Days 14, 15 & 16 - Brussels, Amsterdam, and Brugge

Ok,

So I know this is probably not what you were all wanting, but if I didn't finish off this blog this way, I'd never get it done. So here is a quick recap of all the things I missed.

On June 21st, the longest day of the year, we visited the Canadian Mission to the EU. Again.

Ironically, this also seemed like one of the longest talks ever. The subject was Canadian journalism and reporting on Europe and EU affairs.

Our first speaker was responsible for liasing with Ottawa and directing reporters to the appropriate officials and essentially making sure that Canada's image in EU press was what Canada wanted it to be.

However, because the EU and Canada share very similar values, there isn't much to report. There were lots of things in the press about the G20 meeting that was happening that weekend, but other than that, one of the more contentious (and I think politically trivial issues) was the Seal Hunt. That's it. Europe was upset by the native Inuit seal hunt.

Other than that, there isn't much drama within the trans-Atlantic partnership between Canada and the EU.

Because of this lack of presence in the press, I felt like this woman's job was pretty obsolete.

After the press rep, a Canadian journalist working for the independant EU Observer, Leigh Phillips, spoke to us about the relationship between the Canadian press and the EU.

Again, while some of his views on EU issues were interesting, I didn't find the talk all that intriguing or stimulating.

The highlight of that day for me was discovering Cliff Tailors (Rue de Tongers 10-12). This amazing haberdashery had a ton of different designer and luxury labels--GANT, Ralph Lauren, Dsquared (a Canadian Label!), Band of Outsiders, etc. I was enamoured with the section of the store that were three floor to ceiling walls of cashmere sweaters. (drool) Unfortunately, I am a poor starving student who is travelling Europe. Sigh.

June 22nd was a day that I had been looking forward to the entire trip. We were supposed to go to the Hague to visit the International Criminal Court and EuroJust. This was going to be the highlight of the trip for me. I could tell. I could already envision myself sitting at the prosecutors desk in the grand chambers with my team of 4 or 5 other lawyers persecuting George Bush and Dick Cheney for crimes against humanity (our argument for Bush was that his stupidity was an insult to the entire species--the judges all agreed).

But this day was going nothing like I had dreamed.

Our first train was fine, got on that one bright and early at 7:30am. But then we had to get off at Antwerp because of some technical malfunction. Then one train that was going straight from Antwerp to the Hague just plain didn't show up. The rail staff were just as confused as we were. After waiting at the train station for 2 hours, we were already 30 minutes late for our meeting.

"No worries," I thought, "This isn't the only meeting we've been late to. Missing 1 1/2 out of a 3 hour tour isn't that bad."

When we finally got on a train destined for the Hague, we were all a little more relaxed. Nicole, Yas, myself, and a bunch of others had soothed our Starbucks cravings with the only Starbucks in Belgium in the train station (they weren't in dress code and things were DEF not made to spec. Who where's black jeans to work at Starbucks? Honestly!).

As I finished my Quad Grande No-Room Americano, we pulled up to Den Haag HS Station with the city off in the not-so-distant distance and Professor Brooks informed us to get our things ready because Den Haag Centraal was our next stop and our final destination. So all of us were buzzing and chatting about this and that.

And about 25 minutes later, we heard the conductor anounce "Schipol" as the next stop. Now all of us stopped talking and looked out the window: fields. We had completely missed the Hague.

We found out later that that train never stops at Den Haag Centraal and that we were on our way to Amsterdam.

Most of us were ecstatic, I was a little dissappointed.

Anyways, we spent the day in Amsterdam (and watched Dr. Brooks try and explain to the lady from the ICC that we wouldn't be making our meeting today while the automated tour guide in the canal cruise was telling us about the construction of the Gentleman's canal.).

The next day we went to Brugge. This city was absolutely gorgeous.

We all wandered to a cathedral that was massively gorgeous. The archways, and artwork (some by Michelangelo), and the sheer grandeur of the building was overwhelming and relaxing at the sametime.

We also climed the famous Belfry Tower and I signed my name in a beam at the top (its ok, it tends to burn down every two hundred years or so....)

Then Victoria and I had probably one of the best meals of the entire trip: sauteed mushrooms, rotisserie chicken wings, camambert, baguette and a basil plant. All for the radically low price of 10 euro for the both of us. The farmer's markets in Europe are AMAZING for this kind of eating.

After exploring the city just the two of us and taking a nap in a gorgeous park with the swans, we got back on a train and headed home to Leuven.

Days 12 & 13 - Leuven & Waterloo: Relaxing, the Beguinage, and Napoleon

On Saturday, June 19th and Sunday, June 20th, I really didn't do a whole lot of anything.

It was a very relaxing weekend.

On the Saturday, I spent my morning at a coffee shop with my friend Helena. We just sat and talked for a bit. I did some choreography work and later some laundry.

Dr. Brooks stopped by to take us to le Grand Beguinage--an enclave where wives of crusaders used to live while their husbands were away.

This little village is now used to house the many students and professors that attend the many universities in Leuven, but it seems like a perfectly preserved peaceful piece of medieval European society. The little squares with wells and a tree and the canals and bridges--all within a very small area of the city.

During the Crusades, women would go to live there with their children. Men weren't allowed to live there, but they were employed to take care of the place. Built in the 13th century, it still amazes me that structures like that can withstand the test of time.

On the other side of town, the main square was filled with people and carts for the Summer Solstice fair that happens in Leuven on the longest weekend of the year. At one point, Adam and I were standing in the main square watching Korean drumming and a Judo exhibition. There was something that didn't feel quite right about watching Asian arts performed by white Europeans in the middle of an Early Modern-designed European plaza.

On Sunday, we got up early to see the largest re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo.
The drive would have been unbareably long as we sat in traffic (bumper to bumper with no movement) for about 1 hour. Fortunately, Dr. Brooks' friend Marguerite was driving our car. She's a character and a half! But, Waterloo wasn't made for recieving 40,000 people by car--it was made for recieving 500,000 soldiers on foot and by horse. But they got to remove the obstacles in their way.

And despite the chilly, rainy weather, it was a spectacular show that only occurs every 5 years. This year was the largest they've had so far. They had 3,000 reenacters, 250 horses, 50 pieces of artillery, and 40,000 spectators.

The reality of the battle (minus the killing people and the spectators and number of soldiers, etc. etc.) was really quite astonishing. From the uniforms, the the reenactment of the French cavalry charge, to the cannon fire (you could see the air vibrate everytime a cannon was fired). And they had real projectiles flying out of the cannons! For anyone who has played Total War, the movement of the units was pretty much exactly the same--the long lines and the reorganization into squares when the calvary attacked--it really was something I can check off my bucket list.

There were a few injuries apparently--watching a flourescent yellowambulance drive through the field was an interesting anachronism.

But my favourite part was definately Napoleon. He had the coolest costume and the best (and biggest) hat. I admire Napoleon as a political leader for his ability to administer his empire and to even build his empire across Europe--even though it didn't really last that long. His drive to keep expanding and to create a United Europe (under France) loosely ties into our course, studying the European Union. In a way, Napoleon attempted to create the first European Union. Just by force instead of diplomacy. Many rulers have attempted to bring Europe under one power: Charlemagne, Charles V, Hitler. Most of them attempted to do so by force, but none of them ever succeeded. Considering we're closer to a united Europe than ever before, maybe we're on to something with the Union.

After the reenactment, we went back to Leuven and finished off the rest of our weekend relaxing.

Day 11 - Bruxelles (just to change it up!): European Policy Centre and the Open Society Institute

Ok, on to Day 11!

This was one of my favourite educational days so far.

Our first speaker was Amanda Paul. She's a journalist that currently works for Today's Zaman, a Turkish Newspaper and The European Policy Centre--the think tank that was presenting to us.
Along with Amanda Paul, who was our main speaker, Shada Islam (who I think I recognized from CTV who sometimes uses BBC news clips) also gave her two cents every once in a while.

Our topic for this meeting was Turkey and the EU. This is an interesting topic for me as I wrote my paper for my History of the EU class on whether Turkey will be able to enter the EU. My thesis essentially claimed that because of rising right wing, anti-Islam, and racist sentiment, Turkey will never be welcomed into the EU, especially when countries like France, the Netherlands, and Austria are fervently against its accession.

In order to acceed to the EU, there are certain criteria that need to be met along the lines of democracy, rule of law, human rights, and economy. Turkey doesn't yet meet all of the criteria along those lines and still has a way to go with constitutional reform in order to have a freer deomcracy that comes with less military intervention and free press. They also have some human rights violations that need to be dealt with regarding minority rights of Kurds and Alevi people living within the country.

One of the main blockers that we talked about was Cyprus. Cyprus, which is divided into the Turkish North and Greek South. Turkey and Greece are so passionate about their own people and their right to self-determination that they will not budge on the issue of support. Because The Republic of Cyprus (Greek) is a member of the EU, Turkey cannot become a member until it resolves its dispute with the state because of the "Good Neighbour" clause in EU treaties.

Because of this dispute, Greece has actually blocked the commencement of certain negotiations (every decision at the higher levels of the EU need be made by consensus).

The three main arguements that people make against the accession of Turkey (aside from the Cyprus dispute) are as follows:

1. Turkey is too populous and would overwhelm the Union. (Turkey's population measures 90 million people)
2. Turkey is too Muslim (but apparently Albania and Bosnia which have Islam as the national religion are allowed to be considered for candidacy even though Turkey's constitution is vehemently secular)
3. Turkey is too Poor (even though its the 15th largest economy and came out of the last recession in a stronger position that the EU)

These excuses (except maybe the first one, but why is that such a big deal?) are all bogus according to Amanda Paul and the EPC.

Politically, Turkey's admission to the EU has its plusses and minuses. It's good relations with many Middle Eastern countries is a plus, but its poor relations with the Caucasus countries (Armenia in particular) is detrimental, especially given the European dependance on Russian natural gas pipelines that run through those countries.

This talk took a lot of turns and we more than expired our time with them, exploring facets of Turkish-EU relations, EU-Asia relations, Turkish-Canadian relations and international relations in general. Shada Islam was very insightful with regards to the Canadian perspective of Turkish-EU relations and was one of the most entertaining speakers we've seen so far.

I'm also reading a book right now called The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century by George Friedman. This book explores the possibility of Turkey becoming a major regional player in the future, which I agree with given its economic, geographical and geopolitical position on the world stage. Turkey has poor relations with very few countries, is the EU's largest trading partner (if I recall correctly), and has a booming economy, even after the financial crisis. Turkey will be a country to watch.

Personally, I don't think it will become a member of the EU because it already has trade agreements with the EU. And if it does become a member, the design of its membership will look very similar to Britain's membership--with opt out clauses to maintain a certain degree of autonomy.

I could go on about Turkey forever. To continue more Turkish debate, post a comment below and I'll try to reply :)

Our last presenters of the day were Romani People from the Open Society Institute. Martin Domarowski (A Macedonian-Romani) and Violeta Naydenova (A Romanian-Romani) were great at letting us catch a glimpse of the institutional and societal framework that systematically persecutes the Roma across Europe.

They shared with us a history of the Roma, who were a people who left the Punjab area of northern India and settled between there and Spain, and eventually travelling to the Americas. Because of this great migration (of which there is no discerable timeline) the Romani (commonly and rudely known as Gypsies) are often depicted as wandering caravans. To a certain extent, the Romani maintain that migratory status because of the persecution they face in all countries.

Violeta shared a story with us about going to a regular school (many Romani are put in schools that are either separate or are for the mentally-disabled--this happens today across the European Union) and telling her friends that she was a Roma. After this, her "friends" excommunicated her from many school functions. She was teased, threatened and discriminated against in as many ways as you could possibly fathom. When she reached university (not a common occurance for the Roma because of the poor education they are given in seperate schools), Violeta concealed her identity for 3 years.

I found this story very interesting. As a homosexual, I can relate to the fear of revealing your identity. Even now, when I meet a new group of people, I have to put out feelers to see whether or not my sexual orientation will be shrugged off as a non-issue or whether I'll recieve sketched-out sideways glances. This presentation hit home for a number of reasons.

While I've come to terms with my sexuality and I am comfortable and proud of it, I have many friends who are much more conservative about that aspect of their life. For me, talking about my boyfriend is just making good conversation. For them, it's viewed as social suicide or the gateway to potential physical harm.

Being gay is something that can (sometimes) be easily concealed. Being Roma is also very similar. Violeta's skin and facial structure looked very similar to my Romanian Don that I had when I first transfered to Huron College. But Martin was darker skinned and, to me, looked ethnically Roma.

The Roma within the EU is an interesting subject because not much has been done about it. There is no education about the Roma, no recognition of them as a stateless people or a minority within the EU.

But there are some success stories out there: some universities have introduced quotas that send them looking for Roma students, encouraging higher education among the isolated Roma communities. Violeta is a member of one such success story.

Another aspect that we explored involved the similarities between the First Nations of Canada and the Roma. My classmate, Adam Fearnall, worked with Natives this past year and has an interesting take on this matter. You can check out his blog post on this talk here.\

There was something important that I pulled from this talk: the Roma are no different that you or I. The only difference is opportunity. They rarely have any.

All in all, this day was very politically stimulating and provided great insight into two of the issues with the EU: Turkey and the Roma.

I hope to continue following both of these issues after I get home.

There--another post done! Woohoo! only 5 days behind now!

Day 10 - Wezemaal: Biking, Trappist Beer, and Ice Cream

Day 10. This was a day that I was looking forward to since the beginning of my trip: a bike ride though the Belgian country side.

And was it ever gorgeous.

After going to pick up the bikes we rented from the train station, we travelled in a pack of 12 (some others went to Ghent), with Dr. Brooks taking the lead. Having lived just outside Leuven in the small town of Wezemaal for a year while he was teaching at the Universitet Katholiek Leuven, he knew his way through the narrow dirt paths in the fields and along the river.

It was breathtaking to look out over the swaying fields and see the skyline dotted with trees, cottages, and the occasional church steeple, signifying the centre of a village.

While biking along the train tracks and the cobblestone sidewalks of the villages we passed through, I was struck with awe at the number of poppies that seemed to grow like scarlet weeds.

It was hauntingly just like John McCrae said in his poem, In Flanders Fields: the poppies grew everywhere.

I think back to my great-grandfather, who was a World War II vet, and to the Canadian tradition of wearing a poppy on Remembrance Day. To be in the place that those poppies represent was something that took me completely by surprise. I felt instantly (and oddly) patriotic--my country helped liberate this place and my compatriots' blood was spilled on this land to keep them free (how very stars and stripes of me...).

But to see and understand what the 11th of November is all about--the freedom and prosperity of a country under its own self-determined government and the sacrifices that Canadians made for people on the other side of the world is truly enchanting.

As we cycled through the paths lined with the pride-inspiring poppies, we were all joking and taking pictures. Nicole and Yas were very busy video blogging the trip (I'll post all the links to that later--they are EXTREMELY educational, I assure you.)

Yas also declared herself the group megaphone. Whenever there was a potential obstacle up ahead, she made sure that everyone knew (for example, "OLD LADY WITH CHILD AND TOY!"). I would like to thank her for making sure we didn't have any obstacle issues (unless your name happens to be Nicole and you happen to be video blogging while biking--you can fill in the blanks).

When we finally arrived in Wezemaal on a quiet cobblestone street, lined with small, narrow town houses, each with red window gardens contrasting the light blue sky and green of the fields in the distance, we pulled up to a cafe which the former mayor of the village owns (we didn't get to meet him like previous years have). Many of us were feeling quite peckish after the 12 km bike ride (yes Mom, it's nothing compared to the 225km bike ride you completed this weekend--proud of you!).

I decided to go for traditional Belgian food and drink. I ordered an Orval which is a trappist beer made by monks in a monastery. While it was refreshingly clean and floral, I wasn't a big fan.

For lunch, I ordered sausage with applesauce. And I had two choices of sausage: white or black. not really understanding what the difference would be, I ordered one of each. After I had taken my first bite of the "black" sausage, Dr. Brooks asked if I would like to know exactly what I was eating.

"Well it sorta has a liver-y texture..." I said.

He chuckled and responded: "That's because they didn't drain the blood out of the meat. It's blood sausage."

Now, looking back, I'm surprised I didn't gag and throw up. I'm not into Twilight or True Blood so eating blood doesn't really rub me the right way. But instead I nodded in interest and kept chewing. It was actually very good. The texture was unexpected but the apples complimented the blood sausage very nicely. Will I order it again? Probably not.

After lunch, we hopped back on our bikes for the return journey, bellies full of traditional Belgian fare and trappist beer.

For desert, Dr. Brooks treated us to some homemade ice cream (actually made in their home--i asked to use the bathroom and they let me in their front door and I had to walk through their living room). It was a refreshing treat on a hot day (when I got a little sun burnt).

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and schmoozing.

Our first cultural day was a great success and a pleasure. Riding through the fields of Belgium was a relaxing break from the political talk and me plotting how to rule the world.

Day 9 - Brussels (yet again): Belgian Parliament and NATO

To start off, I need to thank my friend, Victoria, for lending me her notebook for the rest of this trip (she has two computers...) because my motherboard on my stupid HP has been fried. Thank you sooooooo much Victoria!!

Ehem...now that that's out of the way and everyone knows why I haven't posted in 6 days (eep!) I may have to combine some days....they will come at a later pace. Again, I'm sorry. Don't get an an HP--they suck.

Ok. So Day 9 of our trip consisted of a tour of the Belgian Parliament and Senate and a meeting at NATO.

I didn't find the Belgian parliament all that interesting except for the actual architecture and decor of the building. The Belgian House of Representatives is represented by the colour green. Everything is decorated in green. The Belgian senate is decorated in red. Literally everything for them is red. the funny part is that they share the same building. Their governmental structure is bicamaral (obviously with the senate and house) and is very similar to the Canadian system except when you break it down to the regional and linguistic level...

The tour guide (who was the spitting image of Cogsworth) at one point mentioned how the plaques in the senate that were a memorial to the dead of WWI were removed because of the Nazi invasion of Belgium during WWII. He spoke about the Nazi flag that covered up the holes where the plaques were and Hitler speaking from the speaker's podium. That actually happened. It was more than haunting to imagine.

On a lighter note, the Belgian Parliamentary gift shop was ripe with booty. I got a swank leather dossier to keep all my papers and things in while travelling throughout Brussels from meeting to meeting. I must say, for only 15 euro, it's pretty snazy.

After lunchtime, we had to catch our bus from the Royal Park to NATO.

Visiting NATO was very interesting. We weren't allowed to bring any cameras, cellphones, or transmitting electronics of any kind.

When we arrived, the first thing I noticed were the Czech hedgehogs that lined the compound. This was some serious business.

After one of the more rigorous security checks I've ever endured, we were seated in a bland meeting room. The first person we met with was Benedicte Borel. She was a member of the "public diplomacy" division. She was sent to talk to us about the functioning of NATO and give us an overview of the directives and missions.

She briefly explained the current operations of NATO:

• Afghanistan
• Kosovo (KFOR)
• Iraq (NTM-I)
• Operation Active Endeavour (in the Mediterranean)
• Counter-Piracy (in the Gulf of Aden)

She also described the 3 stages that NATO has been through historically. The first was the Cold War, when NATO was created as a response to the Communist threat from the Soviet Union. Next there was the transformation. This started just after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and continued until about 2000. During this time, NATO was not too sure of its place in the world, seeing that it's number one foe had been dismantled and essentially disarmed. But the post-9/11 NATO is just called "Missions." This time has been of seperate security missions in places that are of international concern: the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Mediterranean, and the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.

Ms. Borel also spoke of the next possible enlargement, which is supposed to include Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia (technically its the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM to NATO out of respect for Greece). The membership of Georgia and the Ukraine were discussed but Ms. Borel assured us that the Ukraine would probably never join and that Georgia wasn't quite ready to join (more like the other countries in NATO aren't ready to join to protect Georgia from Russian invasion, but hey...its all in your point of view right?)

This discussion took a bunch of different turns which I could talk about for hours, but I need to start wrapping up soon (early day tomorrow). One that I did find interesting was NATO as a world police. If you think about it, the anti-piracy initiative and the Afghanistan and Kosovo missions are just extended police initiatives. This is an interesting angle to look at NATO from. It definitely means that its lost its original purpose as a collective security coalition.

The next speaker from NATO was French General Erik Sandahl whose last mission was to Kosovo (he also acted as a personal advisor to the French Prime Minister on the ex-Soviet republics in Eastern Europe). He was a great speaker--different from the politicians and press people we've met previously. General Sandahl told it like it was.

"Is there an end in sight for Afg--"

"nope."

Answers that short were not common though. He would go on and on explaining everything, which was tiresome and interesting all in the same time. He had everyone hanging on his everyword because he could drop big names or big experiences any time.

Never at anytime in my life have I felt closer to the elite of the high political world. This guy was a military attache to the French ambassador in Romania, advisor to the French Prime Minister and NATO General. Like seriously...

He had some good advice for us too. Military operations and love are a lot a like--it's either too late or not enough.

He also introduced me to the interesting concept of dynamics within the relationship of NATO (which I think can be used with any relationship): the security provider vs. the securty consumer. Who gains more security out of the relationship and who needs to pick up the slack of the other? Its amazing how much politics can be just like life and any other relationship you can have with another human being.

I hope that I'll be back in that heavily guarded fortress soon. But hopefully I'll be going in for business instead of education, arguing a new treaty or trying to lobby for a certain issue.

Sigh. To dream of the future.

Posts from other days will follow shortly! Promise!

Day 8 - Brussels (again): The European Commission, International Federation of Journalists, and The Canadian Mission to the EU

I first want to point out that as I write this, I'm having an amazing 6 euro dinner. It consists of a 3 euro bottle of Spanish red wine, a pear, Camembert, and a baguette. Absolutely perfect. Eating like a student here is way easier than back in London. Hopefully I can retain these eating habits (which is what I said when I came back from France in 2004, but that didn't really work...)

Well, today was a packed day. We started off at the European Commission at 10am. Our presenter was a Danish fellow hired by the commission . He explained the European Commission, which is essentially the executive body of the EU. They have political and visionary power, but no legislative power. Essentially, they dictate to/advise the other institutions on which direction they want the Union to go in, and give advice on their legislation and directives.

The Commission essentially acts like the Cabinet of a country. So the Minister of Agriculture in Canada would contact the Commissioner for Agriculture to discuss matters of agricultural trade between Canada in the EU. Each country has one commissioner responsible for a different portfolio. Beneath those commissioners are Directorate Generals and below them is a directorate. Each directorate has different units that are responsible for specific policy issues. It sounds like a simple breakdown.

And then you bring in the European Parliament, the European Court of Justice, the Council of the European Union and the European Council (there is also the Council of Europe, but that has nothing to do with the EU). I feel like the administration and institutions of the EU are all waaaaaay too complicated. Because they're so complex, some world leaders (Barack Obama was mentioned a couple of times with reference to the Spanish Visit to the White House) cannot figure out which institution of the EU to contact regarding certain matters and just goes to the national governments.

But I was discussing it with some people in my program: "Why don't they just have 'the European Union' and then divide the organization into 'Executive' and 'Legislative' or 'Representational' branches?"

We came to the conclusion that It's because of the attitudes within the member states. If you create the leadership of the EU in that model, it resembles that of a state too much. A common theme we've been getting from all our presenters is that member states are not ready to hand over a lot of power to the EU.

However this makes it difficult for the EU to function properly and efficiently because national governments want to show their electorate that they are still in control of anything of national interest.

This conflict plagues the EU, but its slowly changing. More and more powers are being granted to the EU, but at a slow pace--which is most likely the safest way to build the Union into a Federation (which is personally what I would like to see happen).

Our next visit was to the International Federation of Journalists. That was an interesting visit. We managed to work it into the program because of the human rights that journalists are entitled to (as they are human too) are often ignored during conflict and even in some countries where conflict is not necessarily evident.

We discussed the freedom of the press quite a bit. It interestingly tied in with our discussion on the definition of democracy that we had that the Council of the European Union. Our speaker there suggested that Italy's press, of which 90% is owned by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, isn't a free press because of the government ownership. Similarly, our speaker from the IFJ, Ernest Sagaga, suggested that a free press is the only way to have a truly free democracy because people need to know the truth. It certainly provided a view that I wasn't used to on democracy and freedom of speech.

Lastly, we visited the Canadian Mission to the EU. It was really interesting considering that at the US Mission, we had to leave pretty much everything behind and be escorted through the entire building (they even stood outside the stall door when you went to the bathroom. Talk about pressure.) After checking all our bags and passports, the security guard at the Canadian Mission left us alone in the front to go get our presenter. We Canadians are much more trusting apparently.

The first guy at the Canadian Mission (Jared something-or-other) explained essentially how the Mission worked. I didn't find his talk very informative and he seemed very defensive to our questions, which I found odd as I didn't think that our questions were very aggressive...just inquisitional. But the second speaker, Holly Edwards (Counsellor Immigration), spoke to us about immigration to Canada from the EU, migration within the EU, and answered our questions really well.

There was much discussion about the Roma people and the visas that are required for the Czech Republic. Because of so many asylum applicants from the Roma minority in the Czech Republic, Canada reinstated (for the second time) its visa requirement on Czech citizens.

The entire time though, I wondered about legislation in the EU about the Roma compared to Canadian legislation on aboriginal affairs. The Roma, being a migratory people, are a large problem in Europe because they have such trouble integrating into European Society. But the conflict lies in that the EU isn't allowed to dictate their culture, which rotates around migration and temporary settlements. So which takes priority? The European culture of permanent cities and citizenship of a state or the Roma culture of loyalty to a family group and migratory living?

The EU has an initiative and a legal obligation to respect the rights of minorities, so how can that the EU (or any state for that matter) integrate the Roma?

I compare them to the First Nations within Canada because they follow their own law upon their own lands. They act as an autonomous entity from the Confederation of Canada and that raises issues of integration which can be obviously seen in the separation of the Native populations on reserves throughout the country. This question of integration seems to resonate quite strongly between the EU and Canada.

Anyways, we took a few pictures by the entrance to the city of Brussels. So here are a few:


Cheers!

Day 7 - Brussels: The Council of the EU, the US Mission to the EU, and Dr. Annaleis Vertichel

Today was our first day of "class" if you can call it that. We're essentially supposed to go on a bunch of awesome field trips. Best class ever!

We got up at 7am to be on the train for 8:30am. After arriving in Brussels, we headed on the metro for Schumann Station to our meeting with the Council of Ministers of the EU (wiki).

This meeting was super informative. It was really interesting to hear about how the EU worked from someone who worked within the EU instead of studying it or observing it. The man who came to speak to us from the Secretariat of the EU was a great speaker. Along with having a wealth of general knowledge about how the EU works, he wasn't afraid to throw his own opinion out there which I think helps us think critically about the information he's giving us.

For example, not only did he mention the improvements that have been made to the EU over the last few years with the Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon treaties, but he also told us what he thinks needs to change. He gave me the same example that Marike did when I was talking to her about the EU: two official cities. Having the main office of the EU in Brussels and then the European Parliament in Strassbourg is costly (and environmentally unfriendly, as he pointed out. He worked for the Environment Ministers within the EU) when you are constantly moving across the continent like that. Not to mention that another important institution, the European Court of Justice, is in Luxembourg.

So after he gave us a general run down of how the EU works and his opinion of the processes, we got to ask questions and we did not hold back. The way in which he responded to questions about Turkey and the process of accession and the EU's involvement of national/domestic politics was really quite impressive.

One story that stuck with me was how the EU established political sanctions on Austria when an extremist right wing party was voted in to power in 1999. This surprised me because of the actions that the EU took as a result of domestic politics. It made me wonder how the EU would react to the anti-Islamic party in the Netherlands (PVV) that won a large chunk of the vote. OUr speaker assured us that there would be very little chance to use those sanctions because most parties have figured out how to conform with the EU's regulations on acceptable political platforms (which still seems somewhat undemocratic, but given Europe's history with Communism and Fascism, that seems acceptable.)

Another interesting point is language. The EU has 2 working languages--English and French, but every country needs to be able to access all information in their own language. With 27 member countries, I can imagine this takes up a lot of time and probably proves to be quite inefficient.

Lastly, this presentation really openned my eyes to the informalness of politics. While much of the show is put on at formal, official meetings and conferences, much of the political work is done in the hallways between meetings or during the lunches and dinners had by EU ministers. That's the kind of stuff that I want to get into eventually.

After this meeting, we went for lunch. Nicole, Yas, Adam and I had an interesting experience with an old man who had an mismatching suit, a pseudo-briefcase, and a yellowing newspaper tried to show us his favourite place to eat. He said he worked for the stock exchange but didn't know where Canada was. At that point in the conversation we decided to duck into a restaurant and hopefully lose him...

After lunch, we met up with Dr. Brooks who had just arrived in Brussels outside the US Embassy. We went through security 2 at a time and met with Virginia Stern, a diplomat with the Public Affairs department with the US foreign service. While I found most of her answers to our questions very vague, it was really great to meet her. She inspired me quite a bit, seeing as she was only 33 and on her second tour with the Foreign Service. That's quite young to already have a portfolio. It gives me hope that my time in the foreign service will come soon, if that's where I decide to go.

And the last item of the day was a lecture on Minority Representation Rights in the EU from Dr. Anneleis Verstichel. She's done a lot of work in exploring the way minorities represent themselves in parliaments and governments and political theory (from a legal perspective) on how minorities should be legally represented in a country.

Based on her presentation, it really seemed like there was no right way to represent a minority. However, her presentation did reinforce my dislike for the first-past-the-post system. She also exposed me and I'm assuming my fellow students to interesting electoral laws regarding the percentage of the vote you need to be a party in the Parliament (Russia and Turkey have had large problems of this kind). She used Canada and Quebec a lot as examples. But she didn't really seem to have a conclusion which I found interesting.

But seeing as it's 1:30am here, I think its time for bed.

Good night!

Day 6 - Leuven: 3 hours of trains, 2 hours of wandering, and some new friends

Well, I'd first off like to start with a shout out to my wonderful boyfriend Jesse. I was saving this post for the corresponding day (June 13th--I'm writing my blog one day late--I'll fix that tonight.), but happy six month anniversary babe! I miss you tons!

Anyways, my day started off with a little bit of a hang over. Not gonna lie. Stijn and I were up fairly late the night before, but you have to spend as much time as you can with old friends that are seen rarely, right?

I caught and early train at 9am in Oss. The ride was uneventful as I slept most of the way to Leuven, where my course would start.

After I got to Leuven, I thought I would open up my laptop to check the directions that Professor Brooks sent us to get to the Irish College where we are staying, to find that I had 4% battery left and it shut down.

"No worries!" I thought. "I still have the e-mail on my iPod I'm pretty sure!"

I pull my iPod out of my bag to find that it too has also been completely drained of power.

Oh joy. I'm stuck in Leuven. I have no idea where I'm going and all my electronic devices that might possibly help me are dead.

So I decided that wandering towards the direction of downtown Leuven would be a good idea. I know what the place looked like (sort of) and I knew it was part of the Leuven Institute. I should be able to find it. How many institutes could there be in Leuven?

According the the University Librarian, there are thirty different institutes. At least.

I also forgot to mention that I was very low on cash and I had traveller's cheques (I'm old school like that). And it was Sunday.

Sunday in Europe turns the busiest city into a ghost town. Everyone stays in. Nothing is open. Nothing is happening. So here I am, asking a few people where the Irish College is located ("Shouldn't an Irish College be in Ireland? You're in Belgium right now!" "Thank you, sir, but I know I'm in Belgium) and no one knew where it was. Eventually, I remembered that Dr. Brooks told us to find Father Damian's Place and it was across the street. That helped a TREMENDOUS amount when someone finally knew where that was. And so I finally arrived with all my new friends about two and a half hours after my train pulled into Leuven.

Now that I was able to complain, let me tell you about Leuven (and my first impression of Belgium). This country is all about decadence. All the churches and palace-like buildings are decorated with gold. The city hall here is a ridiculously detailed building with a carving of what I assume are all the mayors of Leuven since the building's construction. But the gold that puts the shine on all the buildings is incredible! I've never heard of anything like it anywhere else in the world (maybe Versailles).

That night was very relaxed. Professor Brooks got stuck in Philidelphia so those of us that were checked in an all ready decided to go have a beer and a bite to eat and get to know each other.

I have some great expectations for this trip. Our group is smart and funny. And so far, everyone gets along. We have a HUGE list of things that we're doing for our trip so I'm very excited.

Cheers!

Day 5 - Oss: Old Friends, Big Brother, and Beers

Leaving Marike and Lasslo was hard. I don't know when exactly I'll see them next. Leaving Femke was especially hard. Even though we didn't speak the same language there is a connection between her and I that started four generations ago--and we both know it.

But today was the day that I was leaving to see Leo and Carla (Marike's parents) and Stijn (her brother). So I packed up my things, kissed and hugged my goodbyes, and got on a bike with Lasslo and he took me to the Delft train station.

The train ride was fairly uneventful. The countryside was phenomenal--fields as far as the eye can see. It was fun to spot the steeples poking up among the trees that outlined the farms, signaling the towns that were nearby.

About an hour later when I arrived in Oss, I excitedly gathered my bags and rushed off to see Leo and Carla. Over the crowd exiting the station, I spotted Carla's silver hair and rushed towards them. It was almost like seeing my own grandparents after not having seen them for years (the last time I saw Leo and Carla was in 2004--I was 14). Leo and Carla spotted me as well and smiles instantly lit up there faces.

I need to put a note in about Leo and Carla. I grew up with stories about the Steenbakkers and my great grandfather. I had seen pictures, but I never met Leo and Carla until 2004. So for 14 years, I had developed these characters in my head. And they were surprisingly accurate.

I always imagined Leo as a big, wise lion. And I have to

After we had said our hellos and Carla had sufficiently examined me ("now you are not a boy! you are a man!"), we took off to go get some lunch.

On our way, we bumped into one of the "founding fathers" (as Leo put it) of the Socialist Party and his wife. We discussed the recent election very briefly, but Carla wanted to show me off and had me doing backflips for the couple.

It was very cool to meet someone who was so involved with and started the political drama that I had witnessed with the SP in Delft. The fact that I can come from the other side of the world and become completely encompassed in another countries politics for five days is one of the best experiences I've had to date.

But we left briefly after our encounter, we walked into a few stores to run some errands before bumping into the same couple again at lunch.

Lunch with Leo, Carla and their friends was great. I got to ask all sorts of questions and Leo would tell me stories about European history, politics, education and our family history. He really was this wise lion with his greying mane and hearty, genuine laugh that I had always imagined him to be when I was growing up.

Carla always had her two cents to say as well. Jokes that she has with my mother kept us in stitches (be careful when she comes to visit you, Mom. She's got some surprises for you.)

After lunch, Leo and Carla took me to their house in Heesch. There we met up with Stijn, Marike's brother and talked for a bit before he had to go back to work. So, Carla and I laid in the sun for a little bit before she made a wonderful dinner.

This dinner reminded me of dinner at home with my parents. I would always ask a question that seemed to provoke a lot of story or explanation. I love this kind of family meal. I learned more from Leo and Stijn that day than I had in any class I've taken. I think that has to do with the fact that they live life so similarly to the way that I live life in Canada, but we are also extremely different, especially when with the lenses that we see the world through.

The best part of the story time was hearing Leo tell me about how my grandfather met his family. Of course, he wasn't born at the time (I've corrected my previous post), but he's taken a great interest in preserving the connection that Max established with his family.

After dinner, I had to say my goodbyes to Leo and Carla before Stijn took me to his apartment back in Oss. That night, we talked and drank long into the night. We cracked our first beer at around 7 or 8pm and talked until 11pm about everything from relationships, school, our futures, our past. It is so interesting that I can feel so connected to this man who is 15 years older than me and lives in a different continent. I very much feel as though Stijn is like my older brother--an older brother I've met on four occasions.

The connection that we have with each other amazes all of us.

When we realized that we had been talking for hours, we got dressed to go out and Stijn took me to his favourite bars in Oss.

The first was the Groene Engel (the Green Angel). It was a fairly decent sized bar, and it wasn't very busy. But there were some great characters there. One of Stijn's friends was celebrating his 50th birthday and all of the people celebrating had been celebrating since 4pm.

Another one of Stijn's friends, Nol, tried to help me teach Stijn about the science of "gaydar."

After we had had enough people-watching at this bar, we moved on to the Lollipop. This bar was excellent. It was a grungy, dirty bar where people were allowed to smoke inside. The bartender, with his greasy long hair, had a great collection of rock music on his iTunes. He would take mine and Stijn's requests and we sit at the bar, drink, and play air guitar to The Cardigans, Guns 'n' Roses, and the Rolling Stones. We lost ourselves in this bar until 3am, when Stijn and I finally realized that I needed to catch a train at around 9 in the morning!

While it was a short visit, it was still important for me that I did get to see the Steenbakkers family. It is a connection unlike any other I've ever heard of--a second family that I value as much as my own. And the love I feel for them is definitely returned. I can feel that.

Day 4 - Rotterdam: Architecture, the Swan, and the 70s

I discovered the only city I think that could rival Vancouver for the top spot in my heart....

Nah.

Rotterdam is definitely in my top three favourite cities I've ever seen though. Hands down. The architecture and the history and the fashion (and shopping) and the atmosphere.

Lets go through my day instead of jumping right into the amazingness that is Rotterdam.

I left Marike and Lasslo's today at around 11:30am. This was my first adventure in the Netherlands without a guide (other than Amsterdam). I took Marike's old bike and rode to the train station in Delft (that Google has no idea how to get to properly) and parked it and everything (and it wasn't stolen! My #1 fear of the day!) I then proceeded to the train ticket booth to purchase my ticket. Now I had expected to pay with Visa like I had all my other tickets. But the station in Delft only likes Maestro and I had no change. So I was a little panicked. After venturing around Delft for almost 45 minutes, I finally found a little toy store tucked in an alley way where I could exchange my 20 euro bill for some coins to buy my ticket. Walking back with my change, it occured to me that I could have just bought a ticket from the lady in the booth for 1 euro more....oh well. Live and learn right?

Rotterdam is only 12 minutes away from Delft, so I arrived fairly quickly. But on the train, I realized I hadn't eaten yet as I was so excited for my first excursion (that I had gotten a good night's sleep for) in the Netherlands. "Well, I'll just grab a quick bite at the nearest little European-style cafe I see when I get there," I thought.

Wrong.

I left Rotterdam Centraal to see cranes, dirt, fencing and piping. The only building I could see was the domineering Nationale Nederlands building.

Now it is important to understand that I was expecting a cute, little Dutch port city with maybe a few larger buildings, but still typically Dutch. My biggest miscalculation was the Rotterdam Blitz on 14 May 1940. The German attack on the city leveled it completely. However, the silver lining to this brutal, cruel and very unnecessary attack (the German's had already successfully negotiated the Dutch surrender before the Blitz) lies in the modern architectural Mecca that Rotterdam has become thanks to the municipal government in Rotterdam (and now the Dutch national government thanks to the recession) pumping a ton of money into the development of a world-class economic capital.

Anyways, still overwhelmed by this mammoth building that seemed to be staring me down, I searched for signage indicating where I could find information or a map. As a result, I stumbled upon the Manahattan Hotel, which smelled oddly like my Bubbie's house at Rosh Hashannah (don't ask me why). After I was provided with the cheap tourist map that only tells you a few of the street names, I was off!

I decided for some reason against using the map. Maybe I was lazy, but I stumbled into the shopping district in the middle of the city. While I was perusing the various selection of stores that I had never heard of, I stumbled upon the Rotterdam City Information Centre--again architecturally stunning for an Info Centre. The Info Centre had this amazing 3D model of the city with three projectors above it. There were three consoles that corresponded to each projector and you could get city history or tour routes and development plans by touching the screen and the projector would project your console's colour on to the 3D map. Ingenious! (Mom, I expect Coquitlam to have one within the year!)

After playing with my new toy for 15 minutes and creating my own little light show, I stumbled upon some similarities on the paper maps in the Centre, the map I got from the hotel and the 3D map. They all had the same "Roaming Rotterdam" path marked out. Well I thought that was a sign I should take on the 15km trek!

Unfortunately, the Info Centre wasn't on the route, so I just went to the closest, most interesting looking thing on the map--the Erasmusbrug. This gorgeous bridge was built in 1996 and is the most stunning bridge I've seen to date. It definitely beat out the Bay Area Bridges. This one was just too cool.

After spending a lot of time just staring at the bridge (it seems dumb, but I was dumbstruck by how beautifully awesome it was), I ventured across it to see the new developments on the otherside. Most of Rotterdam looks to have been built in the last 3 decades. Across the Erasmusbrug was the KPN Tower, which looks like its falling over and being held up with a giant's toothpick. This is about the point where I started gawking at the buildings surrounding me.

So, dragging my jaw along the floor, I ended up at the Netherlands FotoMuseum.

I told myself before I left for my trip that I wasn't going to go spend my trip inside museums because I don't believe that's where the culture is. I don't want to be a tourist. I want to be an experienceist. So I was going to experience a city, not a museum.

But this museum just looked like I would like it and appreciate it. So I paid the student discount rate of a whopping 3.50 Euros and wandered the "Everyday Life in the 70s" exhibit.

The first collection I saw was by Kohei Yoshiyuki called "Park". He took photos in a park in Japan where young male prostitutes would look for johns. The pictures included men crawling on the ground to attract customers and a larger man covering what I assume to be a prostitute with his pants around his feet. At first glance, I thought "oh great. Here is a great representation of gay culture in the 70s." But it is what you would have to do back then, especially in a very conformational culture like Japan.

But it represented more than that.

It was a struggle. Yoshiyuki had to hide his camera equipment (equipped with infrared..I can only imagine how much that would have weighed) and attempted to capture precise moments where people could defiantly and--I can only imagine--sometimes violently unleash their sexual tension.

I was stuck on this collection for a while. Little did I know that Yoshiyuki would be laying out a theme for nearly all the collections to come.

One particularly moving collection was by Ana Mendieta. She poured a red blood-like liquid on the floor in her apartment in New York and let the blood run under the door and into the street. She sat across the street and photographed peoples reactions. None of them bothered to knock on the door to see if some ghastly domestic dispute had gone wrong--if they could save someone's life. They all just looked and left.

The most witty collection was from Laurie Anderson (not sure if the link is to the same one, but she's the only one I can find on Wikipedia). This brilliant woman called her series "Fully Automatic Nikon (Object/Objection/Objectivity)." She decided that she would use her camera as a weapon against misogynistic men who would call out to her in the street. She would be the object of their desire, she would object, and then ask to take their photo--objectivity.

Can you find the connection yet?

All of these exhibits had to do with sex and power, which isn't really what I thought about when I thought of the 70s. But the world was being turned upside down: Vietnam, Men on the Moon, the Oil Crisis, Watergate, the Iranian Revolution, etc. Power was one of the most uncertain things in the world at the time.

It still is.

But in the 70s, people had no idea what to expect or how to keep the power they had or gain the power they didn't have. Yoshiyuki showed us how to create power. Mendieta showed us how we can choose to ignore what is within our power (or our responsibility, as Marike points out). And Anderson shows us how to take away someone's power.

All of this was done through exploring our most primal instinct: sex. You might be thinking that Mendieta's pieces are a bit of a stretch to fit in to the "sex" category, but her intention (according to the museum blurb) was to create the air of a domestic dispute gone wrong. When the chaos around us is gone, we are only left with our primal, animal instincts: eat, sleep, drink, fuck. When we attempt to establish power, people will look to all those things because they are the only things you can truly control. Eating disorders can be caused by the feeling of loss of control in life. My Dad has been known to go to sleep when he's frustrated (my mom loves it when he does that in the middle of an argument). I don't think alcoholism needs any explanation. And well, these exhibits show us how we can try and change our power structure.

That was my educational growth experience for the day--and it was a heavy one, now that I've written it all out. Whew.

After the FotoMuseum, I made my way back over the bridge to the Kunsthal for an espresso in the cafe to keep my energy up. From there I walked the Museum Garden and throughout the city. To list all the buildings that caught my eye and made my chin graze the sidewalk would take hours.

I just think that when I make enough money, I'll fly a large group of friends out to stay with me in my new designer skyscraping hotel that I'll have constructed in Rotterdam. They'll be free to spend the day in Rotterdam, but will have to report in their best party gear for a night on the town. Sound good? Awesome! Keep checking the mail for your invitation, plane ticket and room key.



Meanwhile, back in reality, I took the train back to humble, quiet Delft and sat in the Markt square to ground myself after being in the bustling modern metropolis. It amazes me that within 10 minutes I can go from modern skyscraper to quaint village cafe in the same country. The contrast is so wonderfully odd and enlightening. It feels like every environment that I need to thrive is only a stones throw away.

Well this post got long quick. They always seem to do that.
I'll have to post again later on the increased ability to use common sense in Europe, like I told Marike I would.

But for now, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow I go have lunch with Leo in Oss and then I stay with Leo and Carla (Marike's parents) for a night before heading to Leuven to start my course.

Cheers!

Day 3 - Den Haag: Traditions, Government Buildings, and The Hotel des Indes

Well, after a packed political day yesterday, today was much more laid back.
I woke up fairly late to Marike and Lasslo downstairs having coffee and listening to music.
They're both very musical. I found out that Marike is in a band and Lasslo was in a band! And they both have an excellent taste in music (read: very similar to mine). I will be sure to write down the names and add them to this posting tomorrow morning, but both of them are asleep now (it's almost midnight).

Today I kept a Steenbakker-Aisenthal tradition alive.

When I was 8, Marike and Lasslo came to visit us in Vancouver. I was so excited to see them everyday after school when they came back from their excursions. And one day, they came back early from one of their mini day trips. And my parents decided to have them pick us up at school. So Marike and Lasslo wandered the 300 meters to my elementary school and waited outside for us. To themselves, they didn't think they were the least bit suspicious. But to the teachers and other parents, what were two unfamiliar people doing at an elementary school speaking another language and waiting for two kids that weren't their own?

Thankfully, no one gave them much hassle and my sister and I burst out of the doors when we saw them and excitedly.

So, today, Femke comes home from school for an hour between 12pm and 1pm for lunch. So, I went with Lasslo to go pick her up from school at 12pm and take her home from lunch. When lunch was over and everyone had eaten, Lasslo and Marike sent me off with Femke to go take her to school.

Now, I'm in a little bit of a different situation than Lasslo and Marike. They speak English very well, so they would have been able to explain what they were doing at my school. But my Dutch is limited to a few nouns that Femke taught me and my mother's favourite Dutch word that I won't try to spell, but it is an extremely derogatory word for "whore."

All I wanted was to get Femke there and leave.

But we passed the time along the 2 minute walk by teaching each other words in our respective languages. I learned bloem (flower), auto (car), vater (water), and trampolina (can you guess what that is?). When we arrived at the gate to her school she quickly ran through and giddily waved good bye.

It's very cool to think that both Femke and I--the fourth generation connection of our families--were able to connect in that way. And whenever we can't understand each other, we just mraow and laugh--it doesn't matter if our intentions are lost in translation because we are both trying to maintain an old connection while establishing a new one.

After Femke went back to school, Lasslo and I went to the Hague to explore a little bit.
I saw Lasslo's office building (the Ministry for the Environment) which is a gorgeous, modern looking building with indoor gardens that are (sadly) unused. He introduced me to some colleagues and showed me his office (Dad, I have a picture you can do an ergonomic assessment and maybe use that as a proposal to get some work in Holland? maybe? just a thought.).

Later, we went to the parliament buildings. They are actually three parts to the building. There is one part built in the early 1800s and looks very typical early modern European-castlesque. The middle part is a modern, sleek square building (almost IKEA, but much more chic). And on the end is a very 1930-ish looking building. A new addition every century seems like a great way to mark history to me.

Then we went to go see the Ridderzaal or the Hall of Knights. This building is magnificent and certainly one of the oldest I've seen. It was built in the 13th century by the Count of Holland and now serves as a house for the legislative assembly when the monarch (currently Queen Beatrix) addresses the assembly.

Throughout the years, other governmental buildings were built around the Ridderzaal, including the Prime Minister's working office. I was surprised at how close I was able to stand to the building. In North America, it takes hours of security clearance (well...not hours, but you get the picture) to get close enough to see the door to the PM's office! One thing North Americans need to work on is their paranoia.

I also kept another sort of tradition alive while I was near the government buildings. In my apartment, I have a family photo of my parents, my sister and me standing in front of the Dutch Parliament Buildings. So I took a photo of my doing a back tuck in almost the same place.

Eventually, Lasslo and I wandered to the lavish Hotel des Indes. Marike told me when we got back that that was the place where the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova died. But Lasslo and I had a lovely espresso and chat in what seemed like an Austrian or Czech manor, but it was lovely none the less.

Upon realizing the time, we had to run back to catch the train or be stuck in the Hague for an extra half hour and miss dinner! So we booked it to the train, and after all the running, we realized that our late night out before had caught up with us.

We spent the rest of the rainy day relaxing at home. No biggy.

It is time for me to get some sleep. Tomorrow I'm adventuring in Rotterdam!

Cheers!

Day 2 - Delft: The Dutch Election Night

June 9th was the Dutch Election.
I'm lucky enough to have friends that are very involved in politics here in the Netherlands. So I got to go to a small bar in Delft with Lasslo and watch the results roll in with members of the SP (Socialist Party). That was an experience and a half I have to say.

After a lovely dinner at De Waag behind Delft City Hall, Marike took Femke home and Lasslo and I continued on to a (very) small tavern to watch the elections on Dutch Public TV (which is digitally received by antennae and played on a computer--very cool). Lasslo is a member of the Socialist Party, along with his brother-in-law, Stijn, and father-in-law, Leo. There were about 13 others present to watch the results with us.

While people were commenting on the speeches politicians gave or the preliminary poll estimates, Lasslo gave me a break down of Dutch Politics. The electoral system is proportional representation. So make-up of parliament is decided based on the percentage of votes that each party gets. With 150 seats in parliament, you need 75 seats plus 1 to hold the majority. This normally means that parties have to form coalitions in order to create a majority in Parliament.
There are about 18 political parties, but the main ones are:

• CDA - Christian Democratic Appeal (Wiki) - A centre-right group that has held the largest part of the coalitions in the last four governments. Their ex-leader, Jan Peter Belkenende, was prime minister of the last four government. None of those governments ever finished an entire term without an early election being called. They didn't do so well this election and may not be apart of the new coalition. Lasslo commented that people tend to be disappointed with this government because of its long run and because it was in power before and during the recent financial crisis.
  
  
• PvdA - Labour Party (Wiki) - A centre-left party that was the second member in the last coalition. They withdrew their support from the government over Afghanistan in February, causing this election (Thanks guys!! It made my life waaaaay more exciting!)
  
  
• SP - Socialist Party (Wiki) - Like I mentioned above, Lasslo, Stijn, and Leo are all members of this party. According to Lasslo, they've been doubling their numbers over the last 4 elections. Unfortunately, they lost a number of seats this election.
  
  
• PVV - The Party for Freedom (Wiki) - This right wing party is one of the most interesting to me. It's very subtly--and at the same time, not so subtly--racist. They have very strong views about keeping Dutch culture rooted in Judeo-Christian values and are openly anti-Islamic. The PVV is extremely conservative when it comes to immigration, taxation, minimum wage and numerous other political points.
  
  
• ***VVD - The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Wiki) - This is the (both socially and economically) liberal party. They were the second largest opposition party before the election, and unlike I previously mentioned, they're now the largest party in the Netherlands. It is likely that they will have the next Prime Minister. (Thanks Marike and Lasslo!)
  
  
• D66 - Democrats 66 (Wiki) - This is a more left leaning party whose platform I quite liked, however they didn't receive extremely high numbers in the polls.

Anyways, now that you have some back ground information (I'm not going to mention the Party for the Animals--sorry Leya. You're kitties will have to start their own party), I can get on with the story.

Sitting in this little tavern was very cool. It seemed just like the way I had always imagined organizing a socialist party would go (Only those who have been to a Habonim Dror camp can fathom having fantasies about organizing a socialist party). It was a tiny room with a large table in the centre. Everyone had a beer and comfortable t-shirt with jeans or other casual pants. Everyone was jabbering on in Dutch about other political parties and what their candidates had said. The woman beside me (Francine? I think?) seemed to be one of the funniest in a room. She always had a joke about something. She made fun of Lasslo, whose responsibility in the Delft chapter of the party for this election was to put up signs around Den Hoorne. Unfortunately, he forgot one major billboard just outside his house and he didn't hear the end of it.

The best joke of the night had to be when the the previous Prime Minister, Jan Balkenende, resigned from his position of Chairman of the CDA. The newscasters were examining the likelihood of which Party Leader would become Prime Minister. The screen showed the layout of the Dutch House of Parliament in the Hague and zoomed in on the Prime Minister's desk. Above the desk were a picture of each of the candidates. The newscaster would go through, discussing their levels of support and different coalition structures. When he got to the picture of Balkenende, he waved his hand and the chair was whisked off screen while he said something something along the lines of "not even worth discussing, the guy just quit. No chance for him sucker!" (I don't understand Dutch very well, so that's an approximation based on body language and tone...)

Needless to say, the obviously comedic animation of the Prime Minister's chair being whisked away was one of the highlights of the night, along with one of the northern electoral districts having 123% voter turn out. "That happens a lot in developing nations and apparently in the Netherlands!" said Bob, the chairman of the SP-Delft.

Watching the passion of the people in the room (especially for when they cheered upon discovering they had 1 more seat than originally thought) made me miss the passion I used to feel for politics when I was in my senior years of high school. I used to criticize every decision the government made, wondering about its consequences upon foreign relations, the economy and the domestic population. There was a time when I wouldn't make excuses for the government making an undesired decision, but now I feel like I can always find political justification for policies--even if I don't agree with them. It's this attitude that leads to apathy--a sense that nothing you do matters. Even voting.

I was a little bit ashamed to talk to Lasslo and his friends at the Socialist party about elections in Canada. I told them how I was bored of my options of 4 parties (I include the Greens because they FINALLY got someone into the House of Commons). But the NDP and Green Party will never be able to hold major office and the Liberals and Conservatives are so similar in their legislative goals with only the details in the lettering and the level of support from different kinds of business being the differing factors between parties. (After reading this over, that statement is pretty incorrect, but my point is that the differences between the two parties are quite slight). I almost feel like I wouldn't vote in the next federal election, because it almost doesn't matter who gets in--Canada's overall political character isn't strongly affected by the party in power today (historically is another story).

We also discussed proportional representation. I was jealous that the Netherlands had a PR electoral system. When the debate over PR (actually, a hybrid system that incorporated PR) was raised in BC and in Ontario last year, I supported it for both, but both times it was shot down and the old first-past-the-post systems were kept in place. I like the PR system for two reasons.

First, it's more exciting politically. That may be selfish but it would make Canadian politics a lot more interesting.
Second, it easily allows more political parties to grow and flourish. I don't find myself drawn to any party in Canada at the moment. I feel that none of them meet my needs and I can't really be passionate about any of their platforms.

The problem with PR, some would say, is the coalition governments that are born out of the system. In Canada, that was the big stopper--people are afraid of the coalition governments because, as the system stands, they aren't very long-lasting or reliable. But if you look at many flourishing democracies around the world, they all function with PR systems: the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Brazil. And many function just fine with coalition governments.

Anyways, to focus back on this party and to prevent me from going on a political rampage, I was also struck by the bluntness of the PVV. This right-wing party openly denounces Islam and claims to resist Islamization. The leader, Geert Wilders, announced that he vows to minimize Islam throughout the Netherlands. Now, this may be a dangerous and unfair comparison, but his comments sounded very much like a certain 1930s-40s Social Democrat from Germany who ended up plunging Europe and subsequently the rest of the world into a history-altering, catastrophic war. Now I'm not saying that Wilders could be the next Hitler, but I feel like that kind of sentiment in politics creates a breeding ground for the kind of racism that split the world down the middle and plunge us into the next world war. It would be between the Islamic East and the Secular/Christian West.

Those comments reminded me about my paper on Turkey and my research that showed an increase in anti-Islamic sentiment across Europe. Bob (the SP-Delft Chairman) believes that Turkey will be a part of the EU in the next 10 years, but at the rate that Europe is becoming more intolerant of immigrants (like in France and apparently the Netherlands, judging by the recent election), I find that a very optimistic forecast. Personally, I think that the accession process will be drawn out indefinitely in an attempt to wait out the intolerance, which will cause Turkey to withdraw away from Europe and turn to more conservative Islamist government. But that's just me.

I still don't know the exact results of the election, because they are making deals behind closed doors right now to create a coalition government who would hold the majority in Parliament. Nothing has been released yet as far as I know.

Sorry this post was rather beige and filled with politics, but this is something important for the people to think about that they wouldn't normally be exposed to. I certainly enjoyed myself.

And for those of you who thought this was boring, here is a picture of Femke in a clog. How very Dutch!

Day 1 (Part 2) - Amsterdam/Delft: European Style, My First Dutch Bike Ride and Femke

I would like to apologize for the lack of background in my first post. I was a little bit drunk when I was writing and it was very early in the morning. So let me explain (very briefly) why I'm in the Netherlands before I head off to Belgium instead of France or Italy. I post the whole story after I come home from Europe with much more detail and more correct details.

My great grandfather, Max, fought with the Canadian Armed Forces in World War II. He landed on Juno two days after D-Day and traveled through Europe with his regiment until he got to the Netherlands. In a small town called Boxtel, he and his regiment stayed with Dutch families and lived in their houses to reinforce the front lines. The house Max stayed in belonged to the Steenbakker family--Mother Steenbakkers, Father Steenbakkers and their 9 kids. While most of my great grandfather's regiment would go off and get drunk on their leave, my grandfather would stay and play with the children and was respectful of the Steenbakker's home. Max kept in touch with the Steenbakkers throughout the years (at first, the teacher in Boxtel had to write the letters for the family because no one read or wrote English). The responsibility of keeping in touch with my family was taken up by Lisa, one of the Steenbakker sisters, and Leo the youngest in the family. And my mother took over the responsibility of keeping in touch with the Steenbakkers from her grandfather. Over the last 70 years, there has been various contact with all the generations of our families. I am now staying in Den Hoorne with Leo's daughter, Marike and her husband Lasslo. Marike and Lasslo have a wonderfully expressive daughter, Femke.

That is how I have come to have a connection to the Netherlands and why I will always make sure that my family will have a connection to this country and the Steenbakkers. It's tradition! (Cue fiddler and tenors)

And now to continue my story.

On the hour-long train to Delft, I struggled to keep my eyes open. The young woman seated across from me had the worst luck trying to change her tights that had runs all through them with a new pair that had worse runs. She put them on (surprisingly quite discreetly) and then complaining to me in Dutch about the cheap store she got them at (I actually had no idea what she said but it was probably something along those lines. I just nodded in tired agreement.)

When I finally arrived at Delft Station, it struck me then that I was going to see my old friends Marike and Lasslo who I hadn't seen since my family trip to France in 2004. I almost drunkenly stumbled out of the train with a backpack on my back, my front and their presents from Canada in bags in each hand. I rushed down the stairs to find a meeting place or maybe the station building, but only came out to a road. I wandered left and right in the little underpass but couldn't see any sign of my friends.

And just when I started to think I had taken the wrong train or maybe got off at the wrong station, I spotted a woman with strawberry blonde hair holding the hand of a little (but still very tall) girl.

"Marike!!" I shouted and she turned around and we excitedly exchanged hugs and she introduced me to Femke, who is now 8 years old (the last time I saw her she was 2 and I accidentally made her cry--things got lost in translation.)

They showed me to the bike that Lasslo that morning at the station for me on his way to work. It hasn't been that long since I've ridden a bike, but the nerves of riding in the middle of Dutch rush hour with a large backpack, following friends, and the seat being about 3/4 of an inch too high proved to make riding an...interesting experience. The 7 minute bike ride (which turned into a 14 minute ride with me) brought us to Den Hoorne, the small village that Marike and Lasslo live in.

Their house is larger very quaint by North American standards, but I feel is very much standard for a family of four. But the small abode has ample room for all three and a half of them plus me. My favourite part was the bathroom. It has a separate bathtub and shower and one large sink with two taps--all very modern looking. the toilet is attached to the wall like all European toilets that I've so far encountered. And everything seems to make sense, more so than a North American bathroom. The square, marble sink is slightly slanted away from you and leads to a trough and the two faucets allow two people to use it.

Now a lot of you maybe thinking "so? you can get that in North America if you want it." And I already know this. But when I commented on the sink, Marike noted that it was normal for a bathroom to look like this in Europe. In Canada or the US, that sink would be an expensive "designer" sink or a special order sink. But not here. You don't need an expensive designer to incorporate sleek modern design and efficient function.

I've been finding this throughout my experience with European design. The architecture throughout Amsterdam and Delft seems to radiate efficiency. The construction of tall, narrow buildings with large windows allows for high population density. But glancing into the large windows, I noticed that no one is cramped. People have figured out how to cope with the things they need and to fit them in the space that is allotted to them. I just find that this makes sense. It was Tom Ford who said that time and silence are the most luxurious things today. I think he was right to leave space off of that list.

Anyways, back to getting to Marike and Lasslo's house. When we got a chance to settle down, Femke had to introduce me to her new rabbits--her konijnen. Now, I was bitten by a rabbit at a petting zoo when I was 11. It was painful and scary experience that I have no intention of revisiting. But, I wouldn't let my pride be injured in front of my foreign friends. And the evil killer bunnies were extremely cute. So I sucked it up and let them crawl all over me. This will be fine as long as they don't put their mouths anywhere near my extremities. The minute one of those suckers bites me, its over.

I also introduced Femke to cheerleading ("like in High School Musical?" "No Femke. Much better than that.") and to Simon's Cat. Femke now makes her own motion sequences, cartwheels everywhere and (as she doesn't speak more than 4 words of English) we communicate by "Mraow"ing. As a result, she is one of my favourite 8 year olds.

After I got settled in and showered, Marike made dinner and we had an interesting talk about politics. This was a great experience. Almost like a prep for my course. I got to talk to a European citizen about the European Union. Marike told me about how the bureaucracy is costly and inefficient, but still fairly important for Europe. We discussed the possible future accession of Turkey and the upcoming Dutch election (well it was upcoming when we discussed it). Lasslo joined the conversation when he got home later and added his opinions as well. Overall, it was a very interesting discussion that I wasn't able to have with anyone before. And from only 30 minutes, I learned more than I had in any class I've taken yet.

I also told Marike and Lasslo about my first impressions of style and fashion in Amsterdam. Now I'm no connoisseur of fashion, but everyone (with maybe a grand total of three exceptions) was perfectly dressed. There were people in suits that were fitted to their body instead of looking like the jacket was draped over their shoulders like a sleeved cape. There were the hipsters who obviously made every detail of their image look to be effortless yet high maintenance. There were even those who were just wearing a t-shirt and jeans (an outfit which cost probably close to 350 euros total). It was really refreshing to be in a town where everyone just looked good. And fit. Not a single overweight person in sight. Mind you, that's what you get for being a citizen of a nation that cycles everywhere.

The cycling has to be one of my favourite parts of the Netherlands. Everything is close enough to bike there in 15 minutes or less and there is no loud rumbling of traffic. Marike and Lasslo both cycle to work. Femke cycles to school. I cycled to their house from the train station. I'm about to go pick up Femke from school by bike (This is a tradition among our families. When I was 8, Marike and Lasslo were visiting Canada and picked me up from school. So I'm keeping the tradition alive and picking up Femke!)
While cycling is one of the best parts of this quiet, flat country, my poor bum is quite sore and it's only been a day. I guess I'll have to get used to it.