Sander-S.net

Living in Belgium can be very rewarding, at least that is my impression after six months. Life here presents itself with a very pleasing mixture of laid-back enjoyance and absurd comedy. However, you do need the right mind set to appreciate it.

I realised this fifteen minutes ago, while I was queueing at the Delhaize supermarket, and I got to talk with the Englishman in front of me. The queue only progressed very slow, because the clumpsy cashier for some reason had to do a lot of other stuff, like typing the digits of zip codes into his teller machine. The Englishman, being only in Brussels for a few days of holidays, got annoyed by the delay and started complaining to me. Can you believe this is the capital of Europe?, he asked me.

Yes, actually I can. I don’t know if the European politicians were infected by the Brussels spirit after their arrival, or that they sought out this place as their capital with their own politics in mind, but it’s a perfect match. Bureaucracy, inefficiency, it is all deeply rooted in heart of the Belgium.

This country is everything the Dutch try not to be. It’s inefficient, inconsistent, and often failing. Yet, it doesn’t collapse. Belgium teaches us that we don’t have to be pretty, rich or capable to still be lovely. We can just show our human side.

The right attitude to still be smiling after six months is not that of the Englishman. He thought he could quickly get his beers and walk out of that store within a minute. Surely, he got frustrated. No, the right mind set was mine. Before I walked into that store, I knew it could take five minutes, fifteen, or maybe even longer. I also knew that in exchange, I would see something beautiful: imperfection at work.

When you are ready to accept the Belgian pretentiousnessless, it will welcome you with a beautiful lifestyle.

Photo by Walter Vermeir (CC-BY-SA) [link]