"Belgium" a Belgium Travel Page by OlafS

I never thought I'd be an emigrant. Well, there was a time when I badly wanted to leave my country for a few years, but it never happened. In my thoughts emigration was a drastic step to take. It required finding a new job, a new house, perhaps learning a new language and definitely adapting to a different culture. And now here I am, in Belgium, just 15 kilometers from my former home in the Netherlands. Same job, same language, no big cultural differences, new house. And lots of new things to discover.

After a couple of months I can safely say that I feel at home. We had to go through a hell of a bureaucracy, but at least the Belgian government isn't trying to make money on every stamp they put on a piece of paper. Unlike the Dutch one. Visiting a Belgian supermarket is a joy. The choice of beer, cheese and chocolate is often overwhelming. Quality stuff for The Good Life. Belgium still has manufacturers who take pride in a good product, while the Dutch discovered long ago that a product don't need to be any good to make it a success. Stuff like Heineken. Dutch cheese? Famous, but shallow compared to Belgian ones. Just a few examples. Within a few years I will probably have picked up an accent too. My wife is already thinking about apllying for the Belgian nationality. That's a little to fast for me.

Belgium was never far away. I watched Belgian tv, drank Belgian beer, listened to Belgian radio for a while. There were always enough similarities for a basic understanding of the country, while it was always different enough to be interestingly foreign. I had been to Antwerpen and Brussel several times, but my first stay in Belgium was a schoolcamp of a week, when my history teacher showed us the reminders of the First World War and taught us about the Flemish movement. It was striking to learn how little I knew about this country.

I have been back several times since. A few days in the Ardennes in 1995 and a full week touring breweries in 1997. After that very little happened. Until my emigration.

My Belgium pages are still very modest, but I have made a few tips that you will find in the specific provinces. This page should be an overview page. But first I need to do a little more discovering.