What Living in Belgium Taught Me About American Progressivism and Racial Justice

Fulbright Belgium / Luxembourg / Schuman

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Posted on in Fulbright

What Living in Belgium Taught Me About American Progressivism and Racial Justice

It is an interesting time to be writing and pursuing research on economic inequality. Like most of the rest of the world, the US is currently reckoning with a global pandemic that is widening inequalities—between higher wage workers who can do remote work and those who can’t, for example—, and the murder of George Floyd triggered a global conversation about white supremacy’s historical role in a particular kind of racial inequality. Yet income and wealth inequity has been endemic in the United States, particularly since the 1970s. This is partly why I moved to Belgium to study the impact of technological shocks (e.g. artificial intelligence) on the gap between the rich and poor as part of a Fulbright grant. And I was excited to learn more about Europe’s experience with progressivism from a Belgian perspective. As many in the US continue to push for policies like universal health care and higher tax rates for the wealthiest households, parts of Europe […]

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Posted on in 2020, Luxembourgers in America

To the most resilient class

The most resilient class: that is how the NYU community came to call my fellow students and myself during the virtual graduation ceremony. The speakers congratulated us for the resilience we had shown and encouraged us to stay resilient as we were navigating through our bar exams and the ensuing job search. At first, I shrugged, as I did not, and still do not completely, grasp how fast my experience in the U.S came to a grinding halt, even as I was watching my prerecorded graduation ceremony while sitting on my terrace in Luxembourg. With the ceremony a few weeks behind me, the bar exam registration guaranteed, and the fall internship confirmed, I believe that I am finally able to look back and to try to make sense of what happened. If it was indeed resilience that marked the last few months, I also felt emboldened by the memories that were present at every step and the strong community that […]

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Posted on in 2020, Belgians in America

A world of cultures hidden in a local community

Just having obtained a master’s degree at Ghent University, I was ready for something else. Something providing me with more than just a passion for my work. A month later, I was on a plane, heading for my first direct contact ever with American culture. Not only for a two-week vacation but an actual full academic year, the longest I would ever have been out of Belgium. Being abroad for such a long time really persuades you to be open and welcoming for a new lifestyle, and consequently rethink and consider your own habits. It is remarkable how much you learn about yourself and your own culture by being so far from home. The first thing that popped into my mind when arriving in Miami for a Fulbright event: “I am totally in a movie!”. A week later, I went through New York City to reach my final destination, Ithaca. While my knowledge about American life was completely based on […]

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Posted on in 2020, Belgians in America

The universal connections of music and Fulbright

In my never-ending pursuit of becoming the best musician, I can possibly be, Fulbright, aided me in successfully taking my next step. In the last couple of months, I have become friends with people from all over the world, including the U.S., Korea, New-Zealand, Japan, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Trinidad, and Tobago and Paraguay. People in and out of the music field, searching for knowledge, personal growth, global connection, and fulfillment. As much as I had to fight to get to this point in my life, it is nothing in comparison to the amount of purpose and fulfillment I currently feel. Yet, with the current health crisis, the collapsing economy and the uncertain future that a lot of us – and in particular fellow musicians – face, I want to zoom in on the one thing that has connected us all. The love for doing what we do and the urge to collaborate, in whatever way we can, is something […]

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Posted on in 2019, 2020, Americans in Luxembourg, Luxembourg

You Study What, Exactly? – Field Notes on Museum Scholarship

When I tell people that I study museums, they’re often…confused: “You mean you’re an art historian? An anthropologist? Does that make you a curator?” In actual fact, my research has more to do with the how of museum than the what. Art historians and anthropologists have expertise in a particular subject area – contemporary photography, perhaps, or Etruscan pottery – and their task in museums is to research and preserve those objects they have devoted themselves to understanding. Museum scholars, by contrast, focus on institutions: what they choose to collect and how, their relationships to visitors, and the ways they employ objects in their care to tell stories (among many other concerns). My research explores how museums’ chosen narratives are communicated: who they include, what they leave out, and the methods employed in the telling. In other words, I study what museums have to say and how they choose to say it. For example, in considering a painting, a museum […]

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Posted on in 2019, 2020, Americans in Belgium, Belgium

Tolerance for Adversity and Uncertainty: Applying Wilderness Leadership Skills to Expat Life in Belgium

If you had bet me in September that I’d be rushing to the airport 3 months before the end of my Fulbright grant in the middle of a global pandemic, I likely would have laughed and guaranteed you that you would lose money. As luck (and a wild combination of international events) would have it, you’d be rich! And while it was jarring to leave so suddenly and under such wild circumstances, as a very recent expat, one of the lessons most heavily ingrained in my brain by spring was the fact that more often than not, living abroad requires large amounts of continuous flexibility. Sometimes you ask for a ham sandwich and get a buttered croissant. Other times you apply for a residence permit, wait anxiously at the mailbox, only for it to mysteriously arrive after 6 long months and a slew of emails in Dutch. Perhaps you’re the American who attempts to buy a full cart of groceries […]

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Posted on in 2019, 2020, Americans in Belgium, Belgium

Negotiation As a Pathway

I was drawn to Belgium because of the linguistic diversity. A country with two distinct cultures that had their separate systems yet living together as one intrigued me. When I found out that I had been placed at two secondary schools in Brussels, one Flemish and the other French, I was elated. Through my schools, I was able to learn about these two sides of Belgium independently. However, I wanted to find programs that brought both sides together. When I expressed this interest with some of my coworkers, I was told that there were very, very few programs bringing together Flemish and French speaking Belgians. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned about PATHWAYS.  I was introduced to Avi Goldstein at the beginning of my Fulbright grant, at the fall reception in October. He is the founder of PATHWAYS Institute for Negotiation Education. PATHWAYS runs a two-day negotiation workshop in Belgian secondary schools called Game Changers. The participating […]

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Posted on in 2019, 2020, Americans in Belgium, Belgium, Fulbright

Boom Cranes and Twinkle Lights: Construction in Antwerp

When I travel, I am not a light packer. So when I arrived in Antwerp ready to spend the next ten months in the city, I had quite a bit of baggage in tow. In fact, I’d packed my bags so efficiently that the airline made the courteous gesture of adding a ‘heavy lift’ tag to my suitcase. Cute. After skidding along a never-ending series of escalators, my ‘heavy lift’ bags and I made it to ground level of Antwerp’s cavernous marble station. With a last surge of energy, I scrambled through the nearest exit to the taxi queue. A line of cabs stretched along the exterior wall, and I puffed my way to the front of it, thinking all the while of the smooth, easy journey in the taxi from the station to my new apartment. Making the most of my extremely limited Flemish, I gave my new address to the first taxi driver in the queue. ‘Italiëlei?’ He […]

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Posted on in 2019, 2020, Americans in Belgium, Belgium, Fulbright

Animals of Belgium

Today, I’d like to talk about the animals of Belgium. For all intents and purposes, I am not an animal person. I was never a member of 4H or the FFA, nor did I fly to Australia to save Koalas from fires. I am not a horse girl. However, the fauna of urban Europe does not get enough credit. Animals deserve our respect and admiration. In this blog post, you will hear about several of my favorite creatures in Belgium. CATS Cats were sacred in ancient Egypt and they are sacred in my heart. Nonetheless, this is an affair of passion. Humans often forget that beauty isn’t skin-deep, whereas for cats, the operative term is tin-deep, i.e. cat food cans. Cats transcend culture, and they are excellent conversation starters. Yet in Belgium, I’ve felt a bit of culture shock. For starters, the French word for cat is le chat. In Dutch it is de kat. Belgian cats are round and […]

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Posted on in 2020, Luxembourgers in America

Be open and tolerant, so that you can learn and teach

The Fulbright program is not only about what you will have accomplished at the end of the year. Rather than a goal, the Fulbright program is a process. As a Fulbrighter, you will be equipped for studying abroad: a Pre-departure Orientation in Brussels and a Gateway Orientation once arrived in the United States will prepare you for your time here. Your Fulbright mission starts at that moment.

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