Bye-Bye Belgium, Part II

Moule-Frites, one last time

In preparing our farewell to Belgium, one can’t help but wonder what will become of this place. If we come back in five or ten years, what will it be like? This may seem like an odd question. Brussels is ancient. It has seen a lot of change recently, with the development of the EU and its physical institutions, but that is largely done. Why wouldn't Brussels be much as we leave it?

Well Brussels probably will be. It's Belgium I worry about. Belgium is very unstable. If you follow their politics (okay silly me - why would anyone follow Belgian politics?) you know that they are having an impossible time forming a national government. The election was six months ago and still the parties cannot agree who should govern. This is not new for Belgium.  Unfortunately their last election had the same outcome and when after almost a year they did form a government it only held together for short while before collapsing and leading to the present sad state of affairs.

Mr P as a Walloon Revolutionary

So what's wrong with them? Belgium has an interesting and surprisingly short history. Brussels may be ancient, but 200 years ago there was no such thing as Belgium. This territory was a battleground literally (Waterloo 1815) and metaphorically. It passed back and forth between the European powers.  Ruled by whoever’s star was ascendant at the moment. Though the ‘powers that be’ shifted, the people were, who they were. The Dutch-speaking Flemish in the north and the French-speaking Walloons in the south. They did not have much in common, but it did not matter much. They were both just provinces, ruled by outsiders. They went about their business, ignoring each other.

Until 1830, when the French Walloons had had enough. They were ruled by the Dutch (from Amsterdam) at the time. Wrong language, wrong religion - they revolted. The Catholic Flemish came along for the ride.  What they had in common – religion - was more important than the differences. For a while.

la Fete de la Communauté Francaise

But the differences have grown. The Flemish North was agricultural, poorer and more conservative. The Walloon South industrialized, became wealthy and socialist and dominated.  At one time all the universities were Frech, because it was the language of power.  Then it crashed. Like America today, Wallonia has been through the trauma of deindustrialization.  Funny - it did not turn them into Tea Partiers, rather it reinforced their desire for a social safety net. Only now it is the Flemish who have the money and they don't want to spend it on social welfare programs for the Walloons.

A profound split has been developing between the communities. They share almost nothing. Early in our stay here, at the French University we took a day off to celebrate ‘la Fete de la Communauté Francaise’. There was a concert on the Grande Place and a parade of reenactors in period dress, celebrating the Revolt against the Dutch. It is not celebrated in Flanders. They have different holidays.

the French map

Of course they also have different TV channels and newspapers. That only makes sense - different languages and all. What is odd is that the two communities and their cultural institutions (media, Universities, etc.) operate as if the other did not exist. Being French-speaking Anglos (mostly), we enjoy the fact that the Flemish (Dutch language) TV broadcasts in English with Dutch subtitles. We watched a lot of their shows and so we need a TV guide to know what is going to be on. We also watch Walloon channels because they broadcast in French and so, of course, we need a TV Guide to know what is on. Fortunately, TV Guides are not hard to come by. There's a free paper published in both French and Dutch that you can pick up that has TV listings. Convenient. Sorta.

the Dutch map

The odd thing is that the Dutch paper does not list the French channels and vice versa. They both list the foreign language channels (BBC, CNN, ZDF) but not the Belgian channels that broadcast in the ‘other language’. It's like they don't exist. So, to get the whole list you have to pick up both papers. When you do, if you read them, you start to notice other differences. The same firm publishes them both, but they do not have the same stories. The international, and sports news is all the same, but the local news, especially the political news, is often completely different.

Canadians will recognize the dynamic. They live in two solitudes. Side-by-side with very little interaction. You see it in the university systems as well. As a matter of fact I'm benefiting from it. At the French university they only allow me to take 14 ECTS (credits), which would not have been enough to justify a

You could combine them...

semesters study. Fortunately there's a completely separate university right next door – the VUB (Vreie Uni - same name, different words). There I can take the extra class. It works out great for me, but it is really kind of silly for them. I've been taking classes (all of them in English) at both universities. I’m the only student in my classes that takes advantage of the great and unique courses taught at the one or the other. I can guess why...  The bureaucratic hurdles that separate the two schools must be considerable. If you needed to transfer credit, I’m guessing it would be a nightmare. So nobody goes back and forth. Besides the lost opportunities to learn, there are the lost opportunities to create connections between communities. Seems you have to choose. You have to be one or the other. It's not a recipe for building a bridge across the political divide and the communities seem to be drifting away. Can Belgium hold it together? I think it's up in the air. Someday soon we may all be saying, bye-bye Belgium…