Toots and Boots: Brussels Edition

Ah Brussels, you were so good to me! Although our time was short, I will cherish the experiences I had at work in the European Parliament and with the members of our group. Now, aft

er practically lying in bed for the past month, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on my time and Belgium and think about what I think I did well and somethings I would have done differently. I would usually describe myself as a “no ragrets” type of gal, but our experience had so many facets to it; professional, educational and social. As someone that is a firm believer in self-reflection, I thought I would use my final blog post to run through my toots and boots of my experience in Brussels, a la RuPauls Drag Race.

Toots:

To kick off my toot list, I have to highlight my amazing experience in the European Parliament. Meeting so many people of different nationalities and walks of life was so refreshing for me, as Furman is such a homogenous campus racially, socio-economically, and culturally. My Maltese coworkers were such an amazing part of my time. They graciously opened their office to me and fellow Furman student Gabi, and helped me look at the world with a more nuanced view. I loved looking at the plurality of views amongst the MEPs, political parties, and member states.

One of the things I am so thankful for is the boost my internship gave to my resume. I am lucky that I will be interning with a lobbying firm in Washington, DC this summer. My supervisor told me that I was given the internship because of my time in Parliament. The firm I will be working for would like to expand their international portfolio, and felt that I could be an asset as they try to become more involved in international trade. This was so cool to hear, and definitely offset the sadness I felt from having to leave my internship early.

I’d also like to toot wandering! Some of my favorite experiences and foods I discovered occurred while I wandered around new parts of the city. I am obsessed with anything art deco, so I loved strolling down the streets and admiring the beautiful iron work, curved art nouveau motifs, and woodwork on the buildings.

I’m giving a huge toot to stepping outside your comfort zone. I have social anxiety that tends to hold me back from doing things that are unfamiliar to me. I quickly learned that on a study abroad trip, if you texted someone asking if they wanted to do something, they would usually say yes or add you to existing plans! At Furman, I have my squad of people that I usually hang around with, and while not having them with me was tough at first, I learned that getting to know new people would enhance my experience by ten-fold.

Boots:

Caroline, there was no reason to pack two professional pencil skirts for a cold climate. There was also no need to pack every single pair of booties that you own. Yes folks, I packed ELEVEN pairs of shoes and probably could have done with five. It was not necessary, and for the love of God, STOP OVERPACKING. I am a serial over packer, and I hope there is a day where I can say I packed efficiently. When we had to quickly pack to leave, shoving everything into my suitcases was a Herculean task.

I’m going to have to boot lying in bed when the sun was out. I’ll be the first to admit that I struggled somewhat with my mental health while abroad. I missed the sun dearly, and that resulted in me taking long, coma-like naps that occurred at weird hours of the day. I snapped out of it about a month into the trip, but I wonder what I could’ve done if I wasn’t napping.

In hindsight, I wish I would’ve done more travelling on the weekend. I had an amazing weekend in Amsterdam, but wish I could’ve taken advantage of the weekends I had abroad.

Finally, I’m going to have to boot being too timid with my French skills. My French may be, to be blunt, wack; but if I would’ve hunkered down and not relied on English being the lingua-franca, I think I would’ve improved my French skills much more.

Brussels, you were a dream. To that I say: shantay you stay honey!