael Shackleton (who is the author of a book on the subject), on the European Parliament. Like the other British speakers I was impressed with his ability to speak candidly, convey a great deal of information and utilize humor so as to keep it entertaining. Mr. Shackelton pointed out, that like in the U.S., there is a great deal of ignorance and apathy within the EU citizens when it comes to elections and that often the greatest voting turnout occurs when the EU elections coincide with the National elections.

Day 7 - NATO Headquarters:

Tuesday, a day immediately after NATO forces in Kosovo had been active due to a Serbian attack along the border, our group headed to NATO in order to learn about what the organization does. Once again our speakers were excellent and I learned an incredible amount about the inner-workings of NATO and the 21st Century Challenges it is facing.
Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Chad were the primary topics in terms of current missions but it was interesting to learn that NATO conducts both civilian and military operations in those countries. There are of course numerous other operations that NATO has conducted in the past and that they are conducting at present. It was interesting for me to learn about the successes the organization has seen and also the partnerships that it forges with other countries on certain projects. Russia, for example, has actually cooperated significantly with NATO on Operation Endeavor in the Middle East and shows interest in further cooperation. In addition to learning about the organization itself we also spent some time discussing the relationship between the EU and NATO and the US and NATO. The EU actually has structured their defense policy around being able to utilize NATO in order to round up forces (which all are actually member government forces - NATO has no army or weapons of its own and relies solely on members to provide resources when needed) and respond to crises.

Day 8 - SHAPE Headquarters:

SHAPE is the command center where all allied military operations worldwide are conducted. We had been informed in advance that SHAPE would not really tell us a whole lot of information or answer questions - and with our first speaker that appeared to be the case. The powerpoint that he shared contained interesting information but his monotone voice and speaking style made it less interesting. Unlike the other institutions and speakers, I think that most information that was shared with us was actually information that is available on the website.
Our second speaker was surprisingly interesting - he was another British gentleman who again blended wit with information. He detailed the process of the EU utilizing the NATO system in order to provide their own defense and run their own operations should the need arise. He was much more willing to answer questions and speak in a manner that was not limited to information from the website.
Finally we finished our day with a panel discussion between the two previous speakers and an American Lieutenant. This panel consisted solely of our group asking questions and hearing the perspective from three different individuals representing three different countries and three different divisions within SHAPE. It was interesting to hear how the Armed Forces get along and to hear anecdotal stories of how the groups play sports in their free time but usually as a unit and not as a country in order to promote cultural cooperation and understanding since they are all working towards the same goals.
That night we had our closing dinner - conducted our final discussions as a group and then headed one last time to the bar Delirium in order to celebrate the conclusion of a great week.

Day 9 - Exploration of a Few Parks in Brussels, Chocolate Factory, and a Return to Germany:

On the final day in Brussels a few of us decided to explore a few of Brussels parks and walk around a bit enjoying the general aesthetics. It was enjoyable to stretch our legs and enjoy the fresh air after a week of mostly sedentary existence and overeating. Brussels also has an Arc d' Triomphe, like Paris and it is contained in a large park. The park also contained a monument that was erected to celebrate Belgium's colonial past - which struck me as being unusual in that you don't often find countries to have monuments celebrating their imperialism.
After walking for a bit we headed to the "best fries" in Brussels. It was at first hard to stomach the idea of greasy food after having ingested so much over the previous week, however, I think we were all of the idea that we should live it up and experience it while you can. The fries were quite delicious - a nice texture and a good flavor, however, I am not sure what qualifies them as the "best" in Brussels. Having finished our fries we then boarded the metro in order to head to the Neuhaus chocolate factory where people can buy the deluxe pralines for a price more reasonable than the store they have downtown. The only downside was that they had to be purchased in large quantities (3 kg!!) but we were luckily a group of 4 and were able to purchase that much and divide the spoils amongst ourselves. It is still a large amount of chocolate but luckily pralines are not something that spoils quickly and it makes for nice gifts.
After our venture into the boonies seeking chocolate I headed to the train station and boarded my train back to Germany. The train ride was mostly uneventful until I reached Dusseldorf where the train was boarded by a large group of unruly teenagers (who did not have school today due to Good Friday) who were drinking and then had the audacity to begin smoking on the train (although it is not allowed). Despite the fact that there were numerous adults on the train who were annoyed by the smoking and the loud nature of the group I was surprised that NOBODY said anything to them. It is interesting how afraid the Germans are of asserting authority and how they allow their high school aged children to run around as they please - something that has been attributed to their difficulty in coming to terms with their Nazi past. Luckily I only had to tolerate this action for about 10 minutes when I was finally back in Duisburg and able to get off the train.
Another thing that caught me by surprise being back in Germany was the fact that everything (grocery stores!!) was closed today due to the fact that it was Good Friday. I was happy that I purchased an Apple and some crackers yesterday in Brussels and that some food stands were open because without those items I would have had to subsist today off my large store of chocolate. Germany seems to make life incredibly difficult at certain points.