Monday 3 November 2008
Monday 27 October 2008
I would be remiss if I were not to mention...
It's also the 50th anniversary of the EU.
Scandinavia has been put on hold for the time being. One of my biggest regrets was not spending more time in Belgium when I lived in Belgium. There is a lot of history in France, and I'm going to take advantage of it this week. Sweden will always be there, but I don't want to run out of time for this.
I'll wrap up the Plenary week shortly - it ends with a bang! Be well.
Sunday 26 October 2008
Week One, Day Two
I might condense the rest of the week into this post because I'm jetting off to Sweden & Norway (thank you US Government) for a week and I want to get everything out while it is still fairly fresh in my head.
One thing that you should know is that I am a student here in Strasbourg. I take 11 classes, and while I am quite comfortable skipping them during plenary weeks, sometimes I just can't. So imagine my disappointment when I find out that French president Nicolas Sarkozy is coming to the Parliament on Tuesday morning (!!!!!!!!) and I have to be in my International Business Negotiations class to give a presentation. I wanted to cry.
I told my professor that I needed to leave class early, but it didn't mean much and I didn't get to the Parliament until well after Sarko was done speaking. I guess his big point was the economic crisis (not surprising), which I wouldn't have minded hearing about but Mr. Sarkozy is such a GOOD speaker, captivating, animated, and that is why I wanted to see him. No matter, I did seem him briefly in passing in one of the hallways which was prettttty cool.
So, the day begins here. Cork and I got asked to sit in on an intimate meeting on SOS Democracy. Okay, cool. Until we were sent off with no room number - only that it was in the Members' Salon. Okay, well, that can't be hard to find, right? Wrong. We were certain that we had a good lay of the land in this massive building (yes, I work there, yes, you can be jealous!). But we didn't, and evidently neither did anyone else. Thank god the meeting started WAY late (it was set to begin at 2.30) and Cork and I burst in around 3.20, and they hadn't started the meeting yet - this did not make it any more comfortable. One of the MEP's was glaring holes into us. Sorry, England. It's day two, our bad.
Our second stop of the day was a committee on the WTO. I wish I had something interesting to say, but really, they were just trying to figure out where to have their big 2009 meeting.
Another long night, until midnight, working on speeches and projects.
I'll wrap up Wednesday and Thursday tomorrow before I hit the road.
Be great, see you post-Scandinavia.
One thing that you should know is that I am a student here in Strasbourg. I take 11 classes, and while I am quite comfortable skipping them during plenary weeks, sometimes I just can't. So imagine my disappointment when I find out that French president Nicolas Sarkozy is coming to the Parliament on Tuesday morning (!!!!!!!!) and I have to be in my International Business Negotiations class to give a presentation. I wanted to cry.
I told my professor that I needed to leave class early, but it didn't mean much and I didn't get to the Parliament until well after Sarko was done speaking. I guess his big point was the economic crisis (not surprising), which I wouldn't have minded hearing about but Mr. Sarkozy is such a GOOD speaker, captivating, animated, and that is why I wanted to see him. No matter, I did seem him briefly in passing in one of the hallways which was prettttty cool.
So, the day begins here. Cork and I got asked to sit in on an intimate meeting on SOS Democracy. Okay, cool. Until we were sent off with no room number - only that it was in the Members' Salon. Okay, well, that can't be hard to find, right? Wrong. We were certain that we had a good lay of the land in this massive building (yes, I work there, yes, you can be jealous!). But we didn't, and evidently neither did anyone else. Thank god the meeting started WAY late (it was set to begin at 2.30) and Cork and I burst in around 3.20, and they hadn't started the meeting yet - this did not make it any more comfortable. One of the MEP's was glaring holes into us. Sorry, England. It's day two, our bad.
Our second stop of the day was a committee on the WTO. I wish I had something interesting to say, but really, they were just trying to figure out where to have their big 2009 meeting.
Another long night, until midnight, working on speeches and projects.
I'll wrap up Wednesday and Thursday tomorrow before I hit the road.
Be great, see you post-Scandinavia.
Saturday 25 October 2008
Week One, Day One!
I can't believe that the first week of my internship is already over. It was an emotional roller coaster every day and I am going to start to rehash it with you. So much happened that rather than write one long update, I'm going to break it down day by day.
So, let's start with Monday, shall we?
My counterpart (let's call her Cork) and I got to the Parliament around 5PM. I had been a teeny bit nervous about this other girl. I had never met her before, and I thought she was going to be quite competitive and ruthless. I couldn't have been more wrong. Cork is lovely, and I don't think I would've made it through the week without her.
Our MEP arrived shortly after us, which was good because neither Cork nor I had the credentials to get inside the building. It was quite a process to get our badges that involved pictures, passports and a lot of standing around. Very worth it in the end, however, because we basically got access to everywhere in the building. The only place we were not allowed with our temporary badges was the floor (main area) of the Hemicycle (plenary room), which is fine. We don't need to be there. (as an aside, I may need to create an entry to jot down all the terms you'll get used to seeing!)
Our first assignment, well, "assignment", was to walk around and get a feel for the building. You would think the fact that it's a circular shape would make it easy to get to know. It's not. The Parliament building is massive, and (as you'll find out in coming entries), very easy to get lost in. Cork and I walked around for a fair bit, sat in on some speeches in the Hemicycle, had a quick lunch/dinner - a very good idea on our part.
We were sent to go sit in on a hearing. The hearing was a sort of interview for Baroness Ashton who is looking to take the spot of Mr. Mandelson. Mandelson left the position quite abruptly, leaving the EU in a bit of a lurch. You can read a bit about the hearing here. It is so strange to look at the picture in that article and know I was there. Unfortunately, I didn't think that she gave the best interview. Her answers tended to remain repetitive, vague, and a bit open ended (some MEP's did try to goad her into saying something unfavourable about her predecessor and she was brilliant at avoiding their trap). Ultimately, she was endorsed by the EU and on Wednesday, was voted into the position. Hopefully, though the Baroness does not have a ton of experience, she will be able to steer the EU in the right direction in the throes of the current economic crisis.
After the Baroness, Cork and I were sent to the Committee for Climate Change. It was not nearly as exciting as the hearing of Ashton, but it was interesting nonetheless. One MEP was presenting a report, and in this session, amendments from other MEP's were being made. I would have loved to be able to get my hands on a copy of the report, so I might just have to hunt around a bit during next month's plenary.
It was a long day, very busy, always running and the theme of the week was not getting home before midnight.
What I can say, right now, is that not going to the Parliament today is sad. I quite miss being there: the hustle, the work, the constant movement. It's depressing, in a way, to not have it. There were a couple of times throughout the week when we were given a task but no information or no room number to a committee we needed to sit in on, that it was frustrating. I even considered the fact that I'd give up the spot next semester (because I do feel guilty about skipping on a week of classes every month). But how I feel today, and ultimately, how happy I was all week. I definitely can't not do this. It's amazing.
So, let's start with Monday, shall we?
My counterpart (let's call her Cork) and I got to the Parliament around 5PM. I had been a teeny bit nervous about this other girl. I had never met her before, and I thought she was going to be quite competitive and ruthless. I couldn't have been more wrong. Cork is lovely, and I don't think I would've made it through the week without her.
Our MEP arrived shortly after us, which was good because neither Cork nor I had the credentials to get inside the building. It was quite a process to get our badges that involved pictures, passports and a lot of standing around. Very worth it in the end, however, because we basically got access to everywhere in the building. The only place we were not allowed with our temporary badges was the floor (main area) of the Hemicycle (plenary room), which is fine. We don't need to be there. (as an aside, I may need to create an entry to jot down all the terms you'll get used to seeing!)
Our first assignment, well, "assignment", was to walk around and get a feel for the building. You would think the fact that it's a circular shape would make it easy to get to know. It's not. The Parliament building is massive, and (as you'll find out in coming entries), very easy to get lost in. Cork and I walked around for a fair bit, sat in on some speeches in the Hemicycle, had a quick lunch/dinner - a very good idea on our part.
We were sent to go sit in on a hearing. The hearing was a sort of interview for Baroness Ashton who is looking to take the spot of Mr. Mandelson. Mandelson left the position quite abruptly, leaving the EU in a bit of a lurch. You can read a bit about the hearing here. It is so strange to look at the picture in that article and know I was there. Unfortunately, I didn't think that she gave the best interview. Her answers tended to remain repetitive, vague, and a bit open ended (some MEP's did try to goad her into saying something unfavourable about her predecessor and she was brilliant at avoiding their trap). Ultimately, she was endorsed by the EU and on Wednesday, was voted into the position. Hopefully, though the Baroness does not have a ton of experience, she will be able to steer the EU in the right direction in the throes of the current economic crisis.
After the Baroness, Cork and I were sent to the Committee for Climate Change. It was not nearly as exciting as the hearing of Ashton, but it was interesting nonetheless. One MEP was presenting a report, and in this session, amendments from other MEP's were being made. I would have loved to be able to get my hands on a copy of the report, so I might just have to hunt around a bit during next month's plenary.
It was a long day, very busy, always running and the theme of the week was not getting home before midnight.
What I can say, right now, is that not going to the Parliament today is sad. I quite miss being there: the hustle, the work, the constant movement. It's depressing, in a way, to not have it. There were a couple of times throughout the week when we were given a task but no information or no room number to a committee we needed to sit in on, that it was frustrating. I even considered the fact that I'd give up the spot next semester (because I do feel guilty about skipping on a week of classes every month). But how I feel today, and ultimately, how happy I was all week. I definitely can't not do this. It's amazing.
Sunday 12 October 2008
Me
In bullet points...
- Buffalo, NY native
- 4th year - International Relations, International Business & German majors
- Jan 2008-June 2008 - Studied Economics at the Universiteit Antwerpen (Antwerp, Belgium)
- Sept 2008-May 2009 - Studying/earning Bachelors of European Management at Ecole Management Strasbourg (Universite Robert Schuman)
- Passionate about human rights, sustainable development and Russia
- Law school hopeful
For the future, I hope to be working in International Human Rights law, maybe for a think tank in Washington, or maybe as a lawyer, combating human trafficking in Eastern Europe. For now, I am seizing the opportunity to work under a representative from Ireland. It should be an interesting year, with the new Lisbon Treaty coming into effect sometime in 2009 (and Ireland's earlier rejection of the treaty), should make for a great experience. Can't wait to share it all with you.
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