This is personal
2009 in one picture
Fred is our talented designer and a welcome Guest blogger. Before leaving the office, he sent us his own personal view of 2009. We couldn’t resist publishing it. So: this what 2009 looked like in the eyes of our beloved designer.
Flash back memories
Time machine keeps ticking and moving without stopping thus shifting us to different pace mode of life. Another day I found my eyes glued to a calendar, my eye balls alarming my brains that its a short time gap left till Christmas. Well, there are lots of Christmas traditions that are practiced by a number [...]
No you can’t have my keynote!
Can I have a gripe here? Just a little one? Ever been a presenter at a conference? I bet you’ve received that email a few days before with just a little request…
Confessions of a dangerous ungreen mind
It all started with this. There, I discovered that despite my good intentions and my claims about not having a car, eating BIO and little meat etc, I live as if I had 3,4 planets at my disposal. Since then, my addiction to internet-based confessions, aid groups and group therapies for ungreen guilty minds hasn’t stop growing, making [...]
A bit of taste..but sshh, will you?
Who can possibly contradict me when I’d say what a great novel Orwell wrote, Nineteen Eighty-Four? Of course we all like it, reading such an amazing prevision, one big brother and lots of censorship, power and “sex gone sour” fanaticism. Well, I was born in 1984…in Romania. But never felt like this was taking much [...]
About and against dictatorships
Lenin is dying, and talking things over with Stalin, his successor. “The one worry I have,” says Lenin, “is this: will the people follow you? What do you think, comrade Stalin?” “They will,” says Stalin, “they surely will.” “I hope so,” says Lenin, “but what if they don’t follow you?” “No problem,” says Stalin, “then [...]
Wise? Evil? Not on your nelly…
I’ve been a four-eyes since time immemorial. Well, not time immemorial really, but since fourth grade when one of my teachers caught me squinting at the blackboard and, rather than minding her own business, decided to call my mother. I was dreading this as I knew this would mean a trip to the ophthalmologist – [...]
Make your step on an unknown path
A few days ago I was discussing with my colleagues about how and why we came to Brussels. I filled in my application for auxiliary agent (temporary limited employment) the very last evening before the deadline. I found it by accident on some Czech government page. Few weeks later I received a phone call from [...]
All bags off!
I am Latvian. Latvians love to call themselves great singers. It is true, but unfortunately I am a bad singer. We have beautiful nature, it is also true. We have great minds and we are the best ice hockey fans, there is no doubt. I’ve heard Estonians say – if it is raining, then God [...]
Don’t forget you are a tourist!
New season, new trainees. Meet Indre, from Lithuania, and her consideration about the fleeting beauty of being a tourist.
Greetings
Greetings There is a new gizmo in Strasbourg’s building: sterilization foam dispensers that allow everyone to quickly clean their hands. I suspect this new feature comes from the French strategic plan to eradicate all risk of a (H1N1) A flux virus in our premises. I became a big fan of those little dispensers. The Hamlet’s [...]
Being a black girl in a white world
There is a new lady in town – eg our beautiful team. The lady’s name is… Lady – an easy pun but it’s true. Meet our new trainee in this very touching first post.
Friends from work
The European Parliament is probably an institution with the biggest numbers of friendships at work. Why? One would say there is no other choice. Other would say there is a very clear choice. At one point Belgians and other friends appeared but lion’s share of my friends were still about to pass by in my work [...]
Stand back and unwind….
Some secrets may best be left dead and buried….but our team kept its nose to the grindstone this year with the election run-up. Now it’s time to unwind pretty much like the string in the arrow after being stretched all along. We have hence decided to recharge our batteries, by breathing deeply in and out and [...]
Beware of the leaking ceiling
“I have got a scholarship, they call it the Schuman scholarship, and I am coming to Brussels in the beginning of October. How do I do to get an apartment?” The question in an email from a friend’s friend made me remember my own first couple of months in Brussels and my first mistakes in [...]
About the difficulty of being French in a multicultural unit
I have Danish, Bulgarian and Maltese colleagues in the office next to me. An Italian one in front of me. Some German, Spanish, Polish, Slovenian, Finnish colleagues in the same corridor. And they all speak perfect English. What about me? I’m French. And I sometimes feel stupid in that multicultural, multilingual and open-minded environment. Speaking [...]
Sorry for spamming*
*Is inspired by some mails getting into my mailbox. Gloves, mobile phones, earrings, various kinds of lost objects. It works – at least some times people get them back. Sorry for spamming is also thankful to all the serious of mails exchanged within the team.
Want to touch the reader!
Let’s be honest, the lion’s share of working as a web editor for the EP website means working independently: staring at the computer screen in your office, typing maniacally. Hours might pass without seeing anybody. Sometimes we are lucky and get to taste the glitz and glamour of the House, but meeting a high political figure is still almost easier than meeting the reader who we are writing for.
For your information, I have a question: how much is a light bulb worth?
Climate change, saving energy and economic crisis are the hottest and sexiest topics in Europe at the moment. Every week we are writing articles about EU policies and the debates held by the European Parliament on how to solve the current crisis or which policies are the best ones.
Can I write about… anything?
Why are we writing about this topic? How come the other one is not included? Who chooses what are we going to write? Who is actually writing them? :) Simple questions that pop up to one’s mind when opening our website to find out what is happening in the Parliament? Same questions I had when [...]
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