Fries, Definitely Fries

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Bonjour,

So I realize that, while I have been giving you information on places I have been going, I haven’t really filled you in as to what I’ve been up to when I’ve been in Brussels. I will attempt to do that now.

Work: Work is still fantastic. My mandate hasn’t really changed that much since I started, but I’m still enjoying it. The highlight of it, apart from the people I work with, has to be attending conferences. I’ve been to 3 now. The first one was a Lifestyles Risk Forum, but there wasn’t a lot of new information that came out during that meeting. The second one was more exciting. It was a presentation by the Swedish Ambassador to the EU outlining what Sweden’s priorities would be for the European Union. The third one was from BP presenting their world energy review for 2009. Their head economist gave the speech, and he was definitely not like a normal economist. I don’t want to say that some economists are boring speakers, but watching grass grow tends to be more entertaining. This speaker did not fit that mould at all. He was animated and candid and it was nice to get some honest, non-political answers for a change.

Social: I’ve finally had the chance to meet the friends of some of my roommates. Claire invited me over to her friend Sybil’s (I hope I got the spelling right) house for dinner one night. I got to meet her friends, all of whom were Flemish, and went to an art school in town. Dinner was pasta with fired artichokes (I didn’t even know you could fry artichokes) and it was amazing. A lot of Belgians are reserved but once you get the introduction, they are very warm and friendly. I also helped another of my roommates, Malou, move out. I seem to be getting quite good at this and my rates haven’t gone up so book while there’s still space available! She lives elsewhere in Brussels so I’m sure we’re going to be able to meet up again in the city.

I also met one of the interns from last year who graduated from IES at UBC. Thorfinn and I went to a bar in the midst of one of those fantastic Brussels thunderstorms where it rains up! He’s a cool guy and it’s always nice to meet someone who has been through what you have.

I have also met one of the contacts that I was given back home by Gabrielle. Louis, her nephew, and I had a beer at a great little bar in my neighbourhood that had ivy growing up and over the lattice work by the patio. He’s a year younger than me, but has been to Vancouver and he did his practicum in Auckland. It will be pretty cool when I get to go visit him at his family’s place in Namur.

I played my first soccer match since the one in Hachenburg, and I didn’tt get hurt this time! I played with Mark, Xavier, Claude, Costel and Liam and it was a lot of fun. We just played in one of the myriad green areas in the Cinquantenaire. After that, we headed down to Place Joudain for a bit of a going-away party for Véronique, who is going back to Quebec. There’s a little place in the middle of the square that is supposed to be the best fries in Belgium, after which we bought some beers and chilled in the square. I’ve got to say, they weren’t my favourite. I actually think I’ve had better ones closer to Grand Place. I invite suggestions on better places.

I think I’ve circumnavigated most of Brussels by now. I walked about 20 km the other day visiting the Palace, Parc, Maelbeek, the markets in Schaerbeek, Grand Place, Galerie St. Hubert, the cool viewpoint on the top of the parkade, Marchée aux Poissons, the canal, Rogier, Rue Neuve, Rue Beliard, the European Parliament and some of the Art Nouveau houses near the Cinquantenaire. I just about died by the time I got home, but it was absolutely amazing to be able to see so much of the city in just a day!

Random: Tractors. No, not just tractors, 1000 protesting Belgian and German tractor drivers clogging up Avenue de Tervueren to protest the price of milk. It was ridiculous. They chose their time to protest because the European Council was meeting and the most press would be in the city. To combat the tractors, the Belgian police set up roadblocks utilizing what can best be described as the anti-boat beaching measures used by the Germans during World War II, only covered in more barbed wire! These barriers, combined with the tractors caused me to miss two meetings, so I wasn’t too happy about them originally, but then I found it entertaining.

Bye for now,
Peter

Things I learned in Brussels:
-It’s kind of nice when tractors shut down the busy, main thoroughfare, thus making it easier to cross.
-Lamborghini makes a tractor. Seriously.
-The Brussels canal and Lake Ontario have something in common: once you go in, you may never come out.

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