First Four Days - Wow!

Wow, what a whirlwind the past four days have been. At the time of my last post, I was in the final throes of settling business at home and at the office, and scrambling to pack all the right materials for a three week trip to Europe. There was instability on all fronts, and I certainly had some apprehension over what type of challenges I would face overseas.

This is probably a good time to give special thanks to my wife, kids, parents, friends/neighbors, and Coast Guard colleagues for supporting this endeavour. This trip would not be possible without you.

Fast forward to 28 Feb, and I am four days into what is an amazingly enriching, thought provoking, and enjoyable program.

Here is a quick recap of events so far:

Day 1 - Thurs, 25 Feb
I knew things started off on the right foot when I found a parking spot just in time and right in front of German Marshall Fund (GMF) Headquarters near Dupont Circle in Washington, DC (not an easy area to find parking).

I walked in the door and was immediately greeted by name by the tremendous staff at GMF, and quickly shuffled upstairs where all the Fellows were gathered in the main GMF conference room.

A word about my "fellow Fellows" - by all accounts an amazing, diverse, friendly, and fun group. I could write pages on each of them. Suffice to say they represent a tremendous cross section of American achievement from multiple regions and disciplines. I am honored and humbled to be a part of this group and we are all becoming fast friends.

Day 1 included initial program briefs at the German Marshall Fund office in Washington, DC. This included a tremendous overview of American and European beliefs and values from Prof Gary Weaver at American University.

That evening we were treated to dinner at at Ambassador Joao de Vallera's (Portugal) residence in Kalorama. We were awed by the Ambassadors warmth, graciousness, and knowledge, and of course the splendid Portugese food and wine. GMF President Craig Kennedy and staff attended as well, and were able to highlight some of the important strategic issues we needed to understand before travelling overseas.

I was able to find some common ground with the Ambassador when we discussed the special bond between the Coast Guard and Portugal. Specifically, the Coast Guard has a close relationship with the strong Portugese American fishing communities in the Northeast United States, and operates the EAGLE, America's only tallship. EAGLE is a sister ship of the Portugese tallship SAGRES, both of which were captured as war prizes from Nazi Germany after World War II. The Ambassador spoke fondly of the SAGRES and the EAGLE, and reminded us that SAGRES will be visiting California later this year for a tall ships festival.

Despte the pleasantries, the real discussion focused on the tough challenges facing the European Union in the current economic downturn, and the Ambassador's comments were extremely insightful.

Spring 2010 AMMF Fellows with Ambassador Joao de Vallera and GMF President Craig Kelly

This was going to be my last night at home, so I rushed back to Q street to finish packing and try to get some sleep for the long day that lie ahead.


Day 2 - Fri, 26 Feb
Breakfast with the family in the AM. I reminded the kids that Daddy was leaving for his big "play date." This is a term Charlotte came up with when I explained to her where I was going a couple weeks ago. She said "so, you're going on a big play date?" - the term has stuck and it's something the kids can understand.

Sarah and the girls dropped me off at the GMF office where we said our final goodbyes. That morning we received final program briefings and were treated to a panel discussion on contemporary European security and economic challenges from GMF Executive VP Karen Donfried, European Marshall Memorial Fellows Marcin Bosacki (US Correspondent for polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborzca) and Nuno Mota Pinto (Alternate Exec Director, World Bank), and Dr Ulrike Hornung (American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow). This panel clearly illustrated the different perspectives between western, northern, and eastern Europeans regarding a number of challenging issues facing the EU.

After a quick lunch, we were off to the airport by bus, and a seven hour flight from DC to Brussels, Belgium.

A special thanks to the GMF staff for their warmth and hospitality, and countless hours planning the program that lies ahead. As we say in the Coast Guard, Bravo Zulu, Neil, Emily, Sasha, and Anne Marie!



Day 3 - Sat, 27 Feb
Upon arrival in Brussels at 7:30 AM, our driver took us to the Hotel Leopold in downtown Brussels. After a quick catnap, we hit the ground running with a thorough brief on the history and institutions of the European Union with Irina Tanasescu from the European Commission. This was a great primer for the rest of the program in Brussels, and gave us all some baseline knowledge on how EU governance works.

We then left for a guided walking tour of the city. Belgium/Brussels has an amazing history of various foreign occupations, and the signs/symbols of foreign influence are all over the city. It is a beautiful, cosmopolitan, and highly diverse city with a very friendly population.

After the basic tour, we hit one of the local pubs to get a taste of some world-renowned German beer, and later had a delicious dinner of Belgian Mussels and Frites (french fries). This was a great bonding experience for the group. Oh yeah, we also sampled some Belgian chocolates along the way.

The Grand Place in downtown Brussels

Fantastic Mussels in Brussels!

Day 4 - Sun, 28 Feb
Classic European breakfast buffet at the hotel - they know how to do it right over here.

Hopped the morning train to Antwerp for another guided walking tour. The weather was rough today (cold, wet, and windy), but we kept ourselves warm with a few strategic stops for hot chocolate.

At lunch our guide, Lode Draelants, discussed immigration and integration issues in Belgium, he is Director of one of Belgium's immigrant organizations. Lode was both a great city guide, and extremely knowledable of some of the immigration and integration challenges facing Western Europe. His group works to empower immigrant communities to better integrate into Belgian society without forsaking their home cultures. Lode is also a backcountry skier, and we traded stories from various mountains in Europe and North America. Thanks, Lode!

We returned to the hotel, and I managed to squeeze in a very quick workout before changing into a suit for the official welcome dinner with GMF staff and guests. This was a great event attended by GMF staff and various European leaders from around Brussels.

I was fortunate to have the privilege of sitting between European Parliament member Franziska Brantner (Germany), and David Rennie from The Economist. David was the guest speaker for the evening, and was recently selected as The Economist's new Political Editor.

David's talk was dynamic and informative, and he painted a clear and balanced picture of the major challenges facing the EU. His comments fostered some robust debate within the room, and the discussion was one of the intellectual highlights of the trip so far.

The Economist's new Political Editor, David Rennie

Time to hit the rack - looking forward to an action packed day at NATO Headquarters tomorrow.