I could not be more obsessed with politics...

Sina Stieding, representing Germany at the EU Parliament! #girlsgottadream

This past weekend I had the pleasure to be back in Brussels once again. Nine out of ten times I'm in Brussels I go for the best possible reason: to get my fix of politics! And truly, Brussels is to politics what Philadelphia or Rome is to history, and I just love to be surrounded by politics. I don't know too many languages, or a lot of maths but I know my politics, and I know exactly why. There is simply nothing else I could ever call my passion but this. Last saturday I visited the European Parliament. I'd been before and did not need to go. However, nowhere in the world do you find as many people to discuss your passion with as in Brussels, and so I go to network, talk to people who actually know what they're talking about and revive my desire to change this world in the only way possible.

I started out my politics degree as an enthusiast but by no means a connisseur. The only subject in school besides English I was ever the best at in my class was politics because I had always had a keen interest. I had no idea though I would turn out to be a fanatic. I was the kid in third year that went for pints with my lecturers after class because I had too many questions left. I didn't even have a shot to improve my grade through such behavior; I just actually couldn't stand the end of class. My friends in class were three lads that had Russian nicknames because we were obsessed with Soviet politics. We thought it'd be fun to call our study group "the Politburo" in memory of Mikhail Gorbachev. As if having a study group alone wouldn't make me sound like an insuffrable dweeb already. I am such a terrible, awful geek when it comes to politics, it is actually quite embarrassing.

I am a completely different person when it comes to politics. I would never describe myself as an ass kisser or know it all but in politics, I want to be all that. I want to kiss Vladimir Putin's ass so I can know all about him. There is no such thing as enough knowledge when it comes to politics. I have been unsuccessful in finding something I'm as obsessed with. Sure, I love food but I don't want to read about food all the time. And yeah, I love sports but I don't want to talk about sports with everyone all the time. I also love boys, but I'm quite happy not to know everything about them. Politics, however, have failed to disappoint me. There is always something I want to read, talk about or learn. And it ever stops because things change every day, and then there's more to read, talk about and learn.

Brussels in particular has become my favorite place to be because it fulfils all these aspirations. Granted, the chat is very eurocentric which a couple of years ago would have turned me off a bit but Brussels did not fail me and has turned my euro-frown upside down. Europe, what a great idea! Only a politics fan like me could assess if the European Union is really working or not and considering how freaking ridiculous the concept is I want to salute to whoever works on it. They sure couldn't have a harder job, those delegates. Without knowing how insanely complicated the processes within that institution are I consider it impossible to be a friend of the EU amidst headlines of regulations about cucumbers and rising figures of youth unemployment. I personally don't want to know where we would be if it wasn't for the EU though. I would certainly not be going to get my Belgian fries with Samurai sauce at 1 am on a Saturday night which are sold three minutes from my house... behind the border!

In conclusion I must say that politics have taught me everything I wanted to know from life. I could defintely be more knowledgible about maths, or music, or Renaissance art but I simplay have no interest in that. When God gave out interest he did not divide my portion up a whole lot and gave it all to politics. Fortunately, he also gave all my talent to it simultaneously. Writing, speaking to people, discussing and persuading people are definitely my biggest talents and they happen to be what will hopefully make me a respected scholar, politician or citizen. Whatever I'm going to do in life, I cannot see this obsession fade as it gets regularly reignited when I come within a mile of any government building. I simply can't think of anything better than politics. And although I'm earning zero money with the two beatiful degrees I have I don't regret a single day of my education.