10 Strange and Fascinating Facts Regarding Belgian Society That May Surprise You

### **10 Strange and Fascinating Facts Regarding Belgian Society That May Surprise You**

The de facto capital of the European Union, Belgium is commonly viewed as being a bureaucratic, modern, and bland country. But this compact, crowded nation is actually a fascinating enigma—a surreal and intricate weave of two different cultures (Walloon and Flemish) living together beneath the umbrella of one often mind-boggling administrative system. To the stranger, Belgian society operates on a matrix of unspoken rules and bizarre tradition that seem quaint, baffling, or downright absurd. To understand Belgium is to embrace its seeming contradictions. The following are ten facts that reveal the surreal and fascinating nature of this divided yet cohesive kingdom.

**1. The Surrealism of Everyday Bureaucracy: A Nation of Compromises**

Its most peculiar and typical aspect is the political and linguistic structure. It is not a single homogeneous society but a confederation of three regions (Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels-Capital) and three language communities (Dutch, French, and German). What this creates is a level of bureaucratic intricacy that borders on the surreal.

The oddity can be seen in everyday life. There is no such thing as Belgian television; there is Flemish television and television in French. It has a national politician campaigning in their part of the country where they share the same language. The formation of government is famously protracted, holding a world record for having no elected government for the longest time (541 days from 2010 to 2011). It is not viewed as a crisis, but as a cautious process of negotiating. To Belgians, this Byzantine system is a necessary, if vexatious, mechanism to prevent the country's disintegration. It has formed a national identity built on pragmatism, compromise, and an inherent aversion to open conflict, where tricky solutions are to be favored over simple, polarising ones.

**2. The Unwritten "No Surprises" Rule: "Doe Maar Gewoon"**

In the Flemish north of Belgium, the dominant social value is *\\\"Doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg\\\"* ("Just act normal, that's already crazy enough"). It is the Flemish version of the "Tall Poppy Syndrome," but with a very strong emphasis on humility, conformity, and predictability. Showing riches, acting out wildly in public, or grandstanding is highly frowned upon.

The weirdness for outsiders is the social expectation to stay in a very narrow band of acceptable action. It's a culture that prizes reliability and humility over flash individualism. This ethic comes from having been ruled throughout history by foreign powers (the Spanish, Austrians, French, and Dutch), where keeping one's head down was key to survival. In today's Belgium, it gives rise to an extremely stable and well-organized society, but one in which spontaneity is occasionally free to be suspicious.

**3. The Cult of the "Burgundian Lifestyle" in the South**

In stark contrast to Flemish "normality," French Wallonia, and to a large extent Brussels, with pride follow the *"Life of Burgundy"* or the *"Burgundian Lifestyle."* This is a lifestyle centered on unabashed enjoyment of life's pleasures: food, quality beer, wine, and long, convivial meals.

The uniqueness is the positioning of this hedonism on a bedrock cultural foundation. A three-hour lunch is not a luxury; it's an earned slice of the day. Business is often done across a meal of many courses. This tradition goes back to the days of the Dukes of Burgundy, who ruled the Low Countries and whose court was the absolute peak of extravagance and support of the arts. This creates a culture that exists at a more relaxed, sensual pace, in which the quality of an indigenous cheese or the proper glass for a specific Trappist ale is worthy of earnest debate and national pride.

**4. The "Fritkot" as a National Sanctuary**

Whereas the French have their cafes and the Brits have their pubs, Belgium has the *fritkot*, or plain fried food cart. But this is no ordinary fast-food shop; it is a cultural touchstone, an equalizer, and the site of a fiery and enduring national debate about the perfect fries (*frites*) having been cooked.

The oddity is the ritual and reverence that accompany the consumption of fries. Belgians brag that their *frites* are superior, fried twice in animal fat (beef tallow). The *fritkot* is a place where a CEO and a worker stand in the same line, sometimes in the rain, for a cone of paper into which golden perfection is spooned, classically topped by a large dollop of mayonnaise. The choice of sauce—andalouse, samurai, or good old mayo—is a personal statement. It is a simple, unifying fun in a country far too often divided by politics and language.

**5. The Comic Strip Walls: Art as Public Urban Therapy**

Belgium wields a disproportionate humongous power over world comic strip (*bande dessinée*) production, giving birth to iconic series like Tintin, The Smurfs, and Lucky Luke. The uniqueness resides in the manner in which this "Ninth Art" has been woven into the fabric of its cities.

In Brussels, and less so in other cities, you can tour a "Comic Strip Route," discovering giant-size murals of beloved characters transposed to building facades. This is not random tagging; it is a choreographed, government-funded urban renewal movement. The murals transform drab, often overlooked city walls into colorful, outdoor galleries. It's a public art therapy—a means of infusing whimsy, color, and a common cultural heritage into the cityscape, an expression of a national passion for storytelling and visual art that transcends age and language.

**6. The Unusual "Lakes of Love" and Privacy Culture

A typically Belgian, and particularly Flemish, architectural feature is the *\\\"liefdesgracht\\\"* or "love lake." They are not lakes at all but long, narrow strips of lawn or garden set perpendicularly across the street, separating two groups of houses on a terracing system. They provide access to the rear doors of houses.

The unusualness is in their social function. The "love lake" constitutes a critical area of privacy cushion between neighbors in a densely populated country. It ensures residents easy passage to their houses and gardens without needing to pass right before the front windows of their neighbors. This odd piece of architecture signals an important Belgian virtue: the adamant separation between public and private life. Belgians are friendly and warm, but their castle is home and the "love lake" its moat.

**7. The "Doudou" and the Battle of the Dragon**

In Mons, the world's most wacky and extraordinary folk celebration takes place: the *"Ducasse de Mons"* or the *"Doudou."* The climax of this UN World Heritage-listed tradition is the *"Lumeçon"—a huge, chaotic recreation of the killing of the dragon by St. George.

The oddity is the raw drama and sensed high stakes. The entire city is implicated, and the "battle" involves hundreds of people in the central square tugging on a huge dragon model by St. George and his helpers (the *"Chin-Chins"*). The ritual is believed to ensure prosperity for the city in the coming year. If St. George wins, all is well. The intensity of this local custom, as reproduced in several forms over the course of the country (e.g., the Giants of Ath), illustrates an abiding, almost pagan, level of regional identity that exists entirely outside of the national politics.

**8. The Mandatory "Sunday Quiet"**

In an increasingly 24/7 world, Belgium struggles to maintain the dignity of Sunday. In most residential areas, and even legislated in some municipal police regulations, Sunday is formally a day of rest, with an expectation of quiet.

The quirk for visitors is the sudden, pervasive quiet. Noisy DIY endeavors, lawnmowing, or musicality is socially, and sometimes legally, taboo. Shops, aside from a handful of bakeries and newsagents at morning time, are closed. The streets are deserted. This enforced tranquility brings on a pause, beckoning family, long walks, or, of course, a long, Burgundian lunch. It's a national uprising against the dictatorship of endless working, a weekly reminder that life is more than work and commerce.

**9. The Beer Glass Ritual: The Vessel is Sacred

Belgian beer culture is justly famous, and the uniqueness of it is in the ritualistic specificity of consumption. In Belgium, the glass and the beer are a kind of sacramental, unitary whole. Each of the dozens of distinct Belgian beers is poured into a specially shaped, often branded glass—a chalice, a tulip, a flute, or a snifter.

Pouring a Westmalle Trappist into a Leffe glass would be a serious error, equivalent to imbibing a fine Bordeaux from a coffee mug. The glass is both scientifically and historically designed to enhance the beer's aroma, head, and flavor. The ritual demonstrates a national reverence for tradition and craftsmanship. It turns the consumption of a beer from an uncomplicated thirst quencher into something of a ritual, a moment of intent appreciation for a product that is a source of great national pride.

**10. The Schipperke Language of Indirect Communication**

Indirect communicators are the Flemish and Walloons, the Belgians. They don't like to confront people directly and will say to you what they think you want to hear in an effort to be polite. The French-speaking Belgium word "*\\\"alléchante\\\"*" is not "tempting" but "interesting, but I'm not so sure."

The communication style is confusing to the more direct cultures. A "yes" may be a courteous "maybe," and a "no" is very much never uttered in so many words. It is connected to the culture of compromise and to the historical need to cope with complex social as well as political landscapes. It is a question of survival in a small country where you must negotiate your ground every day with everyone. Understanding this imprecise, largely unspoken language is the secret to the true Belgian lifestyle.

Overall, Belgian life is a lesson in contradiction management. It is a nation where absurd bureaucracy is what holds it all together, where a love of the finer things coexists with a passion for plain fries, and where passionate regional pride is the very mortar that holds the country cemented together. These ten facts—from the comic strip wallpaper and sacred beer glass to the "normalcy" culture and the art of compromise—are far from anomalies. They are the keys to an understanding of a people who have turned complexity into an art and who find their unity not in similarity but in an exquisitely strange and abiding determination to disagree.