Very few people have the confidence to say they can change the world.
Over history and time some such leaders have been plucked from obscurity and happened to be the right person at the right time, in the right place who was then pushed towards the limelight.
President Barack  Obama for example may just be the greatest proliferator of what Nikos Kazantzakis was once trying to say in his literary works, “You have to say I will change the world, and if the world doesn’t change you have to say “it’s my fault the world didn’t change.”
I’ve been wondering what the new MEP’s will feel like that flock to Strasborug this week and then come to Brussels the following week.
At a European Greens Party get together last week with some of the new faces I started realising what a jump it must really be, how Brussels can be in it’s own bubble and how much time it would take for someone who will make up the system, to become a part of the system. A month, a year? More?
Speaking with two new and two old MEP’s in the last week the contrast was vast (but off the record i'm afraid!) one source did reveal taking up to a year to acclimatise to the difference that is - Brussels.
In 2004 the BBC collated a fine list of advisory tips written by five returning MEPs for the new Members about to hit Brussels, (not unlike a a tourist guide)? and I take this opportunity to reuse Elmar Brok's advice for fledgling MEPs in hope of being of some assistance to them:
1. The very first thing you should do when you arrive in the European Parliament is sign the attendance register ;-). [Note: this is necessary in order to receive the allowance for attending sessions.]
2. Don’t miss out on the lovely 12th-floor restaurant of the Paul-Henri Spaak building [one of the parliament buildings in Brussels], which very few people seem to know about - until now that is!
3. A “canteen”, in the parlance of the European parliament, is not the cafeteria, but the metal box that is shifted to Strasbourg once a month, with all our documents for the week-long plenary session.
4. The Grande Place in Brussels... on a warm summer’s evening there’s nothing nicer.
5. You actually never have to leave the European Parliament building - each office has its own bathroom, there’s a hairdresser, three banks, a post office, a tourist office, a shop, three restaurants, a sandwich bar and a gym (although I’ve never actually seen the latter...)
6. You’ll have to learn to use the chauffeur service, rather than going for “a nice relaxing stroll”. Brussels’ cobbled streets are not very well maintained, and there are lots of dogs who don’t seem capable of making it to the park....need I say more?!
We at New Europe may add don’t’ forget to vote in session – these things count! Reform, democracy and the European Vision is our motto and then of course, last but not least remember your umbrella!! (Yes, even in August and September). Enjoy your first well paid summer holidays.

Follow Alia Papageorgiou on twitter @Eurocentrique