It’s the
little things, and some big things, that are so different here in Belgium.
Commuting & Driving
Many of the
roads are very narrow here in Belgium so driving is an activity that requires
extreme concentration and is generally a very cautious and calm affair. The
road signs are plentiful and everywhere as are the markings on the road. Whilst
driving you need to be very alert for road signs and the interpretation
thereof. If there are no road signs or markings to the contrary, traffic
(including bicycles) have right of way when turning into the road from the
right. This sounds crazy but it works because it slows traffic down and makes
drivers pay attention.
Bicycles
tend to have complete right of way and if pedestrians are in the way they ring
those bells! Pedestrians are supposed to, and do, get out of the way.
Busses have
absolute right of way over cars. If a bus wants to pull out into traffic, cars
are obliged to allow them in. Even though they have right of way, they still
pull in carefully. It all works very calmly.
Trams have
right of way above everything on the roads. This makes sense because 5 tons of
metal (empty) isn’t easy to stop even at slow speeds.
The trains
work well here and for getting from one city to another are ideal. They’re
direct, don’t have to deal with traffic lights and such. On weekends all train
tickets for Belgium internal are half price. A very good arrangement for
weekend exploring!
Getting
around by bicycle is great. A lot of distance can be covered and there are all
kinds of accessories and attachments, big and small, for bicycles from lights
to trailers.
Petrol
attendants are non-existent in Belgium. It’s all help-your-self when it comes
to pouring petrol and such things here.
Something
that I’m still not used to here is crossing the road. Its going to take a long
time to stop looking for oncoming cars in lanes I think they should be in. In
South Africa I’d always start by looking right for the closer oncoming cars,
then left and right again. I keep looking right first and think ‘its clear’
when I should be looking left first because then I’d see the oncoming cars.
Stopping for Coffee
The
etiquette for having a coffee or even eating in a Belgian restaurant is
completely different. The waiter or waitress won’t clear the table of used
crockery or cutlery unless asked to do so and won’t offer to refill empty
glasses. It’s considered rude to do so because you’d be hurrying the customer
along. Here they only give re-fills if you ask for something more and forget
having them offer you the bill! You have to ask for it or they’ll leave you
there all day, again because it’d be rude for them to rush you out of the restaurant.
There’s a
cute little custom they have here too which becomes a whole little sing &
dance routine all of it’s own. When you give something to someone here its
polite to say Alsjeblieft as in
“please”. Its considered rude to simply shove something at a person and expect
them to take it. You’re effectively asking them to take it so even if you’re
paying for an item at a till point (a kasa)
you’d give them the item with an Alsjeblieft
and they’d give it back to you with an Alsjeblieft
and you’d give them the money with an Alsjeblieft
and, well, its all quite Alsjeblieft
cute. During all this Alsjeblieft
business there’s also the Dank u well
as in “thank you” which is said almost as much as the Alsjeblieft!
Standard
items that come with coffee here are the little container of concentrated milk,
sugar and a biscuit.
If you need
something to fill the gap, a little meal, don’t look for a McDonalds! Belgians
have more self-respect than to eat that stuff! I’ve only seen a few and only in
the bigger cities. Here in Belgium most of the coffee shops and some of the
bars will serve a “Soup of the day” which is perfectly safe to eat unlike South
Africa. The soup of the day usually comes with a few slices of bread and is an
inexpensive, filling, warm meal dependent on the type of soup. They sometimes
serve cold soups like cucumber soup.
Wee-wee Holes
Need a
toilet? The average price is 0.50 Euro at a public toilet. If you stop for
coffee, go there. The one thing that I like about bathrooms here is that more
of them have paper towels than those hand dryer things! I prefer paper towels
far more. It astounds me at how open the urinals are in most of the public use
bathrooms especially at restaurants. In South Africa we tend to really hide the
urinals away from lady passers-by. Here they’re not really hidden away! It’s
not that you could see anything though its simply that I’m not accustomed to being
seen while I wee.
Sometimes I
really feel like a white African when I can’t figure out how to turn the tap on
to wash my hands afterwards.
In the Kitchen
As can be
expected, the products are different. There are certain things that Belgians
just don’t eat like chilli sauce. I’ve seen a sweet chilli sauce but nothing as
powerful as a Banditos chilli sauce or even Tabasco. China town has chilli
sauces and dried chillies available so that’s an option if I really want to go
for some sauce.
The tap
water’s much harder here. Every product like washing machines, dishwashers and
even the coffee maker has descaling products and they need to be used often.
I’ve not
had tap water to drink since I’ve been here because the normal thing here is to
buy your drinking water. For making coffee and tea the Belgians use the tap
water though.
Coffee
granules are available in some shops but its not the most preferred method of
making coffee here. The most popular way to make coffee here is with a coffee
machine, either a filter coffee machine or a ‘Senso’ machine. The Senso machine
has coffee pods that you load into it and the variety of the pods is quite
amazing.
TV and Radio
The choice
of channels is great! If you have cable or satellite the choice is very much
like South Africa but all the programs (although they’re in English) all have
dutch subtitles. I haven’t had to watch African Edutainment at all! What we get
here is either News or entertainment. The radio’s strange to listen to. I
listen to Classic 93.20 where the announcers are French but they play stuff
like Creadence Clearwater Revival, Rolling Stones, Blues and they’re currently
obsessed with Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here which is very fitting. I hear
Wish You Were Here at least once a day on that channel. Again, no kwaito krap
and raving about this that’s wrong or that that’s wrong just good music and the
odd bit of French chitter chat.
The People
Belgians
are indeed very reserved and keep to themselves even on public transport right
up until someone needs help like when the doors of the bus start closing and
there’s some old biddy still hobbling off. They all start shouting “Wooah!” and
so on and then as soon as the incident’s finished they all go quiet again.
Yesterday a
couple of passengers helped an elder lady get her daughter who was
wheelchair-bound onto the bus. They all just pitch in and do it and end off
with at “Was niks” when the older lady thanks them. It’s all just so strange
but I think I get it. The bus is the regular passenger’s only way of getting
around and if someone who battles also needs to use the bus it’s pretty given
that it’s their only way to get about too so everyone helps when they need to
embark or disembark and that’s just how it works.
Nothing new in elevators though. Everyone stares
at the door and keeps quiet.
Escalators
are a different story. Pick a side and leave gaps so that people can overtake especially at train stations and
airports or you get the highly annoyed “Excuseerd!” behind you but those people
are usually in a rush and are trying to catch a connecting mode of transport
and if they’re late it could cost them an hour of waiting.
There’s
nothing more pleasant than the smell of waffles or chips in the air on a cold,
rainy day. It’s an amazing, warm smell and the perfect advertising.
The amount
of beer I see being consumed in public (on the trains and on the street) is
amazing. I’m just not used to it! The most common beer consumed on the run here
is Jupiler. It doesn’t sound particularly fabulous and I haven’t tried any yet
because it comes across to me as a rather common beer. I prefer beer that doesn’t
come in a can and is sold at the till point (kasa) like coke-a-cola.
Belgians
are like the Japanese in one aspect - its polite to take your shoes off indoors
here too. I think it was originally the mud issue. You didn’t want to go
traipsing mud through your host’s house.
The
children, even the teenagers are really polite and well-rounded and have respect
for other people in general.
These are
just some of the things I’ve noticed.
Ciao for
now.
