Moving to a new country invariably leads to cultural adjustments, influenced by one’s place of origin. My journey from a small town in Eastern Poland to Belgium has been a remarkable cultural adventure. In this article, I share the list of the 20 Belgian cultural shocks I experienced after moving here from Poland two years ago.
1. Never-ending rain
I know, it doesn’t count as a cultural shock, but I must warn you of what’s coming, my friend. THE rain. We all heard about rainy UK, so everyone is mentally prepared for that when visiting that country. But have you ever heard of the Belgian rain? The rain that is so heavy that there is not a single thread of your clothes left, that is not wet? The rain that starts on Friday morning and ends on Monday evening ruining your weekend plans?
I certainly wasn’t prepared, and the first week after moving here, aka the week when you must run lots of errands, wasn’t very gracious. It rained non-stop and I didn’t have a bike yet, so I had to walk everywhere. I’d prefer to consign that memory to the past.
2. Belgian Bike Culture
We all know about the Dutch bike culture. Have you ever seen a photo of Amsterdam that doesn’t have at least one bike on it? Some only show the tulips, but you get my point. Maybe it’s because I live in a student city in the Dutch part of Belgium, but the bike culture here is huge. It kind of sucks when you are the owner of a 40-euro bike bought from a questionable source from Facebook Marketplace, but it’s still better than using public transportation here.
3. Constant De Lijn strikes
I did my Bachelors in Cracow, Poland. While the public transportation was not punctual, it was good. You can get everywhere, oftentimes faster than by car, and for most people, this is the main means of transportation. I am not going to lie; I was expecting it to be the same in Belgium. As I already mentioned, I was wrong, because bikes are way more popular here. There are, however, buses available.
The company operating in many cities, including where I live, is called De Lijn. Not only are their prices a joke (2.5 euros for one ticket!), but it is unreliable because of constant strikes. I swear, at least every one or two months, there is a strike. It means that some of the buses won’t be operating, which roughly translates to: “Leave your home at least 20 minutes earlier than you normally would to make sure you catch one of the operating buses”.
4. In Belgium, everyone speaks English
I love this thing about living here! From bus drivers, and shopkeepers, to a random person on a street, I can always ask about something without having to use Google Translate. It makes this country feel so much more welcoming. I also feel like people here barely have an accent, so it is very easy to understand them as well! I am not sure if it works both ways, but I guess that’s not my problem. 😄 Unfortunately, this only applies to the Dutch part. The French part is a different story.
5. Dutch vs. French Parts
Poland is an extremely homogeneous country. We all speak the same language, have the same traditions, eat the same food, and overall, our life experiences don’t differ much. Coming from such a place is what made Belgium even more surprising to me. I saw someone online refer to Belgium as a Frankenstein country, and I think it describes it quite well. It is literally as if you combined the Netherlands and France, let it develop a few different traditions, and called it a day. Well… 🫢
Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this online, but I do prefer the Dutch part. People here seem kinder and more welcoming. I think it’s mostly due to the English. In the French part, people usually refuse to speak in English or if they do graciously say something, they occasionally give wrong answers. It happened to me that I was given the wrong directions! The French part also seems to be less developed. An example would be the lack of the option to pay by card for a bus ticket.
6. Life is more affordable
Life is more affordable. Wait, what? Calm down, it is not affordable for me. 🥲 In fact, I find it extremely expensive and can barely afford to live here. BUT, when I compare people at similar life stages here and in Poland, I do think that once you work here, you can afford a better lifestyle than in Poland. If you don’t work here, however, it is indeed extremely expensive.
7. Positive Belgium Culture Shock: People smile more here
If you ever visited Poland, you know what I’m referring to. Poles just don’t smile… ever. We just stare at each other on the street with a serious look on our faces. I know it’s weird, but it’s also a habit that is hard to change. So, imagine my shock, when I looked (ok, let’s be honest – stared) at a person right after coming here, and they smiled at me. How weird! 😂 I admit, I am the weird one here. I like to believe that I got slightly better at this, but I think that I just stare less, not smile more.
8. It’s hard to understand their true feelings
Here’s the thing – it is incredibly easy to tell whether a Polish person likes you or not. If they don’t say hi, grimly stare, and make zero effort to have any interaction – they don’t like you. If they wave at you, smile, and say hi – they like you. Here it is a different story. Someone may appear to like you, smile, say hi, talk, and then suddenly ghost you. I find it odd, but maybe I just cannot read the folks here.
9. People dress casually in Belgium
In Poland, when you have an official event, ladies usually wear a dress and heels, put some make-up on, and make their hair while men will wear a formal suit and style their hair nicely. Here, it doesn’t seem to be the case. Even during formal events I have seen people wearing tracksuits or jeans and T-shirts.
When you look at the people on the street, nobody seems to put much effort into their looks. The outfits for men and women don’t vary much. Usually, I see people wearing baggy pants with a sweater or a hoodie. I don’t think I ever saw a Belgian woman wearing heels, a very common thing in Poland. I also don’t see them wearing much makeup. It was a surprising Belgium culture shock, but maybe it’s nice that people are more relaxed here!
10. The waffles and fries are overhyped (sorry)
Talking about the cultural shocks regarding food, I must mention my two biggest disappointments. I know I might upset some people and I am truly sorry for that, but I must be honest.
In Poland, you can buy regular fries, which are ok. You can also get “Belgian fries” which are phenomenal. Crispy outside and fluffy inside. After moving to Belgium, I was expecting to get the same thing, just better. What I got instead, was an oily version of the “ok” Polish fries.
A similar thing happened with waffles. In Poland, waffles, called “gofry”, are also very popular. They are served with various toppings, whipped cream and fruit being one of the most popular ones. They are very good, but I never heard any foreigner praise Polish waffles, so I assumed that the famous Belgian waffles would be like the Polish ones, just better. I was wrong. The Liege waffle is dense with hard pieces of sugar inside. The Brussels waffle, which is more like the Polish one, is just trying to be the Polish waffle. And that’s the biggest compliment I can give it. If you want to read more about the two types of Belgian waffles, this article describes it well.
11. Mayo on Fries
We established that the fries here are not world-class, but at least serving them with nice ketchup could help hide their oiliness. Wrong! Big Belgium culture shock was to learn that they serve it here with mayo, which essentially is oil, so it’s just oil dipped in oil. I’m surprised they don’t pour some extra oil on top.
12. Big Cultural Shock: The Weekend Exodus
I am not sure if this is a thing in all student cities, but it is in Leuven. Every week on Friday afternoon, you will see lots of students heading towards the train station with their carry-on bags. Why? They are traveling back home. This makes this student town partially dead at the weekends, with only the internationals partying. Belgians, on the contrary, party on the weekdays. I find it very strange, but I also like it. It gives me the impression that they value their families and friends and try to meet them as often as possible.
13. Moving to another city even when living close by
Belgium is a small country, and that is why what is considered far here, is not what I would normally consider far. I heard of people moving to Leuven, even though it takes them only 7 minutes on train to get here. It would never happen in Poland, but it also shows that people here can afford a better lifestyle.
14. Efficient Traffic Lights
When you’re standing at a crossing in Poland, you might as well start watching a movie because it will take a while for the green light to show up. This is not the case in Belgium, and that is a nice positive Belgium culture shock. It emphasized the pedestrian priority, which is not the case in my country.
15. Small Beer Portions
If you ask for a beer in Poland, it usually means a 500 ml (about a pint) glass. Here, they give you those small funny glasses that cost even more than ours, but the beer is great, so don’t complain.
16. Recycling
This country is huge on recycling. They segregate trash and don’t use single-use bottles or plastic bags. Be sure to learn how to segregate properly as otherwise high fines are waiting for you. It does take a while to learn to always have a shopping bag and a water bottle in hand, but I love how much they care here about the environment.
17. Advanced Healthcare
The only one that I had to rush to the ER, I took photos of the place because I couldn’t believe how advanced it was. It’s like night and day when I compare it to the communist-style hospital in my hometown. Unfortunately, even having insurance, you need to pay for the appointment, so it comes at a price. But I guess it’s worth it compared to the hour-long lines that Polish hospitals are infamous for.
18. Shops Close Early
If you ever visited Poland, you know that there is a “Żabka” on every corner, that is open till late hours. Convenience stores are not very popular here. You need to carefully plan when to go shopping as stores open late and close early.
19. Things must be done in order
Believe it or not, but I was once accused of attempting to bribe someone here. And that was not at all my intention! I needed to print my business card urgently and found the only store that could do it. When I asked if they could expedite the process for an additional fee, the man was offended, and the call ended abruptly. In my home country, paying extra for priority service is common, but I later learned that the man most likely thought I wanted to bribe him! Things in Belgium must be done in order, and this is just how it is. Since that incident, I learned (the hard way) to accept this practice.
20. Educational System
I came to Belgium to study, so I must have experienced some educational and cultural shocks as well, right? The educational system in Belgium is just wild to me, but people seem to love it here. Every Belgian is automatically admitted to all the Belgian universities if only they want to enroll. The actual selection happens throughout the year(s), making the exams extremely hard to pass. So, when you come to study here, you not only need to first get accepted, but then you must “survive” the selection process.
This sums up my list of 20 cultural shocks that I experienced in Belgium. Overall, I like living here and the university is excellent. If you want to get familiar with some other expat tips, read my recent post on that as well.
What are your thoughts on my observations? Do you share mine? Can you add anything to the list? I cannot wait to read your thoughts in the comments!
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Until next time,
A.
