Each year, the EU Commission and the U.S. Fulbright program team up to bring 50 young leaders together from all around Europe -- half Americans, and half Europeans -- to discuss a relevant problem at length. Each Fulbright Commission in Europe selects one grantee to attend, and I was honored to be chosen to represent Hungary this year. The topic of the conference was "The Future of Work" -- a topic relevant to me, both as someone who will soon be rejoining the workforce as well as an educator whose responsibility is to prepare students for the future.
The seminar itself was really rewarding. Essentially, the topic was broken down into three subtopics, and we heard a panel of experts speak about each subtopic, and then broke into smaller groups and discussed amongst ourselves. I volunteered to be one of the group moderators, so in conjunction with my co-moderator and new friend Joao from Portugal, we led our group's discussion to identify trends, problems, and possible solutions.
One of the most interesting aspects of the seminar was getting to know Fulbrighters and Europeans from all over the EU. The group gathered there was highly intelligent, motivated, and engaged, and it was a pleasure to be able to work with them for two and a half very intense days.
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| Look at me, I'm a young leader! |
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| The only photo I took of my fellow conference-goers... not a very good one at that. |
Of course, when Fulbright pays for you to fly to Belgium, you take advantage of it, so I flew into Brussels a day early and took a train to Bruges to explore some unfamiliar territory.
Bruges was... incredible. It largely escaped bombing during the second World War, so its medieval city center is still intact. It was like transporting back in time, wandering around the old town. Bruges' tiny winding cobblestone streets are flanked by centuries-old buildings with traditional crow-stepped gables (a vocabulary term I learned on this trip). I took a canal boat tour of the city, walked for ages in the inner city, indulged in a waffle, and even took part in a Belgian beer tasting. (The determination: I like Belgian beer. Like, a lot.)
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| Beautiful medieval old town of Bruges, with the stepped roofs. |
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| Super touristy but super fun canal boat tours! |
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| How is this place real life?? |
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| Mmm, waffles. |
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| This very flanders-y windmill was right behind my hostel. |
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| Hello from Belgium! |
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