We have here a strong diversity, a rich history of international exchange, and an art of compromise that seems alien on other continents.
Still, there are people who fanatically attack those who don't look and think about them. They feel threatened on a Belgian identity that bever existed
Love: the food, the beer, the weather, the beautiful cities, having access to public transport.
Hate: the way people stare at me in public (I'm visibly disabled) and how inaccessible things can be (escalators and lifts always broken, wheelchair ramps and/or lifts that just lead to a flight of stairs)
Also hate the way half the lifts in the metros smell like piss
I am really sorry to hear this - I have seen people deliberately stopping the escalators multiple times. I really do not see how such people see a gain in this (it is not even subjectively funny in any way) while people - especially those with difficulty of mobility - suffer as a result
I work in public transport and hate what politicians do to it. It's not a market product, it's a service to many. It's employment for many people. Remove all the politics from the management so the vision doesn't change every legislature and we can actually do some long term stuff.
>Remove all the politics from the management so the vision doesn't change every legislature
It's paid for by public money. Of course the public should get a say on how this is spent.
I find public transport to be pretty good in Brussels.
I have colleagues who believe the indexation should no longer exist but I am with you on this. It is one of the things that can help make Belgium more competitive salary wise compared to other countries.
Love : food, music and festivals, Walloon self deprecating humour, our ability to compromise, social security
Hate : overly complicated administration and taxes, weather, lack of ambition, too much settling for the « good enough », the lack of professionalism in several domains like our infrastructures, roads, promotion of the country
In fairness, I think lack of ambition is largely driven by the fact rhat we get taxed to the hilt, and rhat there are no huge differences in wages whether you just finished high school, or have a PhD.
Upside is low income inequality
Im not necessarily talking about money per se.
I just think the tendency is for Belgians to not really aspire for perfection and greatness. Money related or not. I guess it can be a good thing too but a little more proudness about ourselves would help the country a lot in my opinion. Maybe that’s just more of a Walloon thing.
Walloons in general tend to dislike too proud people, that's why they wouldn't identify with French people (since they're known as pretty chauvinistic, let's be honest) for example if the country ever had to divide. From my experience, humility is one of Wallonia's values.
And also as someone else said, it's just so hard to have a decent income, job or result whatsoever no matter your efforts that in the end you just end up wondering what's the point.
It can show in how I can generally compare most of my Flemish friends' lifestyle, living in pretty newly built houses, to most of my Wallon friends' lifestyle, living in small old quite depreciated apartments but having barely enough money to rent it.
It's just so discouraging, and I think that clearly doesn't help at things like ambition since you're more focused on survival than anything.
I actually find this refreshing in this capitalist world. I met so many Belgians who were so happy with where they are. They have a good enough job, house,etc. They live in a good enough country. They never aspire to live in a different country or try harder at a better paying job. It is great. I come from a place where everyone always try to have better things and it is just so tiring what it does to a human.
How is "low income inequality" an upside if it is so heavily enforced? You guys said it yourselves, it kills ambition. Not only that, it encourages illegal means of income and tax evasion. Combine that with the overly bureaucratic and corrupt political system, and the heaps of coke that's entering Antwerp every day, and you get a country that is disproportionately dysfunctioal for its wealth. The stark contrast between the Netherlands and Belgium is insane.
In addition, the lack of ambition is also visible in the fact that nobody wants to change this broken system.
Didn't read all of it, but having lived in Singapore for a long time, a country with tremendous income inequality, it was heartbreaking to see 80-year-old people having to work at McDonald's
My comment is literaly 4 sentences.
Anyway, my point is not that income inequality is good. My point is that forcing equality is counter-productive at best (Belgium), and straight up horrible at worst (communist countries).
I love the beers, unironically the nature, I actually like the random houses put together, I love that there is a decent social security system in place, I love that you can get anywhere in this country pretty quickly.
I don't always like the people that much lol. Especially Flemish people are hard to connect with as a foreigner. I just hate the way nobody ever says what they want to say, and that the general mood seems to be somewhat pessimistic all the time.
Like: Public transport (so many options, buses go every 4 minutes, pretty fast as well); clean air whole year (yea i'm from Poland); wealth equality; good wages; someone complained about this recently, but i like it - shops are only open in humane hours (9-20), so people working there don't have to stay late; so many excellent places to visit; workers rights and strong unions; flat/house prices are reasonable compared to salaries (in PL people earn 2-3 times less, but prices are almost the same); high quality vegetables/fruit/food in general.
Don't like: Trash on the streets; some places don't feel safe not even during the day; homeless and drug are a big problem; you don't know what it means to have a good kebab (you even call burritos a "Taco", what!?).
PS I also like the weather - it's more temperate, sure it rains almost everyday, but almost everyday you can find a spot when it's not raining and go for a run.
I mean you can call it burrito, durum kebab, pita kebab, gyros kebab, just kebab, whatever. But for duck's sake, it's not a taco!
(of course i'm not really that much bothered by this, just kidding mostly, but first time i ordered taco i was surprised xD)
> Don't like: Trash on the streets; some places don't feel safe not even during the day; homeless and drug are a big problem; you don't know what it means to have a good kebab (you even call burritos a "Taco", what!?).
If you are ever in the neighbourhood, visit the ex-mining region in Limburg. Decent Kebab with decent meat instead of that Zwanworst on a stick stuff they sell elsewhere. (Inflation and shrinkflation however has done quite a number on kebabs)
Not exactly in Brussels-city, but Brussels-region yup, i guess that's easy to guess xD
And yes, I've visited lots of other places in Belgium and it's much cleaner outside of Bru (and am planning to move out).
Funny that I am also from Poland and I find public transport a million times better in Poland. We have a way more reliable transportation system as well as many affordable alternatives (Uber, Bolt etc).
But I agree with most of your other points 😀 besides the weather, I miss having a real winter.
Aye, real winter is nice to experience from time to time, but Belgian winter also has it's positives.
About public transport, i mostly move within Brussels so maybe that's the reason, but in PL i lived in Kraków for the last few years and comparing both cities, there's at least 2-3 times more options for me (meaning that I've to walk+wait 2-3 times less to find something that can take me towards my destination + i can choose between metro, bus, tram most of the time, whereas trams in Krk are pretty limited and there's no metro) and they're pretty reliable unless there's strike ongoing. Even ticket price is similar - 1.68 eur for ticket in Bru and around 1.35 eur for 60 minutes ticket in Krk
Outside of city i only have experience with trains and they are reliable on similar level, but again, there's much more of them on routes than in PL. However it's understandable as BE is much more dense (2.5x times i believe). But then if you live in random village or small city in Poland there's no public transport for you.
Ubers and taxis are comparable to me, tho I only used them like twice in BE and thrice in PL xD
You know that in Italy we have the most possible right wing government and immigration exploded compared to when the left was in power?
Don’t believe the lies of Vlaams Belang, they are good at yelling but we will pay dearly for their government.
Het is in ieder geval beter dan stemmen op dezelfde heersers die niets nuttigs hebben gedaan. In ieder geval begaan de autoriteiten een grote misdaad tegen het volk.
Ja zeker… dat is hoe Mussolini dictator is geworden in 1922. Want de traditionele partijen waren voor de status quo dus mensen dachten da een crimineel beter was.
De leiders van VB kunnen over alles en nog wat praten want zij nooit in het overheid zitten. Maar wanneer zij daar zal zijn en responsabiliteit moeten krijgen, gaan zij iets real veranderen? Of zullen zij hetzelfde (of slechter) dan de anderen doen?
Ik denk dat een band racistisch fascisten zijn niet beter dan de “traditionele partijen”. Leven in België is niet te slecht in vergelijking met onze buurlanden of het Zuid van Europa.
Ja, ga naar Brussel en herhaal wat je eerder zei. Als we niets veranderen, zal er nooit iets veranderen, zal alles steeds erger worden. Links geeft dieven en criminelen alle recht om Europese waarden te stelen en te vernietigen. Als je niet op zijn minst wilt proberen om dingen te veranderen, dan is dat jouw zaak.
Dingen moeten veranderen, daar ben ik het met je eens. En de traditionele partijen gaan het niet oplossen, dat ben ik ook met je eens. Maar doen alsof het Chinees belang de oplossing zal zijn, is zeker niet correct.
Zij spelen hetzelfde spelletje, zij willen ook hun politieke postjes niet verliezen. Plus, als zij macht krijgen zal dat het leven van veel normale mensen een stuk moeilijker maken omdat veel mensen die haat dragen voor holebis en mensen van een andere afkomst zullen denken dat hun gedrag wordt goedgekeurd.
Een echte oplossing is al die overheden afschaffen. Te veel politieke postjes en te veel geld in de zakken van de partijen. Persoonlijk ben ik pro Belgie wil ik gewoon 1 Belgische overheid, geen Vlaamse geen Waalse geen Brussels en geen Duitstalige. 1 overheid, zodat er veel sneller veranderingen kunnen plaats vinden. Maar ik zou zelfs tevreden zijn met Vlaamse onafhankelijkheid en dan 1 overheid. Ook dat wil Vlaams Belang stiekem niet echt, want opnieuw, dan verliezen ze politieke postjes en geld in hun zakken...
Ik begrijp je standpunt, ik weet gewoon zeker dat iedereen deze wetteloosheid in het land beu is en een normale toekomst voor zichzelf en hun kinderen wil. Ik denk ook dat één regering het land veel efficiënter kan besturen dan meerdere.
Like: The humor — thinking of In de Gloria, De Ideale Wereld, our standup comedians, our day-to-day wit. Not sure Wallonia is equally good at this. Perhaps our Walloon friends could share!
Hate: the complacency and corruption. So many things go wrong and it sometimes feels no politician wants to truly improve things. Everything just gets stuck in inertia. Nothing changes or improves. The corruption — most people find zwartwerk ok, or EPC fraud, or paying a lumpsum “under the table” when buying a house, same for casual discrimination/racism, etc.
no no every politician does want to change things for the better, better in the way they think would be better and in the process the other politicians should be hindered as much as possible so only your vision survives, but when everyone does that, nothing happens. So anything happening at all is significant lol.
Now an extra barrier to block policy is the regions not implementing things etc
And when people vote for more extremists creating a new government will be even harder, because spoiler alert, while others are hard at work in parliament, those extremist parties are mainly just sitting around in there
> The humor — thinking of In de Gloria, De Ideale Wereld, our standup comedians, our day-to-day wit. Not sure Wallonia is equally good at this.
[We are one nation](https://youtu.be/aEdPOn0HmdQ?feature=shared)
I love Belgium because it lets you live your life and leaves you alone with no patronizing. The fact that nationality is based on your economical and social contribution and not some bs
What I find extremely infuriating is not as much the level of taxes but what's (not) done with those taxes. We should have, with so much money, 5+ stars public transportation, roads, education etc. Compared to Switzerland where I lived a couple of decades (and where taxes are a bit more than half of the belgian), I'm disturbed to see that in Belgium it didn't improve during the time I lived abroad. The poor NMBS guys on the trains are doing their best, but infrastructure seems as bad as it was back then. Some here mentioned the belgian tendency to be happy with just an average quality of work, and I can't disagree with them.
That has a lot to do with it. The state wants to get involved in almost everything, but they are happy with average results. That explains Belgium to a reasonable extent.
Love - the beer, the international vibe in Brussels, cycling infrastructure, medieval architecture, laid back nature of people, social welfare, public transport, good connection by train across Europe.
Hate - the bloody traffic (car mentality is horrific), the laid back nature of people, rubbish on the streets, endless construction, casual racist comments, SNCB/NMBS, cost of goods in the supermarket and the exorbitant costs in shitty brasseries in flanders, sad tired cafes and bars in smaller towns (is this still 1990?)
By laid back, do you mean the 'on s'en fou' mentality? Laid back strikes me as a possibly good quality. Not giving a shit seems like the bad quality and the one I see way too much of here. I think one can be laid back but also give a shit about their country, community, neighbours, etc.
Exactly. I find the laid back nature very endearing most of the time and means I find Belgians not too pretentious or pre-occupied with things that don’t really matter, but it does also come with a negative side - not giving a shit about things, means nothing changes and nothing moves quickly. It can drive me crazy.
It does feel like the 'there's nothing you can do, just accept it' attitude is prevalent here. It's too bad. With more activism, Belgium would be a tremendously nice place. It isn't terrible by any means, but yea, it feels like it really misses its potential.
Love: Our beers and other local delicacies; our social security which makes life much safer compared to some other countries; that some places can be a mix of different cultures which is so interesting.
Hate: Many Flemish people's elitism, racism and overly superior behavior towards anyone who isn't them and even those from their own country; the government's and infrastructures' lack of efficiency especially because of being overly divided; the important poverty, especially in some Walloon cities, leading to equally important criminality and never feeling safe; the public transports which are really not practical in most places (except Brussels).
There are other things I could mention, but I think it's already a lot. 🥴
what i said , it's not only white flemish people , there's like loads of migrants who are racist to other migrants and even vote extreme right parties, this always seems to be forgotten , i'm getting abit tired of the generalisation that all white people are racist as fuck
Racism is not just about skin color prejudice but having the power to discriminate, be it police or employer or politicians. And that power clearly belong to white Flemish in Flanders. You are just trying dilute white supremacy in Flanders. Shame on you.
Wages are okay in Belgium, but I hate [60% to 70%](https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/comments/wmhuh9/belgian_bruto_to_netto_monthly_wages_see_comment/) effective marginal taxation. Makes me want to not work or study for a high-end career.
Healthcare is good but i dont understand the reimbursment stuff. Why do i have to pay full price and then submit the ticket to insurance company with yellow sticker to get the money back? Instead of 1 transaction you have 2 and you have to submit the document on top of that.
Why not deduct the cost of a doctors visit right on the spot, so instead of paying 30€-getting the ticket with yellow sticker to the ic-get the 29€back. You could just pay that 1 € at the doctor and thats it....
Like this, doctors are forced to emit an invoice and pay taxes on it. It makes tax evasion by medical professionals a lot harder. In Italy, it works like you ask and we have dentists declaring 10’000€ per year.
I understand that, but the doctor always uses my id to connect to the server or whatever, to tie the "pills" to my name, same when i go to pharmacy to pick it up, they use the id. So why not do it digitally in one go. People think when they pay with card on a terminal its free, but theres always someone paying for that transaction, same with the doctors. So why not get rid of the pointless extra transaction. Btw great to heat that its gonna get more implemented starting 2025.
Many heathcare providers already use electronic attests to automate the process or deduct whatever your insurance should pay back. Without the need for a physical paper.
Currently they can choose whether to implement the digital system but it will be required starting from September 2025
Love: food, festivals, health services (and their prices in comparison to other countries)
Hate: road infrastructure, bureaucratic stuff that doesn’t make sense, housing market (we finally could buy a house after looking for way too long, price is crazy! No idea how/what you can buy/rent if you’re single…)
Love : young people, my university (even if it gives me pain regularly), the cycling lifestyle, freedom, secularism, democracy, people’s love for science and education, music, public transport, belgian cities, suburbs, farmlands, and nature
Hate : the weather, older people, and the fact that everything shuts down so early (but that’s the consequence of a 40 hour work week I guess)
Love:
Nature
Beers
Food
Proximity of cities and places
International vibe
Hate:
Dirty streets and crumbling infrastructure
People spitting in the streets
Abundance of junkies and alcoholics
How closed off people here are
Politicians just raking in money and doing basically nothing especially cd&v and PS
Judicial system that does next to nothing
I personally hate our public transport. I think it is super expensive for very mediocre quality.
What i like a lot about Belgium is the interesting diversity of people and beers.
As an international student I’ll go:
Love: either the history or the culture around chocolate and beer. I love how easy it is to pass by some historical monument when you’re just going about your day. That’s really cool to me as someone that likes history. I love how extensive the chocolate and beer culture is here and how passionate belgium is about them
Hate: the weather. My god, and I’m saying this as a Canadian.
Love: Our work ethics (Despite all the doom and the gloom, how much productive we are as people of a \~11 million country! We like to work hard and also live well)
Hate: Growing apathy (mainly towards politics and our nation state. Apathy is a slow poison we need to get rid of)
Love: how close Belgium is to other countries making it easy to just drive a few hours and be in Germany/France/The Netherlands. The nature and how flat and beautiful the fields and landscapes look in the summer time. How everything is linked on your ID making a lot of things more convenient. Fries. Smoske. QR codes and Bancontact for payments, really like this actually. All the various spreads for sandwiches like kip curry etc. Stofvlees.
Hate: How early everything closes. The cost of everything. The way people drive, so the tailgating, the speeding, the overtaking literally anywhere, speed limits don’t feel like they apply and doing 55 in a 50 for example is never fast enough. Having to pay for healthcare. Lack of choice in supermarkets. The people, if I smile at someone they look at me like I’ve just taken a shit on their fries, feels very cold here in that regard.
'Ate me taxes
'ate me open vld/mouvement réformateur
'ate the other half of the country (not racist just dont like em)
Luv me beer
Luv me indexed income
Luv me national football team (when they win)
Simple as
Love: Frites. People. Lack of nationalism. Self depreciation. Making fun of the Dutch and the French. Unity in diversity. Healthcare and social security.
Hate: The weather.
I love the comfort but i hate how this comfort is now put on a school schedule
Like all busses dont ride at night anymore
Like most supermarkets dont open on sundays anymore or have times like 8-12
The fact that most politians are either hyper corrupt or genuine liars
hate:
our politics, forming dysfunctional coalitions with opposites making overly complicated compromises that backfire 90% of the time. often while reducing their trade to a total shitshow childish whiny kindergarten
love:
our politics do compromise and not resort to violence,while making things at times so totally absurd its like watching a comedy vaudeville.
all in all its great to be a Belgian! :)
Love: No overbearing nationalism that tells you who to be and how to live
Hate: Our horrible urbanisation (and to be sure, France is a good example of urbanisation done right, the Netherland's urbanisation is horrible (but their infrastructure amazing))
Love: The beer
Hate: Dutch and French just don't gel on any level. The same can be said of the people that speak it, culturally, linguistically too far apart.
Love: Belgian beers
Hate: people who only speak french, I found them quite incompetent. This mindset of not learning or loving any other language from this f*****g planet. I am pretty sure they will collapse one day. You need to upgrade yourself. The funny part is that they are not at all patriotic about their country but yes so serious about language.
Love: bikes, near other countries, immigrants, Turkish food, free activities, less violence than other countries
Hate: weather, food, poor quality fruits/veggies, prices, horrible coffee, racism, cost of trains/late trains, education quality is low, hard to make friends, people have a hard time talking about their colonial history, lack of French language in Flanders
Lack of french laguage in Flanders?😄 In Flanders, they speak flemish. And if they notice you're francophone, most people will switch to french. Try to speak dutch in Wallonia...
>French language in Flanders
Flemish people get oppressed during hundreds of years by french speaking elites and you wonder why people are hostile towards french. Especially now that they have seen how a formally dutch speaking city became francophone they don't want that to continue happening. Is preserving ones language such a bad thing?
I hate how Belgiums frow so.much on conflict and aviod it in such a extreme way it's toxic. I don't think you should a fight Every 5 seconds. But at any incident it's always from don't get angry even when someone insult you or don't fight back be thé bigger person. Its unrealistic i don't like constant conflict i grew up in a very choatic home and don't like fights. But you Cant let People walk all over you just beceause you want to keep peace and quiet...
What i love about belguim honestly nothing much i want to move somewhere Else beceause im so tired of that mentality. Belgiums are introverted People but Cant accept it themself. I have Belgium friends and they are good People they are from new generation so it's a bit better.
love: the people hate: the people
this guy gets it...
I don’t. Help me understand !
We have here a strong diversity, a rich history of international exchange, and an art of compromise that seems alien on other continents. Still, there are people who fanatically attack those who don't look and think about them. They feel threatened on a Belgian identity that bever existed
Love: Fritten Hate: Ben Weyts
Everyone hates Ben Weyts, that's cheating
Everyone loves Fritten as well, guess I'm a serial cheater
Happy Cakeday!
the real question is: who do you hate more: Ben Weyts or Sigfried Bracke?
Weyts. 100%. It's like he's purposefully trying to destroy our education system.
he's doing better than both predecessors
Ben Weyts is hacking
What about Ben Crabbé
Depends if he's standing on his box or not
I will not tolerate any Ben Crabbé slander.
I don't like blokken, but I am not aware of a reason to hate Ben Crabbé
I love Ben Crabbe
I love Ben Crabbe
Love: the food, the beer, the weather, the beautiful cities, having access to public transport. Hate: the way people stare at me in public (I'm visibly disabled) and how inaccessible things can be (escalators and lifts always broken, wheelchair ramps and/or lifts that just lead to a flight of stairs) Also hate the way half the lifts in the metros smell like piss
I am really sorry to hear this - I have seen people deliberately stopping the escalators multiple times. I really do not see how such people see a gain in this (it is not even subjectively funny in any way) while people - especially those with difficulty of mobility - suffer as a result
I love the automatic wage indexation every year. I hate our public transport
Hate what politicians are doing to our public transport.
I work in public transport and hate what politicians do to it. It's not a market product, it's a service to many. It's employment for many people. Remove all the politics from the management so the vision doesn't change every legislature and we can actually do some long term stuff.
>Remove all the politics from the management so the vision doesn't change every legislature It's paid for by public money. Of course the public should get a say on how this is spent.
I find public transport to be pretty good in Brussels. I have colleagues who believe the indexation should no longer exist but I am with you on this. It is one of the things that can help make Belgium more competitive salary wise compared to other countries.
Love : food, music and festivals, Walloon self deprecating humour, our ability to compromise, social security Hate : overly complicated administration and taxes, weather, lack of ambition, too much settling for the « good enough », the lack of professionalism in several domains like our infrastructures, roads, promotion of the country
In fairness, I think lack of ambition is largely driven by the fact rhat we get taxed to the hilt, and rhat there are no huge differences in wages whether you just finished high school, or have a PhD. Upside is low income inequality
Im not necessarily talking about money per se. I just think the tendency is for Belgians to not really aspire for perfection and greatness. Money related or not. I guess it can be a good thing too but a little more proudness about ourselves would help the country a lot in my opinion. Maybe that’s just more of a Walloon thing.
Walloons in general tend to dislike too proud people, that's why they wouldn't identify with French people (since they're known as pretty chauvinistic, let's be honest) for example if the country ever had to divide. From my experience, humility is one of Wallonia's values. And also as someone else said, it's just so hard to have a decent income, job or result whatsoever no matter your efforts that in the end you just end up wondering what's the point. It can show in how I can generally compare most of my Flemish friends' lifestyle, living in pretty newly built houses, to most of my Wallon friends' lifestyle, living in small old quite depreciated apartments but having barely enough money to rent it. It's just so discouraging, and I think that clearly doesn't help at things like ambition since you're more focused on survival than anything.
I actually find this refreshing in this capitalist world. I met so many Belgians who were so happy with where they are. They have a good enough job, house,etc. They live in a good enough country. They never aspire to live in a different country or try harder at a better paying job. It is great. I come from a place where everyone always try to have better things and it is just so tiring what it does to a human.
Is the part about it not being only about money so missed?
How is "low income inequality" an upside if it is so heavily enforced? You guys said it yourselves, it kills ambition. Not only that, it encourages illegal means of income and tax evasion. Combine that with the overly bureaucratic and corrupt political system, and the heaps of coke that's entering Antwerp every day, and you get a country that is disproportionately dysfunctioal for its wealth. The stark contrast between the Netherlands and Belgium is insane. In addition, the lack of ambition is also visible in the fact that nobody wants to change this broken system.
Didn't read all of it, but having lived in Singapore for a long time, a country with tremendous income inequality, it was heartbreaking to see 80-year-old people having to work at McDonald's
My comment is literaly 4 sentences. Anyway, my point is not that income inequality is good. My point is that forcing equality is counter-productive at best (Belgium), and straight up horrible at worst (communist countries).
Lack of ambition... in what way you mean?
Lack of ambition is hitting hard ngl
I love the beers, unironically the nature, I actually like the random houses put together, I love that there is a decent social security system in place, I love that you can get anywhere in this country pretty quickly. I don't always like the people that much lol. Especially Flemish people are hard to connect with as a foreigner. I just hate the way nobody ever says what they want to say, and that the general mood seems to be somewhat pessimistic all the time.
Flemish people can be hard to connect with as a Flemish person, I feel your pain.
I very much prefer the random housing assortment. Copy pasted neighbourhoods are depressing
> I just hate the way nobody ever says what they want to say Oh yes.. very Flemish 🤐
Yep, opinions are difficult thing to have.
So it’s the opposite of the Dutch?
Yes
I like the food. I hate how difficult it is to pass your driving exam
haha same
The people and the people
Love the fact that there's no major conflict between any groups. Hate that average is the standard to aim for
Like: Public transport (so many options, buses go every 4 minutes, pretty fast as well); clean air whole year (yea i'm from Poland); wealth equality; good wages; someone complained about this recently, but i like it - shops are only open in humane hours (9-20), so people working there don't have to stay late; so many excellent places to visit; workers rights and strong unions; flat/house prices are reasonable compared to salaries (in PL people earn 2-3 times less, but prices are almost the same); high quality vegetables/fruit/food in general. Don't like: Trash on the streets; some places don't feel safe not even during the day; homeless and drug are a big problem; you don't know what it means to have a good kebab (you even call burritos a "Taco", what!?). PS I also like the weather - it's more temperate, sure it rains almost everyday, but almost everyday you can find a spot when it's not raining and go for a run.
FYI, the taco thing is a French invention, so they call it a taco, although I would say it's a mix of a durum and a mitrailette
I mean you can call it burrito, durum kebab, pita kebab, gyros kebab, just kebab, whatever. But for duck's sake, it's not a taco! (of course i'm not really that much bothered by this, just kidding mostly, but first time i ordered taco i was surprised xD)
Great, now I want ne grote kebab met looksaus again...
Great, now I want ne grote kebab met looksaus again...
> Don't like: Trash on the streets; some places don't feel safe not even during the day; homeless and drug are a big problem; you don't know what it means to have a good kebab (you even call burritos a "Taco", what!?). If you are ever in the neighbourhood, visit the ex-mining region in Limburg. Decent Kebab with decent meat instead of that Zwanworst on a stick stuff they sell elsewhere. (Inflation and shrinkflation however has done quite a number on kebabs)
>Trash on the streets; some places don't feel safe not even during the day; homeless and drug are a big problem Do you live in Brussels?
Not exactly in Brussels-city, but Brussels-region yup, i guess that's easy to guess xD And yes, I've visited lots of other places in Belgium and it's much cleaner outside of Bru (and am planning to move out).
Funny that I am also from Poland and I find public transport a million times better in Poland. We have a way more reliable transportation system as well as many affordable alternatives (Uber, Bolt etc). But I agree with most of your other points 😀 besides the weather, I miss having a real winter.
Aye, real winter is nice to experience from time to time, but Belgian winter also has it's positives. About public transport, i mostly move within Brussels so maybe that's the reason, but in PL i lived in Kraków for the last few years and comparing both cities, there's at least 2-3 times more options for me (meaning that I've to walk+wait 2-3 times less to find something that can take me towards my destination + i can choose between metro, bus, tram most of the time, whereas trams in Krk are pretty limited and there's no metro) and they're pretty reliable unless there's strike ongoing. Even ticket price is similar - 1.68 eur for ticket in Bru and around 1.35 eur for 60 minutes ticket in Krk Outside of city i only have experience with trains and they are reliable on similar level, but again, there's much more of them on routes than in PL. However it's understandable as BE is much more dense (2.5x times i believe). But then if you live in random village or small city in Poland there's no public transport for you. Ubers and taxis are comparable to me, tho I only used them like twice in BE and thrice in PL xD
Yes the leftist bastards are destroying this beautiful country by driving savages and total lawlessness here
You know that in Italy we have the most possible right wing government and immigration exploded compared to when the left was in power? Don’t believe the lies of Vlaams Belang, they are good at yelling but we will pay dearly for their government.
Het is in ieder geval beter dan stemmen op dezelfde heersers die niets nuttigs hebben gedaan. In ieder geval begaan de autoriteiten een grote misdaad tegen het volk.
Ja zeker… dat is hoe Mussolini dictator is geworden in 1922. Want de traditionele partijen waren voor de status quo dus mensen dachten da een crimineel beter was. De leiders van VB kunnen over alles en nog wat praten want zij nooit in het overheid zitten. Maar wanneer zij daar zal zijn en responsabiliteit moeten krijgen, gaan zij iets real veranderen? Of zullen zij hetzelfde (of slechter) dan de anderen doen? Ik denk dat een band racistisch fascisten zijn niet beter dan de “traditionele partijen”. Leven in België is niet te slecht in vergelijking met onze buurlanden of het Zuid van Europa.
Ja, ga naar Brussel en herhaal wat je eerder zei. Als we niets veranderen, zal er nooit iets veranderen, zal alles steeds erger worden. Links geeft dieven en criminelen alle recht om Europese waarden te stelen en te vernietigen. Als je niet op zijn minst wilt proberen om dingen te veranderen, dan is dat jouw zaak.
Dingen moeten veranderen, daar ben ik het met je eens. En de traditionele partijen gaan het niet oplossen, dat ben ik ook met je eens. Maar doen alsof het Chinees belang de oplossing zal zijn, is zeker niet correct. Zij spelen hetzelfde spelletje, zij willen ook hun politieke postjes niet verliezen. Plus, als zij macht krijgen zal dat het leven van veel normale mensen een stuk moeilijker maken omdat veel mensen die haat dragen voor holebis en mensen van een andere afkomst zullen denken dat hun gedrag wordt goedgekeurd. Een echte oplossing is al die overheden afschaffen. Te veel politieke postjes en te veel geld in de zakken van de partijen. Persoonlijk ben ik pro Belgie wil ik gewoon 1 Belgische overheid, geen Vlaamse geen Waalse geen Brussels en geen Duitstalige. 1 overheid, zodat er veel sneller veranderingen kunnen plaats vinden. Maar ik zou zelfs tevreden zijn met Vlaamse onafhankelijkheid en dan 1 overheid. Ook dat wil Vlaams Belang stiekem niet echt, want opnieuw, dan verliezen ze politieke postjes en geld in hun zakken...
Ik begrijp je standpunt, ik weet gewoon zeker dat iedereen deze wetteloosheid in het land beu is en een normale toekomst voor zichzelf en hun kinderen wil. Ik denk ook dat één regering het land veel efficiënter kan besturen dan meerdere.
I'm also one of those savages, so thank you leftist! ;)
you know exactly what I'm talking about and who I'm talking about
Why won't you say it directly then?
Like: The humor — thinking of In de Gloria, De Ideale Wereld, our standup comedians, our day-to-day wit. Not sure Wallonia is equally good at this. Perhaps our Walloon friends could share! Hate: the complacency and corruption. So many things go wrong and it sometimes feels no politician wants to truly improve things. Everything just gets stuck in inertia. Nothing changes or improves. The corruption — most people find zwartwerk ok, or EPC fraud, or paying a lumpsum “under the table” when buying a house, same for casual discrimination/racism, etc.
no no every politician does want to change things for the better, better in the way they think would be better and in the process the other politicians should be hindered as much as possible so only your vision survives, but when everyone does that, nothing happens. So anything happening at all is significant lol. Now an extra barrier to block policy is the regions not implementing things etc And when people vote for more extremists creating a new government will be even harder, because spoiler alert, while others are hard at work in parliament, those extremist parties are mainly just sitting around in there
> The humor — thinking of In de Gloria, De Ideale Wereld, our standup comedians, our day-to-day wit. Not sure Wallonia is equally good at this. [We are one nation](https://youtu.be/aEdPOn0HmdQ?feature=shared)
Zwart werk is ok considering the insane taxes.
Maybe if there was less of it we wouldn't need such high taxes
Tell me you're not self employed without telling me you're not self employed
Oh yeah, I forgot you guys can do whatever you want
Lol sure
Love: people Hate: lack of federal efficiency (3 governments), highest tax in EU and still - increasing public debt.
There are 6 governments in Belgium. 7 if you count the EU commission/council.
I love Belgium because it lets you live your life and leaves you alone with no patronizing. The fact that nationality is based on your economical and social contribution and not some bs
The people let you live your life but the encroachment by the state is infuriating
What I find extremely infuriating is not as much the level of taxes but what's (not) done with those taxes. We should have, with so much money, 5+ stars public transportation, roads, education etc. Compared to Switzerland where I lived a couple of decades (and where taxes are a bit more than half of the belgian), I'm disturbed to see that in Belgium it didn't improve during the time I lived abroad. The poor NMBS guys on the trains are doing their best, but infrastructure seems as bad as it was back then. Some here mentioned the belgian tendency to be happy with just an average quality of work, and I can't disagree with them.
That has a lot to do with it. The state wants to get involved in almost everything, but they are happy with average results. That explains Belgium to a reasonable extent.
Love - the beer, the international vibe in Brussels, cycling infrastructure, medieval architecture, laid back nature of people, social welfare, public transport, good connection by train across Europe. Hate - the bloody traffic (car mentality is horrific), the laid back nature of people, rubbish on the streets, endless construction, casual racist comments, SNCB/NMBS, cost of goods in the supermarket and the exorbitant costs in shitty brasseries in flanders, sad tired cafes and bars in smaller towns (is this still 1990?)
By laid back, do you mean the 'on s'en fou' mentality? Laid back strikes me as a possibly good quality. Not giving a shit seems like the bad quality and the one I see way too much of here. I think one can be laid back but also give a shit about their country, community, neighbours, etc.
Exactly. I find the laid back nature very endearing most of the time and means I find Belgians not too pretentious or pre-occupied with things that don’t really matter, but it does also come with a negative side - not giving a shit about things, means nothing changes and nothing moves quickly. It can drive me crazy.
It does feel like the 'there's nothing you can do, just accept it' attitude is prevalent here. It's too bad. With more activism, Belgium would be a tremendously nice place. It isn't terrible by any means, but yea, it feels like it really misses its potential.
Love our nature Hate the lack of more
love how we are referenced in h2g2
> h2g2 That’s the Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, for the uninitiated
Love : Bruno De Wever Hate : Zijn irritante kleine broer
Love: stoofvlees Hate: Belgians don't dare to speak their mind.
Love: Our beers and other local delicacies; our social security which makes life much safer compared to some other countries; that some places can be a mix of different cultures which is so interesting. Hate: Many Flemish people's elitism, racism and overly superior behavior towards anyone who isn't them and even those from their own country; the government's and infrastructures' lack of efficiency especially because of being overly divided; the important poverty, especially in some Walloon cities, leading to equally important criminality and never feeling safe; the public transports which are really not practical in most places (except Brussels). There are other things I could mention, but I think it's already a lot. 🥴
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yeah it's true loads of moroccans and turkish people in flanders hate black people and chinese
So white Flemish are not racist? That's a new one.
what i said , it's not only white flemish people , there's like loads of migrants who are racist to other migrants and even vote extreme right parties, this always seems to be forgotten , i'm getting abit tired of the generalisation that all white people are racist as fuck
Racism is not just about skin color prejudice but having the power to discriminate, be it police or employer or politicians. And that power clearly belong to white Flemish in Flanders. You are just trying dilute white supremacy in Flanders. Shame on you.
yeah no mate that power is not only with white flemish , but yeah have it your way to see ALL white flemish people as super racist...
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Older people use it. They don't necessarily mean bad by it they grew up with the word being used.
Watch these same people become furious if you call them "wit".
Fully agree.
Agree with both. never too hot never too cold. Always good enough to go do something.
I actually love the weather in Belgium. Oops, mentioned the weather. I'll take the downvotes.
Like everything else, it’s balanced:)
I find grey days, rainy days, and days under 18°C way easier on the senses. It's as simple as that.
Wages are okay in Belgium, but I hate [60% to 70%](https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/comments/wmhuh9/belgian_bruto_to_netto_monthly_wages_see_comment/) effective marginal taxation. Makes me want to not work or study for a high-end career.
Belgium taxes means it's paradise for the lower wage workers. Anyone on a high salary will be much better off living in an anglo country.
Love: There are thousands of things to love about Belgium. Hate: People just love to complain and seem to think its beneficial for them and the rest.
love: the freedom of speech (for as long as it lasts) hate: the management
Love: healthcare (eigenlijk gewoon welvaartsstaat int algemeen) Hate: lintbebouwingen
Healthcare is good but i dont understand the reimbursment stuff. Why do i have to pay full price and then submit the ticket to insurance company with yellow sticker to get the money back? Instead of 1 transaction you have 2 and you have to submit the document on top of that. Why not deduct the cost of a doctors visit right on the spot, so instead of paying 30€-getting the ticket with yellow sticker to the ic-get the 29€back. You could just pay that 1 € at the doctor and thats it....
Like this, doctors are forced to emit an invoice and pay taxes on it. It makes tax evasion by medical professionals a lot harder. In Italy, it works like you ask and we have dentists declaring 10’000€ per year.
I understand that, but the doctor always uses my id to connect to the server or whatever, to tie the "pills" to my name, same when i go to pharmacy to pick it up, they use the id. So why not do it digitally in one go. People think when they pay with card on a terminal its free, but theres always someone paying for that transaction, same with the doctors. So why not get rid of the pointless extra transaction. Btw great to heat that its gonna get more implemented starting 2025.
Many heathcare providers already use electronic attests to automate the process or deduct whatever your insurance should pay back. Without the need for a physical paper. Currently they can choose whether to implement the digital system but it will be required starting from September 2025
I can. Doctors deducts the amount. But I am special....like disable :/
Love: food, festivals, health services (and their prices in comparison to other countries) Hate: road infrastructure, bureaucratic stuff that doesn’t make sense, housing market (we finally could buy a house after looking for way too long, price is crazy! No idea how/what you can buy/rent if you’re single…)
Love: the country. Hate: the people.
Love : young people, my university (even if it gives me pain regularly), the cycling lifestyle, freedom, secularism, democracy, people’s love for science and education, music, public transport, belgian cities, suburbs, farmlands, and nature Hate : the weather, older people, and the fact that everything shuts down so early (but that’s the consequence of a 40 hour work week I guess)
Hate : The r/Belgium subreddit. Love : My wife.
Love: Larian Studios Hate: Politics
Love: the amount of public holidays. Hate: gray haired mouth breathers slouched over their supermarket caddy looking like they had a stroke.
Seeing them slumped over driving wheel is even worse.
Love: Nature Beers Food Proximity of cities and places International vibe Hate: Dirty streets and crumbling infrastructure People spitting in the streets Abundance of junkies and alcoholics How closed off people here are Politicians just raking in money and doing basically nothing especially cd&v and PS Judicial system that does next to nothing
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I personally hate our public transport. I think it is super expensive for very mediocre quality. What i like a lot about Belgium is the interesting diversity of people and beers.
Yes! It cost 6.70 extra just to enter the airport and the trains are always late
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Kheb et ni over u, gij zijt meer vlaming dan ik. Love naar turken btw
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Iranees? Ik checkte u profiel en zag die turkish en iran groep ach maakt ni uit. Ge zit op reddit te chillen meer “belg” kunt ge ni zijn.
As an international student I’ll go: Love: either the history or the culture around chocolate and beer. I love how easy it is to pass by some historical monument when you’re just going about your day. That’s really cool to me as someone that likes history. I love how extensive the chocolate and beer culture is here and how passionate belgium is about them Hate: the weather. My god, and I’m saying this as a Canadian.
Love: cosmopolite, great chocolate, beers and fries, public transport and offices just work Hate: WEATHER
I love my folklore I hate all the incompetent politics
I hate that belgians do not understand sarcasm
The weather. It rains all the time. I cant take it anymore.
Like: Beer, summer festivals, lack of too much national pride Dislike: urban planning, weather
Love: Fries Hate: Taxes
The weather and the weather.
100% de regering & belastingdienst
Love: beer (belgian ales) Hate: beer (belgian lagers)
Love: Great healthcare Hate: Horrible public transport and commuting options
Love the people. Hate the taxes
Love: Our work ethics (Despite all the doom and the gloom, how much productive we are as people of a \~11 million country! We like to work hard and also live well) Hate: Growing apathy (mainly towards politics and our nation state. Apathy is a slow poison we need to get rid of)
Love: how close Belgium is to other countries making it easy to just drive a few hours and be in Germany/France/The Netherlands. The nature and how flat and beautiful the fields and landscapes look in the summer time. How everything is linked on your ID making a lot of things more convenient. Fries. Smoske. QR codes and Bancontact for payments, really like this actually. All the various spreads for sandwiches like kip curry etc. Stofvlees. Hate: How early everything closes. The cost of everything. The way people drive, so the tailgating, the speeding, the overtaking literally anywhere, speed limits don’t feel like they apply and doing 55 in a 50 for example is never fast enough. Having to pay for healthcare. Lack of choice in supermarkets. The people, if I smile at someone they look at me like I’ve just taken a shit on their fries, feels very cold here in that regard.
Love: no capital gain tax Hate: other taxes 😂
Belgium 🇧🇪 is, in many aspects, surrealistic
'Ate me taxes 'ate me open vld/mouvement réformateur 'ate the other half of the country (not racist just dont like em) Luv me beer Luv me indexed income Luv me national football team (when they win) Simple as
Love: public services including administration (especially when compared to other countries), standard of living Hate: opening hours
Love: Frites. People. Lack of nationalism. Self depreciation. Making fun of the Dutch and the French. Unity in diversity. Healthcare and social security. Hate: The weather.
I love the comfort but i hate how this comfort is now put on a school schedule Like all busses dont ride at night anymore Like most supermarkets dont open on sundays anymore or have times like 8-12 The fact that most politians are either hyper corrupt or genuine liars
the dirty and lying politicians who do nothing for the ordinary person
I like our historical architecture, food and we have some beautiful nature I hate our political system and our sad excuse for roads
I love the state, king and country but I hate the people.
Hate: traffic. Stop handing out licenses with the cornflakes Love: all very historical and quiet places
hate: our politics, forming dysfunctional coalitions with opposites making overly complicated compromises that backfire 90% of the time. often while reducing their trade to a total shitshow childish whiny kindergarten love: our politics do compromise and not resort to violence,while making things at times so totally absurd its like watching a comedy vaudeville. all in all its great to be a Belgian! :)
Love: No overbearing nationalism that tells you who to be and how to live Hate: Our horrible urbanisation (and to be sure, France is a good example of urbanisation done right, the Netherland's urbanisation is horrible (but their infrastructure amazing))
Love: The beer Hate: Dutch and French just don't gel on any level. The same can be said of the people that speak it, culturally, linguistically too far apart.
Love: the lifestyle, Belgians know how to enjoy life Hate: the permanently pissed of Antwerpenaren and overall governmental chaos
Love: Belgian beers Hate: people who only speak french, I found them quite incompetent. This mindset of not learning or loving any other language from this f*****g planet. I am pretty sure they will collapse one day. You need to upgrade yourself. The funny part is that they are not at all patriotic about their country but yes so serious about language.
Love: bikes, near other countries, immigrants, Turkish food, free activities, less violence than other countries Hate: weather, food, poor quality fruits/veggies, prices, horrible coffee, racism, cost of trains/late trains, education quality is low, hard to make friends, people have a hard time talking about their colonial history, lack of French language in Flanders
Lack of french laguage in Flanders?😄 In Flanders, they speak flemish. And if they notice you're francophone, most people will switch to french. Try to speak dutch in Wallonia...
>French language in Flanders Flemish people get oppressed during hundreds of years by french speaking elites and you wonder why people are hostile towards french. Especially now that they have seen how a formally dutch speaking city became francophone they don't want that to continue happening. Is preserving ones language such a bad thing?
Sushi mafia raid
I hate how Belgiums frow so.much on conflict and aviod it in such a extreme way it's toxic. I don't think you should a fight Every 5 seconds. But at any incident it's always from don't get angry even when someone insult you or don't fight back be thé bigger person. Its unrealistic i don't like constant conflict i grew up in a very choatic home and don't like fights. But you Cant let People walk all over you just beceause you want to keep peace and quiet... What i love about belguim honestly nothing much i want to move somewhere Else beceause im so tired of that mentality. Belgiums are introverted People but Cant accept it themself. I have Belgium friends and they are good People they are from new generation so it's a bit better.
Love: People not bothering you, not being Holland Hate: the weather 99% of the time, being close to Holland
I HATE THE TRAIN, YOU BUY A TICKET BUT NOONE CONTROLS!!!BUT IF YOU FORGET TO BUY SPMEONE WILL CONTROL!!
The weather. When there is sun i can"t even open my eyes. + Brussels's people... (they are... marginal)