EU Study Abroad

Most Americans know nothing about the Baltic Countries....

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:35:30 +1200

Most Americans know nothing about the Baltic Countries. It’s sad really, because these are some of the most beautiful, fairytale-looking places in the world. But there is more than meets the eye when it comes to these countries full of amber, snow, and beautiful churches. Though they are all fully functioning democracies in the European Union, not more than 20 years ago, these countries were still under the control of the Soviet Union. Like the rest of modern day Russia, they were persecuted by the government, hundreds of thousands sent to work camps or Siberia, and (one of the most glaring signs) still have run-down soviet-bloc apartments built to aid in the eavesdropping of every citizen by the KGB. A couple of days in these countries would not convince any average tourist that these incidents happened in the Baltics. The people are friendly, most speak english, and they seem very content with their current governments. It is only once you scratch the surface that you see some of the most obvious and chilling examples of the fact that most of the adults still living today were not always free.

The picture above is of the concert hall of the opera house in Tallinn, Estonia. It’s beautiful inside, and the concert we attended there (a medley of Estonian musical theatre tunes) was interesting and pretty entertaining. However, it was not until the very end that we noticed something very strange. During curtain calls when most Westerners would be whistling, yelling, and applauding, this crowd of adults was clapping in unison. It began with a smattering, but by the end of the applause, every person in that audience was absolutely clapping to a non-existent beat. There was no music playing behind it. All of us were somewhat confused at first, but most of our group just joined in because it seemed the right thing to do.

Later, our professor told us that this was no coincidence. These people were trained to clap that way by the government of the former soviet union. A practice that we do mindlessly in the west was made into a precise execution of obedience in these countries. I found myself embarrassed for clapping the wrong way. Can you imagine that? Every moment for these citizens 20 or so years ago was a practice in not standing out. Being an individual elicited suspicion and even jail or deportation. People were taught to blend in with the crowd and never make a spectacle out of yourself. Even an act as simple as applauding at a casual concert had a formula so that no one would stand out. It is traits like that that were so ingrained into these people’s heads that makes you realize that their history (and by extension, ours, because we did nothing to help) is not so far in the past. The formulaic applauding, as a theatre and music lover myself, is one of the most chilling things I’ve experienced while I’ve been here.

I’m here! Did you forget about me? Three days into my...

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 11:24:43 +1200

I’m here! Did you forget about me? Three days into my European Union study abroad trip and this is the first time I’ve been able to update my personal blog. It will especially be difficult for me to catch up due to the fact that about 15 days of experiences have been packed into 3. Already, I’ve visited and heard speakers from the European Parliament, European Commission, and European Council, eaten Belgian waffles, chocolate, and dinner, talked to a few locals, walked around Grand Place and seen the Cinquantenaire Arches (seen above), the Manneken Pis, and other landmarks, mastered the Brussels Metro, and drank Kriek cherry beer at hole-in-the-wall Belgian pubs. Talk about busy. It also doesn’t make it much easier that internet in the hotel is 10 Euro for 24 hours. Thats around $18. Aside from internet, I’ve yet to spend money on many other things besides food. It is delicious here. The other day I ordered a ham sandwich and received literally that. Bread with ham. BUT it was some of the best bread and the best ham I’ve ever tried.

Jet lag the first day was pretty awful. But it’s true what everyone says: as long as you make it through to the first night, your clock will reset. Other than that, it’s been so interesting to learn the little quirks that make Brussels unique. I wasn’t aware before, but French is the main language spoken in Brussels. I’ve been brushing up a bit! The architecture here is intriguing. Because (very very old) Brussels is the capital of the (very very new) European Union, the buildings that distinguish each entities are striking. EU buildings are modern and made of all glass. Traditional Brussels style is gothic and what you would expect to see in most of Europe. Today, these buildings stand side to side.

Because the internet is more scarce than I predicted, my updates may not be as frequent. But, when I have internet, I always update my flickr page so you can check that out by clicking here. Thanks for reading! Comments should be enabled so feel free. You have to go to my actual page (not dashboard, tumblr users) to do so.

Au Revoir!

The home stretch! In 2 days, I’ll be in this lovely place...

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:06:00 +1200

The home stretch! In 2 days, I’ll be in this lovely place along with multiple other European countries. This blog will be a collection of stories, pictures, and quotes from the countries of Belgium, Luxembourg, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Italy. It’ll probably be updated daily but I’ll try to queue them to prevent dashboard spam. The trip will be over over Jan. 28th and so will this blog. Follow along with me on my trip :)

(photo via)

Today was our 2nd meeting for the trip, and we learned something pretty exciting. Dr. Morgan, the...

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:41:24 +1200

Today was our 2nd meeting for the trip, and we learned something pretty exciting. Dr. Morgan, the leader of the trip, passed around a letter straight from the Vatican telling us that our group was getting tickets to see the POPE!! That’s right, I will be in the audience in the presence of the pope. OH MAN.

Ireland backs EU's Lisbon Treaty

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:28:26 +1200

Ireland backs EU's Lisbon Treaty:

Very big, exciting news in the EU today!

Flight page! Yep, this full page (plus one more on the back) is...

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:40:09 +1200

Flight page! Yep, this full page (plus one more on the back) is all 8 flights I’ll be taking in a 3 week period while in Europe!

101 days!

Welcome to my EU blog!

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:15:34 +1200

I have 106 days until I leave for Europe, and even though that seems really far away, I know the time will go by really quickly! Here’s a preliminary schedule:

Jan. 6-Jan. 12: Brussels, Belgium, the capitol of the EU!

Jan. 11: Day trip to Luxembourg to see the American Cemetery and EU Court of Justice

Jan. 12-14: Riga, Latvia

Jan. 14-17: Tallinn, Estonia

Jan. 17-24: Vilnius, Lithuania

Jan. 24-28: Rome, Italy