{"id":6769,"date":"2016-11-12T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-12T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-09-12T15:59:48","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T19:59:48","slug":"so-your-is-from-belgium-featuring-bieke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victoriagracehowell.com\/staging\/6258\/so-your-is-from-belgium-featuring-bieke\/","title":{"rendered":"So Your is From Belgium … Featuring Bieke @ Quite the Novel Idea + Kathy @ Books and Munches"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nIt’s time for this month’s So Your Character is From Another Country! This is a monthly or bimonthly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country. I’m hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven’t checked out last months’s <\/span>So Your Character is From Slovakia …<\/a><\/span> be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThe most I’ve seen of Belgium is in the Legend of Tarzan<\/i>, and prior to that I frankly knew about it mostly from French fries, waffles, and the fact that I have some coins from there. Bieke and Kathy definitely shed some light on things!<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nDisclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.<\/span><\/span>
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\nMy name is Bieke, friends usually call me Bee. I’m 25 years old and from Belgium. I currently live in a city called Hasselt, which is fairly close to the border of both The Netherlands and Germany. I spend my time devouring books and sometimes I try to write them too. My characters live under my bed and usually yell at me to start writing and then don’t shut up for weeks. It’s quite exhausting. When they’re quiet I <\/span>also enjoy watching movies and several TV-shows. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nBlog<\/a>\/\/Facebook<\/a>\/\/Twitter<\/a>\/\/Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
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\nKathy, 26 and lives in the Flemish part of Belgium near Ghent.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nMy hobbies mostly involve reading, blogging, Netflix, and baking. I also like going to concerts and festivals, although that\u2019s decreased an awful lot lately. Adulting can do that to you, I guess? I\u2019ll always, always go and see Papa Roach and Queen whenever they perform nearby though. I have an administrative job at a health insurance fund where I\u2019ve been working for 3,5 years now. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nBlog<\/a>\/\/<\/span>Twitter<\/a>\/\/<\/span>Goodreads<\/span><\/a><\/span> <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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What do you feel is unique to your country? Landmarks? Celebrations?<\/b><\/span>
\nBieke: <\/b>Waffles! When people think Belgium, they usually think waffles. And chocolate. And beer. Basically delicious food and alcohol. That’s a good thing to be known for right?<\/span>
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Kathy:<\/b> <\/span>One of the unique things about Belgium is definitely the fact that it\u2019s such a small spot on the map and we still manage to have three different-speaking parts. There\u2019s the Dutch-speaking people, the French-speaking and the German-speaking. So small and still so divided.<\/span>
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\nAs for a landmark, Manneken Pis, without a doubt! Pretty sure most people visiting Brussels \u2013 our capital \u2013 put him on their \u201cto see\u201d-list. They also tend to decorate him or dress him up certain holidays, which makes it even more unique.We also have the Atomium. <\/span>
\nBut there are plenty of other cities to visit as well. Bruges oozes history and the city I work in, Ghent, also has some beautiful buildings. Not to mention one of my favorite cafes, Comic Sans, is situated there. Best Butterbeer I ever drank!<\/span>
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Tell me about your country’s environment. What are some of your favorite places?<\/b>
\nBieke: <\/b>I really love the city where I live in. It has a lot of old buildings and a lot of history that I don’t know about. My favorite place in this country of mine? The library, I think. They don’t have most of the books I read, but it’s big and there are books in it, so I feel right at home there. I also love hanging out in the center of the city with all the cafes and shops. (See pictures) The main languages here in Belgium are Flemish and French. Flemish is the Belgian version of Dutch, which is my mother tongue. There’s also a few German parts but I don’t speak German myself. As for me, I also speak a teensy tiny bit of French and, obviously, English. I dare say English is becoming my personal main language these days. <\/span>
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\nKathy: <\/b><\/span>Honestly, I think we\u2019re lacking nature and lots of it. There are some spots, some parks where you can almost feel like you\u2019re surrounded by nature but there\u2019ll always be traces of civilization close-by. Sure, we have our share of nature but it simply feels lacking compared to other countries I\u2019ve been to. Although I have to admit I have yet to go to The Ardennes.<\/span>
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\nBut the thing still is that whenever driving long distances in Belgium, I always feel surrounded by industry and never real nature. Safe to say I\u2019m jealous of our Northern neighbors \u2013 the Netherlands \u2013 because when you\u2019re driving on their highways, you\u2019re surrounded by fields most of the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Tell me about your country’s food. What are some of your favorite dishes?<\/b><\/span>
\nBieke: <\/b>Well, I’m not actually that familiar with most of the typical Belgian food. Though every year on New Years day, my family does make the same dish and I know that’s a common one for this area. My aunt always makes rabbit with either prunes or homemade applesauce. It’s delicious. Except for the prunes. Those are gross. It doesn’t have a special name, I think. Just Rabbit & Prunes. <\/span>
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Kathy:<\/b> <\/span><\/span>Ha! We all know Belgium is famous for its fries. And chocolate. And beer. I love them all! It\u2019ll be my eternal frustration fries are called French fries when they\u2019re actual Belgian and the French really don\u2019t make them as good as we do. Not to mention Bicky burgers \u2013 look it up! You can only get those in Belgium as far as I know and they\u2019re delicious!<\/span>
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\nOh, and I shouldn\u2019t forget our beef stew, which is made with beer. Pretty sure a lot of people see French fries, stew and mayonnaise as a typical Belgian dish \u2013 I know I do.<\/span>
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Tell me about any different speech patterns in your country. Slang? Idioms? Words for things such as \u201cbiscuits\u201d instead of \u201ccookies\u201d?<\/b>
\nBieke: <\/b>Oh yeah there are lots of different accents in this country, but I’m not familiar with most of them. I prefer to speak normal so everyone can understand. Hah. XD I actually don’t really like Dutch and I don’t have any favorite Dutch sayings or anything. I’m American at heart, I think.<\/span>
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\nKathy: <\/b><\/span>Oh boy. Well, apart from the Flemish \/ French \/ German-speaking division, there are definitely some dialects going around as well. Pretty much every Flemish province has their own dialect. I live in East Flanders, which \u2013 I think \u2013 is pretty easily understood when we\u2019re talking. West Flanders is way harder since they have a lot of slang in their vocabulary. But when Limburg is going full-out dialect, I seriously do not understand a word.<\/span>
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\nOne example I can think of is how people use different words to say \u201cwindow sill\u201d. I\u2019d say \u201cvensterbank\u201d, but someone in West Flanders would say \u201ckassinne\u201d and in Antwerp they\u2019d say \u201craaigel\u201d.<\/span>
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