The life and times of Aunt Anna in Belgium

Table of contents

Guest writer: Anna Nilsson Spets

Many people wonder what it's like to live in another country, are you and will you remain Swedish?

Yes, there IS a difference, a big difference in some things and somewhere deep inside you are always Swedish. However, I don't have a Swedish flag at home and I don't celebrate any Swedish holidays.

Do you have your own sign for frog routes in Sweden?

Social life

I live in the countryside, the social codes may be different here than in the big cities, but family and friends are priority 1. Definitely. As a foreigner, it's hard to break into a community, but it can be in Sweden too.

Belgians are a unique social group that loves to socialise, for a long time. They eat and drink endlessly. There's no such thing as a coffee break here. Expect at least half a day of socialising.

Cafés are the central meeting point in everyday life and a café is not the Swedish type with coffee and buns, here we talk about beer. People often go to the café and most have a regular place where several generations meet and the dog can also come along. However, smoking is allowed outside.

Belgians prefer to do things in groups, cycling and walking for example, the roads full of wobbly pensioners on tour. A leader with a stop sign at the beginning and a leader at the end to keep the group together. All clumsily dressed in some company-sponsored neon-coloured vest. The sports cyclists are worse though, they refuse to share the road with the cars.

Weekends are often spent in the Ardennes for its natural beauty or on the coast, which is completely ruined.

The older generation, mostly men, hang out at the pigeon club, drink a beer and let their pigeons out.

Coder

Sure, but taking your shoes off inside is not a typical Swedish thing to do here.

Keeping time, no, time is a fluid concept. No one would raise an eyebrow if you were half an hour late, there might have been a traffic jam. Traffic jams are part of everyday life here, for hours. Traffic is hell and Belgian cars have no indicators.

Titles ... Being called Mrs or Madam is part of everyday life; people with higher education, such as doctors, are called Mr Doctor. I do not like it.

Food and drink

Belgium is famous for beer, I can't count them all... It's basically the death penalty if you serve beer in the wrong kind of glass, a Duvel requires its own glass and vice versa.

Here, Bira is a social drink that is not usually drunk with food, then it is wine or soft drinks that apply, lots of soft drinks. Yuck.

Coffee ... well, don't expect anything strong, but maybe something strong.

And what do we eat then?

Lots of meat. Home cooking is not my thing but my partner's favourite dish is fried chops in gravy, with mashed potatoes mixed with either spinach or carrots. Inedible.

IKEA is immensely popular, especially meatballs with frittjes, lingonberry jam, brown sauce AND mayo, all decorated with a Swedish flag. Almost an ethical offence.

It's not a big deal to have a fresh vegetable salad with your food here, preferably cooked vegetables and preferably with a couple of spoonfuls of sugar on top, hoodoo.

If they are fresh vegetables, they should be drenched with mayonnaise, because mayonnaise is the most important thing of all.

Frittjes ... a Belgian likes to have frittjes several times a week, either picked up at a fritur or home-fried. The fritter has a central role in Belgian cuisine. And yes, we eat frittjes with mayo. A special version for dogs is available.

Mussels, or Moules frites, are the national dish, mussels are available most months of the year, or as the Belgians say, all months with an R in the name.

In spring, we wait for the first tender asparagus to be eaten with egg sauce, in autumn we roast chestnuts.

Sunday breakfast is something else, when the queues are long outside the bakeries and Belgians buy small breads such as rolls and croissants and with it x number of koffiekoekjes, i.e. pastries and the like.

We eat and drink ... all the time.

Home and society

In many ways it's 50 years after Sweden, an unwieldy bureaucracy with all the personal visits, copies and stamps for something as simple as taking out car insurance. I sigh. It does keep people in work though.

And if you don't want to work, you can call in sick, in every basement and villa there is a family doctor who will happily issue a sick note. A simple cord and at least a week at home.

The housing market depends on where you put your stakes, the quality of the accommodation varies. Here you take your fridge, freezer and cooker with you when you move, my God.

There are plenty of landlords who care little about standards and the presence of mould and soot, so what.

Our house is an old farmhouse, no heating upstairs and downstairs is heated by a creepy diesel stove. LPG for cooker and hot water.

Rubbish collection is a whole science, it is sorted into different bins, sacks and trays, a special calendar is a must to keep track.

Belgians darken their houses at the beginning of the evening, when the shutters are rolled down because apparently you can't see in or out. During the day, the windows are preferably covered with tinsel curtains.

The elderly still count everything in Belgian francs, which disappeared 25 years ago.

Things were better in the past.

Then there was more tying.

Talking about political affiliation or income is taboo, but we are happy to talk about our own and others' illnesses.

Nature

Life in Belgium is a bit different... I miss the forest and the lakes because here we don't have the unique right of public access and picking mushrooms and berries, nope.

Swimming in a lake without a lifeguard is strictly forbidden, but being the rebel that I am, I go swimming.

The weather hmmm ... it rains a lot, it can thunder and hail in the middle of winter which, incidentally, rarely offers much snow and if it does, the whole country panics. Staying out in shitty weather is not something you do either.

Language

Language is the key to community and integration. Belgium is trilingual (French, Flemish, German), in my part we speak Flemish which is a dialect of Dutch. Many words remind and resemble Swedish but have a different pronunciation. The grammar is completely different though. Counting is done backwards, so we say one and twenty instead of twenty-one.

I did two language courses when I came here, the rest is self-taught and of course I make frogs, lots of frogs.

After 15 years in Belgium, you might think you've got used to it, but not, said Nicke.

There is much that is good and better here, the social security system and faster healthcare are a couple of examples.

Easy to get a job, especially if you know one of the languages.

Cosy, polite and nice people we have with us.

If I long for home ... Back to Sweden, hmmm yes. Sometimes I do. And I remain Swedish in both heart and soul.

Follow Anna here:

Anna Nilsson Spets

60+ year old lady with a lifelong love for Africa. Emigrated to Flanders in Belgium and works with plants on a daily basis. Writes, takes photos and tries to inspire others to budget travel on their own. Blogs on "Anna's mix" about travelling, work, plants, writing and much more.

Helena

22 September 2024 6:00

Belgium

live abroad