here can you get thick dessert waffles, light heady beer, and the best chocolates
in the world?You guessed right: Belgium! I had the good fortune to work there during the summer of 1999, and this is my on-line scrapbook commemorating the two-month trip, which comprised an internship, weekend visits all over the country and the continent, and many new friendships.
Through International Cooperative Education, a California-based group, I was placed at Fortis Banque (formerly the Générale de Banque) in Brussels, where I worked as an intern in the Business Information Services department. The work was varied and interesting - each morning, the staff would read the morning papers, looking for any economic or financial articles on one of more than 10,000 companies. These articles were then cut out, scanned, and indexed in a database called Excalibur. The rest of an "info-broker" day was spent fulfilling information requests from bank employees and subsidiary clients. Need financial reports, press clippings, annual reports, or market studies about a company? We were the people to ask - and we were unique, being the only European bank with such a department.
At the bank, I was surrounded by a wonderful staff of more than 40 people, many of whom became good friends. My boss, Jules Bathlazart (pictured here with Sylvie Bruers), was a hoot and kept the place lively. Three lovely ladies - Dominique Bouchat, Laurence Jacqmin, and Georgette Paulissen - kept the electronic version of the daily business briefing, the office's computer network, and the office (respectively) going. I worked in a section of the office with a bunch of wonderful people, pictured here. Dominique - who's very photogenic, is pictured here with Luc Gueissaz and Eliaene Harvangt, two other consultants. The one person who helped me the most on a daily basis was Arnaud Fontaine, shown here trying not to curse having his picture taken. The whole office was overseen by Marie-Paule De Clerq, third from left in this picture at the Royal Palace, an office lunchtime excursion.
ICE also arranged my housing situation. I was placed in the spacious apartment of the kind and cheerful Mme Thonnart, who introduced me to a wide variety of Belgian culture and was always ready as a source of information. She was often visited by her cousin, shown here, and she even introduced me to her daughters and their families. We spent the day with the family of daughter Martine, shown here with husband Luc and children Thomas and Céline.
My life was populated by friends during the trip. The first month I worked with Dominique Beckers, who did more than anyone to help me adapt to life in the workplace and in French. She too welcomed me into her family, introducing me to her fabulous parents and sister Joëlle. This family went out of its way to welcome me - Belgian hospitality is incredible!
My sister, who just wrapped up a four-year stint in Brussels and is now pursuing a master's in journalism at OU, helped me adapt to life in the city. I hung out at her place a lot, where I spent time with her roomie Shân (shown here in full-eclipse mode) and their friend Daniel (shown here in full-armchair mode). I learned all kinds of British English from these two. My favo(u)rite: "I'm knackered!" These friendships led to an introduction to Claude Binamé, who became a good friend and rigorous French teacher. I spent hours every week in her apartment immersed in the finer-points of French, always accompanied by press clippings (found by Claude to give background to our detailed, fascinating conversations).
I also hooked up with a number of friends from the gay community. Matt and Bart just purchased a six-story narrow-as-heck home near the Bourse and are (as you can see in the pic) in the process of major renovations.
At the end of my internship, I took my friends Delphine Wykes (the second intern) and Arnaud out for ice cream near the Grand-Place, where there was a little water play with the Brueghel fountain. The trip ended with a weekend in Paris and (pictured here) Tours, France, with my friend Leslie Knickerbocker. We lunched with my host family from my study abroad trip last year to Tours, and had dessert with her former host family, the Andurands, shown here.
I was also able to travel on weekends, going to see my good friends the Wallbrechts in Göttingen (shown here in front of the Gänseliesl, a little girl and a goose that all graduates kiss on receiving their diplomas). These people are among the most generous I have ever met, welcoming me for the third time into their lives and their home. I spent a weekend with one of my best friends, Evelyn, in Cologne (shown here in front of what Evelyn calls the "bombastic" Cologne cathedral).
Most of my time, however, was spent
in the country itself. Having already traveled extensively to Europe, I chose instead to concentrate on the country
itself and become better acquainted with it. My sister and I rented a car one day and chose several small towns
inaccessible by train. We wound up seeing some of the most amazing scenery and buildings in all of Europe! For
example, there's the view over the tiny town of Thuin; or the ruins of l'Abbaye cistercienne d'Aulne, built in the 12th century and gutted in 1794
by French troops. More than 50,000 books - including 5,000 of historical value - were destroyed. We also visited
the coolest castle in all of Europe (and I've seen most) - the
château fort de Bouillon, replete with hidden passageways, dungeons,
a torture chamber, and a view in four directions over the town it towers over. The day ended with a trip to Frahan, the most scenic point
in southern Belgium.
A very fine line is walked between the French speaking Wallonians (in the south) and the Dutch-speaking Flemish (in the north). Not wanting to offend, of course, I spent my share of time visiting north of this linguistic border, seeing Bruges (the Venice of the north, with its canals and boat-taxis), and the beach at Blankenberge.
Not that Brussels was without its charms - one can find there a castle in the middle of the town, castles all over the place just outside of town, such as this private one, or this one open to the public. The town also boasts its own huge cathedral (shown here with Delphine), a man-made canal, and stilt-walkers. Yes, you heard right: stilt-walkers. Just one of the many festivities at Belgian's Independence Day celebration July 21. (In case you're wondering, it gained independence from the Dutch in 1830. For an overview of Belgium, click here.)
The trip coincided with the total eclipse of the sun, and happily, it occurred right at lunchtime. Delphine and I found a good vantage point and donned our eclipse glasses for a good look.
The very end of the trip was spent relaxing in rural Pennsylvania with my Barry. We took a side trip and saw Fallingwater, the world-famous home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Now that you've read about my summer, please let me know what you think by signing my guestbook!
If you'd like any more information about the program I was on - or Belgium in general - please feel free to contact me at [email protected].