If you are like me, you knew nothing about Belgium until I mentioned we were moving over here. It is a common joke over here that no one outside of Belgium even knows it is a country. It took me living over here to really understand some things about this country and its people. Since most of you aren't planning on moving over here anytime soon, I thought I would give you a rundown of what I have learned so you can save yourself some time, and feel more worldy all at once!
Belgium is about the size of Maryland. It is divided into the northern region of Flanders and the people there speak Flemish. The southern half is Wallonia and the people there speak French. The people from Flanders and Wallonia hate each other. I thought this was a friendly little rivalry like two colleges have. Man, was I wrong! They both hate each other so much, that they actually know the others language, but refuse to 'belittle' themselves to speak it. They compromise by speaking English, which is why it is such a prevalent language over here.
Brussels is actually in the Flemish region, but the majority of speakers here are French. This is why it almost seems necessary for us to learn both French and Flemish, because whenever we go outside of the city, we are in Flemish country. However, because there are more French speakers in the world than Flemish speakers, the Flemish are actually much better English speakers. Also, there language is very similar to English, so we do not have too difficult of a time discphering things.
Below are two good websites of maps and facts on Belgium.
http://www.trabel.com/belgie-imap.htm
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/be.html
Belgian people are not very friendly. Their thought is, "If I don't know you, then why should I say 'hi' to you?" Therefore, my southern tendancies of greeting everyone are really weird to them. With living in a big city where people walk alot, you are bumped into often. I guess because they would end up having to say it all day, they have decide to just not, but they rarely say "Excuse me or Pardon" when they bump into you. Trust me, you definitely feel like they are rude, until you realize that it is just their way.
In going along with their introverted tendancies, the majority of the people in the country just strive to be middle class. This means, that even if they have alot of money, they only want to look like they are middle class. People rarely wear showy things or try to draw attention to themselves. Apparently, our across the street neighbor has a beautifully decorated apartment with lots of antiques. However, you could never tell it from the outside. The bricks are dirty and the front door looks just horrible. He will never change it because, "Then that would attract attention to me and people might know that I have nice stuff inside!"
I have an American friend who has lived over here for 12 years, and has been married to a Belgian man for 10 years. She has helped to enlighten me on their culture. Throughout history Belgium has been belonged to many different countries and been occupied by a variety of people. She believes that basically over time, one caught on quickly that if you kept your head down, didn't say alot, and kept to yourself, then you survived. If you were loud and called attention to yourself, then trouble would come to you from whoever was occupying the country at the time. This is why everyone wants to just look very middle class and keep to themselves.
Odds and Ends
(My random thoughts on Europeans and Belgians)
Europeans as a whole hate how loud Americans are. I have found it very difficult to learn to lower my voice. At times, I honestly feel like I am whispering, but to them, it is just a normal volume.
Belgians hate to give change, but not as much as people in France do. One friend told us about how when he lived in Paris, he would stress himself out to always have lots of change so that store owners wouldn't get mad at him. One time the total was 13.35 and he gave them 13.50 and yet, they still said, "Do you not have the .35?"
Kyle noticed the other day that there is a sign on the Coke machine at his office that says, "Please use correct change." Even machines want correct change over here!!!
Of all people, bus drivers really want exact change. They would never accept at $20, let alone a $10 bill for a bus ride. Another friend realized that he didn't have any small bills when he was waiting for a bus. But then he realized that he was in front of a bank. He went in and requested that they give him change for the $20 and they said with a straight face, "I'm sorry, we don't have change." They are a bank!!!!
I am so curious to see what an economics class over here is like. Things that seems so obvious to Americans are definitely not obvious to business people over here! For example, I went to an open air market the other day. It was 12:10pm, a very common time for lunch in most places. There was a stand with someone making Pad Thai on one side and some stirfry on the other with three people working. That was it, that was all they were making and yet, I waited 13 minutes and the line of 4 people in front of me never moved once. The Pad Thai cook ran out of one ingredient, so she had to look in a cooler for some more. Then she opened the package and tasted it. Then she explained to the first man in line what it was. Then she started cooking and telling a few jokes with the man. The third woman decided that hey, it was 12:10 and she was hungry, so it was time for her lunch break, so she sat down and ate!!! The concept of preparing things ahead of time so you can be ready for the rush is unheard of over here. During this 13 minutes I saw 4 people leave the line to go elsewhere (myself included), but I don't think it ever connects in the owners mind that "Hey, if I make it faster, I can serve more people."
The idea of supply and demand is so foreign over here that you encounter some lack of (obvious) economics principles almost every single day. The grocery store I normally go to is out of croissants by almost 9-10am every moring. I have often gone in there wanting to buy a croissant, but they are often sold out. As Kyle says, they must think, "Oh, it will be better to fully sell out, than to make more and have to throw a few away, (but make extra money on the additional ones we make.)"
Well, that is all I have for now. I hope you feel enlightened!
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