The Heart of Europe

Over the course of the past week I was privileged to participate in a seminar with a cohort of Fulbright fellows from across Europe.  Our topic: the EU and NATO.  The adventure began with a too-early train ride to the airport in Munich, boarding on time, experiencing electrical failure, having to switch planes, having to sit in plane for 2 hours while snow was removed, arriving late at my destination, consequently missing the group bus, having to buy a ticket to the most random country ever, and then, upon arrival, realizing my phone's internet wasn't working, which meant that not only was I in a strange city, but I also didn't know where my hotel was or what is was called.  Wonderful.  Thank God I had looked on Google Maps a few weeks ago, because I remembered Avenue John F. Kennedy, and, after 3 hours of seemingly senseless wandering, I was taking my shoes off in my beautiful hotel room overlooking the illuminated city below.  It was an ordeal, and I missed a reception at the ambassador's residence, but on the bright side, unlike everyone else, I got to explore the old city, which was incredible!  Luxembourg sits on a series of three hills, with wide valleys separating each fortified hilltop, with impressive Romanesque viaducts crossing the open space, connecting each part of the city to another.  My favorite part of Luxembourg was dinner.  Everyone else was snacking on tartines, I walked down a side street near the palace and stumbled upon a hole in the wall place, Bistrot de la Presse.  I walked inside and was instantly greeted by the waitress at the door.  A few older men were in quiet conversation, sipping their beer at the bar and a couple were in the corner sharing a bottle of wine.  I picked a window table and ordered the day's dinner (which I had no idea what it was), paired with the local brew, a spicy lager.  The bistro was about the size of my garage, and the walls were decorated with pictures of the royal family, both new and old, which gave the place an authentic charm.  My meal came out, Chicons aux gratin, which I just discovered is an endive particular to that area called Witloof, a slightly bitter cabbage-like vegetable.  It was covered in a creamy cheese and placed under the broiler to brown.  It was served with bits of fresh ham and boiled potatoes with parsley.  To. Die. For.  The 80-something year old lady who made my dinner delivered it and sat at the table next to me to make sure I liked it - no worries, I did!  I devoured it, and seriously, it was one of the best meals I've ever had.  I was reluctant to leave, but as I did, everyone, staff and guests, said "merci et bonne soirée!"  It was my favorite moment of the week, and on top of it all, I did it in French, and boy, after a 5 year hiatus, some brushing up is in order!

I met the group in the morning.  It was fascinating to meet the other scholars, hearing their stories, what they're researching.  You can see their passion in their eyes when they start to explain their work, and I think because of that, everyone was playing their A-Game the entire week.  That's an important thing I've noticed: when people are doing what they're passionate about, they're happy, and that's something I have to take with me and remember in the future. After breakfast we headed across the street to the Court of Justice, in which resides the equivalent of the Supreme Court of the European Union.  There, we witnessed a case typical of those brought before the bench, a trademark dispute, between a Dutch bar and, coincidentally, the famous Salzburg brand, Red Bull.  Afterwards, the Lord Vice President of the court briefed us and answered our questions.  Turns out, he was a Fulbrighter himself, studied under Justice Breyer and with Chief Justice Roberts at Harvard before returning to his native Belgium as a professor.  From there, it was on to our next destination, Brussels.

Guild houses that line the Grand Place at the center of Brussels.

I enjoyed this city immensely.  It has a multicultural atmosphere, its architecture is a mixture of masterful Gothic, art nouveau, classical, and modern, its cuisine is diverse, and the old city is quaint and quickly became familiar.  Outside our hotel were stores of the four oldest chocolatiers in Belgium: Pierre Marcolini, Neuhaus, Leonidas, and Godiva, a situation which did not go untested.  When I look back, chocolate, waffles, and beer made up the majority of my diet during the week, with the occasional steak or, you know, substantive food thrown in.  It made me very happy!  There, though, we had a jam-packed schedule.  First we spent an entire day at the European Commission, the chief governing body of the European Union.  We learned about such varying issues as integration, security, environmental policy, economic policy, its history and future.  The following day, we visited the headquarters of NATO and were briefed by the U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Council, who, again, was a Dutch Fulbrighter who liked the United States so much during his year of research that he stayed.  I learned so, so much about this organization during the course of the day.  In the evening, we visited the U.S. Mission to the EU, and again were briefed on its capacity.  

The final day of the seminar was spent in Bruges, a tiny city near the coast with a big history.  Once called the "Venice of the North," Bruges used to be Europe's largest port city.  Canals and rivers flow through the medieval city, and the architecture, though mosty 18th Century reproduction, brings one back to the Gothic era.  After our lectures at the College of Europe, we explored the city for a few hours before returning to Brussels to spend our last night at the hotel.

One of the many, many canals intersecting through the city center in Bruges, Belgium.

I wasn't wholly familiar with the intricacies of the EU and NATO before, or, for that matter, even some of the broader concepts, but this opportunity let me into a world that's terribly complicated and convoluted.  The EU was started over 50 years ago, as was NATO, both with a lot of backing from the U.S., primarily because America saw a stable, unified Europe as a security measure against the growing Soviet Union.  From there, both organizations have, I believe, genuinely tried to make the world a better place through integration.  Borders coming down, a common currency, a common law, and a shared goal of peace in the world.  It's not a perfect system, and its terribly bureaucratic, but I think they have the ability to do something  good for the world.  Something that really stuck me was something I learned at NATO.  In its founding document, there is a section, Article 5, which essentially says that if one member country is attacked, it is seen as attack on all members.  I was surprised that the first and only time it was invoked was after the United States was attacked on 9/11, and all member countries professed their support for America.  Even if it was only a gesture, how awesome, totally awesome, is it that nearly two dozen countries who, within the past 100 years, had been warring against each other, came together under the shield of peace and were willing to aid a country whose people had suffered at the hands of injustice. We have hundreds of countries, thousands of languages, millions of differences, billions of people, and yet, with organizations such as these, and actions like theirs on September 11th, the world is becoming smaller and smaller with each passing day, more unified, more friendly, more safe, more understanding, and I think that's pretty darn cool.