Trip to France
This week, my boss organized lunch to welcome me and Anna with all of our coworkers present. All of them are from outside the Netherlands and have international spouses, too, so there were interesting life experiences all around the table. Lunch came after a Zoom webinar about “How to Revitalize Safe Liberal Democracy” by an international law professor, so we discussed the webinar and the languages that different people speak, and Anna and I got more recommendations for things to do around The Hague. The webinar, which was an internal session just for International IDEA employees, went into depth about the tension between minority rights and majority rule in liberal democracies. Each of my coworkers had different opinions on some of the concepts in the webinar, and it was interesting to hear critiques of governmental structures in places like the Netherlands and France.
Since my parents were in town to visit me and celebrate their anniversary, my boss let me take two days off of work to spend with them. I used my long weekend to take the train with my parents to Paris. We had to transfer trains to Brussels, Belgium, which was cool to have been in three different countries in one day. My friend, Astrid, lives in France and she and I have been friends for years. I had stayed with her in the Versailles area about seven years ago, and it was exciting to get to return for a visit. She picked us up at the train station in Paris and drove us to her father’s house near Versailles.
The next day, Astrid and her father took us to Paris. We got the full tourist tour of the Eiffel Tower, had gelato, and wandered the streets to see the beautiful Parisian architecture.
We went back to Astrid’s father’s house for a break, then afterward went to the Palace of Versailles. Astrid had booked our tickets to see the firework show in the gardens of Versailles. The palace and gardens were breathtaking to see. The flowers and swirled bushes seemed to go on forever.
There also happened to be a masquerade ball that night at the palace, too, so we got to see hundreds of people dressed in Marie Antoinette-style dresses and suits around the gardens. The costumes made the night even more exciting as it finished with a beautiful firework show set to music by French composers.
We spent the next day on the train back from Paris to Amsterdam, then back to The Hague. We had dinner on a rooftop terrace near The Passage since my parents were staying at a hotel near where I work. My parents especially loved The Hague since it offers the excitement of a city but isn’t too busy.
For my last day off in my long weekend, my parents and I went to Amsterdam to explore. Just starting at the Amsterdam train station was a sight to behold. Then, the canals and houses all connected were lovely—especially from the canal cruise that we took. On the canal ride, we met tourists from Canada and San Francisco. We saw lots of stores, bikes, tilting houses, and the palace in De Dam Square. I didn’t get to see everything I wanted there, though, so I’m excited to take another trip back there soon!
Back at work, I continued my research on Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova. I’m getting better at researching with primary sources and finding high-quality secondary sources on topics that haven’t been widely studied. The passages from the book my boss had me read helped inform my research. I’m enjoying real “political science” and getting to talk to my coworkers about the different countries they're studying and helping. It’s rewarding to help with an organization that does such important work around the world, too.