By Gandamar Kyaw
The excursion to Brussels is arranged every semester at the Euroculture Groningen. Sustainability is the core of this project. Every semester and every year, the city Brussels always gives a warm welcome to new cohorts of Euroculture in terms of delicious food, breathtaking historical monuments as well as EU institutions. It is sure that each time the trip not only introduces the students with the EU and history but also tightens the bond among the diverse-cultured students.
Meet the Trip Organizers
The team “Becoming Bruxellois” consists of five Euroculture students from the University of Groningen. Planning stage includes developing the project proposal, planning itinerary, contacting the institutions for the visits, finance booking the train tickets, booking the restaurants for group dinner, and meet-up with Euroculture alumni. These tasks are equally shared among the team members.
“I made a huge mistake on the budget allocation of which I am in charge. From the experience, I learned that I need to improve my practical skill to do clerical things.” ~ Taiki, Japan.
“There are many more things that need to be planned in advance in order to make the trip go smoothly. A strong leader and someone who stays at the back to make sure that everyone is following might be useful. I also learn to accept things that are out of my control, like the weather, and just enjoy the moment. But in the end the trip itself was a nice experience. Brussels was a nice and inspirational city. For future cohorts implementing this, I would suggest thinking everything through during the planning and communicating a lot. And Enjoy Brussels.” ~ Anfield, Thailand
“We are a multicultural team, a group of Euroculture students from Japan, Thailand, Spain, Myanmar, and Italy. I am thankful to my hardworking teammates, I learnt a lot from them. For future cohorts, I would suggest reporting regularly to the lecturer about the implementation process. So he can give advice on everything, for example, organizations that we should contact for institutional visits, and what we should expect throughout the trip. Communication is the key in the team. Not only that, it is very important to make participants feel welcomed through the trip. Try to talk to everyone.” ~ Gan, Myanmar.
“It was challenging to arrange all the activities, especially as the deadlines were really strict and it was a big responsibility to organize the trip for our classmates. However, it was really useful to learn how to manage time in a more effective way and look for alternatives when plan A doesn’t work out.” ~ Claudia, Spain.
“I think the organisation of group trip always requires tons of work and management that could be more complicated to handle if you are not really used to travel with big groups. But at the end everything has a solution and a positive mentality is always the right pathway.” ~ Roxana, Italy.
Brussels: Heart of the EU
Brussels, a beautiful combination of French and Flemish communities, is the capital of Belgium and also known as EU capital. This city, well known for its architecture and vibrant nightlife, is home to many international organizations, including NATO, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and EU institutions.
If there key words must be selected for Brussels, that could be EU, Chocolate and Grand Palace. Luckily, second semester students from Euroculture Groningen had a chance to enjoy all of them.
Taking a 5-hour train from Groningen central station to Breda, and then to Brussels was an absolute fun, chatting with friends, eating snacks, and enjoying nature on the way. In the afternoon of March 29, the group finally arrived in Brussels and was ready to explore around Brussels.
City Tour
As a fresh start, the group went on a city tour starting from Grand Palace, then Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert, St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral, and Royal Palace of Brussels. During the tour, the project team members shared some information on the places.
“It was a good tour, I felt that I got to see a lot of Brussels.” ~ Kelwin, USA.
“I quite enjoyed the city tour. For me, the most impressive place would be Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, since I like European arcades as the representation of modernity.” ~ Ziying, China.
Institutional Visits
On the following days, they visited the European Youth Forum, European Economic and Social Committee, European Committee of the Regions, European Parliament and European Commission.
“Our visit to the EU institutions was very informative. It was exciting to actually see the EU institutions that you only see on TV or hear about in the news. The visit was a wonderful chance to witness and learn how EU institutions work.” ~ Mario, Egypt.
“The visit to the European Youth Forum was well organised and informative. I am fully in favour of properly paying interns and consider adequate compensation to be important so that everyone can afford to do at least one internship when they are starting out. Hence, I was happy EYF took initiative against the unpaid internship culture.” ~ Žad, Croatia.
“It was really interesting to see the institutions from the inside. It also helped tounderstand it better and to realize that EU is a lot of work and should not be taken for granted.” ~ Youna, France/Netherlands
Museum Visits
To get to know more about the history of the EU and its integration process, the group also spent a few hours at the House of European History and the Parlamentarium.
“I did enjoy both museums, House of European History and the Palamentarium. They offered a deeper understanding of EU history, values and commitment.” ~ Roxana, Italy.
The Euroculturer 