Dispelling the boring myth of Belgium
By antclarkson
@antclarkson (12)
Ireland
December 2, 2010 5:38am CST
A very good day to all you travel addicts out there!
I was just thinking back to one of my very first experiences of living abroad and though I would share with you about Belgium, Brussels and Leuven in particular.
I'm from Ireland so we as an island nation naturally have a predilection towards travelling.
I was given the opportunity to work in Leuven, Belgium with my college as part of our course in Hospitality Management and jumped at the chance to see a new country and sample new culture.
We all have a preconception of Belgians as being slightly odd and boring, but this quite simply is not the case.
Bars are open 24 hours every day, students party like the Irish, and there is a great quality to life over there with a laid back attitude which makes for a wonderful setting.
People make the place and in the case of Belgians, they make a very good place!
Thats my thoughts, now what are yours?
3 responses
@antclarkson (12)
• Ireland
3 Dec 10
Theres o much more to Belgium than chocolate, but hey, the chocolate is pretty damn nice too! :)
@maximax8 (31046)
• United Kingdom
2 Dec 10
When I was younger I lived in Kent in England I often popped across to Belgium. I went to Bruges, Ostend, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, Namur and Dinant. There used to be a ferry from Dover to Ostend. Whether in the Flemish speaking area of the French speaking part of Belgium the people are very friendly indeed. Many of them speak English it seems to me. The train system there is excellent and living there it would be possible to have trips over to France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Germany. Distances from the small country of Belgium are short to places like Luxembourg City, Strasbourg, Amsterdam and Trier.
I was doing my degree in Education and my teacher training when I was offered a semester of studying in the Netherlands. I jumped at the chance and was so happy living there for four months. I had a bike to cycle around on. During the week I studied and at the weekend I went off exploring. They had a half term of five days so I turned it in to nine day vacation seeing the sights of some of Europe. I popped off to visit Luxembourg, Belgium and more places in the Netherlands. One weekend I had a friend come over and we met up in Amsterdam. Another weekend I traveled to Germany and stayed with my German friend.
I hope that you will love living in beautiful Belgium. 
@antclarkson (12)
• Ireland
3 Dec 10
Thanks for the comment, I actually lived there a few years ago, stunning country and would move back given the right circumstances
@Auntiescarf (842)
•
3 Dec 10
I went to belgium once, only for the day, and I didnt see much of it but the area I saw was really beautiful, quite picturesque. This is the first I hear of belgiuns being odd and boring, do you have any idea where that came from?
@antclarkson (12)
• Ireland
3 Dec 10
I think it's just a common misconception due to the fact that there are a lot of diplomats hanging around.
