During the second travel break, I went to Brussels and Paris with my Global Economics course for our long study tour! Throughout the week, we attended companies and institutions for our academic visits, participated in cultural activities, and had time to explore the city on our own.
Highlights
- Going out for drinks with my core course teacher & classmates on the last night in ParisThroughout the week, classmates had continually invited our teacher to come out with us. This may seem strange to most of you, but actually in Danish culture, it’s quite common for teachers to arrange a party of sorts every so often to relax with the students over a drink. Well, anyway, our teacher declined invites throughout the week but promised that he would accompany us on our last night in Paris. Well, he kept his promise! We went to a local bar and he very generously bought us all a round of drinks. It was so nice to see him in a less structured environment and we were able to just relax and enjoy our last night in Paris!
- Bike tours of Brussels & Paris
In front of the Notre Dame during our bike tour of Paris!
In each city, we went on a bike tour (how very Danish)! It allowed us to see the major sites of the city, gain some knowledge of the history, and get a feel for the layout of the city. One of my favorite things I learned is that Paris has 3 times as many rodents as people…that’s 9 million rodents, eek!
- Dinner cruise along the Seine with my class, followed by watching the Eiffel Tower light up from Trocadéro
My teacher and I at Trocadéro!
On our last night, we enjoyed a dinner cruise along the Seine. While we had already seen most of the sights along the Seine by this point, seeing it at night was just incredible. We enjoyed a 3 course meal, relaxed with our class, and just had a very “hyggeligt” time. (Hyggeligt or hygge is a Danish concept which more of less translates to a feeling of coziness). After our cruise, we all went up to Trocadéro where we watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle and light up.
- Our visit to the World Bank Group in Paris
Our view from the World Bank Group office!
I didn’t really know much about the World Bank Group before our academic visit- well actually, I knew nothing. I sort of assumed their primary purpose was to finance loans for countries- and while this is definitely a part of what they do, their mission is actually to end extreme poverty. To accomplish this, they provide low-interest loans to developing countries in order to finance investments in areas like education, health, infrastructure, etc. Learning about the World Bank was so exciting for me because it’s something that I could actually see myself doing! After working at a non-profit law firm this past summer, I realized how much I love helping those that are less privileged. Seeing an institution that does this at a global level just made me more passionate about helping others.
- Our visit to Bruegel- a think tank in Brussels
Our presenter, Matt Dann, on the right is receiving the first copy of the the first issue of the European Policy Review from the European Student Think Tank President.
We went on quite a few academic visits throughout the week, but the presentation at Bruegel was definitely the most impressive. Although visiting a think tank didn’t particularly excite me when I saw it on our itinerary, I absolutely loved the presentation we had! Most of this had to do with the presenter- he was funny, engaging, and relatable. I was also very impressed with the way Bruegel is set up. They’re funded by both the private and public sector, are committed to impartiality and transparency, and focus their research on improving economic policies. I enjoyed their presentation so much that it actually, for a fleeting moment, made me consider a career in research.
Our other academic visits included the EU Commission, the European Parliament, lobbyists in Brussels (I went to Business Europe), the OECD, and Novo Nordisk. I’ve included a photo summary for the rest of the study tour below!
Brussels!
Paris!
Indtil næste gang!
A Taste of Danish 
