Ask a Belgian

[strijder20]

I'm from Belgium, a little country in Europe south to the Netherlands, west of Germany and north of France.

It's one nation, but there are two parts with an own government and parliament : Flanders and Walloon. Flanders, with approximately 6 million inhabitants, is the Dutch-speaking part, and Walloon, with 3.5 million inhabitants speaks French. Our capital, Bruxelles/Brussel/Brussels speaks mainly French, although there are many immigrants and some stray Dutch-speaking people there. There is also a German community in the east, given to Belgium in 1919 after WWI. It has 75 thousand inhabitants.
French and Dutch are both second languages and are learned at primary school.

Anything more you'd like to know about my country, general life in my country or other things related to Belgium/Belgians? Feel free to ask questions (That's what the thread is about, after all).

 

[luiz]

What unites Belgians besides beer and chocolates?

(BTW, my mom's family is belgian).

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

Do you often get mixed up with ned flanders from the simpsons?

Do you think you will get a government?

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Why are you still a country if you have two parliaments and governments, or why do you have two governments if you're one nation ?
Wouldn't it make sense to just divide the territory between France, Germany and the Netherlands and make Brussels as the EU capital an independent city state ?
Are there people in Belgium who suggest this ?

 

[strijder20]

What unites Belgians besides beer and chocolates?

(BTW, my mom's family is belgian).

Not a lot, I fear. The NVA, de Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, (New-Flemish Alliance) is the largest party in Flanders at the moment. As you might have guessed from the name, they are separatists and want to gradually split Flanders and Walloon ,although they are not as extreme as some other parties.

Do you often get mixed up with ned flanders from the simpsons?

Do you think you will get a government?

Never heard of him before. Might have to do with the fact I do not watch the Simpsons. It's a lot less popular in Europe than the U.S.A., I think.
Fitting name, though, if you consider Ned. is the Dutch abbreviation for Dutch...

Some of the major changes have already been agreed upon, so I guess we will get a government in reasonable time. (being a few months, considering they are already discussing for more than 500 days now)

 

[velosepappe]

What binds belgium? Probably our capital city. Also the fact that many walloons come to the coast on holliday, and the ardennes are still a popular region for the flemmish people. Also its not like we cant stand eachother like you could deduce from politics, but I think its true that there's not much empathy neither.

The simpsons is/was very popular here in belgium. But few people make that mistake.

It looks like the government will be formed soon. If it wasnt for the recent rating reduction of S&P and the sudden explosive rise of interest to be payed for government debts, I think we would have to wait for an extra few months.

 

[Tycho Brahe]

How many Tintin-books do you own?

Do you like the movie? (The one Spielberg made. I know there are other Tintin-movies)

 

[Antilogic]

Are Liège waffles more delicious than Brussels waffles?

On a more serious note, how popular are the separatist parties in Belgium? You mentioned the NVA as the largest, but do they have a majority or just a plurality? Is there an equivalent Walloon separatist party? Are independents sympathetic to the separatist movements or do they favor unity?

 

[strijder20]

Why are you still a country if you have two parliaments and governments, or why do you have two governments if you're one nation ?
Wouldn't it make sense to just divide the territory between France, Germany and the Netherlands and make Brussels as the EU capital an independent city state ?
Are there people in Belgium who suggest this ?

No, almost none at all.
I think many of us fear to be considered as 'inferior' citizens inthose countries.

How many Tintin-books do you own?

Do you like the movie? (The one Spielberg made. I know there are other Tintin-movies)

Only 3 , but I have 150 Suske en Wiske books and the entire series of Thorgal.

I didn't see the film, but I think I would still prefer the old animation films - I own a few.

Are Liège waffles more delicious than Brussels waffles?

On a more serious note, how popular are the separatist parties in Belgium? You mentioned the NVA as the largest, but do they have a majority or just a plurality? Is there an equivalent Walloon separatist party? Are independents sympathetic to the separatist movements or do they favor unity?

No idea. Although I completely adore waffles, I almost never eat them
*Never mind, I just looked them up on the internet : I like Brussels waffles more, but Liege waffles are very good too

The NVA has 27.8% of the votes. Nothing too impressive to you Americans, but we have about 6 major parties here and the NVA is a relative newcomer.
We don't have a lot of independents. If you are referring to the other political parties : the opinion has been shifting towards separation because of this long political impasse (there are a lot of disagreements between Flemish politicians and Walloons), but I hope that effect will be reversed once we've got a government.
The MR can be compared to the NVA, and has 22.2 procent of the votes.

 

[GoodGame]

Do you like waffles? If you make your own, do you have a family recipe?

 

[Joecoolyo]

Are the chocolates in Belgium as good as their reputation says they are?

 

[velosepappe]

The NVA has 27.8% of the votes. Nothing too impressive to you Americans, but we have about 6 major parties here and the NVA is a relative newcomer.
We don't have a lot of independents. If you are referring to the other political parties : the opinion has been shifting towards separation because of this long political impasse (there are a lot of disagreements between Flemish politicians and Walloons), but I hope that effect will be reversed once we've got a government.
The MR can be compared to the NVA, and has 22.2 procent of the votes.

I think the opinion shifts towards economic independence oposed to separation. The MR isnt a nationalistic party, its the walloon (economic) liberal party, but up to a few months ago they were in a coalition with the FDF, a party with strong walloon nationalistic tendencies that are strongest in Brussels. MR dropped them because they were causing troubles during government formation talks.

 

[velosepappe]

Are the chocolates in Belgium as good as their reputation says they are?

Yes they are, we have a few famous chocolatiers in the major cities. When I last was in Bruges I bought some pralines that were real examples of culinary art.

 

[alva848]

Do you like waffles? If you make your own, do you have a family recipe?

Belgians don't really eat waffles, can't remember the last time I did. Not sure why we keep being associated with them (maybe more so in the south?).

 

[downtown]

Didn't you used to have a fairly good soccer team? What happened?

 

[alva848]

Why are you still a country if you have two parliaments and governments, or why do you have two governments if you're one nation ?
Wouldn't it make sense to just divide the territory between France, Germany and the Netherlands and make Brussels as the EU capital an independent city state ?
Are there people in Belgium who suggest this ?

What do you mean; two gouverments
How poor do you think we are... (we have four, right? Belgium isa very complicated country, guess why...)

I have said, I welcome to dutch to attach themselves to Flanders.

 

[anandus]

Are you a Walloon or a Fleming?

How do you feel about a Walloon prime-minister, the first in, I believe, 40 years?

And do you think the whole 'split Belgium up'-debacle is over now they've found some sort of solution for BHV?

 

[Quackers]

Is walloon or flemish national identity supercede belgian identity? Will there be a Belgium in 100 years? What are your Muslims like?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Why does Belgium produce a disproportionately large amount of delicious beer?

Are Belgian waffles really Belgian?

 

[velosepappe]

Is walloon or flemish national identity supercede belgian identity? Will there be a Belgium in 100 years? What are your Muslims like?

I'd say the regional identity is in general more important than the national identity, at least in flanders. But belgians in general are not very much into these things. Only a few have very strong feelings. 'Our' muslims are like the muslims in other european countries I think. Some of them are noisy giving others a bad name.

Why does Belgium produce a disproportionately large amount of delicious beer?

Tradition mainly. Beer was more safe to drink than water back in the middle ages. And unlike Germany we didnt have something like a reinheitsgebot to restrict what we could do. The last decades belgium has received a lot of (international) attention for its beers, which led to a lot of people trying to make their own beer. But up to a few decades ago many bar owners made their own beer so there has always been a lot of diversity. Also an important factor is despite a select few widely sold beers (pils and the likes) there is still a big domestic market for more special beers.

Are Belgian waffles really Belgian?

I dont really know, but I suspect it is. Its more like something we when inviting friends or family.