Expatitude

The New Year marks a time of reflection and resolutions, so I thought it would be appropriate to do some reflecting of my own and it is easier than resolving to lose weight or rid myself of any vices. Many of the posts that I have made to this point have been very positive about our experience. We have lived in Belgium for about a year and a half at this point however; plenty of time for the honeymoon to be over and the reality of the situation to be well considered.  So what follow are my New Year reflections, good and bad about living in this strange little country.

Missing Family

I don’t think that we see family any less than we did when we lived in Maryland. In point of fact, we may actually have seen our daughter a little more, certainly more concentrated time, than we did in her first couple of years of college. The distance and time change is the real difference. We have also had to postpone a couple of family traditions. For the last 15 years or so, we have been the hosts every Thanksgiving and I do miss that holiday. This year, as with last, I was working on the holiday, which is fine, Turkeys don’t come out in Belgium until Christmas.

Markets

I have written in the blog before about the little markets that spring up in every town at least one day per week. These are a little like the farmers markets back in the US except in addition to produce and artisan bakers, you have butchers, a guy selling roasted chickens, cheese sellers and fishmongers. You can often also buy clothes and occasionally other oddities. I love that every Friday, we can count on picking up some wonderful French cheeses, breads and a variety of other groceries just steps from our front door.

At Christmastime the Christmas markets are especially festive. Nothing puts me in the spirit like a little tartiflette and some vin chaud while strolling the market stalls.

Parking

I hate parking in Belgium. Hate is not really strong enough.  Driving can be horrible too, but the parking is rage-inducing. Part of it is my fault. I have a BMW 5 series and that is simply too long of a vehicle to park most places. Like my garage. I cannot shut the garage door with my car in it because the car is 2 feet longer than the garage. Even if I were driving a mini, however, parking in Belgium is bad. Too many cars and not enough spots. The spots that are available are barely wider than the car itself, so invariably you find yourself requiring a jug of Vaseline to squeeze between the vehicles. I have driven and parked in every major city in the US and I cannot think of single place that is as universally bad to park.

Food & Wine/Beer

This is somewhat of a corollary to the above comment on markets, but the food in Belgium is generally excellent. I often use the example of the little bar near our house where SWMBO and I go for steak frites every week. In the US a place like this would maybe have nachos and buffalo wings. It is a bar first, food is secondary. That being said, our steak frites comes with a freshly made Béarnaise sauce. You can hear the chef whisking away in the back. This is typical of what you find. Places with bad food, do not survive.

Obviously the pretense of this blog was to review some of the Belgian Beers that I have tried. I have lost a little steam on that front lately but it does not change the fact that there are some great beers here. Wine too is different from the US. Because this is a wine culture, you can get excellent wines for very little money. In many restaurants, a glass of wine is the same price or even cheaper than a coke. I have come to believe that all of the good inexpensive French wine stays here and all of the garbage is sent to the US. It is very easy to find a nice every day bottle of wine here for 5 euro, a rarity in the US.

Politeness and Personal Space

Frankly, politeness does not exist. At least not in the same way that it does in the US. People say please with alarming frequency here but the behavior tends to be something very different. Jeremy Clarkson, who is one of the hosts of the BBC show Top Gear, wrote in one of his articles that he is amazed that anything gets done in the US because everyone is so polite. He may have a point, but as an American, I find the lack of consideration tiresome. It manifests itself in different ways; There is the oblivious lack of consideration, such as when two people block a walkway while chatting. They know what they are doing but don’t really care that it is an imposition to anyone. Then there is the sidewalk chicken. As you approach on the sidewalk they will expect you to move. They do not avoid contact. The best though, is the blatant physical imposition. This tends to be the go to move for the elderly set. Older people will not hesitate to push you out of their way, if you are standing where they want to be. You get this a lot at the grocery store. You might be selecting some tomatoes and all of a sudden some old lady will either ram you with her cart or physically push you out of the way to get the one she wants. SWMBO got this the other day as we were getting off of the plane in Brussels. An older Flemish woman in the seat behind her, shoved her out of the way so she could get off the plane first. I know this happens in the US, but it is not with this frequency and it really gets on my nerves.

Travel

Belgium is the geographic center of Europe and as a consequence, you can be almost anywhere in a couple of hours. London is an hour and a half by train, Paris less than two hours. Barcelona and Rome are two-hour flights. It really provides a great opportunity to see much of Europe. More importantly, it lets you tour in a different way. To fly to Europe from the US takes time. Two full days are shot just with travel, so most people will either do the whirlwind city by city tour or spend all their time in one or two spots.  With a three-day weekend we can easily see any city. A little more time and we can tour by car and get out away from the city to see the sights that we would otherwise have to miss. I believe that this is the best way to see Europe. Too many of the cities are clogged with tourists and the hawkers that result. Get outside of the city and you see where people actually live and you generally have better experiences.

Language

Language generally isn’t a problem…Until it is. What I mean is that most of the time English will get you by. Most people have some English, particularly the Flemish. And since living here, SWMBO and I have gained some rudimentary skills in both Flemish and French. I refer to it as restaurant French/Flemish. We can read 99% of any menu, can order, say thank you, find the toilet, ask for the check, etc. Where things are a problem is when you need a service that is not in the day to day routine. For example, hiring an electrician. Then all bets are off. Neither of us have the language skills to transact that sort of business in any other language than English. This forces us to either resort to some unholy combination of pigeon Flemish and sign language hoping that we don’t cause an international incident.

Vacation

In my last job, I had a little more than three weeks of vacation a year. Not that I could use it. Taking more than a week off was not really looked upon very well. In Belgium, I have a lot more. I will refrain from being specific so as not to rub it in. But it is a lot better. I really believe that the US should move in this direction. Maybe the amount of time in Europe is a bit excessive, but I don’t think the US approach makes us more productive. To the contrary, I think most people burn out quicker. As I write this, I am finishing up two weeks of vacation and I am beginning to think that is a minimum amount of time needed to get recharged. 

Weather

Let’s just say, we did not move to Belgium for the weather.

Business Hours

One thing that takes some getting used to as an American is the relative lack of commercial opportunities. In the US, you can fully expect to shop 7 days a week as long as one of them is not Christmas, and even then you can still buy groceries. In Belgium the shops typically do not open until 10 and it is common for them to close between 12 and 2 for lunch. Most stores are closed by 6 or 7 and almost nothing is opened on Sunday. So you can see where productivity could be questioned.

Living as an expat is hard and we knew that when we moved. For now, the good outweighs the bad and we are generally happy with our decision. I would be lying however if I said that it is completely without challenges and frustrations. It also makes me appreciate even more being an American. The European quality of life can be better in some ways, but it is easier to live and there are more opportunities in the US.