Belgium

Posted By: Tanner Brooks
Posted On: February 23rd, 2017
Attending:

This past week, my Master’s class traveled to Brussels for a week to learn about the European Union as well as other information regarding the economic state of Brussels.  We stayed at the Leuven Institute which is an Irish owned former monastery located just outside Brussels.  In general, staying at the Leuven Institute was a very cool experience.  The combination of classic and older buildings mixed with some of the new additions that have been added more recently, made for a very comfortable and cultural experience.  The short tour we received from our host of the first day was very informative.  It was cool to learn about the Institute and its history before spending the week staying there.  I was unaware of the establishment of Irish colleges throughout the world, and hearing our Irish host talk about their history and creation was extremely informative and interesting.  I was also very intrigued by her description of the Irish “marketing” that took place during their time studying here.  She described how in the past, once the Irish students arrived and studied in Leuven, they came to realize that the perception of Irish people was not as good as they had assumed it would be.  Upon realizing their country’s image was not as positive as they expected, they not only did their best to improve it, but relayed that message back to their home country to make their peers more aware.  As an American living in Ireland, I can directly relate to how these students were feeling.  While I was not naïve enough to think that everyone loved America, I have definitely been surprised at the negative image that being an American has brought along during my time here in Ireland.  This is almost soley due to the recent election of Donald Trump and his portrayal in the media, but I have learned a lot about the direct affect it may have on my Irish friends.  As someone who genuinely dislikes politics as a whole, the constant questioning about my thoughts on the election has gotten old very quickly.  However, I have enjoyed discussing the election’s effects on my Irish friends, and have definitely become more aware of the ramifications it may have on those I have met over here.  While I will always defend my country from anyone speaking poorly towards it, I am not happy about the potential of Donald Trump’s policies keeping Irish citizens from continuing doing J1’s in America.  Not only do I think it is a great opportunity for them to gain international work experience, but I think it is important for people to experience the different cultural opportunities that America has to offer.  I know the time I have spent in Ireland has had a significant impact on my life, and I can only hope my Irish peers will get a chance to experience my homeland in a similar fashion.

Another cool aspect of staying at the Leuven Institute was becoming more aware of the Irish history.  Upon learning I was coming to Ireland, I had a list of specific things I wanted to accomplish during my time here.  One of the first things I put on the list was to learn more about St. Patrick’s day and the history behind it.  I can honestly say, I never thought that this would be accomplished during my time in Belgium.  Even though St. Patrick’s day is an Irish holiday, it is passionately celebrated in America and known as one of the bigger party holidays in the states.  However, in typical American fashion, we celebrate the holiday without knowing much about the tradition or history behind it.  Instead, it has turned in to an excuse for Americans to spend the day getting belligerently drunk while wearing something green with an Irish flag.  While I can’t deny having been guilty of this myself, I have made it my mission to learn as much about the history and meaning of St. Patrick’s day during my time in Ireland.  Which made it quite an incredible experience to visit the actual room where St. Patrick’s Day was created and the date was selected.  Experiences like this remind me how important it is to invest in learning about other cultures to further my knowledge of the world and the amazing people that live in it.

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