Janice Thomson is a European Union public policy and civic participation expert and a former resident of Belgium. Before participating in a panel on the speed of democracy around the world, she answered questions in the Zócalo green room about beer, buyer’s remorse, and the best decision she ever made.
Q. What’s your favorite Belgian beer?
A. Chimay.
Q. How do you relax?
A. I meditate.
Q. Who was your childhood hero?
A. Madeleine, of the Madeleine books.
Q. What pre-euro European currency do you miss most?
A. It’s awful to say but the drachma.
Q. What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
A. To take a year and just travel right after college. I went all over Europe on my own with a backpack and some money and that’s it. No plans.
Q. What’s the last purchase that gave you buyer’s remorse?
A. I don’t get buyer’s remorse very much because I just return stuff.
Q. What’s your hidden talent?
A. I never forget a face.
Q. If you could be anyone in history, who would you choose to be?
A. Eleanor Roosevelt.
Q. What’s on your nightstand right now?
A. My journal.
Q. Did you have any pets as a kid?
A. I had a dog when I was five who went crazy and was put to sleep, and I had a cat when I was 10 who ate a bad bird and was put to sleep. They didn’t last very long.
*Photo by Andolina Photography.