Tradition, Bookies, and Stalking

Being in another country is all about learning new cultures and traditions. You can see another way of life while abroad, and if you're lucky, you can take some of those experiences back home with you. This is what makes people the better for travel. I'd like to share some of the traditions I've encountered since I've been here. 

Two of the main traditions I've personally established are: 

1. Bumping my head on my slanty attic ceiling at least twice a day.

2. Slamming my knee into the booby trap that is my bed post. Bruises to prove it. 

(If I'm lucky I won't take these traditions back home)

A more legitimate one: Umbrella EVERYWHERE I GO. And sunglasses. And rain boots. And flats. The rain in Leuven falls mostly, everywhere.

The twenty minute walk to the train station is a tradition I won't mind losing. I have quickly adapted to having to dodge buses and bikers. I am now accepting bets on whether a bike or bus will hit me first, if anyone is looking for a humorous alternative to fantasy football. 

There are some traditions I'd like to establish from here on out. For instance, why do people walk past chocolate stores without getting chocolate? It's Belgium damn it!

I'd also like to set a personal goal. Through my professional stalking capabilities, I would like to find someone who went to high school with my Member of Parliament. He went to Brandywine High School and was born in 1964. If anyone knows anyone who fits that criteria, please let me know. 

XOXO

Hallo European Union!

This week, I've confronted both French and Flemish, in Leuven and Brussels. Since arriving in Leuven, I've had this impression that I'm only aware of 25% of what's going on around me. For example, because I can't understand what people around me are saying, I feel as though I have free reigns to say and do what I want in public. Like on the 30 minute commute to Brussels on Saturday afternoon where Kaitlynn, Sarah, Christina, and I talked nonchalantly about human trafficking. Who wants to here that? I've also felt like I can dance and make random noises all over the place. 

Over the weekend, I finally felt like I was grasping a little bit of the fact that I'm not living a fake life. I even caught onto a few words. Winkle means store. I think. My favorite Flemish phrase is NACHTWACHT. I'm really not sure what it means but it's fun to say in a really guttural ( and probably really offensive tone). It's also the name of the store that sells wine past 6:00pm. What, Morgan? 6:00pm? How quaint and European! No. It gets old quick. We've made friends with the Nachtwacht man though. He sold us a corkscrew. I don't think he sells them. We haven't sprung for the hairdryer, but like priorities, right?

Apparently, it's not true immersion with only two languages you don't know though! Today was the first day of our internship! I got up at 6:30a.m. to get ready. I headed down for breakfast, only to see a group of kids I had been going out with every night for the past week suddenly look so respectable and functional in the real world. It felt like we were all going on a field trip as we crammed onto the train together. When we got off the train, we saw that we were not the only ones making our way into the Alberto Spinelli building. I turned to Sarah, and asked if she felt like we were going into the Ministry of Magic. For all I knew and was expecting, we seriously could have been. As I turned through the revolving door, my stomach was doing some spinning of its own. I was so nervous! We walked in the door, and our program director told me that since I was to start at 9:15, I would be the first one to call my office to come fetch me. Considering 25 of my new housemates/ eating mates/ classmates/ party mates were right behind me, I made the call. Then I realized that when my guy came to get me, I would have absolutely no idea who he was. 

He came down the stairs and walked over to my program director, who then introduced us. As I reached out my hand to make his acquantice and he didn't even notice, I wondered for the 400th time this week how old I'll have to be before I can go one whole day without embarrassing myself. I left my friends downstairs and headed up to the 10th floor, once again packed up- this time in an elevator. The close quarters were not nearly as uncomfortable and smothering as the 5 different languages bouncing off the close corners. 

I was in the office for all of 5 minutes before my boss told me I would be going to a committee meeting. I grabbed my bag as we went from the 10th floor to the third floor and then somehow ended up going from the E block to the G block, which means a whole different building. What? I guess when there are over 750 MEP's alone, you need a lot of space. So I'm in this crazy room at the end of what I can only say was a maze, when my boss gives me a program and tells me that I can "ring him to collect me" after the meeting. What? I'm here? You're not? Meeting? Europe? Parliament? I sent my mom a frantic email while I waited for the meeting to commence, only after realizing that it was about 3a.m. in Delaware. Nervous and not knowing what to do, I looked around like a crack head looking for her dealer. Then! Down the hall, came CHRISTINA! I don't think I've ever been so happy to see her! We went in together and tackled our first European Union Committee meeting: The Eastern Partnership and its Multilateral Platforms- what impact. These seemed so official and so daunting. But I found a perfect way to lighten the mood, when I opened my laptop to a Desktop Background of Lana Del Rey seductively winking in front of a huge American flag. Hello European Union! After figuring the important things, like that coffee was delivered to us and that channel 2 meant English (um thank God!), we sat in and took notes like 2 dorky politics interns on the first day of work. Oh, sorry Latvia, you meant you didn't want your notes verbatim?

When my meetings were finished, I went back upstairs and started reading a 92 page handbook on the European Parliament!!!!!!!!! This would have been bearable if I had any sort of distractions, but alas. The other two guys in my office spoke Latvian the whole time, so it's not even like I could have any idea what was going on around me. It was just me and my 92 pages of logistics and procedures. It's a very isolating feeling to be in the same room as other people and have no idea what's going on around you. 

I asked my office a million questions, to the point where I might have annoyed them. They told me that over the course of the semester, I would largely be focusing on the European Partnership, which is totally ok with me. I did more research on that for the rest of the day. A lot of the objectives focused on bringing about democracy and trying to bring the Eastern states up to European standards. This was a real life scenario of bringing human condition into its best by means of political work aka everything I love about politics. I'm very excited to be involved in this project. I'm even more excited because a lot of these relations have to do with Russia, and this just may be the closest my infatuation every gets to Russia! I keep mentally saying the Soviets, so I should probably chill with that. I also have this urge to introduce myself as a Latvian serf, which I should definitely chill with. My coworkers seem really awesome though, and I'm looking forward to the remainder of the semester. 

Oh, want the key to impressing your foreign office on your first day?!? Tell them the first trip you're going on is Amsterdam! This weekend!!!!!! Then ramble about Anne Frank when they bring up "the night life".

P.S. There was ice cream at dinner and wine after. Happy Intern Day! 

I'm Alive !

Welkom! 

That means Welcome in Dutch. 

I still have no concept of the fact that I'm here, but the adrenaline is running strong. I'll take it from the top. I did the whole packing thing mostly on Friday and Saturday. Mostly Saturday. I went back and forth the entire time between being so proud of myself and hating myself for how much stuff I had. 

I would like to split my packing life into three sections for you. 

1. Things I needed to bring

- sour gummy worms

- intern gear

- rain gear

- my Senate shot glass 

- adapters

- 12 pairs of shoes apparently 

- my mini German beer mug on a necklace #Oktoberfest

2. Things I wish I could bring

- caution tape

- my bed

- my pillows

- my bed

- my bed

- my bed

- my bed

- money 

- my Philadelphia Union gnome

3. Things I really don't need to bring or even own

- my senior prom bouquet

- my camouflage "American Rider" vest

So in the end, I fit everything into 2 suitcases and a carryon. And a backpack. At least I thought I did until I got to the airport and put these things on the weigh station. First Bag: I'm not even telling you. Sorry. Second Bag: Also overweight. After proclaiming that my scales at home were wrong, I shimmied over to the side and started taking stuff out of my suitcase. In these circumstances, some things may have been better to get rid of than others. For example, instead of bringing my hairdryer and curling iron, WHICH DON'T EVEN WORK, I should have brought the Sperry's that I hastily got rid of on the airport floor. I actually sat on the floor of the Philadelphia Airport taking turns weighing things on the suitcase scale to decide which sweaters were not going to get passport stamps. I also tied my sneakers to my backpack- which made me look super athletic. Didn't hate it. May or may not have said to Sarah in the customs line a little loudly, "A I'M GOING TO EUROPE TO TRAIN FOR THE OLYMPICS!" Maybe I'll uphold that and use it to make new friends. But like not too good of friends because then I think they'd figure out that I'm definitely never going to be in the Olympics for anything. 

Ze Aeroplane

Walk on with a big smile on my face, roller carryon in tow, ready to sit in my seat and enjoy the ride in. I had selected my window seat when I bought the ticket, and my mom told me that morning that she didn't think anyone was sitting next to me. Well, someone was sitting next to me. And she asked if I wanted to switch seats with her so she could sit next to her husband. In the center seat of the center row. I said no thanks. I don't know how she thought that I would be willing to do that for a 7+ hour flight. Like if it was her and her three year old child, yes- I would have made the switch. But homegirl is like 3 times my age wanting me to surrender a window seat......... 

Well the person who actually had the middle seat found it similarly undesirable and opted to sit next to me instead. So I'm sitting next to a young ginger man now, and I attempt to make conversation. He was from Belgium and not very chatty, as it is. He sat perfectly still the entire flight. I'm was adjusting, jumping around, not eating my green beans - in short just a small child on a plane. I thought I was so old navigating the airport by myself. Nothing really messes that up like eating a whole bag of sour gummy worms instead of a human meal. We navigated the airport and getting home better than I thought we would be able to. With the exception of my 2 suitcases trying to push me down the escalator to my sudden death. I prevailed though. We met two other people from our program at the airport, waiting for the train. We recognized them as being from our program when we saw a girl go to sit down on a luggage rack and then topple over onto the floor. Shout out. On the train from Brussels to Leuven, I was alarmed by how similar it looked to home- I expected different trees. You know when you go somewhere tropical you know you're there because of the palm trees? I wanted the same thing. There should be a Europe tree. The 4 of us fit our hmm maybe 10 bags into a taxi with a driver who didn't speak English. But here we are! 

I now live in a little European attic with slanted ceilings and sky windows. These sky windows come in especially handy because I don't have WiFi in my room, so that's how I'm checking the weather! Hint: it's usually raining. We've gone out both nights we've been here so far. We live within walking distance of Oude Markt, which is the longest strand of bars in Europe. Without even knowing the name of the bar, the first one we went to was called T' Begin. As the Stella brewery is within smelling distance, I ordered a Stella as my first abroad beer. I also stole a coaster. We went to 2 other bars on the first night and set a goal of going to all of them throughout the semester. The students don't get here until Sunday, so we're expecting it will only get more fun. I mean, there are 1 Euro Waffle Shots, so I don't know how anything could go wrong on this. 

I got my internship assignment yesterday! At dinner, I announced that I wanted an ex- USSR country, mostly because  I support the proliferation of Cold War Jokes. In a display of my psychic powers, I have... LATVIA! With a Christian Democrat! Who calls Philly his second home! Boss status.

Classes are 2.5 hours long, but made bearable by a 20 minute coffee break. Yeah. Don't hate that. 

Our meals are prepared by chefs and have been amazing so far. We sorted out the gluten thing. One down side of the meals - set times. And there haven't really been GF desserts, which I mean I guess maybe it's a good thing, if you think about it like that. 

I haven't had waffles, french fries, or chocolate yet.. I'll get there I promise! 

Today we toured the Stella Artois Brewery - the largest brewery in the world. We got to wear neon Stella vests the whole time, so I was in heaven with that. I stole a coaster.

Questions, Questions*, Vragens

With my trip to Belgium close enough  that I can see my arrival weather in the 

5 day forecast, I'm definitely getting a wee bit angsty. 

Common symptoms of this abroad preparation stage include, but are not limited to:

- Retorting that you hate politics and foreign nations (an issue if you're interning for the EU....)

- Claiming you don't feel like studying abroad right now (umm too late, girlfriend) 

- Stuffing shirts into boots (all 3 pairs)

- Wanting to buy out all Candy Corn and Pumpkin Spice Lattes in reach (is that a thing over there?)

At this stage, the common worry-filled student may also entertain a myriad of questions about her upcoming trip. 

- SHOULD I BRING "FEMININE PRODUCTS" WITH ME?
- DOES CHRISTINA SNORE?
- IF I STOP EATING NOW WILL I BE SKINNY ENOUGH TO GO TOPLESS IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE, SHOULD THE NEED OCCUR?
- DO EUROPEAN GIRLS GET PIMPLES?
- SHOULD I PACK A HALLOWEEN COSTUME?
- WHERE IS MY AMERICAN FLAG BANDANNA?
- DO THEY LIKE STRIPES IN EUROPE?

FuN FaCt: The Crying Girl Meme was a girl going abroad. 

* According to Google Translate, 

the French word for "Questions" is "Questions". 

Yes, this totally killed my creative title idea. 

P.S. Burn by Ellie Goulding

A Few Steps Forward & a Big Step Back

In the past few days, I've made a lot of progress in preparing for my trip. Of course that progress has been made largely under duress, coming from both my mother and the ever ticking clock (in military time! Sike, I haven't mastered that yet; I'm still working on solving circle clocks before the time changes on me.)  I digress- PROGRESS. 

• We booked a trip to Dublin!!! Cheers! Slainte! 
• Let it be noted that this booking was not made without considerable panicking on my part. I made my mom sit with me the entire time. Let it be noted that this booking was not made without error. Thinking we were being resourceful by leaving from the Brussles Charleroi airport on a day we'll be interning in Brussels, we booked it for 18 o clock. (I almost booked it for 6:45 before I realized that this would have been AM). ANYWAY Ryanair deceived us- Brussels Charleroi airport is apparently not so much in Brussels, and it looks like us little American interns will have to be taking off work a little early that day- somehow I think that Europe is more than a little used to that... Yeah Greece, I went there. (May the internet gods not let a Greek MEP see that during my internship). 
• I began PACKING!!! 
• This actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did all my corporate ish and made my way through the closet. Brussels has decided it would go through a wee bit of a heat wave right about now, and it's really throwing of my game. I had just convinced myself to limit shorts/ sundresses/ everything holy. 
• I did some SHOPPING!!! 
• I've been able to cross quite a few things of my list, which has been solid. I'm wondering if I should be buying everything a size smaller though since I'm going to be too poor to eat while abroad. I will make the exception for french fries and chocolates- for the sake of immersing myself in Belgian Culture. Sorry if my worldliness intimidates you. 
• Important historical side note: French Fries were born in Belgium. 
• Important Morgan side note: I was born to eat French Fries in Belgium. 

So those all seem like really productive steps and you're probably like, "Morgan you have clothing AND the promise of French Fries, I think you're ready to hop on the plane." 

However, I think I've taken a step back. Maybe like a leap back. I don't know; I haven't assessed the damage yet. This past weekend was my last full weekend in the U S of A, so naturally I had to make my way down to the D of C. It was a perfect weekend and a perfect way to end my time here. But it also made me not ready to end my time here. As summer progressed, I became distanced from my DC/CUA life enough that it was ok to not be there for a semester. But going back for the weekend and seeing campus & friends & THE COFFEE SUPPLY IN THE PRYZ & Program Board flyers that I didn't make & & & & & &  showed me all the fun I would be missing over the semester. 

I know that I'm going to have a fabulous time, but the FOMO is real- don't be fooled. 

A big part of my step back was saying my goodbye to Kristen. I already don't like that she had her first first day of school without me the other day. Next thing you know, it's goodbye. Next thing you know, you're crying in Target because you see a 21st Birthday card and realize you won't be there for her birthday. 

Thanks to everyone who made my CUA visit so much fun. Special shout out to White Person 1 & 2.