Strike!

There may be no better example than the general strike on Monday (to protest high prices and a general decline in pouvoir d'achat) to illustrate the animosity between Flamands and Walloons.

We had been warned to keep food supplies on hand, as many stores might be closed. However, about half the stores in Brussels remained open - provided the majority of the employees were Flemish-speaking*. Apparently, the Flamands did not agree that there was much to protest and certainly did not want to get caught supporting an initiative they viewed as largely Wallonian in origin.

*Information provided by a new friends in Brussels, a category that is actually beginning to exist. Yay!

The Gray Lady Weighs In

This article is now a couple of days old - which is significantly younger than my last update - but worth a quick reference.

Highlights include:
The German newspaper Die Tageszeitung a few days ago called Belgium the “most successful ‘failed state’ of all time.”
Okay, but I imagine with significantly less bloodshed than most.

“A Flemish friend,” Mr. Dannemark [an editor at Le Castor Astral, a French-language publisher, who prints translations of Flemish writers] said, “put it to me this way: ‘Flanders has nothing in common with Holland except language, and the Flemish and Walloons have everything in common except language.’ But there’s almost no communication between the two communities, except through rock music, which everybody sings in English, and sports, which transcend everything.”
Thank god for soccer and rock 'n roll . . . but what about waffles and mussels?

The only (sort of) good news is that, apparently, speaking English is viewed as non-hostile by all parties.

Stinky Drains

I'm not sure how people moved abroad in the past sans Internet - like my parents from Austin, TX, to Putte, the Netherlands, in 1985. Without Google, I would not have been able to find this gem of a welcome site for Americans, primarily military servicemen, moving to Brussels.

A few useful facts:

"Pour water into any drains you have in the garage on a routine basis. It will prevent an unpleasant odor." Hmmm.

"It is an unwritten law/tradition in Belgium that Sunday is a day of rest. If you work, do not mow your grass or do any loud outdoor work." I may be warming to this Belgium.

Good to know:

"Men and boys using the restroom anywhere outdoors is accepted as normal. Knowing this in advance can ease the initial shock."

Who knew?

"If you like candles, they are plentiful and inexpensive in Belgium." Phew.


And then, the best part - common sense that someone bothered to write up:

"When you receive local mail at your home, ensure it is nothing important before you throw it away, even if you can't read it. If unsure, get it translated!"

Belgian Smurfs

The title of this post is redundant, as it turns out Smurfs (or at least Peyo, their creator) were Belgian to begin with. Not only that, but they - as a species, I suppose - are turning 50!
Happy birthday, Smurfs!

Primers

We've been doing a bit of recce, and I just learned that we will have to decide whether to live in the French- or Dutch-speaking district of the city. Apparently, the inner areas are French, and the outlying parts - only 10 km from the center - are Dutch. This allows certain guide books I've picked up to declare Brussels to be "one of very few cities that can claim a spilt personality." A city with dissociative identity disorder - imagine that.

In order to learn about the EU, which is a topic most Americans (including me) haven't the first clue about, we've been pointed in the direction of the latest (2008) edition of The European Union: How Does it Work? by Elizabeth Bomberg.

Finally, the most useful advice we've gotten to date is probably to "bring umbrellas and raincoats!" Thank goodness I have a closetful of absurd-looking print wellies.