Comments on: Things that work in Belgium

By: Crooked Timber » » Engerland, Engerland

Crooked Timber » » Engerland, Engerland — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:54:47 +0000

[...] A recent British expat writes today about life in Belgium; a familiar topic here at CT. But what strikes me is this sentence; “It’s my first proper visit to the “UK” (as expatriates and no-one else calls it) since I moved to Brussels”. Admitedly, ‘The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ is inconcise. The writer evidently calls it ‘Britain’ – something I hardly ever heard, despite living there for three years. I had a non-expat British friend visiting this week, and she only ever called it ‘the UK’. ‘Britain’ sounds like something the Queen would say. It sounds mustily heroic. As in ‘Battle of’. ‘The UK’ is much more now, much more New Labour, totally Third Way. And not as cringingly embarrassing as Cool Brittannia. [...]

By: Richard (no relation)

Richard (no relation) — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 02:50:29 +0000

re: 32 above – I respectfully disagree. In my experience living abroad was only a “one-package-deal” for the first 4 years or so, until I managed to get my filters in place. I now live in a sympathetic little corner of my foreign land, where I indulge in some familiar comforts and avoid unfamiliar jolts, and have a circle of friends who are unlikely to remind me of majority opinions, all without hiding away in an expat enclave.

I used to feel twinges of guilt about all of this, that I wasn’t entering into the real spirit of travelling or sojourning or whatever, not being open to new influences, until I realised that it was exactly how the locals lived.

PS: it’s amazing how far a good supermarket can compensate for being uprooted from your cultural values.

By: Uncle Kvetch

Uncle Kvetch — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 16:38:30 +0000

Belge (pronounced as Belgche – recall the Dutch “G”) jokes played the same role as Polish jokes used to in the states.

The same applies in France.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 14:37:58 +0000

I noticed that a lot of safety-of-life signage in Belgium is in English, and my Flemish friend told me that was not an accident: it is the easiest way to make sure that everyone in mixed Flemish/Walloon areas can read those signs.

Better that than the pictograms that are used for many warning signs in the United States. For instance, my lawn mower has a yellow and black warning sticker with a drawing of fingers being severed by a blade. The warning stickers on hot water heaters (“geysers” to the British) show the skin on a forearm turning red and blistered from the scalding water.

By: Isabel

Isabel — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 12:35:04 +0000

The best thing of living abroad: when you get pissed off, you can always say “I’ll leave this rotten place and go back home anytime I want!”. So… never go back home, you won’t have anywhere else to go!

By: John Emerson

John Emerson — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 11:12:56 +0000

Belgium does not exist

By: richard

richard — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 09:26:04 +0000

The thing with living abroad is: It’s a “one-package-deal”. You cannot choose. You cannot say: This is good, but that is wrong. Back home this is better or that is worse. It doesn’t work like that.

Either take the whole package and live with it, or go somewhere else.

No arguments, no dealing & weeling, no discount, no upgrades.

By: marcel

marcel — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 02:48:31 +0000

I lived in A’dam for several months in my teens, attending a Dutch school. Belge (pronounced as Belgche – recall the Dutch “G”) jokes played the same role as Polish jokes used to in the states. The one I remember (unfortunately, it’s both a visual and a sound-effect joke, not so good in this medium, but read it out loud):

Q: Why do Belgian cars have the windshield wipers on the inside?

A: Because the Belges all drive like this: (with tongue sticking out touching both lips, do a raspberry).

By: ingrid robeyns

ingrid robeyns — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 20:58:11 +0000

Oh, this is my favourite sport, complaining about Belgium—and about other countries too…
I lived 23 years in Belgium, 2 in Germany, 4 in England, 6 months in the US (NYC) and 4 in the Netherlands (where I seem to be stuck). So here’s my go at it:

Best things about Belgium: Health care system, child care system, primary and secondary education, people knowing their languages.
Worst things about Belgium: Vlaams Blok/Belang, widespread hypocrisy, too much hierarchy, tax evasion as a national sport, too many professors who are mediocre and have never left their university but still believe they are the best in Europe. General denial of what happened in the Congo. And too many Belgians who do not realise at what extreme high levels of material affluence they are living.

Best things about Germany: Die Zeit, Berlin.

Worst things about Germany: almost impossible for non-natives to write German without mistakes, not many people with a great sense of humor.

Best things about England: many friendly people, some of the best European universities, the BBC, Indian curries.

Worst thing about England: railway system, quality of housing, average cost of living, poverty- and inequality levels.

Best things about the Netherlands: extremely bicycle friendly (yes, even considerably better than Belgium!), less hierarchy in organisations, genuine equality for gays in large parts of society.

Worst things about the Netherlands: too many rude people, too many overconfident people, strong mother ideology.

Surely I forgot half of what I normally list when I play this sport…

By: Isabel

Isabel — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 20:03:35 +0000

Since this thread seems to be still alive, and Belgium is such a fascinating surreal country, I’ll add my two cents to comments (11) and (13):

Samchevre sees the Belgians as Germans sin hueso (an apt comparison), but I think he is ignoring their equally strong latin side, that shows in what Scott calls corruption and I would call nepotism (a very latin feature, of course). I guess that it is because they all are more or less “zinnekes” that I feel so comfortable here, Portuguese being also the less latins of the latins. (I do NOT feel comfortable with the Belgian bureaucracy, of course, but I have the same feelings about the Portuguese one, to say the least).

By: Bro. Bartleby

Bro. Bartleby — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 18:55:58 +0000

27. Perhaps they didn’t react because they forgot to bring their cowbell.

By: teppof

teppof — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 18:42:34 +0000

“And then there’s the schizophrenic Belgian tendency to ignore people in distress in public places (ask any ex-pat whose been knocked off their bike, attacked, mugged, or just fallen over in the street) yet go on enormous public protests following murders.”

My father has been mugged in Brussels several times, each time with people around – apparently no one really reacted despite the fact that some were well aware of what was happening – very odd!

By: Tim McG

Tim McG — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 18:08:41 +0000

So does Tom Boonen lose manly-Belgian-man cred for riding an effete, flimsy, French bicycle?

By: JP

JP — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 18:05:25 +0000

Great timing on this post, what with the Henin-Hardenne vs. Clijsters semifinal at Wimbledon today. I understand that the two don’t get along.

By: Bro. Bartleby

Bro. Bartleby — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 18:03:26 +0000

I must add that Belgiums are very good at ringing cowbells. Several years ago a tourist van passing through the Mojave Desert got lost and found themselves at the monastery, and with a language gap, they were having trouble communicating their plight, where upon one of the Belgium gents in what I believe was a yellow cycling outfit, producted a cowbell, and with that he sought to communicate his message, ringing the bell as Harpo Marx would honk his horn, and in the end we discovered they were out of gas and left most of their money behind in Las Vegas.