Belgium and it's oddities (compared to Canada)

First, sorry to any Belgians who read this who do not find this stuff a little off, but there are some really odd things that I've notice and have to vent a little.

When we left our apartment on Saturday, there were no lights in the hallways, so we found the stairs and felt our way down all 5 flights. No power on the staircases, no emergency lighting, nothing at all. We live on the fifth floor of the building. In all buildings here, when you walk in, you are on floor 0, then when you walk up a flight, you are on 1...was confusing at first, but we're used to it now. There is no sprinkler system in the building at all. I have no idea if the smoke detector works or not, but even if it did, and we had to leave the building, we would have to find our way to the stairs and feel our way down - with hundreds of others in the dark - I smell chaos! The regulations here for building permits is much more lenient than at home.

Dylan and I were supposed to go to Brugge on Saturday morning but when we arrived at the train station at 11am and found out that the trains were on strike, so we couldn't go. We decided to walk around the city centre and take in the sights instead. Strikes are quite popular here - Dylan has run into 3 train strikes since coming in September. This was a 24hr strike - to get their point across, then it's done. When we were walking downtown, there was a huge parade with people in uniforms carrying balloons and signs and we asked someone what it was about. It was the union strike parade. The workers of the unions want to make peace with the distinction between the Dutch and French. It wasn't a government strike - was members of the unions who represented the different cultures who wanted uniformity. Interesting for us....unions aren't allowed to pick and choose their members at home - everyone is able to join the union no matter what their language, beliefs or religion.

If there is construcion or deliveries happening in the city, there is nothing blocking off traffic or the sidewalks. Last week I was walking to the store and there was a truck delivering bricks to one of the homes along the road with a small crane. I kept on walking along the sidewalk and suddenly had to duck to get out of the way of the swinging arm with the crate of bricks on the end of it. I'm serious, I was walking straight into a wall of bricks and noone was telling me not to. In Canada, there would be orange cones blocking off the sidewalk, or at least someone standing there telling people to cross the road...not here...we walked right into the middle of the chaos. The guy just smiled at me, stopped the swinging arm and let me pass - Thanks Buddy!

Windows are being replaced in one of the buildings on the main street where we live. This is a very large building, so there have been deliveries of glass panes for a week now. When you walk up to it, the truck is blocking the sidewalk, so you have to walk around, but there is nothing telling you to walk on the other side or caution or anything. You just have to be aware and watch out for the flying windows. Also, the delivery men usually don't stop when they see you approaching....it is just assumed that you 'watch out'!

There are no stop signs in Brussels. Well, this may not be true, but I haven't seen any yet. Instead of a stop sign, the right has the right away. So, if you are approaching a side street to your right, you have to caution because they will zip right through without looking. When we cross the street, pedestrians are supposed to have the right away (I think), but that doesn't happen here....you take your life in your hands crossing...always. Roundabouts also replace stop signs here. They are chaotic roundabouts!!! It is pretty scary seeing the tiny cars speed into the roundabout without looking and pull out in front of others to get to their destination. So, no stop signs or stops at all for that matter - just drive and yield to the right when you feel like it.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but there is no tax added on purchases in Belgium. Taxes are already added into the price on all goods (some products aren't taxed, like children's clothing). When you go to a store and buy something for $4.50 - it is $4.50...I love this! No guessing and trying to add the tax in your head - the price is the price - bottom line! Products also don't sell for .99....I mean instead of something being $9.99 here - it would be $10......alot of the prices are just rounded to the dollar.

Bathrooms: Ok, this totally deserves it's own post, but I'll try to cover all the oddities about them. First of all, Dylan and I went to Subway last week. It was the first one we saw here in Brussels and it just opened a few weeks ago. It was delicious - the same taste as at home, but when I asked where the toilet was (if you say washroom or bathroom here, they look at you weird and think you want to get a shower...I think toilet is a little vulgar, but I'm trying to remember to say it), there wasn't one. No toilet....it was Subway sandwiches and there was no toilet - I couldn't believe it. This was the only place where this happened, but I am still a little shocked about it.
I know that I've mentioned that you have to pay to use the bathroom in most places - fast food, metro, train station, shopping centres...mostly everywhere....price ranges from 30 to 50 cents - I'm ok with this now! There is usually an attendant there who keeps the bathroom clean (or bearable), so not too bad. In some places, they pass you some paper towel and have gum, hairspray and other stuff for you to use (for a tip of course)! FYI, the picture above is a toilet in Milan, Italy. I haven't seen any like this in Belgium yet, but I'm sure they exist - I just added it here because it goes along with the theme of this post.

I have NEVER seen a hot water tap in a bathroom here! When you wash your hands, you have to use cold water - there is no other choice. At home, there has to be hot water or you wouldn't be allowed to serve customers. The hand washing at home is an important part of going to the bathroom (I mean Toilet)....and yet, they do not need to provide customers with hot water here or even warm water for that matter.

In most places there is one bathroom for men and women. It is not unusual for me to be in the bathroom with a man's urinal next to me or a man using it for that matter. There is a stall with a door and a urinal next to it for both sexes. In some places, there are 2 rooms - a women's and men's toilet, then a sink shared between the two bathrooms. This is very common here, even in nice restaurants!

The communal urinal is interesting to see in the middle of the street. Men - the world is their toilet, yet they have these in many places in the city. The picture here shows the urinal which has no doors or covers at all - just a big toilet in the city. If you can make out the picture, there are 4 urinals here, so men just hover to the middle and do their thing in public. When Dylan and I were at the Christmas Market last weekend, the huge urinal was right in the middle of it all. I was shocked to see this so close to all the vendors....it was right in the walking pathway of everyone who was going to the market - wasn't even located to the side of the road or anything - right in the middle of it all!

Finding the flusher is always an adventure! I have not seen on flusher like we have on EVERY toilet at home in Europe. There are buttons to push, levers to pull, chains to tug or foot pedals to step on....it is always interesting searching for the flusher!

Many bathrooms are located either upstairs or downstairs in the restaurant - I actually can't think of one that is located on the main floor that I've used. All staircases that lead to the throne are tiny - about a foot and a half wide - straight up (or down) - it's like climbing a ladder. With my big feet, I have to edge slowly up or down these narrow stairs to reach the toilet. There is no such thing as a handicapped bathroom here - if someone was in a wheelchair, they would have to hold it because there aren't elevators or ramps anywhere. It wouldn't be possible for someone to lead a normal life if they were in a wheelchair or even if they weren't nimble for that matter.....it's like crawling through a tunnel getting to the bathroom. They don't have regulations for places to be wheelchair accessible. Most buildings are tall and narrow and don't need to be accessible by law for all individuals.

Ok, that's my rant and info about the oddities. I'm sure there are plenty more, but I think I've said enough! On a high note, Brussels is one of the most interesting and diverse cities that I've visited and I love learning about the differences between here and Canada!