It was tough getting out of bed this morning, my body was tired and confused about time zones. Accommodations in the Hotel Villa Royale here in Brussels are similar to a mid level hotel in the states, though the mattress and linens are on a different standard for sure. My room is on the front of the hotel, so I’m able to bootleg free internet access from a hotel across the street, which is nice, but will probably only be the case this week while in Brussels. One interesting feature of my room is that I must keep my room key inserted in a reader on the wall for the electricity to work. This makes energy efficiency an absolute, as it is impossible to leave the room and the TV, lights, and heat be left on while away. Most all television programs are in French, some in German, so my TV watching is definitely limited while here; though I do pick up a few words now and again in German, remembering my two years of high school study years ago.
Many in the group enjoyed the first night abroad and stumbled in a little late for our 10am meeting time to take a tour of the city of Brussels. We started out on a bus with a witty tour guide who shared much history of the city as well as interesting trivia. It is an exciting few days to be in Brussels, as elections for the European Parliament are taking place today, so there are campaign posters and advertisements all over the city, just like in the states. The European Union is headquartered in Brussels because when it was formed, the Germans wouldn’t stand for it to be in France, nor the French approve it being in Germany. Belgium is equivalent in size to the state of Maryland, and no rivers run through the city of Brussels, which limited development for many years.
We saw incredible architecture by bus and on foot, constructed as early as the 1200’s, including the King of Belgium’s palace, the Church of Our Lady, the Hall of Justice, and am impressive market square, which Belgium claims is the finest in the world. Another sustainable effort is that you must pay to use a public restroom. It’s only about $.50, but practical if you think that someone incurs the cost of water, cleaning, energy, etc. It also makes you think twice about your own consumption and need to “go” while out.
The city also had a promotion of sustainability downtown that included new trees planted and other posted information to raise awareness.
I was impressed with the market square, it's massiveness, intricate design and construction, and it was almost entirely burned in the late 1300’s. The rebuild process was complete in five years, and was somewhat of a competition between property owners to build the most impressive structure.
We made a quick stop at the Spanish Fiesta monument built in 1958 in celebration of Belgium hosting the World’s Fair. It’s quite an impressive structure, especially considering its year of construction, and has a restaurant in one of the silver balls (I am standing at the bottom of the photo with Jackie and Perry, other students).
After our tour, we had a quick lunch break and class sessions began. Professor Kovarski from the Business School of Normandy began a two session series on international marketing. The majority of the material has been covered in my coursework previously. However, his European interpretation and twist is adding a new dimension to my thinking and processing of the marketing process. The teaching is specifically related to the project we will work on the entire month of this trip and present in Barcelona at the end. We will conduct market research in each country we visit, prepare an analysis, strategy, implementation plan, etc. Each group will give an oral presentation for evaluation during the final week of the trip. We will have class and group work most all of every day Mon-Fri, with weekends free for sightseeing and additional work on the project.
The Belgian culture is very diverse, many residents claim to be “Flemish”, while most speak French and some German. Schools teach in only Dutch or only French, there is much conflict among the three regions in this small country. Belgium is known for waffles, chocolate, and beer. Bakeries, chocolate shops, and bars line most all streets. That's about all for today... time for sleep.
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