You call this a vacation? Long days, no weekends, but great sights, people and food

I’ve already heard from some folks back home about what a great “vacation” this is. Let me clarify: vacations involve downtime, relaxation, no schedules, and hopefully, fruity drinks. Using those criteria, this experience does not qualify.

We have very full daily schedules and our days typically begin at 9am for a group meeting and travel to the first of several lengthy group meetings and discussions with local officials, personal appointments with local leaders and activists in our areas of interest, more meetings/discussions with officials and Marshall Fund contacts over lunch, followed by more meetings or tours of historical sites or political institutions until 5 or 6pm.

Barring travel time, we may have a short break before heading out at 7 or 8pm for dinner meetings that often last until midnight or 1am. In every European city we’ve visited thus far, lunch and dinner are long meals (2-4 hours) and dinner especially begins and ends much later than most of us are used to at home.

For this reason, breakfast is critical, and fortunately, it’s been included with our room stay in every city. So here’s an example of a power-up breakfast to get me through the day in Copenhagen. Tasty, yes? :-)

The Danes typically start meals (including breakfast) with fish, such as pickled herring, as evidenced by this herring “bar” at one restaurant. I tried it and enjoyed it, but one of my lessons of the day in Copenhagen was that pickled herring on an empty stomach does not really agree with me. Another fellow suggested I start with a bread buffer layer on future attempts. Note to self.

We usually spend 4-5 days in each city, with at least a day, sometimes more, spent traveling in or out. The remaining 3-4 full days, weekends included, are packed with meetings and activities. So I’m often up until 2am or 3 am just handling other daily duties, such as checking in by e-mail or phone with family and friends, and most importantly, doing laundry in my room.

Dry cleaning is exorbitant everywhere in Europe, so I took the advice of previous fellows and brought lots of stretchy but business-appropriate cotton/lycra shirts and sweaters (not to mention underclothes and even one pair of suit pants), which can be washed by hand and dried over a night or two. This would come in handy when my luggage took off on a side trip of its own partway through our travels. Twice.

So while this trip is providing unparalleled access to international locales, leaders, sights, sounds, and cuisine, it is not a vacation. Although I did finagle one fruity, non-alcoholic drink in Paris. ;-) Bottoms up!

Copenhagen days 2 and 3: Immigration, politics, police and cake

The theme of many of our meetings in each country has been the challenges European countries are facing in dealing with integration of immigrants. Denmark is struggling with integration of its growing immigrant population, which includes 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants who were born in the country. Unlike in the U.S., being born there does not automatically bestow citizenship. After nine years, residents must apply to become a citizen.

To close out our second and third full days in Copenhagen, we met with:

• Mehmet Necef, an associate professor at the University of southern Denmark’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies
  
• European GMF fellow Christopher Arzrouni, personal advisor to the minister for Social Affairs and Ministter for Gender Equality.

They each provided great insights about the Danish approach to immigration, which really only began in earnest in the 1960s (!). Before that, Denmark was even more homogenous than it is today.

In fact, I only saw a handful of other people of color when we walked the pedestrian shopping area in Copenhagen, and they appeared to be of African descent. Everyone else was white or tall or blonde, or all three. At one point, our small group of fellows became separated as we perused the shops. We all then stopped to scan the crowd for each other and reconvene.

“I thought we’d lost each other,” someone said.

“Well I know you can find me in the crowd,” I replied, “But I don’t know about the rest of you.” :-)

Non-homogenous me, in the crowd

Over the next few days, we learned that there is great concern among Danes and the Danish government about the viability of their current system of providing generous social benefits to its residents, including immigrants; benefits such as free schools, healthcare, and elderly care, and subsidized housing costs. Unemployed people also get 80%-90% salary (slightly less for unskilled workers) until they return to work. The system is funded by the extremely high taxes working Danes pay: about 45% personal income tax, 25% sales tax on goods, and an eye-popping 300% tax on cars. Still, the country had its lowest unemployment level ever this year: 3.8%.

Still, there’s resentment from some native Danes that the generous benefits are extended to immigrants who, in some cases, don’t speak the language and thus can’t work, and thus can’t pay taxes to contribute to funding the benefits. There is also resentment from some immigrants who feel that even when they do go to Danish schools, learn the language, and become productive citizens, they are still seen as outsiders, even after years or generations of Danish residency. For example, one person we met described himself as “not a full Dane” because his grandparents on one side of the family had immigrated there decades ago. Very different from America where many 2nd generation immigrants describe themselves as American or a hyphenated American even if they arrived very recently.

The government officials we met with are approaching the problem by trying to revamp the benefit system to reduce its cost in the coming years by raising the retirement age, and reducing some benefits, but there is obvious opposition in some quarters to that approach.

We also had the opportunity to meet with Brian Mikkelsen, the Danish Minister for Culture who is with the Conservative Peoples’ Party, and Jesper Gronenberg, the Secretary General of the Social Liberal Party. They each gave us an overview of the Danish political system and how it has worked over the past few years.

Jesper and our coordinator Kristina

Interestingly, the conservatives have been in power there for six or seven years after narrowly losing the prior election to candidates who espoused a very nationalistic, anti-immigration, ultra-conservative agenda. Their leaders, vowing to never again be out-done on conservative issues, allegedly followed the playbook of Newt Gingrich’s successful, conservative Contract With America approach in the late 1990’s and took power the next time. Since then, the conservative leadership of the Danish government has continued to be a strong ally of the Bush administration – a contrast to sentiments we heard from most other European officials and residents we heard from, who are quite vocally anti-Bush.

In fact, we would see this in action a day later on the 4th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War when we passed a crowd of chanting, sign-waving Danes headed to the American Embassy to protest Bush and the war.

Coincidentally, we’d learned a lot about how Danish law enforcement handles unruly crowds the day before when we spent the morning with the National police and the Copenhagen police learning about innovations in riot policing and crime prevention.

Just two weeks earlier, the police had put their refined tactics to use to end several nights of rioting by people angered after being evicted from a youth house they'd been given by the Danish government nearly 25 years ago. According to CNN here, the house had been used as a popular hangout and cultural event site by anarchists, punk rockers and left-wing groups.

Despite more than 600 arrests, only one person was reported injured - facts which seem to point to the success of the police officers' approach, which they refined more than a decade ago after a protest turned violent and resulted in more than 100 severe injuries to participants and a similar number for officers. We visited the site the next day.

The Copenhagen Crew

House had already been bulldozed, but many people were still gathered there, placing flowers on a small memorial and yelling at officers finishing cleanup work.

I asked whether they had studied the WTO riots in Seattle a few years ago and not surprisingly, they had. Their new approach is based on best practices (and lessons learned) from riot situations and police agencies around Europe and U.S.

One thing we found so endearing about the Danish police we met was that, on the surface, they had that cop demeanor we’ve all seen at home in the U.S. or on TV: imposing, businesslike, straight to the point, and clearly able to handle any situation that might arise. This was true of the women we saw too. They comprise 25% of the police force. We felt very secure in their presence.

At the same time, they were very friendly and welcomed us with delicious chocolate cake, pastries, coffee, tea and soda, all while outlining the intricacies of police work and crime prevention challenges in their country, and giving us a tour of their riot police equipment and vehicles. It was like: “This is how we subdue and remove a violent protestor so others in the crowd don’t get hurt. Can we get you more cookies?” Gotta love that. :-)

Me in the circular internal courtyard of Danish Police headquarters, built in the 1920s.

My favorite moment was when a burly, 6’3”, bald, riot police officer escorted me through the circular, cavernous police headquarters to the bathroom and along the way told me about the building’s history, takeover by the Nazis during WWII, subsequent return to Danish control, and the meaning of the decorative scrollwork lining the corridors. He then waited patiently outside and delivered me back to our group’s meeting with a noggin full of interesting historical info. I’ve loved the numerous, slightly surreal moments like that on this trip.

Later that day, we met with the Deputy U.S. Ambassador and several of her colleagues from the FBI, DEA, and the Embassy staff at her residence in the suburbs of Copenhagen. We had more sweets, treats and snacks there, coupled with interesting conversation about historical connections between the U.S. and Denmark and the state of U.S.-Danish relations today (very strong).

There is so much information to process from each day’s meetings, but we are all so busy that time for introspection and journaling time are scarce. When possible, we meet over drinks or breakfast, or during walks/taxi rides between meetings to compare notes and impressions. These moments provide an additional benefit of this experience.

Everyone is so smart and insightful and brings such a range of knowledge and experience to our interactions that we all learn and discover even more by sharing our individual impressions of group meetings, along with lessons learned from personal appointments. I feel very fortunate to now be part of the GMF network.

Copenhagen - Day 1

Every day in Copenhagen was chock-full of meetings and interactions with interesting and influential Danish leaders. First up: a meetng at the Ministry of Environment with Thomas Becker, Denmark's lead negotiator in climate change of the Subsidiary Body of Implementation under the UN Climate Change Convention.



Mr. Becker provided a great overview of Denmark's efforts to reduce global warming by changing personal habits and industrial energy use, in addition to increasing the country's output of green energy, like wind power. In fact, one of the global leaders in the field is a Danish wind turbine company called Vestas Wind Systems. This article talks about Denmark's plans forn using offshore windpower to reduce global warming and reduce the country's dependence on coal, oil and gas.



Next up was a visit with Michael Ulveman, also a German Marshall Fellow, and the Spokesperson for the Danish Prime Minister, which was a real treat for me since we do similar jobs and both have a background as a reporter. He gave us a great overview of the Danish political system, the challenges their country is facing with immigration and the burden on citizens for supporting their very generous benefit system. He outlined options the administration is evaluating and talked about Denmark's role in the EU and on the world stage.


A theme we would here many times is that "(insert country here) is so small compared to the U.S. but we are taking action to deal with (insert regional or global issue) so that we can create a better future for our country and for the world." I felt bad sometimes because it was so clear that the U.S., in contrast, was not being as proactive, despite its astronomically greater size and political power.



It was stated implicitly in some cases, explicitly in others, that part of the reason there is such animosity towards the current U.S. administration from many Europeans, is that we have all this power and influence but we squander it and don't use it positively or productively to compel others to do what's best for the global community. Instead, we sit navel-gazing and getting worked up about purely selfish interests and ostracize other countries, instead of building coalitions to affect greater change and more positive outcomes for people and countries around the globe. Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.



Afterwards we toured the Prime Minister's offices, including coercing Chad and Michael to sneak a seat at the PM's desk. That's our group below in the Prime Minister's very cool media briefing room.And we saw just h0w committed the Danes are to reducing greenhouse gases and dependence on foreign oil. Men and women (often with kids in tow) bike all over the place, rain or shine or snow in Copenhagen. Bikes littered the sidewalks in many parts of the city and there are bike lanes all over. Granted, Copenhagen is almost completely flat, which makes this much more feasible than in say... Seattle.

Still, even their leaders are in on the action. Down below is a shot of the Prime Minister's car. Notice the bike on back. He apparently is driven to meetings that are far away, but sometimes bikes to them and back, or gets a ride home. How cool is that?

That afternoon, we talked Danish Integration with a professor and another GMF fellow who is the advisor to the Minister for Social Affairs and the Minister for Gender Equality. That one was chock full of info too. But that's later. You can see why we are beat by the end of each day: it's a lot of back-to-back meetings on very thought-provoking topics, followed by discussions of the same over dinner. It's a real treat though to spend all day on such interesting issues. More later!

Closing out Paris

This trip has been nearly non-stop with activities and meetings. It's been fun, illuminating, enlightening and draining. But I'm meeting such interesting people and learning so much that I fall into bed happily exhausted each night.


Our last night in Paris, I met with Marie-Claude Peyrache, President of European Professional Women's Network-Paris (PWN) and former director of Communication at France Telecom. Their mission is to work women's progress in the business world.

I'm very interested in professional and leadership development for women and communities of color, so I found PWN online before I left and asked to meet Ms. Peyrache or someone from the organization. The group began as a way for professional women in Europe to build the kind of networks that can help them blossom professionally, develop leadership skills, and build confidence in their ability to join and succeed in the executive ranks.

Ms. Peyrache said women in Europe have only started to really move up into the professional ranks in large numbers in the past 10 years. The organization has chapters in most of the major cities in Europe, except in Germany: there is still more pressure on women there to stay home with young children rather than entering the job market outside the home. I would later learn this is very different from Denmark, where 80% of women work! But the Danes also have a very strong benefit system that provides a year of paid maternity leave, similar availability for men, and low-cost, subsidized childcare. The result is a society with strong support for families and work/life balance, plus very low unemployment among native Danes. Hear that U.S. lawmakers?

We had a very good meeting and she provided some good tips for growing your membership, providing networking opportunities, and assisting with professional development and mentoring that I'll be taking back to the Seattle Urban League Young Professionals, a professional development and social service organization with which I've been involved for the past couple years.

The highlight of the Paris stay came that evening when I joined GMF fellows Chad from DC and Carrie, a museum administrator from Chicago at the home of Cyril, a former European German Marshall Fellow for dinner.

He and his family lived in the suburbs of Paris, which are much more diverse than the area around our hotel. His wife would later explain that she'd intentionally moved to that area because she felt their former neighborhood had been too homogenous and she really wanted to be aroundm, and have her kids experience life with, a variety of people.

They welcomed us into their home and plied us with delicious appetizers, food and drink for several hours. On a work/school night, no less! Cultural lesson of the day: Europeans generally entertain for several hours. This would be echoed in Copenhagen where our coordinator explained that people usually come for appetizers, drinks and dinner around 7 or 8pm and don't leave until after 11pm but before 12am on weeknights. On weekends, there's no set ending time. I loved it!

At Cyril and Caroline's, we met their sons (who were adorable and smart), and listened to great jazz music while getting acquainted over wine (juice for me, as usual), bread, cheese and olives. We eventually moved over to the dining room where they ramped up the gastronomic pleasure level even more with scallops and oysters in a delicious butter sauce (perfect for sopping up with the bread), followed by roasted lamb and fingerling potatoes. Then there was a cheese course, and we wrapped up with ice cream and sorbet.

As if that weren't enough for a wonderful evening, they were all very interesting individuals and talked very candidly about French life, politics, the issue of immigration and integration of ethnic minorities (Caroline volunteers as a tutor for immigrant women to help them learn French and become more self-sufficient), and work/life challenges and options.


It was simply a wonderful evening and made me long to do more entertaining back home in Seattle. Rather than just waiting for the mega-holiday dinners, I plan to host more small dinner gatherings. With our fast-paced lives in the U.S., it's the only way I'm going to get to enjoy friends on a more regular basis.


Additional take-away from this experience: entertaining is not about volume or intricacy of food or whether everything is Martha Stewart-perfect, it's about spending time, building relationship and sharing time, food and home with someone simply because being in their presence is enjoyable. I'll try to keep that in mind as I return to the busy life back home.

French National Assembly

Tuesday, we visited the French National Assembly, which is its parliamentary body. We'd planned to meet with a member who is a leading figure in the conservative caucus of the assembly, but election duties had called him away. So one of his staffers gave us a tour of the facility, which was very regal and impressive, as legislative buildings are wont to be,
especially French ones that go back hundreds of years.

Inside, they had these great gifts for political junkies: dinnerware to let the world know just what side of the political spectrum you (and your food) are on. Droit is right, gauche is left. They'd work just as well in the U.S., given our red/blue state divide after the last election.



Also inside, this cool bronze sculpture of a painter working by Louis Mitelberg entitled "Daumier creant Ratapoil." I just liked it for some reason.




...and this Versailles-esque dining room being set up for an official function. Get a load of the gilt, chandeliers, and ceiling frescoes. Why do I get the feeling that were this room in the states, it would cause a stir for being too ostentatious for elected officials?

Here's the chamber where the members meet to make decisions. GMF Fellow Michael from Austin, served as a spokesmodel for this shot after showing me how to adjust my flash for the lighting conditions in the room. Camera mechanics, energy policy, knowledge of obscure political facts and research, and cracking the rest of us up with his asides are just some of his many talents.

We also passed through the members' library, which is an almost perfect replica of what heaven looks like in my brain, except that in addition to floor to ceiling books, my version has dogs underfoot and hot chocolate on tap. Guilty confession: I've been drinking almost one hot chocolate a day on the trip(!). They've been exquisite in both Paris and Copenhagen. Good thing we're walking a lot.

Over in the mail room, which was where members of parliament used to come to read and respond (by hand) to constituent letters, they have these great chairs. They were built oversized so that members could read a wide open newspaper without disturbing or encroaching on each other's space. How's that for form following function? I love it! And I want one. Note to Jason.
PS - you'll notice the functional hair I'm sporting. That's what happens when your flat iron falls victim to the quirks of international voltage changes. To do list for the evening: find a store with hair appliances.