chelseawhyteinternational

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Sixth Weekend

Yet more touristing opportunities this weekend! Went to the Atomium in the North of Brussels with K on Saturday. I really enjoyed it, seeing the views f Brussels from inside the structure, and seeing the Magritte exhibition they have currently! But K did not enjoy it so much! The evening was spent at I’s house with K, T, S, J and some other new friends! Had the most wonderful gin and tonic, but this combined with a whole bottle of wine got me very drunk and produced the worst hangover so far in Brussels! I spent the night at K’s and could not leave until 6pm on the Sunday because I was that hungover! So the day was wasted away in bed watching harry potter - of course!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Sixth Week

Very long week full of committee meetings and trilogues! Prep meetings until 8pm! But committee was made a bit more interesting with the addition of Louise Arbour the Special Representative of the UN on Migration who gave a very interesting and topical speech. This fueled the rest of my week’s work which was very intense drafting of the global compacts resolution - so crazy to think that I am actually helping to write a real EU resolution! Plux on Thursday ended with a house visit from K once again! My week finished with a 2pm Friday meeting with L and J who offered me another internship! So grateful for T, as if not for him I wouldn’t probably have met with them so many times in order for them to remember who I was! Very excited to join their team from June!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Fifth Weekend

What to do in a new city? Become a tourist of course! Saturday was spent exploring the Comic Museum with V. The museum was great and made me feel like a bit of a kid again, except I don’t know any of the Belgian/French comics that were featured in the museum. However I did learn that the French for smurfs is schtroumphs! We then wandered around the city in search of somewhere we could get a drink and waffle, ending up in a cute little cafe called Ice Rolls Coffee where I had a wonderful nutella waffle and tropical fruit smoothie! As it was St Patrick’s day I invited everyone round mine before going to an Irish bar in town, ended up being me, V, T, C and V’s friend A going to O’Reilly’s in town for the most packed night out, but nevertheless was great fun! Sunday was for making new friends. I met up with M and her friend E at Cafe de la Presse for Brunch - very healthy and veggie friendly menu, so I was stuck trying to find something that didn't contain avocado or eggs! But the fresh orange juice made even the hangover better! After brunch we went for a walk around the Bois de Cambre, and saw Chalet Robinson in the middle of the lake for the first time - I must eat here!!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Fifth Week

Strasbourg week - the first of many! The office was so quiet this week with everyone being in Strasbourg. But nevertheless, I still had my work cut out for me! I had to get through over 1,500 amendments for voting on the Asylum Procedure Regulation!  But as there was not many people in the office, me and A took the opportunity to leave the office early on Monday for a bit of shopping in town - buying matching trousers in UniQlo and me buying some trainers in Decathlon. We went for a drink after in Via Via a really cool bar! On Tuesday I tried Japanese for lunch at Hana with A, V, E and T; I had a really yummy pork dish with vegetables and rice. In the evening I went for a run with K - the only way to get me to run: with a hot guy I’m really into! The latter part of the week was very K oriented, after he ‘lost’ his keys at a trainee networking event we attended and so spent the night at mine. The next day he realised that he had in fact left his keys at work! Had a post-Strasbourg catch up with T on Friday and he was most impressed with my ability to get through all the amendments - I felt very proud of myself!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Fourth Weekend

In theory a chilled weekend - yet in reality not chilled at all! My Saturday was spent doing a spot of retail therapy, hitting all the major shops including Zara and Mango of course. The evening started off rather civilised, going for dinner round T’s with J, B, L + L showing up at the end - typical! We then ventured into town to a bar called Le Corbeau where everyone was dancing on the tables and just really enjoying themselves! The night then took a funny turn - I ended up spending the night at J’s house, meaning I woke up the next morning with some seriously anxious hangover. The sunday brought back the chill, with a lot of sleep and watching TV!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Fourth Week

This week was centered around food, and even more exploring of the city I was beginning to call home. As sandwich lunches started to get a bit boring I took the opportunity to go out of Parliament for lunch on two occasions. On Tuesday I went to Turkish restaurant El Turco with  A, T, K and V. The restaurant was a very interesting find; a buffet style of restaurant where the price is calculated by the weight of the plate! Wednesday was full of group meetings and and a LibDem conference call from the UK. International Women’s Day at Parliament was something inspiring - so many women all standing up for things they believe in. Oh and of course the ultimate way to spend IWD2018 was to take a couple of hours out of the working day to watch the Suffragette Movie whilst being served popcorn and drinks by men! And the week wouldn’t be right if not for a Thursday night at Plux - ended in the first smooch in my new city, with none other than K’s friend J! But the week finished with more food, and delicious food at that! Friday lunch was spent at fish and chip restaurant Bia Mara with A, T, E, J, and T.

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Third Weekend

The weekend was a big one! I took a trip to Bruges on Saturday with L, T, V, E, K and this wasn’t without its issues! We spend the first part of our day just mooching around the city, exploring all the touristy areas, looking in on candy-making in the sweet shops and of course taking in all the wondrous scents coming from all of the waffle places. Lunch was a rather eventful one! We found a restaurant called ‘Bruges Burger’ which appeared reasonably priced and offered a variety of food options, however the food was rather underwhelming and was made even worse by the attitude of the staff. The restaurant wanted us all to pay together, and V rightly argued – are we not in the 21st century?? After a somewhat tense exchange with the waiter we made our escape. We then decided to take a ride on one of the canal boat tours, although this was a somewhat different experience to it normally would be on the Bruges canals because they were all heavily iced over, so the boats were having to crush through all the ice, and couldn’t give us the full tour due to the adverse conditions! There was only two things left to complete our trip to Bruges: Waffles and Beer! You would think that getting a waffle in one of the cities most famous for them would be simple, but alas, it was not. Firstly there was the debate about whether to sit in and have a waffle, or whether to eat whilst walking along with it, we ended up with the latter. But then we were once again encountered with a waiter with a sever attitudinal problem – the order was messed up and took rather longer than it needed to, and after all that my waffle was so sickly I only ate half of it! But finally we found a bar, had some Bruges Zot (a must whilst in its home town) and a nice warm up! The train home, once again eventful, saw secretive drinking, spilt beer and lots of giggling. Despite the ups and downs, it was a thoroughly good day! The evening rounded out with T and K coming back to my place to chill and drink some more, with K getting very drunk, and of course in the process very adorable.

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Third Week

This week saw the introduction of more new meetings, and of course even more new names! I was introduced to what a group meeting feels like, and one thing I can say is it is definitely more relaxed than some of the other meetings I have attended! The Group meetings are led by the infamous Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian Prime Minister who loves to crack a joke! We also had a mini-plenary session at the Parliament which was great to see all of the MEPs in one place at once. At the beginning of the votes there was an address by Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights who spoke about some of the human rights violations going on around the world, and specifically about some gender based issues – a speech which was followed by a standing ovation from the left and centre parties. Thursday night at Plux was particularly strong this week, with a venture to Quartier Leopold, where we didn’t leave until 11pm! It’s safe to say I was not in the best condition when I had to get up at 7am on Friday! My week was rounded off with a ‘tea party’ with the team of Catherine Bearder – basically just an opportunity for me to meet her team and drink some tea like good ole British people love to do! And Friday afternoon was rather uneventful with the snow finally hitting Brussels! Although we didn’t let the snow keep us from going to M’s house for a party in the evening!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Second Weekend

On Saturday I was finally able to do a bit of touristing around Brussels. Having made arrangements to go to the Magritte Museum with some of the other interns I made my way into the center shortly after lunch, only to find that I was the first one to arrive (apparently being British means we take timings literally, and don’t arrive an hour late to things). So while I waited I took the opportunity to do a bit of exploring and, like the tourist I was pretending to be, take lots of photos for Instagram. When L finally arrived we had to look out for M, a new intern we had not met before, and when we were all together the museum visit commenced. The Magritte museum was incredible! Albeit sometimes hard to understand for a non-Flemish speaker, and a limited French speaker. But as I always like to say: if you have to explain art then it really doesn’t work. In fact part of what I liked about the museum was that I was able to draw my own conclusions about things and not be spoon fed the meanings and themes. Following the museum we went for some delicious food at a huge restaurant called Drug Opera (I know strange name! Felt like we’d been transported to Amsterdam!) It was here that we made our plans for the evening, with M inviting us to a birthday bash that he was attending that night. So we all parted ways, with the promise of reconnecting in a few hours time. But, once again, L in her very Spanish fashion was late arriving, so we did not get to the party until it was time to leave for town! Nevertheless we hopped on the metro and spent the evening in multiple bars in Brussels city center. Sunday, I have learnt, is when everything in Brussels is closed. Luckily, there are a few supermarkets that are open until 1pm! So I spent my Sunday morning doing my weekly food shopping, buying coat-hangers so that I can finally put my coats and jackets on the clothes rail! There is once again order in my life (I know its a sad life!)

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The First Proper Week

The week commencing the 19th February was a rather busy week to say the least! I attended a meeting of one sort or another every day, sometimes for hours on end. But one thing I can say is that it was always interesting! The meetings ranged from hearings which resembled civilised discussions of EU circumstances to meetings known as ‘trilogues’ where I was able to witness EU law being created. In my less busy times I was able to explore more of what the Parliament has to offer, and I even attended an AFET/DROIT committee meeting in which the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister was speaking (and quite seriously questioned) on the state of human rights in Saudi Arabia. With another Thursday evening spent at Plux, it is safe to say that this week was thoroughly exhausting (and I quite probably should not have participated in 2 for 1 by myself)!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The First Weekend

Saturday was a particularly slow day for me, very tired from Friday night, and ever so possibly hungover from the bottle of wine that was consumed the night before. Anyhow, I managed to get up, get dressed and go into central Brussels to do some much needed shopping. Unfortunately I didn’t have the luxury to fully stock my wardrobe (if you could even call it a wardrobe! It’s more like a bookshelf that I have functioned as a wardrobe!), but there were a few necessities for my room that I had to buy and a new pair of work shoes. The only solution was to spend a good hour in Tiger (or Flying Tiger as it’s known here), buying things like fairy lights, storage boxes and a bin (all very glamorous I know!). As for the shoes, I knew there was only one place that was going to do what I wanted, and luckily it is a very European brand that has permeated the market in both the UK and continental Europe - Zara! The rest of the day, and the start of the following day were very subdued, and full of much needed rest! (Who knew working two half days could be so exhausting?) But on Sunday night I was ready to socialise once again! L, T, K and I went to L’Archiduc in Central Brussels under the impression that there was going to be live Jazz music. When we arrived it became apparent that there was not in fact live music, but there was good beer and good company so we had a good evening anyway!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The First Week (well sort of)

So we started work on Thursday 15th February 2018, meaning we only had two days of work before the weekend - it was a chance to ease us into everything. But it turned out that two days equated more to two half days as we were only really performing administrative tasks over these couple of days. Nevertheless, it was a good chance to meet the other interns and to get used to the Parliament building. I think in the first couple of days I must have gotten lost at least a dozen times! On our first day we were told how every Thursday is when EP staff go for ‘after-work drinks’ at Place Luxembourg (or as it is called by frequenters - Plux), so like the diligent workers we all aspire to be, of course we went for drinks! The Friday was again a very short day, with little actual work to be done, so we made the most of it! On the Friday evening some of us interns gathered at L’s flat to drink and socialise. T and A also brought some friends from outside EP that were in Brussels, so it finally started to feel like I was meeting people I could connect with!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Big Move

This week was time for the big move. Luckily I have parents who will take any excuse to indulge in some Belgian beer and yummy food, so they offered to drive me to my new home! However, when the time came to say goodbye, as per usual, I was a bumbling mess and just spent the rest of the evening wallowing in front of the TV!

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Semi-Spy Work

In November I was told that I was going to be starting my internship at the European Parliament in February, and of course, I was a little sad that it was still a few months away. But in the meantime I managed to secure a job at the local council, doing what I’m not exactly allowed to say (I know top secret, made me feel like a spy for a little while). 

[chelseawhyteinternational]

The Dream Job Interview

It started the way any job does - with an interview. Except the interview I actually attended was for another job entirely. I thought that I had landed my dream job interview, little did I know that not getting this job would be even better!