Belgium? or am i wrong?

[SushiShin]

I think you allready heard or saw about the rumour that is razing over the country where i resident at the moment.

there is still no new governement and if this continues thezy have to put new elections and if this doesn't work out they are maybe going to divide Belgium.

Well i don't care to be honest, this land has nothing to offer really except chocolate,beer.
Gas, vandalism, taxes, 'fresh' breathing air, 'japanese' people:p (haven't seen a japanese gal who lives here more then 1 year here) etc....

My questions are simple:

*Did the news reached your ears/eyes?
*What is your opinion?

[Han Chan]

I saw Kim Gevaert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Gevaert) winning 200 m sprint - she is a rocket!

I love the mussels and oysters you get in Brussels.

The Belgian society is a faschinating mix of north and south european mentalities. Nothing work really well (ever heard about Sabena?), but people are still having a good time. In many ways it is the right place as european "capital", however, I am concerned by all the corruption there.

One final good thing about Brussels: There are direct flights to Japan from there.:cool:

[SushiShin]

lol! im not very fund of this country! but i can't deny it has some good things too! for example the flight to japan, but even that is becoming a problem too!

[RockLee]

lol! im not very fund of this country! but i can't deny it has some good things too! for example the flight to japan, but even that is becoming a problem too!Yet you still came here to study. Thing is, Belgium is a bit pricy, yet we have one of the best social health care systems. ;-)

Why you think so many foreigners live here? We pay taxes till we drop dead, and the immigrants come and bring their families with them to live on social welfare. :okashii:

Education is one of the best too.

About your "Japanese staying not longer than 1 year", well, most Japanese live in Brussels, and they DO live here longer than 1 year. You think because you know 1 Japanese in Antwerp you know them all? Most are here on a temporary visit also, either for work or pleasure. Those who work here for x amount of time, bring their family with them, they go to the Japanese school in Brussels and when they finished prep school here, they move back to Japan, take entrance exams and go to school there.

As if the Philippines are a dream country, with all the corruption and poor people. You make it sound like a paradise, which it isn't by far!

[SushiShin]

Well you again, why are you always the pain in the ass.
For me its paradise cause i live in a bigger house and i have a better status then in Belgium.

Remember one thing and it counts for everyone, with working you don't become rich.

For me Philippines is good for other rich people too. It is quite logical to be honest, if you are rich you don't have to complain. But that doesn't mean im like all the others, im different poor people adore me rich people respect me.
To be honest Philippino people see me as a japanese one and so is my family. i don't have anything similar with Philippines except my blood and the rest of my family.

But this thread is about Belgium. I go to a school were we speak more English then this so called Dutch 'Flemish'.
And yes i know all the japanese people in Antwerp! it's my city and my city isn't very big, the port of antwerp is huge but the city is tiny! i didn't say they ALL leave after a year but the most do!

I haven't say i don't know any japanese people, my friends are japanese but like me they are mixture from finnish,thailandese,malaysian, and dutch.

I haven't seen a japanese person around the 18's who lived his/her whole life in antwerp and is 100% japanese (ofcourse they have taken over the belgian traditions) but i don't care.

What i also want to say RockLee is : FIRST read then think then write, after some mistakes on this forum with you i am not really in the mood in a discussion again, unrather then you i forgive things!

To other people,please continue! Im eager to hear your statement!

[RockLee]

Well you again, why are you always the pain in the ass.Well hey, someone has to correct the bullshit you post.

For me its paradise cause i live in a bigger house and i have a better status then in Belgium.
Remember one thing and it counts for everyone, with working you don't become rich.If you're some rich spoiled kid maybe. Some people have to WORK for their money, and don't get it from mommy and daddy.


For me Philippines is good for other rich people too. It is quite logical to be honest, if you are rich you don't have to complain. But that doesn't mean im like all the others, im different poor people adore me rich people respect me.Oh boy, seems you live in some paradise indeed. You really have a vivid imagination.


To be honest Philippino people see me as a japanese one and so is my family. i don't have anything similar with Philippines except my blood and the rest of my family.Hey, sometimes I feel Japanese too, too bad I don't look the part.

And yes i know all the japanese people in Antwerp! it's my city and my city isn't very big, the port of antwerp is huge but the city is tiny! i didn't say they ALL leave after a year but the most do!There are about 120 Japanese people in Antwerp alone according to statistics, I don't think you know every single one of them. ;-)

I haven't say i don't know any japanese people, my friends are japanese but like me they are mixture from finnish,thailandese,malaysian, and dutch.
I haven't seen a japanese person around the 18's who lived his/her whole life in antwerp and is 100% japanese (ofcourse they have taken over the belgian traditions) but i don't care.I didn't say you don't know anyone of Japanese descent, and I wasn't talking about Antwerp, but about Brussels. You said you didn't see a Japanese gal living "here" (here is Belgium), yet you don't know every Japanese person in Belgium, so how would you know? Hence I said there are lots in Brussels.


What i also want to say RockLee is : FIRST read then think then write, after some mistakes on this forum with you i am not really in the mood in a discussion again, unrather then you i forgive things!I think you should first THINK, then write pal! Oh, and don't think you know anything about Belgium, cause of your remarks you obvious don't have a clue. ;-)

[SushiShin]

RockLee: to be honest lets just stop this war, i have nothing against you, but i see you do. If people are different just accept it, and i don't care about Brussels, i live in Antwerp so why should i care about Brussels many of my Japanese friends say that there are indeed more Nihonjin there then in Antwerp. I know many Japanese families in Antwerp (CITY not PROVINCE!!!) because i work as you allready may guess as a waiter/Teppanyaki chef in a famous restaurant here in the neighbourhood.
About Philippines again i don't see it as paradise i see it as my home, isn't it normal you like your own home? well enough otherwise we have an eternal discussion about this.
I never say im perfect nobody is, i'm not a shove up about beeing rich in fact i help people a lot ;-) why do you think i go working? I do this to support my grandmother and to have enough money so that i don't have any problems when i have a bad moment (for example if my business is not going well)
RockLee to be honest again, i'd rather speak in a friendly way then to fight eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, if you don't like me just say it.
I never seek for problems because i know if you would ever be in trouble im always here to help. But if i need help would you lend me a hand?
Hope i cleared things out so we can chat in a more adult way, because really making a fight is really the last thing this forum needs.

With Friendly greets,
Herbal Shin:wave:

[Juno333]

owwwww cosy thread. hey Shin! *wavey wavey* are you having fun out here? naah naah RockLee, don't you think you're being a little unfriendly against Shin? Oooffffcourse I know absolutely nothing about Belgium. I'm just one of those silly Dutch blond girls, I bet many of those jokes apply to me too ;p Furthermore I want to bet that there are fewer Japanese people in the Netherlands (except for Amstelveen or some place like that, but that's the middle of nowhere to me) than in Belgium, so praise yourself lucky ;p haha although I think that our taxes are higher and our health care better..nahnahnah nahnahnah....your chocolates are the best though, yummy. Right! I'm very diplomatic!

@RockLee: stop being to agitated! hai! ofcourse you are right about some things you've said, but if we all were to be so pesky and assume things like that, this thread wouldn't be very popular, would it? haha plus everyone would have to read back over and over again to figure out what we actually said wrong. And everyone knows that reading/thinking is bad for us. At least that what both the Dutch and the Belgium government are trying to make us think. haha;p although I think it would be kinda cool if Belgium were to split up. I never thought of Flanders and Wallonia as one. I suppose the French could take Wallonia back and we(the Dutch) Flanders, haha back to the good old times. I mean, both provinces are practically only bound together by the borders of Belgium if you ask me ;p besides, I wouldn't mind having another funny accent in this country, you're more normal than those Frisians anyway haha. hey RockLee! Don't forget to be nice! If you're a good boy, I'll send you a cheese for Christmas haha ;p

[RockLee]

RockLee: to be honest lets just stop this war, i have nothing against you, but i see you do. If people are different just accept it, and i don't care about Brussels, i live in Antwerp so why should i care about Brussels many of my Japanese friends say that there are indeed more Nihonjin there then in Antwerp. I know many Japanese families in Antwerp (CITY not PROVINCE!!!) because i work as you allready may guess as a waiter/Teppanyaki chef in a famous restaurant here in the neighbourhood.
About Philippines again i don't see it as paradise i see it as my home, isn't it normal you like your own home? well enough otherwise we have an eternal discussion about this.
I never say im perfect nobody is, i'm not a shove up about beeing rich in fact i help people a lot ;-) why do you think i go working? I do this to support my grandmother and to have enough money so that i don't have any problems when i have a bad moment (for example if my business is not going well)
RockLee to be honest again, i'd rather speak in a friendly way then to fight eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, if you don't like me just say it.
I never seek for problems because i know if you would ever be in trouble im always here to help. But if i need help would you lend me a hand?
Hope i cleared things out so we can chat in a more adult way, because really making a fight is really the last thing this forum needs.
With Friendly greets,
Herbal Shin:wave:I have nothing against you, but you sometimes have such a vivid imagination. You don't really think we take everything you said for real do you? Most of the times it's kids talk, or some bla bla without actual meaning. You say so much, but you don't have proof. IF you are talking about something, please look up before you post something. Don't just write some mindless things. :)

[RockLee]

Furthermore I want to bet that there are fewer Japanese people in the Netherlands (except for Amstelveen or some place like that, but that's the middle of nowhere to me) than in Belgium, so praise yourself lucky ;p haha although I think that our taxes are higher and our health care better..nahnahnah nahnahnah....your chocolates are the best though, yummy. Right! I'm very diplomatic!I don't know, Holland is a bit bigger than Belgium, I think there are more Japanese living there as there are here. Can't say for sure though. Health care better? Don't really think so. Education sure isn't better. ;-)


@RockLee: stop being to agitated! hai! ofcourse you are right about some things you've said, but if we all were to be so pesky and assume things like that, this thread wouldn't be very popular, would it? haha plus everyone would have to read back over and over again to figure out what we actually said wrong. And everyone knows that reading/thinking is bad for us. At least that what both the Dutch and the Belgium government are trying to make us think. haha;p although I think it would be kinda cool if Belgium were to split up. I never thought of Flanders and Wallonia as one. I suppose the French could take Wallonia back and we(the Dutch) Flanders, haha back to the good old times. I mean, both provinces are practically only bound together by the borders of Belgium if you ask me ;p besides, I wouldn't mind having another funny accent in this country, you're more normal than those Frisians anyway haha. I wouldn't want to be a part of The Netherlands ever to be honest. You can keep the Wallonians tho! :-)


hey RockLee! Don't forget to be nice! If you're a good boy, I'll send you a cheese for Christmas haha ;pI don't eat cheese, only if it's molten between a burger!!

[SushiShin]

hehe thanks RockLee you are right thanks for the support i will listen more to you often, as to me please accept my apologize but i also want that you are more open to people before judging them with bad or wrong.

[Guilty41]

To Belgium people who don't live in Antwerp ( that town is a country on its own) . Most Antwerp citizens are entirely different from the rest of Belgium . I agree not all of them . Flemish laugh with them all the time.
That's why there is also much racism there because most of them think they are better then people in the rest of the country.
why you don't see much Japanese in Belgium. I think it's because we are to
small to be noticed.

[Skullcrushergurl]

I live in America,the first to make news, never the first to get it. Especially when it comes to world news.
I haven't heard about it.

[SushiShin]

thanks for the replies! keep them coming please! :cool:

[Pachipro]

My questions are simple:

*Did the news reached your ears/eyes?
*What is your opinion?
Not one bit and I listen to the news for more than a few hours a day driving.

However, we have heard much about the possible sighting of the McCann baby and a little on the unrest and shootings of the protest of the monks in Myanmar.

Here we get very, very little international news. One must go to the net for that.

[Ayu-youkou]

I like the beer and hate the politics...and definitely Vlaams Belang and all those muppets behind it >_>

[SushiShin]

hehe 115 days allmost and still no governement in Belgium.

[Ayu-youkou]

That's good, we dun need any XD

Powwa to tha peeple!!!

[SushiShin]

hahah in fact i don't care about this governement, what i do care is, the price of gasoline and grain is every day higher and higher.

[RockLee]

Now I'm living in Finland, so the Belgian politics is even less of concern to me. ;D

[Juno333]

owowowowowowow haha you live in Finland?? hihi, owow I'm sorry I find this so funny. But although Belgium isn't heaven, what in heavens sake are you doing in Finland...Norwegian: cool, Sweden: very cool....Finland: ???...reminds me of fish and lakes. owww lakes, nice for sailing...How's the weather there? I guess you do have that cool Scandinavian design....;p haha hey, this post ended up quite positive...haha why can't I never make up my mind...hihi ;p

[SushiShin]

Belgium isn't the country of the sweet honey. For many working people its a pain in the ass because of the high taxes and everything what you buy has a VAT/BTW on it!

argh but for the rest its still a good country.

[Sarapva]

I had heard that Belgium might be divided, but I read the news on the computer and had connection problems, so I haven't heard anything else since then. I don't know what I think about dividing countries - overall I think it's probably best to keep a country whole; that way there's no worrying about fighting between the parts. I've heard Germany is better to live in since it became one country instead of being East and West, though I don't what it's like to be there.

[Duo]

Belgium is a very comfortable country to live in. Well i should say Brussels. There is no other city alike. It is true that belgian laws and authorities are more than often a pain in the ass especially if u are a foreigner but I must say that there are so many benefits here. It can be a very nice and decent place to live. Belgium in general is also nice with opportunities for students and good health insurance and also very generous welfare program( too generous). Herbal shin u have some strange logic, u are judging a country based on how many japanese people live here and if you know any or all of them. Honestly that's just dumb. This is belgium and not japan, what kind of criteria is that?

[tokapi]

Latest news report on Belgium's population divisions

詳しくはこちらから .... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071007/ap_on_re_eu/belgium_here_to_stay

[RockLee]

Norwegian: cool, Sweden: very cool....Finland: ???...reminds me of fish and lakes. owww lakes, nice for sailing...How's the weather there? I guess you do have that cool Scandinavian designFinland is a cool country, haven't been to Norwegia, Sweden or Denmark yet. Lakes, yes, there are about 300 000+ lakes in Finland. Fish, there is too, but Finland is more known for its sauna's. The weather is at the moment just like the Netherlands and Belgium. Hope it'll snow soon tho. :-)

[SushiShin]

how long will you stay there in Finland Rock?

[Satorian]

Wow, I live about 1 hour by car away from Belgium (been two times to the track at Spa-Francorchamps), but I had no idea there currently were such breakup concerns.

Wow. I'm stunned.

[RockLee]

how long will you stay there in Finland Rock?Don't know, I'm not going home next year if it depends on me. I'm here on a long term basis.

[SushiShin]

Still no governement, but they are discussing, in the meanwhile have to find an other discussion

[Guilty41]

149 days without a governement.
A crisis is near. It's sink or swim.

[SushiShin]

I'm not sure, but i think i'll vote for the independency of Flanders

[Derfel]

Unbelievable no government for like almost a half year. Belgium sure is a wonderful country if you don't live in complete anarchy after all this.

[Homerduff]

I'm not sure, but i think i'll vote for the independency of Flanders

I don't think it's a solution yet to make Flanders independant. I do feel that drastic changes need to be made. Helping out Wallonia is important for Flanders too, the only problem is that they haven't improved their economy in the last 20 years ! So my question is: what happens with all the money Flanders gives to Wallonia ? I've always been sceptic about the politicians in Wallonia.

If it's impossible after all to co-operate with Wallonia, then yes I'm afraid it would be time to become independant. Shure we would have the best economy in Europe no doubt together with the Scandinavian countries. But then again, I always felt more 'Belgian' then 'Flemish'.

I don't mind that we haven't got a gouvernment yet. I'm actually glad that the Flemish politicians are really strict this time about this very sensitive topic.

[SushiShin]

I don't think it's a solution yet to make Flanders independant. I do feel that drastic changes need to be made. Helping out Wallonia is important for Flanders too, the only problem is that they haven't improved their economy in the last 20 years ! So my question is: what happens with all the money Flanders gives to Wallonia ? I've always been sceptic about the politicians in Wallonia.
If it's impossible after all to co-operate with Wallonia, then yes I'm afraid it would be time to become independant. Shure we would have the best economy in Europe no doubt together with the Scandinavian countries. But then again, I always felt more 'Belgian' then 'Flemish'.
I don't mind that we haven't got a gouvernment yet. I'm actually glad that the Flemish politicians are really strict this time about this very sensitive topic.

Spoken as a real person from Antwerp:cool: im glad you have an opinion to share to us. I haven't follow the news allready for more then 2months but sometimes i read on the net or i hear from other collegue some daily news. But to be honest I don't care, since im leaving this country when im a bit older.
As to me to Homerduff, many thanks dear inhabitant of Antwerp!

*Shin / シン

[Homerduff]

Today Yves Leterme (man who was asked to form government and futur prime minister) resigned from his job. There's just no way to get a fair deal out of it.

I think the crisis is now more than huge. This may well be the end of Belgium, cause I don't see any other solution. I'm not happy about it, but I think it's the only solution to split up the country peacefuly.

Seems like the Belgium crisis is also making the headlines in the USA ?

CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/12/01/belgium.ap/index.html

[Guilty41]

I don't think Belgium will ever end because the big moneymakers and people in high
places won't allow that. We are now just being controlled by the media and the politicians who have an other agenda. I think there's a different story behind the curtain.

[A ke bono kane kotto]

Well i don't care to be honest, this land has nothing to offer really except chocolate,beer.

Good for you. Why do you live there already ?

[A ke bono kane kotto]

For me its paradise cause i live in a bigger house and i have a better status then in Belgium.

So you like the Philippines better because it is poorer and you can afford more things ? Well, you are going to hate London and Tokyo, but love Africa !


For me Philippines is good for other rich people too. It is quite logical to be honest, if you are rich you don't have to complain.

As youb said, Belgium has beer and chocolate. The Philippines doesn't even have that. Philippines cuisine is not famous like Thai, Vietnamese or Chinese one. The country is not famous for its special culture. It has no original temples like Japan, China and Thailand. It does not have the cool things that Japan has, like anime, J-pop, electronics, games... What can people do there to have a good time ?


And yes i know all the japanese people in Antwerp! it's my city and my city isn't very big, the port of antwerp is huge but the city is tiny! i didn't say they ALL leave after a year but the most do!

Antwerp is tiny ? It is a city of 700,000 inhabitants. How many people do you know in the whole world ? How many of them in Antwerp ?


One final good thing about Brussels: There are direct flights to Japan from there.:cool:

Aah, unfortunately there isn't direct flight to Japan from Belgium anymore. I asked. Only from Paris, Amsterdam or London. :sick:

[A ke bono kane kotto]

If people are different just accept it, and i don't care about Brussels, i live in Antwerp so why should i care about Brussels

Brussels is only half an hour away from Antwerp. Think that it takes three times longer from Tokyo airport to the centre of the city. So it is quite near, and you should visit it more often if you want to meet Japanese people.


About Philippines again i don't see it as paradise i see it as my home, isn't it normal you like your own home?

Is it ? Many people don't. That's why some left to repopulate North America. :p Or does the Philippines goverment try to make people believe they have to like their home, so that not everybody leaves for a better place ? Well, at least people who can afford it, like you !

Education sure isn't better. ;-)

Did you also read Juno's post ? :D


I wouldn't want to be a part of The Netherlands ever to be honest. You can keep the Wallonians tho! :-)

Even the Italian ones ? :p

[A ke bono kane kotto]

To Belgium people who don't live in Antwerp ( that town is a country on its own) . Most Antwerp citizens are entirely different from the rest of Belgium . I agree not all of them . Flemish laugh with them all the time.
That's why there is also much racism there because most of them think they are better then people in the rest of the country.
So that is racism against other Belgians then ? :confused: Are Antwerpians an ethnic group of their own ? Have immigrants overtaken the city by now or what ?

It is true that belgian laws and authorities are more than often a pain in the ass especially if u are a foreigner but I must say that there are so many benefits here.

What type of problem can you have as a foreigner ? I never had any.

[A ke bono kane kotto]

Finland is a cool country
You meant "cold", right ? :p
Lakes, yes, there are about 300 000+ lakes in Finland. Fish, there is too, but Finland is more known for its sauna's.
So how do you fish if the 300,000 lakes are frozen ?

I'm not sure, but i think i'll vote for the independency of Flanders

Can you vote in Belgium ? I don't think there will be a referendum on the question anyway. Because I don't think the country can technically split. The Flemish aren't going to move all their institutions out of Brussels !

Unbelievable no government for like almost a half year. Belgium sure is a wonderful country if you don't live in complete anarchy after all this.

Anarchy ? Did you understand the situation ? There is no NEW government. But the old one is still in place. ;-) What were you thinking, that life had stopped for last 6 months and people couldn't even get a new driving licence or set up a new business because there was no government to approve the official papers ?

[A ke bono kane kotto]

But to be honest I don't care, since im leaving this country when im a bit older.
As to me to Homerduff, many thanks dear inhabitant of Antwerp!


You should care ! If Flanders becomes indepdent you will need a new visa to stay in Antwerp, maybe with tougher conditions... :biggrin:

[Homerduff]

UPDATE

Since a week or two there has been an interim gouvernment for the time being in Belgium. It's led by our prime minister (Verhofstadt) who lost with the elections in June, but he should only take care of some very urgent cases. You can say that it's a smack in the face for democracy: the Belgian citizens have voted for different politicians to lead the country. But, with the current crisis we are in it's maybe for the better that there is actually something going on.

[Elizabeth van Kampen]

Hello Belgium,

As your neighbour I am sorry that there is no government in Belgium yet. But Brussels is the European capital so I guess that everything will be fine again.

I lived 9 years in Switzerland, in Lausanne. There are 4 languages, and 3 completely different peoples ( German, French and Italian). They have jokes about each other, their food is different, their TV programs are different, they don't really love each other, their banks look like palaces and they are all extremely proud of being a Swiss!

[The 10th Plague]

Surely I've heard about the still ongoing government-forming in Belgium. I live very close to the Belgian border, and I even am 1/4 Belgian, so I do follow the news about that. The thing I just don't get is why there's just no second elections, because the results from the last elections surely aren't going to give a satisfiable government. Also, I am amazed by how much influence the Belgian King has in such a case. Normally, the King shouldn't have any real governing power, as Belgium is a Constitutional Monarchy. In this case, it seems to me that the King is having power, as he gave the old cabinet more power.

When it comes to dividing Belgium, I must say I'm a bit amused by this. I know how awfully chauvinistic Walloons (the French-speaking people of Belgium) can be. As I live in the city of Maastricht, our city has a Flemish border on the west, and a border with Wallonia (Wallon in French) in the South, and thus many tourist from Belgium (including Wallonia) come to the city. The Flemish people always try to understand a person, and will most presumably talk French when they're in Wallonia. Walloons, on the other hand, won't talk Dutch in Flanders (Vlaanderen in Dutch). Walloons will always speak French, which is quite annoying. (Also, they always drive in filthy 20-year old Peugeots and are constantly in search of cannabis :P). It's even more annoying when they're speaking a French dialect. I find this very antisocial. Example: When I'm going abroad, for instance Britain, I'm not going to talk Dutch or Limburgish to British people, as that would be rude.

Well back to the point: You may see I like Flemish people, but dislike Walloons (although I'm always polite, and actually I must not be prejudiced, but hey:disliking is a feeling, and feelings can be changed :P), it would be funny to see Wallonia be seperated from Flanders. Wallonia will be a poor country if that's the case, but I don't think Flanders will survive on it's own. It's just too small for that. The only option for seperation of Belgium is, that Flanders goes back to The Netherlands (yeeeh: the two countries will finally be re-united), and Wallonia goes to France.

[A ke bono kane kotto]

Also, I am amazed by how much influence the Belgian King has in such a case. Normally, the King shouldn't have any real governing power, as Belgium is a Constitutional Monarchy. In this case, it seems to me that the King is having power, as he gave the old cabinet more power.

A constitutional king also has power. It is not given to him by god but by the constitution. And usually lawmakers are less generous than god (well, the king himself).


When it comes to dividing Belgium, I must say I'm a bit amused by this. I know how awfully chauvinistic Walloons (the French-speaking people of Belgium) can be.

In fact it is the Flemings who are supposed to be the chauvinistic ones. They are the ones who want their independence, boast about their economy and are too proud to accept bilingualism in communes around Brussels where people speak both Dutch and French.

As I live in the city of Maastricht, our city has a Flemish border on the west, and a border with Wallonia (Wallon in French) in the South, and thus many tourist from Belgium (including Wallonia) come to the city. The Flemish people always try to understand a person, and will most presumably talk French when they're in Wallonia. Walloons, on the other hand, won't talk Dutch in Flanders (Vlaanderen in Dutch). Walloons will always speak French, which is quite annoying. (Also, they always drive in filthy 20-year old Peugeots and are constantly in search of cannabis :P).

How do you know they are Walloon and not French ? If they drive filthy 20-year old Peugeots then they must be French. Such cars can't pass the technical control (is this the right English expression ?), and the law is the same for this everywhere in Belgium. Walloons are big fans of BMW's, trust me !

It's even more annoying when they're speaking a French dialect. I find this very antisocial. Example: When I'm going abroad, for instance Britain, I'm not going to talk Dutch or Limburgish to British people, as that would be rude.

There are French dialects in Wallonia ? Are you sure they aren't French ? In France they have so many dialects : Provencal, Occitan, Savoyard... In Wallonia, only a few old people can speak in dialect, and it doesn't sound like French.


Well back to the point: You may see I like Flemish people, but dislike Walloons (although I'm always polite, and actually I must not be prejudiced, but hey:disliking is a feeling, and feelings can be changed :P), it would be funny to see Wallonia be seperated from Flanders. Wallonia will be a poor country if that's the case, but I don't think Flanders will survive on it's own. It's just too small for that.

What do you call "poor country" ? Wallonia would be poorer than Flanders, but it still would be richer than Spain or Italy, maybe more like France. Every country has richer and poorer regions, and every region has richer and poorer provinces. The richest part of Belgium is Brussels and the Walloon Brabant, both French-speaking. The poorest in the Hainaut province, also French speaking.

If North and South Holland were to split from the rest of the Netherlands, the Netherlands would be poorer than Wallonia, and the newly founded Holland would become the second richest country in Europe after Luxmebourg.

Spain and Italy have even bigger differences between rich and poor regions. The difference between Flanders and Wallonia is like the difference between Lombardy and Piedmont, not like Lombardy and Calabria !

[Homerduff]

I don't think Flanders will survive on it's own. It's just too small for that. The only option for seperation of Belgium is, that Flanders goes back to The Netherlands (yeeeh: the two countries will finally be re-united), and Wallonia goes to France.

Surely Flanders will survive on it's own. In fact, we would be richest country in Europe and maybe in the world. Recently out of a study, it has been proved that Flanders is at the moment the richest region in the world. I don't see why the size of a country mathers. Actually, most of the time small countries are very rich. Just think of Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Qatar, ...

Flanders will be better off alone.

[A ke bono kane kotto]

Surely Flanders will survive on it's own. In fact, we would be richest country in Europe and maybe in the world. Recently out of a study, it has been proved that Flanders is at the moment the richest region in the world. I don't see why the size of a country mathers. Actually, most of the time small countries are very rich. Just think of Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Qatar, ...
Flanders will be better off alone.

This is not true. The EU keeps tight statistics on the economy of its regions (check this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_European_Union#Top_10:_economically _strongest_NUTS-1_and_NUTS-2_regions)), and Flanders does not make the top 10 of either NUTS1 or NUTS2 regions. Francophone Brussels, on the other hand, is ranked second and third, by respective size of regions.

[SushiShin]

Lets hope that Belgium wouldn't excist longer and Akebono kane kotto please stop with quoting me, this is disrespect, if you do more you will follow the consequences.

[Homerduff]

This is not true. The EU keeps tight statistics on the economy of its regions (check this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_European_Union#Top_10:_economically _strongest_NUTS-1_and_NUTS-2_regions)), and Flanders does not make the top 10 of either NUTS1 or NUTS2 regions. Francophone Brussels, on the other hand, is ranked second and third, by respective size of regions.

Then why did it make the first page of 'Het Laatste Nieuws' a week or 2 ago ? I actually can't see why Brussels is a lot more richer than Flanders.

[A ke bono kane kotto]

Then why did it make the first page of 'Het Laatste Nieuws' a week or 2 ago ?

Do you bilndly trust the media ? Flemish media are known to spread pro-Flemish propaganda.

I actually can't see why Brussels is a lot more richer than Flanders.

1) because it is a city => wealth is more concentrated than in the country

2) because it is the country's capital => big companies have their HQ's there, government officials work there, get paid there...

3) because it is the capital of the European Union => money flowing from all Europe

4) because it is the seat of NATO => money flowing form NATO countries

5) because all the richest French speakers in Belgium work in Brussels, and if they don't live there, they live in the suburbs just outside, but spend their money there.

Lets hope that Belgium wouldn't excist longer and Akebono kane kotto please stop with quoting me, this is disrespect, if you do more you will follow the consequences.
Quoting is disrespect ? That's what people do on forums. What if I told you of stopping to talk to me like that or pay the consequences ? Why don't you stop whining about Belgium and go back to your country ?