I apologize for neglecting my blogging duties. I was traveling around Europe in November and landed back in the good ol' U.S. of A. right before Thanksgiving and then it was time to finish up my internship and begin finals season before the holidays. Needless to say, my semester was a whirlwind! But I've recently taken some time to look back at my pictures and really reflect on what an amazing experience it has been. So, without further ado, I will try to recap my Europe trip as best I can.
Soooo ... London. I had spent some time there before, but this was a much different experience. I was traveling with almost 50 International Law students which added a lot of diversity and fun to the program, but I also got a chance to see the city from a more academic perspective that focused primarily on foreign policy and international issues.
When we first arrived, we basically set our bags down and headed right off to the British Museum (where I scouted out some VanGogh paintings) before walking down past the Houses of Parliament and across the bridge to the London Eye. The city was so beautiful at night and, even though we were all very tired from the flight, I think we could all agree that it was a nice way to begin a really exciting trip.
The next day we woke up early and traveled to the Marlborough House where the Commonwealth Secretariat is currently located. I honestly didn't know much about the building, but I was amazed at how beautiful it was! I found out later that it had been a significant royal household until 1959. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but you can take a 'virtual tour' of it here
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/mhouse/index.html
The Commonwealth Secretariat was definitely an experience I will always remember. They were discussing their role in international relations as 'facilitators' of increased dialogue and cooperation. This was hard for many of us to understand the practicality of such an organization without any methods of enforcement and many of my classmates challenged this idea. The man just laughed, and commented, "This isn't the United States. We don't have to force everyone to do what is right."
I think that comment had a really big impact on the class and the way that we are taught to conceptualize the way that influential international bodies are supposed to act. Although this type of anti-American sentiment did unfortunately continue, I think it was important for us to see the other perspectives that exist. And it worked. Our conversation really evolved into something much more insightful as the trip continued.
Afterward, we also visited the Diplomatic Academy of London where we were briefed on 'The Life of a Diplomat' followed by a lecture by Dr. Chatterjee and a interactive presentation on gender equality in the global workplace in the following days. Once again, I was a bit shocked to learn that the United States is one of the lowest ranking countries for gender equality in terms of salary and this trend of picking on the U.S. seemed to continue. While many of the speakers liked to address ways in which European countries were 'better' in some regards, most of them had good intentions and really enjoyed speaking with Americans about issues within our country and the effects that our policies have on the rest of the world.