der hooten es gooten

Well, Belgium was pretty but it pretty much depressed the Europe out of me. That is to say, when you’re surrounded by a bunch of sophisticated, well-heeled Europeans who speak at least four languages fluently and live in ritzy old houses and bike everywhere in their United Colors of Bennington way… well… I’m kind of hankering to watch football in my sweatpants and eat Rotel from a plastic bowl while drinking something like bud light. And I don’t even like football! (Or bud, really). It’s just that I’m realizing at heart, I’m not very continental. I’m pretty American. And the best thing is…there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!

So before I talk about what Belgians do v. well, here is a list of things that Americans do best:

1. We’re actually friendly
2. Customer service exists
3. Stores being open at normal hours
4. Stores being open at night
5. Stores being open in the wee hours of the morning
6. Cleanliness
7. Margaritas (and other blended drinks)
8. Mexican food for that matter
9. Did I mention genuine friendliness
10. Marching bands at halftime are cool
11. Wide open spaces. Nature! Natural wonders.
12. We like people. We really really like them.
13. Fast food is… fast!
14. We actually welcome immigrants. And integrate them.
15. Cheddar Cheese. Peanut butter. Rotel. All things spicy.
16. Our dogs are bigger than rats and we pick up their poop
17. We can drive
18. Air conditioning
19. We work hard, and hard work is actually rewarded
20. You don’t need a reason to smile at someone

And now, the things that Belgians do best:

1. Beer
2. Chocolate*

*Ordering transposable based on personal taste

Okay, I know I KNOW there’s lots more than that but I was only there for two days so what can you expect? I brought back a bunch of Coté d’Or chocolate from Belgian supermarkets (just as good as the boutique stuff) for Christmas gifts but then I ate it all. Sorry about that… French chocolate ain’t so bad, either!

Other notes from Belgium…they speak Dutch in the North (well, along with perfect French, English, and German no less) but I didn’t realize this. So panicked a bit on the train when everything switched from French to a language that sounds like… well, English, actually, but as if they were purposely messing words up. Also met the Belgian version of Zoolander at one of our hostels. All looks, no little gray cells…well it was hard to tell as he was a v. dab hand at Uno, and we played it for about 5 hours! (Given that all it did outside was rain, get dark, and rain some more.)

It’s almost time for another weekend, hopefully I will put some pictures up of the Christmas Market soon i.e. hopefully I will brave the cold and take them.

Until then,

ik zie je, & pas goed op jezelf.

(say it out loud and just see if it doesn’t almost make sense!)