One Wild and Precious Life as an EU Trainee: International AfterWork

International AfterWork @ Mezzo Bar

As a EU Trainee you become fairly acquaint with the Brussels party scene. One of these party scenes is International AfterWork at Mezzo bar. 

It's held every Wednesday evening. And it's awesome! Every week there is a theme such as Italian night, Greek night, Romanian night, Russian night.. All international people are very welcome. 

People are encouraged to go to other people. So if you are coming alone, do not worry, you won't be alone for long. There is always an international person you can start talking to and discuss life, travels and general life in Brussels. 

To me Wednesday is one of the best days in the week. Plus, it's super good cause it's in the city centre. As a EU trainee I am usually hanging out in the Schuman area, and International AfterWork gives me an excuse to make a trip to the city centre. :) It feels nice to get out of the EU bubble for a night and talk about non EU related stuff. 

There is the usual crowd, and then there are the newcomers. Which makes the Wednesday night predictable and unpredictable at the same time. Which is good! It keeps the anticipation alive!

Oh, forgot to mention the best part! There is happy hour that lasts for 4 hours (6pm-10pm)! :) And the beer is  very cheap too! :) 

I have met really good people, and I developed great friendships at the International AfterWork. 

So, if you are a trainee, or you work in Brussels, or you are just visiting, I would highly advise you to come to the International AfterWork. It's always crowded, there is always good music, and I bet you can always find a particularly entertaining company! And ofcourse, networking!

Readathon: Hour 24

End of Event Survey

Which hour was most daunting for you?

Hour 18. I crashed. Went for a power nap (which thank god managed to stay a nap and not me sleeping till tomorrow!) for 3,5 hours and I feel human again. It was a good decision. I looked like a zombie in the hour 18.  

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

I insist contemporary romance books are the best way to go. This time I decided to do a little change and read Fantasy because I wanted to startSrah J. Maas books in a while and readathon sounded like a good excuse to finally do it. But it's definitely slower place of reading. Took me 16 hours to finish the first book and it was 416 pages. I think I will stick with contemporary romance (again) next time!

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next season?

As I state every year (twice) this event is made of awesome. Keep the good work readathon people! The only thing that I skipped this time were the challenges. I haven't done any at all. The titles didn't seem intriguing. 

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

The twitter feed was bat shit crazy good!

How many books did you read?

1 book + 

What were the names of the books you read?

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (416 pages)

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (about 75 pages)

Total of: 491 freaking pages! 

Which book did you enjoy most?

The one that I actually managed to finish :D

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

Readathon events are made of awesomeness. I love participating in this event! It's a blast everytime!

See you again in April 2017 lovely people!

Readathon: Hour 12 - Coffee is my best friend

Official Read-a-Thon page

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - more than half way through :)
2. How many books have you read so far?

300 pages into the first book!
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas - apparently the second book is pure awesomeness!
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Apart from getting home 10 minutes after the start ... not much! Switched my phone to silent mode and it's amazing how noone can bother you.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
That my reading is going so slow! I knew that I should have gone with contemporary romance instead of fantasy but I really wanted a little change this time aroud! And twitter! It's an awesome event and enjoying every moment of it!

Hope you're having an amazing read-a-thon! Don't fall asleep! Make yourself a coffee and most of all, happy reading! And thank you cheerleaders for cheering! This means so much! :)

Readathon: Hour 1

Readathon official page

#Readathon is here! :) :) I am so super excited about it! It's gonna be an awesome experience, I can feel it! :)

What is my goal? To read and have fun on Twitter and discussing awesome books!! :D

To read list:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (416 pages)

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (640 pages)

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

This time around I am reading from Brussels, Belgium! Hehe, everytime it seems I'm reading somewhere else in Europe.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

For the second book, A Court of Mist and Fury! Heard sooo many great things about it!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Pasta, probably. And coffee :)

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I moved to Brussels 3 weeks ago and I started my internship at the European Commission. So far so good and I really like in here. Finally a grown up job that I studied for! I'm really happy :) I love to read Adult and New adult books. I like Romance. Dystopia, contemporary, historical.. it has to have some romance in it and I am a happy girl!

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I've learnt that reading contemporary romance books is the best for this kind of events - it goes faster. But this time I will try fantasy cause I've been meaning to start this series for forever - so it's time! And I'll try to check more blogs and meet new awesome bloggers :)

You can find me on Twitter here: @neabarabea

Happy readathon to all of you amazing people :) Good luck! Lets have a good adventure together!

One Wild and Precious Life as an EU Trainee: Let the Adventure Begin!

EU Trainees October 2016

It hit me all at once when we were driving through France that I can finally take a deep breath. And I am free. I am free. 

When we were nearing Brussels I saw from the window of the bus this huge rainbow. We literally went beneath it. And I thought to myself "This is a really good sign".

I'm ready to start over again. Brussels here I come! Let the adventure begin! 

In the first week I have meet SO MANY people. Guys I am not kidding you, so many people. I think of myself as a person who remember all names, but woah, not this time. There were just too many. Everything was very overwhelming. New city, new house, new flatmates, new job, new colleagues, new people, new potential friends to meet. 

Overwhelming or not, though, OMG this place is the best thing ever!

My job is awesome. I really like the tasks that I've been given. And I love my supervisor and the 2 ladies of the team. My girls, I really enjoy working with them. It's dynamic and challenging. I love my job.

For the first time after a long while it seems my education is finally paying off. Thank you Edinburgh University. Thank you Universe. I am the happiest girl on the planet.

Being a Blue Book Trainee at the EU Commission is the best thing that ever happened to me.

There are no words to describe how happy and proud I was the moment I received the EU badge. I felt so badass. All that blood, and sweat, and tears, and hardwork were fucking worth it. It was all worth it. 

All that excitement for the future. 

Bring it on.