Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

WFU in Belgium


The Chateau--International School of Brussels

The taxi entered through a security gate, announced my name, and we entered. A lovely, imposing European chateau was in front of us. With imagination, I could see the eighteenth-century carriages waiting for the powdered-wig and silk-bustled mesdames and messieurs to descend the steps and enter their waiting coach for a ride through the forests. In another glance,what I saw was an universal end of the school day event--laughing kids hanging out on the front steps of their school waiting to go home at the end of a long day. This was the International School of Brussels (ISB). This school located in the middle of a most beautiful forest hosted the Fulbright College Fair last night. Ninety-nine USA colleges/universities were there, and over 700 European students, American students from expat families,teachers,and administrators were there. Education USA taped a 10-minute spot about Wake Forest University for their European marketing. They also asked for another 10-minute advertisement about WFU in Mandarin Chinese. I was happy to both. But wandering around Belgium these four days, I realize that to do well here I really need to work on my French and Dutch. Thank goodness for some patient French teachers in high school and college I can muddle through. But alas, Dutch---I have no idea. But this is the reality of last night--just about every third culture student I met could speak all three--French, Dutch,and English. We invite them to consider WFU! It's a big world out here!



Monday, October 1, 2012

In Brussels

I am in Brussels, Belgium preparing to represent Wake Forest University at The Fulbright College Fair at the International School in Brussels tonight. I am looking forward to a breakfast meeting with our USA Ambassador Gutman in the morning. Ambassador Gutman is a friend to USA higher education and is very interested in WFU.  One of the reasons we are finding Belgium to be such a warm and receptive place is due in no small measure to the hard work of Ambassador Gutman.  Our USA Ambassador is truly a public servant; he has visited 479 cities, towns, villages in Belgium.  Where there was no town center, he has literally knocked on the door of the house and introduced himself to the owner.  They love him in Belgium.  He is serving us well!   I enjoyed meeting our Ambassador to Belgium, sharing breakfast in the ambassador's residence, and thanking him for his support of Wake Forest University.  After our breakfast he went to his daily French and Dutch class then prepared the last-minute edits of his speech to be presented to the new branch of the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) from Greensboro.  Small world, isn't it?

Go Deacs! On a less positive note, but also a reality of the road and the defective batch of new computers, my computer has crashed. So glad to have IPad and phone to stay connected. Good road warriors learn to adapt. I am learning!

USA Ambassador Gutman
Ambassador's Residence
Brussels, Belgium
October 2, 2012