A TANksgiving dinner among dinosaurs

This time I would like to write something not as President of TAN but trying to be an outside observer.

Last night I attended the dinner offered by TAN to celebrate Thanksgiving in advance. A real TANksgiving.

What did I see as an “outside” participant and observer?

I saw so many people spending a pleasant and relaxed evening in an exceptional venue: the Brussels Museum of Natural Sciences. I saw dinosaurs and very young girls and boys (Gilman scholars whom TAN had the great pleasure of hosting) who together with the community of TAN Alumni and Fulbright friends created a varied, cosmopolitan, multicultural environment.

Moving from one group to another, I listened to interesting conversations: there was talk of the US Mid Term elections but also of the results of the Union Saint-Gilloise.

There were those who told of their own IVLP experience of many years ago and of those who said they had done it only a few months ago. All united by the same conviction that transatlantic relations are not just an idea: they are real and are based on dialogue, on the meeting of different and sometimes divergent ideas but always expressed in a frank, open, honest, friendly way.

It was nice to see all of this.

And now that I put my TAN President's hat back on, I can, I must, I want to thank all of the TAN Board and Alumni for their continued commitment to maintaining the transatlantic dialogue with enthusiasm.

The pandemic united us at a time when we couldn't do it physically. And it made us understand that we can't do it alone. Together we can do a lot and achieve many results.

And definitely, dining among the dinosaurs is one of them.

It doesn't happen every day.

I’m so proud of what TAN is achieving and how it is growing solidly and joyfully.

Thank you all

Antonio Amendola