Two fun facts about Belgium.

Belgium holds an interesting Guinness World Record. It is the country that has had, three times, the longest period without a government. In 2020, a government was formed after 494 days but there is even a longer period. After the 2010 elections it took 541 days (or if the period before the 2010 elections is counted, it took a whopping 589 days – a world record). That is quite a few days. 

In 2001, eight people died in – what was then – the worst train accident of Belgium’s history (until another one in 2010). One of the reasons was the linguistic barrier between a French-speaking signalman and a Flemish-speaking one.

These facts tell of a country that loosely holds together three different cultural and linguistic areas – the Dutch speaking Flemish of the north, the French speaking Fallons of the south and the German speaking minority in the east. Most of the population opposes the idea of officially dividing the country but at the same time, there are no political parties that represent the whole country, and there is a seemingly never ending power play between the different languages. Therefore, Virtual Nomad will take into account the different parts of the divided country. 

But first. Food. 

All that chocolate

One of the best parts of the Virtual Nomad journey is that it is growing with new Nomads joining the community. Sharing is caring, and Virtual Nomad is at its best when a collective experience. 

We proceed to the Belgian lunch and this time it is 15 of us. 

A famous Belgian beer garden in Sydney, the Heritage, closed permanently in 2023. This is unfortunate as it was a Sydney icon and famous for its beer selection. The beer garden was an institution in the Rocks (next to Sydney Harbour bridge) with vintage posters and an early 20^th century vibe. But sadly, it is no longer. 

This leaves the Virtual Nomads to do some more home cooking – this time a Belgian lunch is hosted by AK and DK (this marks their forth Virtual Nomad stop so one could say they are strongly performers) while I get luminous Belgian desserts from the Belgian Café at the Rocks. 

Food wise, Belgium is famous for chocolate, beer, waffles and French fries. All these are, of course, on the menu. The Belgian ‘national main courses’ include mussels and stew. As most of the party are not into mussels, the main dish for the lunch is Flemish beef stew (cooked in beer) from a traditional recipe. It is served hot with mashed potatoes. The recipe requires a ‘heavy Dutch oven’ but AK managed to create a wonderfully rich stew with a normal oven, and for all the meat-eaters present, the flavour was exquisite, rich and wonderful.

JK brings homemade cheese croquettes (both gluten-free and full of gluten) and Belgian fries. We get to witness a humorous Chips War as two competing offerings of fries are made. One self-cut and deep fried and the other microwaved from their frozen format.  In the end, it is a matter of taste. Most people do not taste a difference but those that do seem to prefer the more ‘artisanal’ chips, meaning the self-cut and more laborious ones. 

KD, JD and KD (their third Virtual Nomad stop) bring the endive and apple salad that has, as its name indicates, endive and apple. It is refreshing and crisp, and a perfect balance for the heavier side of the menu. 

We (me, L, A and NA) brought a leak pie and Belgian desserts. They are amazing to look at, almost little pieces of art and they have wonderful names: raspberry chocolate fondant, chocolate orange fondant, Mont Blanc (the white egg), mango vanilla, passionata (gf), matcha cherry cheesecake, opera, triple chocolate dome and then some more traditional ones such as raspberry red velvet (gf), chocolate éclair and praline gourmandise. We match them with homemade Belgian waffles with syrup, ice cream and chocolate sauce. 

And now a closer look at the divided country. 

Smurfs and saxophone

Belgian inventions include French fries, the Smurfs and the saxophone. Tin Tin is a famous Belgian cartoon figure who is adventurous and goes on many travels with his dog. Tin Tin has been accused of negative and stereotypical portrayals of Africans and Indigenous peoples. 

As for Belgian history, the Belgae were a Celtic-Germanic agglomeration of tribes that lived in the area and resisted the Roman invasion for some time until Julius Caesar finally invaded. There are still Roman landmarks in Belgium and the Romans stayed in the area until the Western Roma fell and Germanic peoples took over. Slowly the area became Christian. The most famous figure of the Carolingian Dynasty (714 -1122) was King Charlemagne (a French king but born in the Belgian city of Liege, apparently). 

While under French rule, the northern part of Belgium, Flanders, was thriving in the Middle Ages with its industry and trade. There is a famous battle called the Battle of Spurs (1302) in which the French tried to crush and dominate Flanders but were defeated. Flanders tried to hold on to its self-declared independence but the French influence returned through royal marriages. Then the Habsburg (remember them? – check the entry for Austria) era began. 

Somewhere there in the middle of the dramatic contortions of European history, Flanders became Protestant while the French part stayed Catholic, deepening the divide between the two. The Brabant Revolution (1789 -90) led to a short break from Habsburg rule. Quite soon after the French took over again, and then the Netherlands became involved. Belgium declared independence in 1830 from the Netherlands. Belgium suffered greatly in both world wars but the economy started to grow from the 1950s. Belgium is a founding member of the European Union with the EU capital Brussels in its territory. A Constitutional change in 1993 gave official recognition to the three administrative regions of Belgium: Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. 

Belgium has a royal family which – as royals tend to – leads a life filled with privilege and scandals. The country got its first king around the time of independence (1830) as the Congress voted to make the country a constitutional monarchy. The first choice for a king did not work out so the Belgians opted for the second choice, Leopold I. His son Leopold II was responsible of the Congolese genocide (estimated 10 million deaths) and colonialism including unfathomable cruelties. There have been seven kings since the first Leopold and the current king is called Philippe. His father (who was king before Philippe) had a daughter out of wedlock as a result of an 18-year affair. She was finally recognised through a DNA test that Philippe’s father refused to take for a long time (disowned poor Delphine for a long time). If Belgium keeps being a monarchy, or a country, in the future Philippe’s eldest daughter Elisabeth will become the first queen of Belgium..

As for the division of the country, it is rooted deeply in a long history that can be traced to the times of the Holy Roman Empire (HRE). One part of what we now know as Belgium was part of the HRE and, over time, became part of the Germanic language family. The southern region was part of France with French as its language. Another aspect is the religious divide between the Protestant north (Flanders) and Catholic south (Wallonia). Partition of the country is discussed from time to time, but no one really asks what the German speaking minority thinks. 

And as for the periods without a government? There is a great article that provides a good perspective. It can be accessed here.

Books for Belgium

Annelies Verbeke is a contemporary Flemish author whose work includes fiction, novels, poems and plays. She lives in Ghent and often writes about multicultural settings and people from different origins. Her debut Slaap! (2003) won a bunch of awards and was an instant hit, being translated into several languages.  

I decide to read her 2015 book Thirty Days which is (mostly) a delightful book about a Senegalese immigrant, Alphonse, and his thirty days of navigating his Belgian wife and encounters with different kinds of people, all in the Belgian countryside – in Westhoek (in Flanders), which is sadly notorious for its youth suicide rates). Alphonse is an immigrant handyman who has a quality that invites people to tell him their life stories and involve him in their lives. Bizarre and interlinked scenarios follow one after another and are mixed with Alphonse’s private life, memories and relationships. It is a book of clever moments, but also of artificial moments that seem to be there to provide shock value. It is a book about compassion and kindness, but also of stories that feel forced. Annelies loves her characters and has a hard time letting go, dragging and filling the story a bit too much with too many narratives and people. And as with many long stories, ending them becomes difficult. In this case, the author opts for an unnecessary and unfulfilling ending – not as bad as “it was only a dream”, but not far off and nearly as absurd. This takes the sharpness away from the story. But the author can be commended for her very detailed way of writing, which probably is supposed to mimic real life. Also admirable is her extensive research of the area, history, colonialism, music and plastering – among other things. 

My next Belgian book is intended to be from Wallonia but instead I decide to read War and Turpentine (2013) by Stefan Hertmans, as it has been hailed as the best Belgian book of recent times. So another Flemish author it is. Stefan is a writer and academic and considered an intellectual in Belgium. The book is based on the memories of Stefan’s grandfather – of his childhood and the war, sketched in notebooks that the grandfather left for Stefan. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize and won the AKO Literature Prize (2014), the Golden Book Owl Audience Award and the ECI Literatuurprijs.

It is a very different book from Annelie’s Thirty Days. While Annelie’s book was raw, contemporary and descriptive of various human bodily functions, Stefan’s book has a more conservative style. It is meticulous, poetic, sometimes old fashioned, but always thoroughly researched. It is partly a memoir and partly a reconstruction of the past by the studious Stefan, who mixes the information from the notebooks with some fiction, some historical and cultural facts, and much love for his grandfather. Written in three quite different parts, it is an interesting yet uneven read, as the storyline jumps back and forth in time, making the text disjointed. The first and third parts are Stefan writing, whereas the second part is given to the voice of the grandfather, Urbain Martien, told in first person when he is sent to the front at the age of 23. 

The second part has been hailed as the most important and meaningful one as it depicts the absolute horrors of war in first person in an honest, brutal and authentic way. I personally find the first part, the nearly Dickensian depiction of the life of the poor at the turn of the century in Ghent, more fascinating. The efforts of Urbain’s stoic and self-sacrificing mother, and her struggles to support her own and others’ children, an ailing painter husband and the growing up of young Urbain. When Urbain returns from war as a wounded hero (part 3), the Spanish Flu – the world pandemic that claimed 110 million lives worldwide – destroys his hope and the solace that Urbain found in his post-war life. The result is a loveless marriage. Stefan’s mother – Urbain’s only child – bears the name of the dead fiancé whose shadow never leaves the house. 

It is an amazingly well-written book. Stefan’s command of language and his poetic way of writing shines through, even when translated. If it were not so well crafted, the unevenness of the story would not hold together. It is a forensic examination of the past and Stefan’s quest to understand the old man, who found his peace in painting.

The Belgian writing scene is mainly dominated by Flemish writers and, as you will see below, the movie industry is more focused in Wallonia. For a Wallon author, I decide on Amélie Nothomb. She is a child of Belgian diplomats and her privileged life brought her to several countries from Japan to New York, and several places in between. She did not live in Belgium until the age of 17.

I choose to read Métaphysique des tubes (2000). Not available in English, I choose to read it in the original language. It narrates the childhood of the author in Japan, from a baby to three years old, with black humour. When the child is born, she already has two older siblings, so when the doctors tell her parents that they are worried that the child is a passive “vegetative tube”, the parents are overjoyed to have a vegetable as a child and start calling her “the Plant”. She does not move until she turns 2. It’s light, short, hilarious, brilliant at times and certainly unusual. It’s nothing too serious or too metaphysical – a bit like a light literature snack. 

The Belgian movie festival 

How to decide which movie to watch from all the options? Well, you find around ten from ‘the best Belgian movies’ lists and talk to your Belgian friends – and then you cross-check their recommendations with the lists and come up with a selection. These include Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels (1975); L’enfant (2005); The Memory of a Killer (2003); Anyway the Wind blows (2003); The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012); The Kid with a Bike (2011); Toto the Hero (1991); Rosetta (1999); Two Days, One Night (2014) and Man Bites Dog (1992). In the end, we decide to watch six movies from this list. 

Belgian cinema would probably not be the same without the Dardenne Brothers – Jean-Pierre and Luc – who direct, produce and write scripts together. They have won the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or twice (Rosetta in 1999, l’Enfant in 2005) and the Grand Prix once (the Kid with the bike in 2011). Their movies have been nominated for several other international awards. The movies portray realistic working-class realities from unemployment to immigration. The ‘best of Belgian movies’ lists are dominated by their cinema, especially the aforementioned Cannes winners but also la Promesse (1996), le Fils (2002), Lorna’s silence (2008) and the highly awarded Two Days, One Night (2014).

Two days one night (2014) by the Dardenne brothers is an amazing movie. The centre of the movie is the powerhouse performance from an unbelievably stellar Marion Cotillard, which makes the movie not only feel real but carries it despite the very slow beginning. It is a movie that builds up slowly to its very fulfilling ending. At the start of the movie, JK, L (16) and I were a bit uncertain about where it was going and not fully understanding the hype, but it is a movie that grows into you and concludes in a very satisfactory way. It is not a ‘feel-good’ movie; it is a very real movie about real life – a simple, believable story and brilliant in its portrayal of the diversity of human behaviour when faced with a moral dilemma. 

Another movie on the list by the brothers is L’enfant (2005, Child). A Cannes winner, it is about a young unemployed couple with a baby. The father decides to sell the baby on the black market and unsettling tragedies follow. It is another highly impactful movie from the directors. It is highly regarded and is interesting, for sure. The difficulty comes from feeling empathy for someone who would do such a thing. 

We continue the Darnenne Film Festival with a Kid with a bike (2011) – another of the highly acclaimed movies and another Cannes winner. It deals with abandonment and good intentions. We have the same problem as with L’enfant – it is difficult to connect emotionally even if you feel for the abandoned child, rejected by his only living parent. Something about the movie feels distant – more like an observation rather than emotional engagement. 

The Flemish movie on the list, The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012) by Felix van Groeningen, is a sad story about the death of a child and the effects on her bohemian musician parents who grieve in very different ways. Beautifully shot with music that carries the story, it is a melancholic tale that moves from love to loss, from happiness to despair. It jumps back and forth in time – an idyllic, music-filled past, shot in warm colours and a devastating present in a cold, blueish tone. It is effective, touching and intense in its storytelling, albeit being way too long for what it wants to express. 

The one on every ‘best of Belgium’ list is Man Bites Dog (1992) by three friends who wrote the script, produced, directed and acted in. It’s a movie that put Belgian cinema on the world map. Marketed as a black comedy, it is about a documentary crew following a serial killer. It is a polarising effort, touching on the boundaries of filmmaking. Greatly admired by the king of gratuitous violence, Quentin Tarantino, it is a movie for some audiences and not for others. Eclectic and novel at the time, now I find the movie appalling and disturbing without any real target or meaning. It is a movie that is a product of its time. It was considered ground-breaking and inspired a series of movies in the same genre. As we watch it now, after decades of school shootings and other public actions of violence, it simmers down into something repugnant, abhorrent and ugly, and we are glad that it was banned in several countries.    

We decide to add a kids’ movie on the list, Kirikou and the Sorceress (2000). It’s an animated movie based on West African tales. It’s a story about courageous Kiriku, who saves the day. The aesthetics are basic but the story itself is sweet. 

The Belgian movie marathon would not be complete without the “best movie in history” – Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai de Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. Recently chosen by Sight and Sound as the best movie ever made and directed by Chantal Akerman, it is a fascinating but incredibly long portrait of a housewife living a monotonous routine-filled lifeless life. It has been hailed for its slow cinema approach, understatement, real time filming and a detailed depiction of one woman’s life. But it is also slow and long, and as much as one can understand the value of the slow pace and long shots, it also feels very long. 

Music

Our favourite Belgian artist by far is Stromae, a singer and rapper whose song Alors on Dance was a hit in Europe. Our favourite song from him is his global hit, Papaoutai (that L studied in a high school French class). It was the highest viewed French-language youtube video until August 2023, and the 2^nd French-language youtube video to pass 1 billion views (2023). The song is about absent fathers. Stromae’s own father was killed in the Rwanda genocide, but had not been a big part of his life before that.

Tout le monde sait comment on fait des bébés; mais personne ne sait comment on fait des papas

Stromae stopped performing in 2015 due to anxiety as a side-effect of anti-malaria medication. He returned to the stage in 2022. He sings Santé and an impactful L’Enfer, inspired by his battle with depression and anxiety. 

As for other Belgian music stars, Salvatore Adamo is the best selling Belgian artist of all time. One of the most well known musicians outside Belgium is Jacques Brel (whose most famous song is No me quitte pas). Other superstars are the angel-voiced Lara Fabian, 80s/90s band Vaya con Dios and to a lesser extent, Maurane. 

The fastest growing star is Niviro (real name Tim Peeters) who dominates the dance music scene with videogame-type music or the freedom rave . Other Belgian contemporary music stars are DJ Jerro and Berre. 

Next stop: Belize 

thank you JK for editing