Blog = a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts

Hmmmm...I seem to not be getting this concept of blog. It has been a week of intense learning and I have summarized nothing. This is my attempt to capture a few select highlights now, and I recommit to more frequent updates going forward.

LAND OF LEGOS DAY ONE
I write today from the 2nd European city stint, Copenhagen. We had a light dinner of cheese and wine at a German Marshall Memorial Alum's home, Mads Carstensen. He's a lawyer for the Red Cross working on illegal immigration issues. Just 5% of the population in Denmark is non-Dane. Amazing. They have 5.4M people and if you ask them a question about how many are illegal or on drugs or unemployed, they cite a specific number. Conversation swirled around work place issues for the most part. Mads and his wife Mie recently had a baby so we talked about their generous welfare state and maternal/paternal leave which includes 8 weeks off before the baby for the mother and up to a year off after the baby depending on the circumstances, 6 months minimum. They joked that between their short work week of 37 hours, a ton of vacation and holidays, medical leave, sometimes employers don't recognize their employees. Despite this, Denmark is the European country with the strongest economy. More about Denmark in the ensuing days. I promise. Now I must go meet the Queen.

NATO LAND IN BRUSSELS
We had incredible access to VIPs at NATO and the learning were rich. Afghanistan and pending Kosovo succession from Serbia were the focus, including why both are of strategic importance to NATO and the European Union. The North Atlantic Treat Organization today looks very different from its original intent, a much broader "pod" of the international community. When asked if NATO could potentially step up involvement in Iraq, the response was basically, "you broke it, you fix it." The priority is Afghanistan and the comment was that stability there will be more difficult to achieve than Iraq. Later, a senior operations officer, a Brit, choked up during introductory statements ... "NATO needs America to operate ... leadership is key ... only as strong as weakest link and it's no good kicking the weak link down further ... have to bring them along with you." He's a strong Atlanticist and he is clearly disappointed in the current administration.

EUROCHILD MEETING
I met individually two women from this NGO that represents children's issues in multiple nations in Europe and beyond with a focus on European Union states as they are funded by the European Commission. We talked quite a bit about America's unique philanthropic sector and foundation investments and the true lack of giving in European culture and lack of tax incentives. We also talked quite a bit about the Roma population (known to us as "gypsies" and the tremendous discrimination. I wanted to get their take on the reasons why before heading to the Eastern European countries of Romania and Slovakia where the majority of children in institutions are Roma. More on this later, I'm certain.

Dinner at Sinne Conan's place

Another fellow and I were invited to dinner last night at Sinne's house. She's Danish and working in Brussels. Since I was leaving for Copenhagen in the morning, when this picture was taken she had just remarked how tall I was and that I would be comfortable in Denmark where the people are typically quite tall (herself not included)! We also got to spend time with her 8 year old son, Louie, who was fun to speak French with -- when he wasn't reading Donald Duck. Louie had just returned from a ski vacation in the Alps with his father who lives in Paris. Their au pair joined us for champagne and a lovely dinner, complete with Neuhaus (Belgian) chocolates and a cheese plate, French style. I especially enjoyed the goat cheese pairing with pecans drizzled in honey. (It's true, I am not suffering one bit.)

Sinne is an executive with Dansk Industri, an organization that represents trans-national businesses (sort of like our Chambers of Commerce). Like most Danish women, she is a feminist and quite progressive. We talked a lot about the elections and Hillary appears to have her vote. Everyone I have met in Europe is really counting on the change in admistration to improve the transatlantic relations. They don't seem to mind a whole lot which of the 3 get in; they simply want change.

Turns out Sinne has a foster sister! She told me right away that her mother and father raised a woman for 10 years in their home. She was happy to share that her sister is doing well today -- is married and has a child of her own. She also seemed to be impressed with the Jim Casey-UPS connection. There aren't many foundations in Europe nor do most companies invest directly in communities through NGOs. Denmark is leading the way in Europe, however, in a model called "flexicurity" which builds on the welfare state but adds flexibility for employers while increasing security for the unemployed to regain work.