Mussels in Brussels :)

Yesterday was our first official day--lectures in the morning, site visits in the afternoon, "cultural" dining (aka authentic Belgium food and beer) in the evening, which lasted through the night. The morning began with a healthy walk to the UK Research Office where our lecture is held. Our professor, Nigel Roome, holds several positions, but his most prestigious is the Daniel Janssen Chair in Corporate Social Responsibility at Solvay Business School, Free University of Brussels, Belgium. His lectures are engaging and he is very enthusiastic about the subject. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has really struck a chord with me and I'm very intrigued. What we're learning about here is how CSR differs between US companies (many laws) and European Union (EU) companies (many principles). Where Americans want to sue when they feel they have been treated unethically, Europeans discuss the issue (this is a gross generalization, but is needed to show the comparison). This field is extremely new in terms of organizations making a conscious effort to become socially responsible. After Nigel's lecture, we headed to the EU commissions office to speak with DG (Directorate-General) for Enterprise and Industry. The meeting room was a great space (very industrial). We as a group (14 students and our instructor, Michelle) went to another authentic Belgium restaurant. I had mussels!!! Moules au vert. Mussels with vegetables, garlic, and white wine. Vegetables to them is onions and celery, but it was still amazing. I've only ever had mussels mixed within a dish, so eating them out of the pot they're steamed in and directly from the shell was a new, yet so fun, experience. See the pictures to get a feel! We then went to an Irish pub around the corner of our hotel to have a drink for Stephen's 28th birthday. Today we had our usual morning lecture and then attended a site visit to Fortis, which is the largest banking company in Europe. We met with Catherine Kinet, Senior Manager of CSR, who gave a great presentation and was so welcoming. This meeting room was also AMAZING...gargantuan wooden table (reminded me of the one in the bank in Mary Poppins...random, I know), big cushy leather chairs and two of walls of picture windows overlooking the city. The meeting concluded around 4:30pm, so we decided to do some site-seeing and walk the city. We went to The Grand Place and Mannekin Pis. The Grand Place is a large plat (square or piazza) where the extravagant Town Hall is along with many shops and restaurants. I enjoyed my first Belgium waffle there! Mannekin Pis is a little statue of a boy peeing. It has more or less become the emblem of Brussels...honestly I don't know the history behind it. But, all 1.5 feet of metal is made-out to be a "must see". We then went to the outskirts of Brussels to see The Atomium, a giant silvery iron molecule. It was the symbol of the 1958 Universal Exhibition. Chem geeks, check out the pictures for a rush like you've never had before. Tomorrow we are going to Antwerp for our afternoon visit and then we'll be going on a boat tour of the harbor town! We won't be returning until late in the evening, so probably won't blog for another day or so.

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