What do you think of when you hear : Belgium ?
any specific Products? people? Culture? Art? Travel Sites?
Good Answers (3)
Pierre K
Pre-Sales Engineering Consultant for IP Performance Ltd
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People:
Generally very pleasant and friendly, yet strangely divided for such a small geography and such a small population.
- Rubens
- Brueghels
- Hergé (Georges Remi)
- Georges Simenon
- Audrey Hepburn (swoon)
- Jean-Claude Van Damme (wooden plank)
- and Marc Dutroux :-(
Culture:
- TinTin
- Hercule Poirot
- The Smurfs
- The Flemish School of painting
- Architecture
Food & Drink:
- Moules et Frites
- Steak
- The best pizza outside Italy (esp. Calzone)
- Beers (Duvel, Kriek, Kwak, and lesserly, Jupiler and Stella Artois)
- Chocolates
- Waffles
Travel Sites:
- Brussels/Bruxelles: Le Grand Place, Mannekin Pis, Christmas markets, The Atomium, European Commission, NATO...
- Bruges
- Antwerp - Diamonds
- Liege
Products? No, I can't think of any, apart from the implied ones (above) of chocolate, beer, comics and, of course, bureaucracy)...
This is probably a very stereotypical response...
Cheers,
--
Pierre
(English, but part-Breton)
Jean-Paul G
Consulting in Enterprise Software
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- Only serious defeat of Julius Cesar in Gauls.
- Brthplave of Charles V
- Towns and burgers freedom
- Industrial revolution starts on the European continent
- Breughel, Rubens, Magritte, Delvaux, many others
- Cultural clashes exploited by politicians
- Capital of Europe, founder country
- Battlefield of Europe
- Unruly
Francis L
International Consultant, Trainer, Coach, Contractor
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Hello Philippe,
Thank you very much for this question.
All too often, when dropping the word "Belgium" in any kind of conversation, respondents & by-standers have a tendency to ply their face into a puzzled Thomson & Thompson question mark, utter an enigmatic "wheuh???", raise their brows into a pair of dislocated kilimandjaros on the virgin prairie of their forehead, and keep silent after that.
As to me, when browsing through the answers of my colleague contributors so far, I couldn't help but smile.
Wryly, maybe.
In a Magritte way, maybe (Ceci n'est pas un sourire).
But, somewhere, a smile, there certainly was.
Hey, wait a minute.
Browse through the above answers again.
And ask yourself:
Are we really collecting mere stereotypes here?
I know that Geert Hofstede has defined "culture" as "the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one category of people from another".
I also know that Edward Said has shown how this programming works both ways, where the programming from outside reshapes and redefines the programming from inside - thus creating a lopsided concept of cultural identity, having a real-live impact on the "culture" itself.
I know all that.
But do we really need to keep contributing to this perniciously persistent mechanism of collective programming?
Would we not better drop the stereotypes?
Altogether, I mean?
And try to engender some genuine insight?
Through genuine interest?
Just as a stepping stone towards a creative intercultural and intergeographical understanding, here is an extract from Richard Lewis (When Cultures Collide: Leading across Cultures, London-Boston 2006):
"In spite of her smallness, Belgium has the 19th biggest economy in the world, ahead of such countries as Sweden, Austria, Turkey, Denmark and South Africa, not to mention Asian tigers such as Hong Kong and Signapore.
"Belgium's output almost equals that of exporting powerhouse Taiwan, which has twice her population.
"In GDP per capita, Belgium runs 21st in the world."
And shall we go on, for a while?
Or shall we leave it that, for now?
Kind regards,
Francis Laleman
Business Consultant/Trainer/Coach
Links:
Francis L also suggests this expert on this topic:
More Answers (27)
Illona C
Information Technology and Services Professional, Technical Writer, Business Analyst
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Chocolate.
Brussels.
Old world.
Travel.
James M. K
Registered Professional Architect at James Koenig Architecture LLC
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Philippe,
Waffles.
Jamie
Flyn P
LI Netwowking Expert ► SEO & Social Marketing Expert ► Inside Sales Guru ►Author ►Please connect on LI, Twitter
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Stamps...
When I was a kid I collected stamps and I remember their stamps!
The obvious -- beer. Some years ago I was a recognized beer judge. I spent two weeks there tasting more than a hundred different beers (note: I tasted them -- did not drink an entire serving of each) in the course of my visit so I would be better equipped to judge Belgian-style beers.
The range and quality of Belgian beer is just fabulous! At least at the time I was there it had the added advantage of being cheaper to order at a cafe than either Coke or coffee.
Anna P
Program Development and Management
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The Grand Place, good food, chocolate and beer, Pis Manekin.
I met relatives near Hasselt, and that was a great experience. They are from the Dutch/Flemish border originally. I lived in Holland and call myself Dutch rather than Flemish.
I also remember when I was on a train and didn't have the right paperwork and some nasty littlle conductor raked me over the coals. I had to pay $80 to get my passport back. THAT I remember.
Hercule Poirot.
And "Asterix in Belgium".
Also, chocolates.
*smiles*
Whenever I hear 'Belgium', first thing come in my mind is: 'Traditional European buildings', second thing: 'Brussels', third : 'Kim Clijsters, tennis champ', fourth: 'chocolates'..
cheers,
Adit
René S
sales something at DEGOTECH ZONNE ENERGIE
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my beloved 'neighours' as I live 3 miles from the border...
beer
chocolate
great food
knokke
gouvernemental chaos
Beer
Chocolate
Waffles
Manneken pis
Atomium
European Commission
A country that would normally not exist
Culturally very vivid
Music scene
the EU institutions
Peter S
Entry and Exit Strategist
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Smurfs.
Tin Tin
Crossing point for Europe.
Land of the Europe burocrats.
Flavia S
Manager Product Evaluation
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Godiva chocolate
EU
Sea food and shells
Beer
Bruges
Claude R
Performing art expert (music, drama, puppetry...). LION, Open-networker ...
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Des frites..."une fois" (french fries... "once")
A lots of jokes about French (who reciprocate passed the frontier)
Flemish painters
The comic hero "Tintin", the smurfs (les stroumpf)...
The singers Jacques Brel, Johnny Haliday...
French language,
and so much more
Guido S
Entrepreneur.
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Jacques Brel singing:" Ne me quitte pas'.
Les frittes, la bierre, les pralines de chocolat.
The women of Rubens, the paintings of Bruegel the Elder,,,
Bruxelles, the capital of EU.
Ralph T
Entrepreneur, photographer, bookman, traveller
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EU
chocolate
the highest concentration of a variety of ethnic restaurants anywhere, outside of Melbourne possibly :)
Have a great weekend
RT
Chocolate
Biscuits
Beer
European union
Chocolate, waffles and fruity flavoured beer.
Mussels
Chocolate
Beer
Antwerp/diamonds
Brussels/Grand Place
Easy-going
Compact/small country
Eddy Merckx.
Sandie W
Senior Tax Manager at Ernst & Young
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Mussels, Chocolate, the EU Parliment tour (which I missed), Waffles, and romantic city of Brugges.
Ray M
Energy expert, educator, award winning sculptor
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Waffles, chocolate, "French fries"
Haim T
Technology Entrepreneur and Consultant
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Cycling, excellent food and beer, Justine Henin, classy women.
Christopher R
Principal at Energy Pathfinder Management Consulting
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Battle of the Bulge, The Ardennes Forest, December 1944.
I realize there's a LOT I'm missing.
Brian S
Artisan Business Group CEO/China Consultant/Public Speaker/EB5 Marketing Expert
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the anti Chinese EU politicians
Links:
Martin K
International Hotelier
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- Jacques Brel
- Hercule Poirot
- The Atomium
- A Thai Restaurant called "The Green Parot" a friend of mine took me to many moons ago in Brussels
- Flat landscapes and motorways that, seemingly, seem to have lights every 50 metres
- Art Deco/Art Nouveau
In order of importance -
Chocolates
Waffles
Diamond Trading (I suppose that has to do with the fact that I live in Bombay and a lot of Diamond traders have offices/family there)
Beer
EU & related bureaucracy
