Belgium is Weird

Belgians love their comics; Belgium is the home of the famous Tintin (the inspiration for Indiana Jones). I remember reading Tintin comics in elementary school.

Belgium is kind of a weird place (objectively speaking of course). It’s weird because it’s part of northern Europe and therefore has the same healthy-hippies-who-drink-and-smoke vibe, it’s weird because it’s relatively unimportant on the geopolitical stage but nevertheless hosts the headquarters of the EU and NATO, but it’s also weird because it’s one of the only states where half the population speaks one language (French) and the other half speaks the other (Dutch). French and Dutch are not similar at all; French is a Romance language that shares more with Spanish and Portuguese, while Dutch is a Germanic language with an excess of z’s and double vowels that one rarely sees in French.

The metro/tram on a trip back from the European Quarter to the central city

Belgium is not quite French, not quite Dutch, not quite German, but a sort of mish-mash of those cultures that can be called only European. Maybe that is why Belgium was selected to be the headquarters of the EU, because, by virtue of location, it is the site of the mixing of European culture and the clash between European states.

There is no history of a unique “Belgian” civilization” before the founding of modern Belgium in 1830. Until that year, most of Belgium was part of the Netherlands or divided into smaller counties and duchies (think Liège, Flanders, Brabant, Luxembourg). Belgium became part of France under Napoleon, but gained independence after the Belgian Revolution in 1830 under its first king, Leopold I, and declared its status as a neutral state. The Germans didn’t respect that status in World War I or World War II (surprise, surprise. The only reason the Swiss have been able to stay neutral so effectively is because they literally live in the mountains).

The Parc de Bruxelles

And although Belgium was formed too late to partake in the seafaring imperialism of the 1700s and 1800s—they stood no chance against the English, Portuguese, and French—it still has a remarkably painful and bloody colonial history. Leopold II famously took the Congo as “his own personal fief” and personally profited off of the backs of millions of Congolese people via the rubber trade. It wasn’t until after 1960 that the Belgian Congo became the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Literally today, the current king of Belgium, King Phillippe, is making history by visiting the still-troubled African state to “start a new partnership” and return the tooth of a Congolese revolutionary leader killed in the 60s.

The king's offices, a palace remodeled by Leopold II

So, what was it like in Belgium? I found Belgian people a little warmer than the Danes and the French. Brussels was…Brussels. I can’t really compare Brussels to any other European city I’ve been in because it was so different. It doesn’t feel like Copenhagen or Reykjavik because it’s not on the water and, of course, it’s not Scandinavian, but it doesn’t feel orderly like the Dutch city of Antwerp (also in Belgium). It’s not pulsing or packed with people like Paris or sun-soaked like Nice or dripping in wealth like Monaco. If I had to describe Brussels, I would say it’s relaxed but not languid and a little messy but still easy to navigate. There's a substantial immigrant population, including a Muslim district of the city, but Brussels' immigrants aren't quite as numerous as Paris's. It’s small enough to be cozy but it’s not provincial like Bruges. It’s a good place.

Graffiti in the Muslim area around Sainte-Catherine; graffiti is all over the city