Belgium 🇧🇪

Liesbeth, 30

Born in Deinze, Belgium

Came to Australia in February 2014

What is your occupation?

Before COVID, I was actually working as a stewardess on several private yachts. You do get to travel to a lot of places as part of your job, places like Airlie Beach, the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey etc.), Singapore and Indonesia.

COVID caused me to finally settle down - working on a yacht isn’t sustainable as you’re constantly away from your family and friends for long periods on end - and pursue my current career as an admin at FDM Group, a company that does recruitment, training and deployment.

Why did you come to Australia?

After graduating from university in 2013, my friend and I booked an around-the-world trip. We started off in Brussels and travelled eastwards, first visiting several countries in South East Asia and then New Zealand.

As there were no direct flights from New Zealand to Brazil (which was our next stop), we stopped over in Sydney and I loved the three days so much that I opted to come back on a working holiday visa in 2014. During my first working holiday visa, I met my current boyfriend, so I've been back several times over the years before now permanently settling down in Sydney in February 2020.

What do you like about Sydney?

I like the proximity to nature.

There are heaps of national parks, like the Royal National Park, Ku Ring Gai National Park and the Blue Mountains. The beaches are stunning as well: I live in Coogee myself so I’m spoilt for choice. As someone who loves spending time in nature, it’s great that a major metropolis like Sydney has so much beautiful nature within a short train ride.

The weather is very nice here compared to Belgium, where it is more depressing. I feel like we only truly live our lives for 3 months of the year and spend the rest of the year in hibernation back in Belgium, whereas it’s like the opposite situation here. Even during the winter, you can still go for a nice walk. As you can tell, I’m very much an outdoors person.

What don’t you like about Sydney?

I don’t really like Sydney’s public transport: even Melbourne’s system is greater.

Coming from Belgium, I feel like it’s very hard to navigate around Sydney without a car. It isn’t bicycle-friendly whatsoever and the government should look to invest in more cycling paths; Australians are quite active and sporty anyways so people will use the paths.

It’s not very eco-friendly. I live in Coogee and the amount of trash that people leave behind is unbelievable. It saddens me a lot as people seem to think that littering is okay. This would never happen in Belgium. People should learn to respect the environment and take their rubbish with them! Think of the consequences!

What would you like to say to Sydneysiders?

It’s related to my last answer.

Appreciate the great city and country that you live in and dispose of your rubbish in the bins!

What languages do you speak?

Flemish, English, French

Flemish is a dialect of Dutch and since Belgium is a trilingual country (Dutch, French and German), we had to learn German for 2 years and French as well. Nowadays, I hardly use my French so I would definitely say it is my third language after Flemish and English.

Teach us one word/phrase from your native language.

Gelukkig

It isn’t just happy; it’s an intense, internal, broad feeling of contentment.

It has a very deep meaning so it’s not a word you’d use often.

What is one thing you want us to know about your native country?

I’d appreciate it if people actually knew Belgium was its own country. We are not part of the Netherlands or Germany!

A fun fact is that there is no legal closing time for our bars and cafes. Basically, you can have a beer at any time of the day. That'll never fly here though in Sydney with the lockout laws.

Also, don’t forget that “French” fries are actually Belgian fries. We take them very seriously - they’re fried twice and there are speciality frietkot (fries shops) all over the country. There are a plethora of sauces to choose from but the one I personally prefer is andalouse, a sauce consisting of mayonnaise, tomato paste and peppers.

Every time I mention Belgium to a foreigner, they’d ask me if I’ve been to Tomorrowland. I’ve actually worked there as a bar manager!

Who is the most famous person in your native country?

Jean-Claude Van Damme

He is an actor that goes by the nickname “Muscles from Brussels” and has appeared in several action movies like The Expendables and Street Fighter.

I personally don’t rate his acting probably because I’m not much of an action movie person anyways. The older generation probably idolises him more. No hard feelings.

What is the best dish in your native country?

Chocolate and beer.

I’m a huge fan of Belgian chocolate and I’d be able to distinguish Belgian chocolate from others even if I were blindfolded. My favourite brand is Cote D’Or chocolate.

Any Belgian beer is delicious but if I had to pick a favourite, I’d say Augustijn grand cru.

Every beer in Belgium has its own distinct glass. Some glasses are so special/expensive that if you order that beer some bars will ask you to take off one of your shoes as a deposit. E.g: the Glas Voor Kwak beer.

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2018/03/belgian-bar-asks-for-a-shoe-deposit-to-stop-tourists-stealing-beer-glasses/

Another famous Belgian dish is stoverij, which is a Flemish beef and onion stew. The sauce is created using Belgian beer like Oud Bruin, Brune Abbey beer and Flanders red.

Obviously, you would eat this with frites as well and you can sometimes actually choose to top up your fries with a “special” sauce that combines stoverij and mayonnaise.

Disclaimer: All posts are personal opinions and perspectives of the interviewees and are not a perfect representation of the whole country/experience.