How is it in Belgium?

(A second attempt of writing this one down before losing the whole first version. Let’s go!)

“We’re far from home, it’s for the better. All we dream, it’s all that matters”

The decision of coming to Belgium to live was not so hard as some people might think. The country didn’t say a lot to me at first but after some months sharing my daily routine with Belgian friends, it was easy to understand I would adapt quite good. Also, life keeps on passing and there are dreams we should fulfill. Building a family of my own, and that doesn’t mean necessarily to have kids, which by the way I want to, is one of mine. Being independent in all the senses of the word and being a little bit happy. I guess we can all relate a bit. For pursuing that happiness, destiny leads me here. And I chose to be here, which by the end of the day is the most important.

Belgium and Portugal are two European countries, that belong to the European Union, and even though not so far from each other, are different. The culture, the people, the values, the food, the traffic, the houses (…) It’s been already 5 months I am living in Belgium and I still can feel the cultural shock in many aspects, actually more than Finland. I know it is funny, but it is a fact.

“How is it in Belgium”? Everyone asks.

I have been telling and writing that Belgium is more than french fries, beer, and chocolate. However, I didn’t really have the chance of saying why. So, for some of you who might be interested in reading on my approach of how different the countries are here are a few topics I find interesting to share.

Houses

The houses in Belgium, the ones I had the chance to visit, are really beautiful. They are modern mixed a little bit with an old style. They have big windows for the light to open and it is likely that the families adapted the free air balconies into closed ones as extra areas. Also, something really interesting about Belgian houses is the fact that most of them have a sink and a shower in one of the sides you can enter the house. In West-Flanders, where I live, most of the houses have it. Due to being an agricultural area, maybe families built it to avoid taking the dirt inside the house. Like that, you can immediately take a shower and wash the dirtiness away.

Buying in big quantities and having more than one fridge

There are some supermarkets in Belgium that are different from Portugal. They are similar to warehouses where you can buy in big quantities. For Portugal, I would describe these supermarkets as Makro ones. They are big and with the purpose also to buy big. Belgian families buy in big quantity. If they need to have toothpaste or food, they buy already in huge quantities and they keep it in the house in extra basements they also have to conserve and store the food. As a result, one fridge is not enough. Families can have up until three fridges in a house: one in the kitchen, usually the smallest one and the other in another compartment of the house.

Drinks, beer and apero time

As a country with more than 1600 beers registered, Belgian people don’t disappoint when it comes to consuming it. All the families love to offer you drinks once you visit their places and saying a no might be taken as an offense. Even if you don’t like or drink beer/alcohol they want you to drink something: water at least. They are very welcoming and thoughtful when it comes to receiving people. Before meals, Belgian people have aperitif time. They either drink Martini, Ricard, a beer or something else. But one thing is for certain, they have to drink something. It is a big part of their culture.

Among the delicious beers they have in the country, Jupiler, Duvel, Omer or Leffe, I am in my paradise. I love beer so, even though I miss Super Bock, my favorite Portuguese beer, I can’t complain.

The traffic

In my opinion, Portugal is absolutely mad when it comes to roads, traffic, and people driving. It can really be insane. In Belgium, they are more organized, they follow better the rules and they are calmer. (Of course, there are mad people, as well).

There are plenty of bikers in Belgium, West-Flanders, in this case. That is my main complaint and concern also, as a driver. People are a little bit reckless while driving bikes. They should be more aware of the cars and at least, give them space to drive. In here, bikers can be in the middle of the road, going 20km/h and blocking the car to pass. As a driver, you have your life and you can go up to 50km/h. So, who wants to wait for them to get out of the way?

Peace out to all the drivers, bikers and Belgian people who read this. We all are bikers, sometimes but please don’t do to others what you don’t like to receive.

Food: the ‘frietjes’

Fries everywhere and if I wasn’t happy enough with the beer, which I am, I would be with the fries. I love fries and I came to the country of it, even though people think it comes from France. The truth is that ‘French fries’ are from Belgium! In each corner, you have places that sell ‘frietjes’ as it is called in the Dutch language. They also offer some meatballs, frikandels, croquettes and so on. Make sure to try all of those once you visit the country.

One country or many?

Belgium is divided into regions and it is known by the different communities. In the country, you speak French, Dutch and German as official languages. In the region I live, people speak Dutch. For each region of Belgium, there is a different government which makes the country to have 7 governments. Politics are hard to understand and many people are in power. They also have a king, by the way. I am not even going to try to explain the country politics but something I can tell you, it is insane and it all comes from the past history and from Belgium to be a so strategical land of Europe.

There are indeed many things that I could talk about that are different from my country. I have been listing it and I plan to keep on sharing it with you. This is just the start. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Note: This is an interpretation of my own meaning about Belgium. All of that is thought regarding my personal background and roots. I don’t mean to insult or provoke anyone.