(Almost) Halfway Through

Finally, another blog from me! I am almost halfway through with the traineeship. And since I don´t have much (happy) news about the traineeship itself, I will focus on several other issues instead.

Ok, let me just start with two more "unhappy" topics, and then I will stop with being negative :D

Bill Clinton: As I said in my previous blog, the former American President would visit the Parliament in the beginning of April. I was hoping to attend the President´s speech. But ridiculously enough trainees/stagiaires weren´t allowed in the hemisphere, where the President held his speech (I think Clinton himself would have been very unhappy if he had known about this haha). And I did not get to meet the President when he entered/left the Parliament, since I choose the wrong entrance/exit. Grrr!!! :(

NATO: We, the trainees/stagiaires of the European Parliament, were able to visit NATO headquarters on April 28. I was actually looking forward to this. I thought we would see something of NATO headquarters. And then listen to a speech by Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer :D (of course, I did not expect Mr. de Hoop Scheffer to be there, but I was expecting some interesting background information). But to the contrary, we saw almost nothing of NATO, no tour through the facilities. The only thing we saw (from the inside) was the rather boring visitors center. And yes, there was some sort of lecture from somebody of the (NATO) Communications Department. Lets just say that an employee of the Communication Department SHOULD be able to deliver a better and more interesting lecture.

And now onto some more positive and happy issues ;)

Spain: the only thing negative about my visit to Spain (from 7 to 14 April) was probably the weather. Not as warm as it used to be in April, and quite a bit of rain. But still, I had some nice (and warm) days as well. My parents and I were able to go to the beach a couple of times (no swimming though). And I went running almost every day. The running route there is absolutely wonderful, probably my favorite place to go running! Of course, I always enjoy myself immensly in Spain (even if the weather doesn´t really cooperate). So, I was not really happy when I was back in Brussels on the evening of April 14. To make myself a bit happier, I ate at Burger King that night (and that really made me happy haha).

Strasbourg: last week, it was my turn to go to Strasbourg for the plenary session of the Parliament (every trainee is allowed to go to Strasbourg once). On Tuesday morning, a train took me to Strasbourg in five (!!) hours. Actually, the trip was not that bad. a fellow trainee actually took the bus to Strasbourg to safe money. It took him almost nine hours to get there!! Anyway, I arrived in the Parliament in the beginning of the afternoon (and after getting lost quite a few times), I spent Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday there. On Tuesday, I followed a bit of the plenary session. On Wednesday, I attended a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee on the situation in Moldova. I also walked through the Parliament building a bit. Cannot say I like it, it is chaotic, dark and has a sterile feeling to it (smells like a hospital). The good thing is that the Parliament, and other European Institutions (like the Council of Europe), are located on the banks of the river L´Ill.

But, I have to admit that I went to Strasbourg mostly to enjoy and explore the city, which I did on Thursday and Friday (I was supposed to return to Brussels on Thursday, but I took an extra day off). In the morning (both Thursday and Friday), I went running. My hotel was close to L´Ill (and also close to the city center, which was great), so I was able to find a nice running route along the river.

More about the sightseeing. On Thursday, I decided to do a walking tour through Strasbourg (with an audio guide). This is nice, since you can explore the city at your own pace. Strasbourg is a very pleasant and cosy city. A little German, a little French. There are so many nice buildings, squares (pleinen) and streets. And since Strasbourg is surrounded by water, I also took a boot tour. This tour was wonderful, especially due to the warm weather
(I actually got a little sunburned during the boat tour).

On Friday, I wanted to climb the steps of the Cathedral, one of the most famous buildings of Strasbourg. With such a climb, it really helps if you work out a lot (I passed quite a few people who were unable to catch their breath during the climb). Oh and I also stumbled upon a military ceremony on the Place de la Republique (one of the main squars in Strasbourg). First, I thought they were celebrating President Truman´s birthday. No, just kidding, May 8 (VE Day) is a national holiday in France. It was pretty funny, all the military personnel saluting. I think the French National Anthem was played about three times ;)

I left Strasbourg again in the middle of the afternoon, was back in Brussels in the evening (again the train ride took about five hours). This was a very nice holiday :D

And, by the way, the food was delicious! Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning I had breakfast at a nice boulangerie. A funny thing, the boulangerie seemed to be located in a Jewish neighorbood. Most customers were Jews and the owners were Jews as well (some were wearing "keppeltjes", while others had black hats on sported by long beards). Most importantly: the breakfast was delicious and rather cheap.

Not for breakfast, but I also ate two bretzels/pretzles (one was regular, salty, but the other one was sweet, never had one like that before, hmm!!!) On Tuesday and Thursday evening I ate some typical Alsace dishes. Among others: Smoked pork, potato salad, veal (kalfsvlees) AND spaetzle!! On Wednesday evening, I ate Japanese: sushi! Also delicious. But it is still very difficult for me to handle those sticks.;)

European Elections: as a (temporary) employee of the European Parliament I have to say that everybody has to vote during the European Elections!!! For the Netherlands, these elections will be held on June 4. Most other member states will vote on June 7.

And now, there is still 2.5 month left of this traineeship. Sigh.

Fortunately, I have a lot to look forward to the next couple of weeks. Quite a few friends will come over to visit me in Brussels. And then, I will be going to Paris with my friend Nicole from the 17 to the 21 of June. My last visit to Paris was more than ten years ago. So it is about time to go back!!!

Finally, thanks for all your supportive emails/reactions during the past month!

Suzanne