Encore la Belgique!!

Today, for the first time in a week, just sitting was lovely and perfectly relaxing. The TGV, the high speed train from Paris to Grenoble, was especially nice today in comparison to all the other sitting I have been doing this week, either in slightly boring meetings with the subsequent struggle to stay awake and/or ask intelligent questions, at dinner with people I've basically just met, or in bars afterwards with music and lots of people drinking and yelling. None of these situations are terribly relaxing, and followed by not-quite-enough sleep afterwards, have led to some fatigue. So the 3 hours of sitting in a comfortable pullover, in contrast to slightly chafing dress clothes, in the silence of the train, reading and knitting, was an amazing experience.

I have returned from Belgium, however, with more than just tiredness, but with knowledge I didn't have before about the European Union and its institutions, countries, maps, etc. Truthfully, most of what I learned centered around the incredible beaucracy of such a large institution, with its sluggishness of movement in policy and other matters, and about its representatives' reluctance to say anything actually informative. You should not hold a question and answer session if you fully intend on verbally circling every single question!! What they don't say can be interesting too, however, and I certainly know more about the EU than at the beginning (which wasn't much, but still).

And, as always, I think it is the people that make or break an experience for me. If I hadn't met anyone I respected/liked/enjoyed being with, my week would have been a disaster. There are cool people everywhere as new experiences continually remind me, and there were several people that I hung out with more than the others that I really enjoyed being with. Its almost sad, knowing that if you had met someone in other circumstances, you could have become good friends, but because you will know them for a week in a conference setting there is a very low probability that will happen. Its like lost friendship potential...but who knows, with this wonderful thing called the internet, anything is possible!

So yes, now I am back in Grenoble, and must confront the early wake-up call and then the bike ride to work tomorrow, which will be an effort I am afraid due to the incredible number of Belgian calories I have consumed in the past week...

Belgium I

All the keys are in the right place! That is the first thing I notice as I sit down with Jesse to write; I have been using the computers at a nearby internet cafe to avoid the exorbitant prices for internet at the hotel, and they have ?french? keyboards. At first, I thought all the keys were in the wrong places, it turns out its only a select few, but the 'a' key is annoying to be continually switching with 'q'!! So at the moment, my ability to type without constant grimaces and backspacings is making me happy :).

On the whole, however, I have really enjoyed Belgium. Somehow it looks different from France, the countryside is a mix of fields and pine forests, with plenty of rivers and creeks running everywhere. The American Fulbrighters here would say that is because the rain is entirely unpredictable, with rain and sun at the same time sometimes!, which they find perplexing and frustrating, but so far the rain hasn't annoyed me. Its true, it does seem to rain at least a little everyday, but it makes all the vegetation so green and beautiful, and as long as you're prepared it goes away quickly anyway so its no big deal. There has been plenty of sunshine as well, and with the help of an umbrella (nevermind that I seem to have left it in the bar last night!) and Gore-Tex shoes, I am staying dry enough.

It has been interesting watching group dynamics in a group in which most of the people were strangers only 4 days ago. There is a large contingent of Germans for some reason, so they are obviously more comfortable with each other, but there are currents and groups that didn't exist before forming already. There's the guy that everyone groans when he talks...except for the one oblivious girl...who everyone groans when she is late...again! There's the jokesters, the quiet ones, the fake but fairly fun (hehe, say that five times fast) ones.... I know its not good to judge people unnecessarily, but at the same time, its completely natural and as long as you don't let your opinion affect your respect and regard for them as people with complete histories and futures you will never know, I don't think its such a bad thing to know, within yourself, what you think of people. Sharing it is something else...which it seems people also feel compelled to do in situations like this, where the society has been completely artificially constructed.

For me, what it essentially boils down to, is that in Belgium I have so far, discovered a lovely country, with beautiful cities, french-speaking with a slight accent, many new people that are nice and interesting and several who I really like. Perhaps my favorite strongly reminds me of Pam Peters, with her perky funness and humor, with a twist of Spryte's hilarious expressions thrown in. Pam and Spryte, you have a combined alter-ego named Erica!! ;)

And there's still 3 more days!!