Eugeen van Mieghem Museum and Antwerp's Seaport

Tuesday was an exciting day because most of it was spent exploring Antwerp’s Sea Port. We started off by seeing a museum dedicated to the painter, Eugeen van Mieghem, who painted people from all over Europe who immigrated to the United States from Antwerp sea port.

Figure 1: An awesome staircase.

I really liked the museum because it fit my preference and expression of the subject of interest: nature. The stair cases exhibited the style of Art Nouveau, where the inspiration for the work comes from nature. I felt like the stair cases and the walls of the museum did a very good job presenting nature the way it appears in real life. The only difference is that the colors of the leaves and plants changed to more royal, uplifting colors, such as gold, golden brown, and dark brown. The curvature of the lines gives the stair case some energetic movement, which contributes to the atmosphere of the house, implying that you are with a different group of people. The cloudy white forms below the golden plant images on the walls remind me of the movement of water or the form of plants in a field. The circular, cloudy white image on top of the plant like images reminds me of the radiant sun that rises every day to supply energy to all forms of plant life. Climbing up and down that stair case gave me a taste and feeling of walking with nature. Perhaps I felt a little bit different when walking through this museum because of the Art Nouveau. The style is a little more abstract and open to interpretation instead of restricting the audience to whatever the artist wants to portray. Abstract art gives a little more flexibility for interpretation.

One of the things our tour guide mentioned is that “a lot of rich people buy paintings because it’s a good investment, not because they appreciate the art.” I find this really interesting because some pieces of art can be considered very expensive to some, but not to others. In a previous entry from last week, the most expensive piece of art was just a gradient of the color turquoise, and the purpose of the piece was to express the feeling of love. People thought that work of art was expensive because it was hand made by tissue paper, which implies that it took a very long time to put that piece together, but for others, they may think that it wasn’t worth that much. I’m not entirely sure if investing in art is the best thing to invest in because the value of the piece can vary, depending on preference. It seems like people raise the prices of the art of deceased artists, so the prices of their works keep going up since they can’t produce any more art, but what exactly is the point of that? Surely, people are like grass and flowers. The grass withers and the flower fades, so the artist will eventually wither and fade, but the ideas and remnants of the expression of the artist’s mind can last if the people who live after him/her keep people interested in the art. One of the most difficult things to get people to do is have them understand or be remotely interested in the same things you are, but some people put so much interest in just one person’s expression, ideas, and emotions portrayed through art.

Figure 2: A glimpse into Antwerp's seaport.

The rest of the day, we spent the time exploring the Antwerp Seaport, which I found impressive because its geographical location would make someone think that this seaport would not be the source of much commerce for the country. The seaport is on a river, which is not the most ideal place to  hold a seaport because it will be difficult to get in or out of the river since the movement of water will control where the ships or boats will go. In addition, it will be difficult for anyone outside the country to make it into the seaport since they will have to meander and follow the path of the river to reach the seaport. Doing so would take a lot of time, and I'm not sure how many countries will be willing to do that. On top of all that, the mouth of the river is located in another country, so if Belgium and the Netherlands go to war and the mouth of that river is closed, then Antwerp's Seaport will no longer be able to function. Despite all these downfalls, the seaport is still very successful and active today.

The Diamond Stock Exchange and the Definition of the Church

Today, we visited Antwerp’s Our Lady’s Cathedral and climbed the Tower. It was 400 feet high and had an awesome view of the city. I also appreciated our tour guide’s demonstration of playing the bells on top of the tower. It definitely reminded me of the people who played Berkeley’s bell tower, The Campanile. 

Afterwards, we visited the Antwerp Diamond Stock Exchange and visited the old Sephardic Synagogue. We took a tour of the neighborhood surrounding the Diamond Stock Exchange as well, and it was interesting to see the attire of the Jewish community living around the area. They wore black hats and black suits, which definitely distinguished them from the rest of the people walking around the area. It was an interesting way to “fulfill” the Jewish male attire requirement by covering their heads with the black top hat. It made me think of them as magicians who did magic in the neighborhood by running the diamond business with everyone. The diamond business in Antwerp was said to be very successful due to the fact that business was done with everyone, making it open and easily accessible to people of every trait.

Figure 1: A mini shrine in Our Lady's Cathedral. Observe how they reserve sections of the church for prayer. It's a little silly from my point of view because anyone can pray wherever they want to pray.

The activity I reacted to the most was our visitation into the cathedral. After being in Europe for almost a month and having seen all these churches in the Low Countries, I finally came to the conclusion that even though these countries were very religious at one point in time, they were still very far off from the real definition of the church. It seems that whenever people think of a church, they think of this amazing building with all these different sculptures and paintings that give an image of Christ and other Biblical stories, when in Bible, the church is defined as a group of people who have been called out of the world because they have chosen live a life that expresses God’s nature and character. (The word “church” is derived from the Greek word ekklesia, meaning a gathering or assembly of people who have been called out.)  It has upset me every single time I entered a “church” with all these unnecessary images in paintings and sculptures that implant a man-made concept of God and the church into other peoples’ minds. An example of an unnecessary painting is that of Pieter Rubens, The Raising of the Cross, which was displayed in Our Lady’s Cathedral.  Looking at the image makes me feel uncomfortable because it makes Jesus look like this pathetic man who was nailed on the cross, which is why I chose not to show the painting here, but the work of art shows Pieter’s interpretation of the story of cross which gives his audience a concept of what the cross is all about. All these images in the “church” give people ideas about God, which influence people to think a certain way about religion and God. Perhaps it’s a good idea to be open-minded about the definition of the church because what people say is not necessarily what is, especially when the primary source is available to you.

TB or no TB? That is the [medical] question between two countries.

Figure 1:  Belgium offers the highest-quality medical care, which is regarded among the best healthcare systems in Europe and the world... that doesn't necessarily mean their medical procedures are the same as that of America's.

We arrived in Antwerp today and spent my entire 3 hour break running around the city to find a medical institution that would run a TB test on me. To my surprise, the TB test isn’t a standard medical procedure in Belgium and it’s a very exotic request to just have a TB test done without having been exposed to TB at all. It was slightly amusing to see the reactions on all the receptionists’ faces whenever my GSI, Petra, would explain my request to them in Dutch. The following was the standard conversation held in Dutch:

Petra: Hi. Here’s an American student who needs a TB test done.

Receptionist: Where did she get exposed? How long has she been exposed for?

Petra: She never got exposed. She just needs this test to apply for her institution back in America.

[Receptionist stares blankly.]

Petra: Yes, I know, it’s awkward.

[Receptionist smiles and starts writing information to refer us to another medical institution.]

The above conversation was repeated until we finally agreed that this TB test is not going to happen in Belgium and that I’m going to have to wait until I reach the states to run this standard American medical procedure.

It was interesting to see this clash between the American and Belgian medical system because it gave me a chance to think more critically of the American medical system. After hearing the logic behind the Belgian system of doing the TB test, I understood why they thought my request for a TB test was exotic. They only do a TB test if you’ve been exposed to TB by spending some time in a third world country, exploring a tropical rain forest, or if you somehow encountered a person with TB and caught it yourself. They never just have someone walk into a medical institution asking for a TB test to be done – that’s so awkward to them, and they have logical reasons to think that way. If I’ve never been in a place where I could potentially catch TB, or if no one around has ever caught TB from me, or if I’ve never coughed up blood or exhibited any symptoms of TB then… I most likely don’t have TB right? Why would you need to take a TB test if you’re not deathly sick in any way? You would only need to take a series of tests to identify exactly what illness you caught during your adventures in a third world country. That’s the way Belgians think: If it isn’t necessary, then don’t do it - and to my amusement, they now think that Americans are weird for doing TB tests randomly.

Since I’ve lived in America for most of my life, I always thought these medical procedures were normal, but I’m thankful I got to experience another culture’s medical system just so I can see things done differently. Americans do TB tests to prove to the institution they work for that they do not have TB, so it’s safe to admit them into this program. Then no one has to worry that some highly contagious disease will spread among all the students or employees of the institution.

I’m sick, but I still went to the European Parliament

Figure 1: There are two locations for the European Parliament, one in Brussels and another in France.  Here is an image of the one in Brussels, the one we visited today.

Today’s schedule consisted of visiting the Parliamentarium museum, European Parliament, and participating in a role-playing game where the students step into the shoes of a Member of the European Parliament. That was all fine and dandy until I decided to go back to the hostel super early and rest a bit more because my health started to fail me. Fortunately, Jeroen (my professor who prefers to be called by first name) assisted me in purchasing some European medicine to help me with my condition. (I got excited because now I get to experience my first dose of European drugs.) Petra (my GSI), assisted me in the 30 minute walk back to the hostel. As I was walking back to the hostel, I started to reflect on my interactions with my professor and GSI because it was very different from what I was used to.

In my past four years of college, I was under the regulations of my chemical engineering professors, who showed no mercy if I got sick – Jeroen, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He literally came up to me and asked me if I was okay, that he could tell I was sick, and that he was actually concerned about my health. I guess it showed that he cared because he accompanied me to the pharmacy and helped me out with the language barrier by communicating with the receptionist in Dutch so that there would be no misunderstanding with whatever medications I actually needed. My chemical engineering professors never came close to showing that much care. I still remember my freshman year of college, I was pretty sick, and I emailed my professors/GSIs if I could get an extension on a problem set or reschedule the quiz/midterm. The responses I got were “It is none of my business to know what your medical condition is” or “It’s not the end of the world if you miss a midterm or a problem set. You’ll just get a zero on your grade report.” The worse card they pulled on me was “Did you not pay attention the first day when we went over the syllabus? There are no acceptations to the schedule or grading policy. If you need to miss a midterm, just retake the class next year.” So… I always did my best to be in lecture or the day of the exam just to survive college.

Perhaps that’s just the way American professors are like, but I think it’s safe to say that since Jeroen grew up in Flanders, he’s more Dutch than he is American. In the reader, it mentions how the Dutch see such unfortunate conditions, such as poor health, to “not be the people’s own fault, and therefore they should be given the chance to be normal (13)”. A Czechoslovakian was impressed by how the Dutch “take care of the weak here! Take ill people for example: one may be ill for some weeks a couple times a year, they just keep paying you (14).”At first, when Jeroen mentioned he wouldn’t mind if I missed a little bit of the program to rest a bit more, I was hesitant to believe him because I still looked at him as if he was an American, chemical engineering professor. He could have easily pulled the same card as them and said that he prepared the itinerary for the program well in advanced, so I should know what’s next, but after realizing that the Dutch are very different from American professors, I found it much easier to believe Jeroen when he says it’s okay to miss a bit of the program to rest some more. I appreciate how the Dutch genuinely take care of people and how I can finally relax and not worry about getting a zero in my grade book.

Is the European Union really a union?

Figure 1: The European Union Flag.

Today, we received a lecture on the political history of Belgium, the history and importance of the European Union, and visited the Belgian Federal Parliament. I was supposed to visit the Rene Magritte Museum, but I bailed because I still felt pretty sick.

I was most interested in what we learned about regarding the European Union. I never thought it was really a union, but instead a collaboration of several different countries. After today’s lecture, my opinion of the EU was solidified. Turns out after WWII, Europe was completely destroyed and lost a lot of influence on the world. The young people in France were suddenly becoming more American because Americans were more influential at that time, so naturally the French feared that their young people would lose their identity of being French (and thus lose the French culture in general since the young people are the future of their nation). They sought a solution to preserve European identity and decided to create the European Union. The Germans supported this idea to unite Europe since they had a hostile image after losing the war, so to change and improve their image, they wanted to participate in the creation of the union that would promote peace among these nations.

Some European politicians would look at the United States and find the idea of uniting the European countries together the same way the states are together would be beneficial. However, there is already one major flaw in that comparison: The United States is actually one nation. The European Union, on the other hand, is not one nation. It’s a collaboration of several different countries with their own histories, culture, and language. The United States, on the other hand, has one official language and shares one history. Sure, one can say that it is easy to tell if someone is from Texas or California based on the accent, or that the government in Texas is a bit different from that in California, but in general, because there is one overarching government in the United States, it is clear that America is one nation. Americans think of themselves as American first before they consider themselves Californian or Texan. It appears that a Dutchman would consider himself Dutch first before he considers himself European. Do people in Europe even know what it means to be European? What exactly identifies a person as being European? From my perspective, it appears that a person is European if they live in the continent known as Europe.

I honestly don’t think the EU has much of a future because there are so many dividing lines between the countries, let alone their intentions for being in the union. Countries are only in this union for the benefit of their own nation. They put their county first before whatever would benefit Europe as a whole. This observation can be seen from the very beginning of the EU: The French wanted to preserve their identity in their young people while the Germans wanted to change their reputation. It will be difficult to create a credible union in Europe if every nation insists on its own well-being. The disadvantage of the European Union is that it was created after every country developed its own identity through its own unique history, culture, and language. A group of people are united if they share these three things. The United States of America shares these identifying factors because each state was united to this one nation through the same history as the young nation was built from scratch. Perhaps if all the nations in Europe were to drop all their names, culture, identity, language, and currency, and just built up the identity of being European from scratch just like that of the states, then the purpose of the European Union may actually work out, but it appears that every nation has too much pride to do this, so only time will tell of what will happen to the EU.

It's all about Brussels...

Figure 1: The remains of the wall of Brussels.

Today we received a lecture on the cultural history of Belgium and the history and importance of Brussels. Apprently, Brussels is the capital of Europe, and has seen many wars and changes, so remember how I mentioned that I should brace myself for the unexpected? The city tour was 4 hours long in some intense, uncomfortable heat, so that was unexpected. Perhaps our tour guide has experienced some of this “cruelly disfigured and violated (242)” events that Brussels has been through, which causes a person to have more endurance than the average person who hasn’t seen as much. Thus, our tour guide was able to last 4 hours walking in intense heat without having to take a break or take a sip of water at all. Europeans are impressive.

The architecture of the city caught my eye the most because the city seems a bit run down, but it makes sense because of “‘brusselisation’, meaning the brutal demolition of large areas without building anything sensible to replace them. All these colossal projects were necessary to make Brussels a worthy capital of Belgium (Van Istendael 240).” I noticed when the tour guide pointed out what remained of the brick wall of Brussels that it definitely looked like it was torn down without any pattern to follow. Van Istendael mentions that these actions were necessary to make this city the capital of Belgium so it can symbolize the history and experiences these people had to endure. The people of Belgium know “only too well what invasion is like, and… have lived always between powerful and aggressive neighbours who preferred to fight things out in the Low Countries rather than on their own soil. It makes the Belgian expect defeat… (Patricia Arson 212).” So having a city whose architecture and buildings torn down can easily symbolize how these people have experienced defeat, having their land invaded several times, and seen wars fought out on their own soil. These worn down buildings are contrasted with the buildings following the style of Art Nouveau, where they use metal as their material for building while following the patterns of nature instead of the style and patterns of the past. The presence of destructed buildings and royal architecture of Art Nouveau seems to show how Brussels will carry on in the future as the capital of Europe, even though it has been through many rough times.

Out of Luxembourg and into Belgium!

By the time we left Luxembourg, my impressions of the city changed. I thought Luxembourg was just a country that spoke French, but it turns out there are three official languages. I’ll never forget how I tried using the laundry machine there and couldn’t identify the language on the machine. I tried looking up the words in French and German… but it turns out it was all in Letzebuergesch. I also thought the people here, being in one of the wealthiest countries, would have some manners and be polite, but after hearing some stories of my classmates entering tourist shops, that is not the case. Apparently, if you don’t speak French or any language they know, they’ll be rude to you. One of my classmates got kicked out of a shop because she couldn’t communicate or understand anything the receptionist said. Altogether, Luxembourg is a gorgeous country filled with castles and wealthy people who aren’t very good at English and could be a bit more accommodating to their tourists...although, their economy doesn’t depend too much on tourists since they chase them out.

Now we’re in Brussels, and because it is a city right between Flanders and Wallonia, I expect to see a blend between two different groups of people: the Walloons and the Fleming. In addition, G. van Istendael’s article on Brussels mentions how “Brussels is a textbook example of a twenty-first century city: its inhabitants have blown in from all four winds, and it has experience in accommodating minorities and having many different cultures living together (242).” So I expect to see many different kinds of people in Brussels (besides tourists) walking the streets and working in shops of Brussels. Unfortunately, Geert Van Istendael also mentions how “Brussels is chaotic, because Brussels has been cruelly disfigured and violated… (242).” So I guess I’ll brace myself for a very busy, hectic city with some broken buildings and unexpected behaviors.