Luxemburg, Äddi!

Three months ago, I arrived in Luxembourg. In spite of the dark and cold, January was actually a great time to set up camp. What better way to start the New Year than in a new place, doing new work, meeting new people, gaining new experiences, and all in a country that had a new Prime Minister for the first time in 19 years.

 

Luxembourg's colours and beloved Red Lion

Since day one, work has been a healthy combination of challenging and interesting. With the Embassy being quite small, I have been able to gain an insight into what each member of the team does, and to help out with a large variety of tasks and projects. The working day has thus been wonderfully varied, which is always a bonus. Furthermore, I’ve been able to learn more about the UK’s engagement in foreign and EU affairs, and I feel better acquainted with how the FCO and its many missions operate. Until seeing it in action, such a complex machine is quite hard to visualise, but my understanding of it has certainly begun to solidify. It has also been fascinating to see how the small country of Luxembourg has been coping with the changes to its administration, and how it has been responding to regional problems, national developments, and international crises. You could perhaps say that the Embassy has been the lens of a microscope that is trained on a selection of slides exhibiting some Foreign Service cells, EU molecules, and Luxembourgish DNA.

Luxembourg doesn't quite have a green glow yet, but maybe when summer comes...

 Developing a deeper understanding of Luxembourg’s administrative skeleton has been great; discovering its flesh – that is to say the populace – has been equally charming. Luxembourg is a great place to go, regardless of how many people you expect to know there: there is little anonymity and people are extraordinarily welcoming. Someone I met here said that everybody is nice to everybody else because they never know when they are going to meet again! Ostensibly cynical though this may be, there is some truth in it. In a place like London, all odds would be against a second meeting, but here in Luxembourg it’s a veritable likelihood. Furthermore, the variety of people I have met is astounding. There are people from all over the world and all walks of life, and it has been wonderful to see how they all come together in this brimming melting pot. 

If this pot is Luxembourg, what's inside is the most varied meal anyone's ever had

A recent addition to the Luxembourg creuset was Father Michael Lapsley, a South African priest, in town to launch the German-language version of his autobiography. During his book launch, he spoke of his experiences campaigning against the apartheid regime, before and after receiving in 1990 a letter bomb that blew off his hands and caused him to lose one eye. His story was compelling, to say the least. He addressed issues such as disability, trauma, and healing, and said he was grateful that the letter bomb had taken only his hands, leaving his greatest weapon, his tongue, perfectly intact. He propounded the need for individual independence, but also for individuals to be interdependent, and explained his understanding of forgiveness and justice, and how the two can be reconciled, in his view. It was an exceedingly thought-provoking event.

Fr Michael's autobiography, in German:  Mit den Narben der Apartheid: Vom Kampf für die Freiheit zum Heilen traumatischer Erinnerungen

And that same sentence could be re-applied to so many of the experiences I’ve had here; my mind has been kept happily scurrying. Just this week, I had the pleasure of meeting and attending a talk given by British rower, Steve Williams, OBE, two-time Olympic Gold medallist, and four-time world champion in the men’s coxless four. He was not there to promote his sport (the many descriptions of excruciating and constant pain could entice no-one but an extreme masochist); his focus lay elsewhere. Lots of what he said was about self-motivation, but he spoke equally about how to be a good team player, and a significant proportion of his talk was centred on being a good leader. Really, it spoke to everyone in some way; even if it did nothing to convince anyone that it would be fun to get up at 6am for an icy row, this indomitable athlete used his personal sporting anecdotes well in order to transmit some universally applicable mantras.

Steve Williams and his two Olympic Gold medals

Now, three months on from all the newness, it’s time for me to leave. The time I’ve spent here in Luxembourg is one I won’t be forgetting. Firstly, because I feel the skills I’ve learnt will stick with me for a long time, and secondly, because it has been such an enjoyable experience. Not just because of events like those elaborated upon above, but because of the work itself, its varied nature and fascinating substance, and because of the environment in which that work has taken place. The Embassy staff have been as welcoming as the Luxembourgers themselves, and working with them has been a treat. I’m really very grateful to have had the opportunity to intern here.

United in Diversity

March has not only seen a rise in temperatures, but also the dawn of Luxembourg’s presidency of the UN Security Council, and what a month to start. Luxembourg’s first action was to hold an emergency meeting on Ukraine during their very first day in office, and it has been all systems go ever since, what with the Benelux Foreign Ministers' visit to Kiev, and a heavy existing Security Council agenda. As a result, there has been much interaction with the Foreign Ministry, which has provided me with a remarkable insight into diplomacy. The best way I can describe this is that it reminds me of a wicker basket being woven, but where each individual twig is being woven by a different country: all weavers have the same goal (to create a basket), but each has a slightly different idea about the pattern. It’s all about the weaving process: how they work off each other, communicate, cooperate, compromise, and deal with clashes. At any rate, even if that made no sense, take my word for it that it’s fascinating.

Diplomacy in its figurative form. Image credit: prestigewicker.co.uk.

As well as this more politico-centric activity, the Embassy has been kept busy with its first Consular Outreach Reception, which took place on the second Tuesday of the month. It was a great event: firstly, it gave me the chance to understand the role of our consular services in far greater detail, and secondly, the Embassy was able to celebrate some extraordinary people, such as volunteers at homeless shelters and leaders of groups for women in distress. Not only did it allow our consular team to establish contact with local support groups, schools, hospitals, police forces, and charities, amongst others, but it gave all these the perfect opportunity to meet each other as well!

Networking. Image credit: ekaterinawalter.com

To further consolidate the Embassy’s relationship with local organisations, the Ambassador has also been to visit two of the local schools, and I accompanied her: one was an international school, where the Ambassador gave a careers talk to some keen sixth-formers, and the other a Luxembourgish school, where pupils in their first year of learning English wanted to learn more about the Ambassador’s role and be inspired to work hard at their English. They were using vocabulary and grammatical structures that were astonishingly advanced for the short length of time they had been learning; the teacher informed me that their grammar had been grounded the previous year by a course in Latin, and I suppose their exposure to an abundance of English media and American television must aid their language retention. Still, it was impressive. And it underlined another positive facet I’ve noticed of Luxembourg: that it seems to be a great place to bring up children; certainly, the advantages they’ll gain from such a fabulous education in languages are innumerable.

Image credit: worldnomads.com

These bonds with Luxembourgish professionals, which the Embassy staff work so hard to establish and nurture, have even proven themselves useful for one of my assignments. Part of my remit over the past few months has been to plan a commemorative exhibition about the bilateral relations between Luxembourg and the UK during the First World War, and recently the planning process reached the stage where we were ready to go to external organisations and enquire about potential artefacts we might be able to borrow. Amongst those organisations contacted were the national archives, the city archives, the photo archives and the Military History Museum in Diekirch, a town north of Luxembourg City. The particularly great thing about this stage of the process was that I got to visit all these places and rifle through their fascinating material myself. My now extremely high expectations of Luxembourgers’ charm were not disappointed; everyone I met at each of these institutions was intrigued by our narrative and eager to help. It will be exciting to get the chosen material together in one room later this year.

  

National Military History Museum in Diekirch.

 On the subject of historical war, I should mention that Luxembourg has been playing host to a home-grown cinema hit. The film, Heemwéi – Eng Odyssee (translation: Homesickness – an Odyssey), is the result of a seven-year independent project that cost just €25,000. It was realised by a team of volunteers, amateurs and local professionals in Luxembourg. Having wanted to watch it since its release in January, I finally did, and was duly impressed. The film revisits Luxembourg’s ambiguous WWII history, where the line between friend and foe was exceptionally vague. There is nothing sensational or condemning about the story; the depiction is realistic and gritty, and this translates into a thought-provoking production. I found it an interesting window into Luxembourg’s relationship with its past.

For, although Luxembourg is an extremely modern place, full of innovation and enterprising, it does still retain a link with its history. This I was fortunate enough to experience last weekend (the second weekend in March), when each commune held a traditional – in fact pagan – ceremony to cast off the throes of winter and welcome in the spring. This ‘Buergbrennen’ took the form of a gigantic cross-shaped bonfire, accompanied by much food, drink, and merriment. The one I attended was lit by a troop of intrepid children and run by the scouts, and it burned rather spectacularly. Bonfires in other communes were even supplemented by fireworks and music. Essentially, it was nice to see that, in spite of the patchwork nature of Luxembourg’s population, a healthy native community spirit has remained intact.

Buergbrennen in Beggen.

Since being here, I’ve been struck by Luxembourg’s diversity; in more recent weeks, the interwovenness of this diversity has really made itself apparent. It is not a school canteen, where the groups and cliques are distinct. Here, old sits with new, locals sit with expats, people of various professions happily share a table. Luxembourg thus seems to have successfully implemented the ostensibly paradoxical motto of the European Union: ‘United in Diversity.’

February: The Month of Flying Time.

At the Embassy, life is perhaps best analogised by the Luxembourgish weather. One minute, there is rain, the next snow, then glorious sunshine, followed by some fog, and rounded off with a bout of gusty gales. The temperature is as changeable, too. But whereas this might be a bad thing for holiday-making hikers trying to travel light, it’s great for an intern drinking in new experiences. It isn’t just the workplace that’s varied, though; it’s the ‘extra-curricular’ stuff, too…

This bright sunshine followed a solid two-day stint of downpours.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a great event put on by Delano, an English-language magazine, in celebration of its third birthday. The event was named ‘Spice It Up’; everything was Indian-themed, including the canapés, and all guests were invited to have a bindi drawn onto their foreheads. The venue was one that I would perhaps cringeworthily describe as ‘cool’, and it was a terrific place to meet new people and fill more gaps in my overall understanding of how Luxembourg works. As I moved through the crowd, evidence of the smallness of the world came in the form of my meeting two people with connections to my home-city of Manchester, which was unexpected, but welcome! A friend then introduced me to another guest, telling me that ‘he’s a magician!’ I, having been so used to people telling me they worked for a bank, insurance company or law firm, didn’t really take this assertion seriously, and made the poor man perform a trick to prove himself. He obliged, and produced a coin out of thin air. Bravo. It was only afterwards that I found out he was the internationally renowned magician, David Goldrake, who goes on world tours and is essentially the Luxembourg equivalent of Derren Brown. Oops.

The following week was the week of Valentine’s Day, and the English-speaking Actors Repertory Theatre Luxembourg put on, appropriately enough, Love Letters, a play by A. R. Gurney. We were invited. The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama back in 1990, but in spite of its credentials, I must admit that I was not sure I was going to like it. Fifty years’ worth of love letters between two people, and only these two characters on stage at all times? It sounded so mushy. Fortunately, it was anything but! It was funny, moving, and engaging, and the production was simple but effective; the acting was understated, but sincere and convincing. In all, a play deserving of its renown.

Flyer for the Actors Rep production.

On Valentine's Day itself, there was an event held in the centre of town, which some Embassy staff, including myself, attended. It was called '1 Billion Rising for Justice', and was staged almost simultaneously in hundreds of cities across the globe. Organised by the American Women's Club of Luxembourg, it was done in conjunction with the global campaign, One Billion Rising. The campaign’s name comes from the appalling fact that one third of all women on our planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. That’s one billion women. These V-Day events, which take place on a yearly basis, give people the opportunity to raise awareness of this deplorable statistic, and to fight to end such widespread violence against women. Unfortunately, the weather on the day prevented a fantastic turn-out, but there was still a substantial number of attendees gathered in Luxembourg City centre. There were signs, music, photographs, and even some Zumba to rally the troops! The aerobic dancing was definitely welcome on such a cold afternoon. And it was good to see so much support for such an important issue.

A t-shirt on display on the day. Many were wearing them as well!

Last week saw my greatest challenge since starting at the Embassy. I agreed to give a quasi-motivational talk about London to a cohort of insurance salespeople; the company was planning a staff trip to London in celebration of hard work. My speech was meant to provoke excitement and give them a flavour of what they might expect from the UK’s capital. There was one complication, which only came to light once I had agreed to do this for them: the speech had to be in French. I speak French, but conversing and giving a speech are quite different things, and I had no previous experience of the latter. Fortunately, though, it turned out to be a worthwhile endeavour and an excellent experience: not only were my hosts delightfully encouraging despite my evident nerves, but I did not spontaneously combust mid-sentence, which I figured was the worst that could happen. Afterwards, conversation was facilitated by Guinness, which was served to further excite the employees to want to go to the UK and sample more British Ale [sic: I felt it was polite to refrain from mentioning that, actually, Guinness comes from a little place slightly west of Britain…]. What’s more, I then received a beautiful vase of flowers in the post after the event, which was a lovely surprise, and also served as yet further confirmation that Luxembourgers are an absolutely charming bunch of people.

Luckily, London is fab, so the content of the speech was easy.

And now it’s March! I can barely believe it; into the home stretch now. The speed at which these past two months have evaporated before my eyes certainly supports the old assertion that ‘time flies when you’re having fun.’

The English Pronunciation of 'Ukulele' is Illogical.

Last week, I was delighted to attend a talk given by Sir Nigel Sheinwald. The former UK Ambassador to the USA (and former UK Permanent Representative to the EU) was in Luxembourg to give a talk for the Oxford University Society of Luxembourg, on the topic of ‘Britain, Europe and the World: present dilemmas and future decisions.’ It was very interesting to hear his perspective on such matters, especially given his professional proximity to the people, organisations and countries involved in many of the issues of which he spoke.

University of Oxford

In the discussion that followed, British people’s perception of the EU was discussed. As this group of predominantly older Britons and Luxembourger Oxford graduates discussed why there were so many eurosceptics in the UK, and to what sort of information young Brits were being exposed, I felt like I ought to raise my hand and say ‘hello, young Brit, here…’, but they actually nailed the issue on the head without my help: the usefulness of the EU is barely publicised in the UK, whereas its few disadvantages are preyed upon and strung up as a grim – and slightly misleading – warning to us all. It seems to be a matter of awareness, and it’s a shame that such discussions aren’t had on a broader scale in the UK itself.

The European Union flag

After this talk, the British Ambassador hosted an informal dinner at the Residence in honour of Sir Nigel, which gave those present the opportunity to discuss in further detail the ideas brought forth in the talk (amongst other things, of course). There were fourteen people present, and every single one of them had an entirely unique perspective on every topic of conversation, having come from all sorts of different backgrounds and had a variety of completely different experiences. That is one of the things I have found about Luxembourg: there is a wealth of diversity here, and it is great.

***

This diversity is visible in every single vein of Luxembourg life: I went into a shoe shop the other day, and after confessing to the sales assistants that I spoke no Luxembourgish, was promptly re-greeted in English, and good English at that! Not only that, but most films at the cinema are shown in their original language, with a relevant combination of English, French, German and/or Luxembourgish subtitles (which is a great excuse to go often, because it’s therefore technically educational…). There are ways of settling into this place no matter where you come from or what language you speak (well, ok, there are some limits to how multilingual everyone is).

EU flags flying before the European Parliament

This is great for places like the theatre, as I experienced in my first week at West Side Story, but also for the Luxembourg Philharmonie, which is able to welcome a vast array of English-speaking talent without worrying about a drop in ticket sales. This was evidenced by their hosting of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, who only went and, you know, sold out.

Luxembourg Philharmonie

I was very excited to go along to this, because some friends of mine are Ukulele players, and I had therefore heard good things about the troop. Good things which turned out to be true, I might add. The colourful range of songs on their set list and their witty choreography were only outshone by two further aspects of their performance: firstly, the complexity of the layered arrangements, at which one could only marvel (think Pitch Perfect, but with EIGHT SONGS ON THE GO SIMULTANEOUSLY); and secondly, crucially, their bewilderingly enduring manual stamina! The non-stop speed at which they twanged away together was unbelievable, and that is without so much as mentioning the rapidity of the solos and the fact that each member had to sing as well. They deserve serious kudos. However, it was not just awe at their skill that made the evening enjoyable. Despite having been playing together for nearly thirty years, their material was fresh and buoyant. There were songs by Adele and Daft Punk, featured amongst hits by David Bowie, Lou Reed, and even Frank Sinatra. There was even a whistling interlude. Possibly my favourite rendition of the night, though, was an acapella ‘folkalisation’ (yes, that is a made-up word, but how else will language evolve?) of The Who’s ‘Pinball Wizard’. You’d have thought the song had originated in medieval Scotland, or had been written for the soundtrack of Braveheart. ‘Twas bonnie.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

The second two weeks in Luxembourg have proven themselves well up to the task of following the first; I’m discovering ever more about this small country, and, so far, I like it.


Note with reference to the title: we Brits pronounce each of the four vowels differently: 'you-kuh-lay-lee'. German is far more logical: it goes 'oo-koo-lay-lay'. Something I realised when talking to a German friend who was baffled by our linguistic silliness.

A Barrage of ‘News’

Here in Luxembourg, it is not just the year that is new: the government is still relatively new, and the EU presidency handover means that there are lots of developments making the news.

All this translates to lots of work for the Embassy, as it has to keep up with all these developments, with all these new ministers, and with all these new policies. So as a new intern, it is an exciting time: there is plenty to do! Fortunately, it is interesting to see how Luxembourg is changing, and how it is reacting to these changes.

A major topic of controversy in this small country is the new government’s announcement that they will be altering the way religion is taught in schools. Religious education, which is currently essentially run by the Catholic Church, will be replaced by a more neutral, values-based ethics course. This is an undeniably bold move in a predominantly Catholic country; indeed, there has been a very un-Luxembourgish surge of protestation regarding this proposal, with groups forming to fight for their right to choose what form of religion course they want. Many others, however, are in favour of the move, which aims to present religion and ethics in a more objective way across the board. As an outsider, it is interesting to watch a country grappling with these changes, as many western countries are currently debating similar issues.

Further changes can be seen in the EU presidency changeover, as Lithuania passes on the baton to Greece, and Greece resets the focus of the EU for the coming six months. Maritime issues will be their priority, they told the various Ambassadors last week, and so, although this may have limited effect on Luxembourg, a land-locked nation, there is definitely reason for Britain to prick up its ears. Again, it is fascinating for me to see how Luxembourg and the British Embassy deal with such developments.

***

In other news, the Grand Theatre celebrated its 50^th Anniversary just the other week, and the Ambassador was one of many dignitaries present at a special performance of the classic musical, West Side Story. I was honoured to accompany her, and even got my first glimpse of Luxembourg royalty and the whole Luxembourg Cabinet. Not bad for my first week. Moreover, the show was great, and went on to run for a further 12 days, managing to sell out every night! All the jubilation surrounding the Grand Theatre’s longevity was thus well and truly justified.

Ben Crystal, celebrated Shakespearean actor and author, also dropped by to give a lively speech about how best to access the great British playwright. The talk gave a flavour of his new book, Shakespeare on Toast, and was a delight to attend: ‘in order to get you to understand Shakespeare as he is meant to be understood, what I’d really like to do is decapitate you all…’ was certainly an intriguing opener! This strange desire was not purely violent for violence’s sake, but for educational purposes: on our shoulders, he would place the head of an Elizabethan spectator, through whose eyes we would be able to appreciate Shakespeare to his full extent. By the end of the talk, everyone – including the Ambassador and myself! – was persuaded to buy the orator’s book.

Finally, the overwhelmingly well-received film, Rafea:Solar Mama, was screened this week by the University of Luxembourg, the Dutch Embassy and the Zonta Club Luxembourg. I was invited to go along, and was immensely pleased to have the opportunity to see such an important documentary. You only have to visit its official page to see just how well-received the film has been: listed there are plenteous nominations and awards, including the 2012 Oxfam award for Global Justice. For the film does indeed promote global justice and human rights, and these were issues that formed the basis of a lively post-screening discussion, where many NGO representatives, Embassy workers, and even government ministers shared their experiences and ideas. It was a truly thought-provoking evening, and one that certainly reinforced everyone’s conviction that this issue needs to be addressed, and that the Barefoot College, to which Rafea goes to become a solar engineer, is an exemplary scheme. I would recommend the film to all.

***

Overall, my first couple of weeks here at the Embassy have been full, the people have been über-friendly (so nice to be made to feel so welcome!), and the work has been fascinating, and even fun! Needless to say, I’m grateful for the opportunity to see how the branches of Foreign Office cogs whir in Europe, and I’m very much looking forward to the challenges of the next few months.

Wëllkomm to Luxembourg

I jumped at the chance to take up an internship at the British Embassy in Luxembourg. What is not to love about living in the heart of Europe? Luxembourg is famously close to Belgium, France and Germany... But what about Luxembourg itself? The closer the dates of my internship approached, the more I realised how little I knew about Luxembourg and Luxembourgish culture, let alone exactly what role the British Embassy and British culture played in it. Hopefully this blog will help to answer some of these questions and give a flavour of life in Luxembourg and in an overseas diplomatic mission from the perspective of a 23 year old British intern.

I was excited to hear from Ambassador Walpole that the British Embassy here was extremely active and that there were lots of exciting local events that we would be part of as well as being involved with ministers coming over from the UK to take part in EU council meetings. However, when Alice mentioned that I would be surprised during my time here by the variety of things that Embassy did, I don't think I was even remotely prepared for what the first week had in store...

Aside from getting to know 'Team Luxembourg' this first week was a full on introduction to life as part of an Embassy. The first day was spent preparing for a unique and special event that would bring the British Embassy in touch with a wide spectrum of Luxembourgers. To celebrate the birth of Prince George of Cambridge, the Embassy had been in touch with the families of all babies born in Luxembourg on the same day to invite them to a tea party at the Residence. In total 17 of the 19 babies born on the 22nd of July were welcomed to the Residence with their families for an afternoon of photos, cakes and celebrations. The families all signed a card was subsequently sent to the young British Prince and each child was given a special commemorative Emma Bridgewater mug to mark the occasion- what could be more quintessentially British?

Beautiful Emma Bridgewater mugs

The event couldn't have been a better introduction into Luxembourg's famously multicultural society. Of the families present there were those of Portuguese, Swedish, Russian, French and Luxembourgish descent.

Ambassador Walpole with the babies!

Doing my first press round up the next day was exciting- it seemed as though lots of Luxembourgish press including the Wort, Le Quotidien, the Chronicle and ANGLOinfo had caught our 'baby fever' too!