The ETEN organisation has a secretary. Her name is Annette Bruun (AB) and you might have met her in different roles. I (Mats Olsson, MO) met her during the September meeting in Copenhagen and this is a transcription from a conversation we had waiting for the members to arrive Wednesday afternoon.

MO: Tell me something about yourself!

AB: I am from Copenhagen and I am living in a suburb named Søborg, like half an hour bike from here. I am married and have three grown up children and six wonderful grandchildren. I am very fond of outdoor activities. I like to hike, I like to sail, I like to swim in winter, I do kayaking.

But I am also interested in art, and love to go to art exhibitions and theatre. My background is double – I am a drama teacher and I have studied Culture-sociology and literature. That is what I teach. I have always been very fond of travelling and meeting people.

MO: How did you get involved in ETEN?

AB: I was at a small university college outside of Copenhagen (this was before we merged) and they were already ETEN members. They asked me if I wanted to be the international coordinator, and I got the job! I knew nothing about ETEN, my first meeting was in Leiden 2006. I did not really know what an ECO was…
MO: We might learn something about how to take care of new members from your story!

AB: Somebody came and asked me “why are you not attending that ECO/TIG meeting?” I was like thrown into something I did not know much about. But I really liked the atmosphere. I think my first TIG was Myth and fairytale or maybe the Art TIG. It was inspiring and I learned a lot! I was easily addicted!

MO: The poison worked well!

AB: My former leader Carl-Jørgen has been the chair of ETEN and he was very supportive. After a few years I was running for the board and I was elected 2012 in Coimbra. And then I became the chair after a year or two. I worked together with Maria Svensson from Gothenburg, a great team. We were the first women in that position in ETEN. I stopped after six years – it was a good time.
At the same time I worked as the international coordinator, I was sending students abroad and worked hard with International projects and Internationalisation At Home. We had a lot of students coming in, and I started working with COIL – Collaborative On-line International Learning and the Erasmus UCOILD -project. That is why I have been looking forward to the Multiplier Event at KP this week and to keep on following the COIL projects. I really like international work,  because we do things in different ways. Internationalisation is about getting a little disturbed in the intercultural encounter, and asking yourself: “Why am I doing things this way?”.
International coordinating is about a third of my working time. I also do a lot of North Plus projects, we have just been to Tromsø. Sometimes i say to myself “maybe I should not get involved in all these projects”

MO: Do you have a problem setting up limits?

AB: Depends on what people ask me… But yes, I have a weakness for internationalisation.

MO: Now you are in a new role as secretary?

AB: I still have a couple of years until retirement. In the beginning I was a little bit worried – will it be too much – but I feel very much at home in ETEN, I know the organisation and I understand how it works. I have an advantage because people know me! It also gives me a chance when I retire to have a connection to something I love. I am a bit stressed right now having the ETEN meeting at KP, but I have great colleagues helping me out.

MO: We have a saying in Sweden “If you want something to be done – ask a busy person”.

AB: I am not a person who gets easily stressed – I am too old! And it is a great advantage having the chair Mikkel close to me, we can work together.

Categories: Portraits, The history of ETEN