My Love and Hate lists of Belgium

Well, the day has come that we are packing and leaving our European adventure behind us.....
It was a great 6 months, but we are both anxious to get home and continue on with our lives with our families and friends back in Nova Scotia. I have compiled a top ten list for all the best and worst things about my life here - hope you enjoy!
(the pic is of the monument at Parc Cinquentenaire which is right across the street from my apt)

Top Ten Worst Things about living in Belgium:

10. Not having a car and travelling underground on the subway - I've probably only seen about 20% of the city because I just pop up like a groundhog to the places I want to go.

9. Having to find things in a grocery store with no English (ex. when I couldn't find flour, I asked someone in French for "fleur" and they pointed me towards the plant section....flour is farine)

8. Belgian drivers - they are friggin nuts! Watch yourself in a crosswalk because you might get run over!

7. Dutch TV/subtitles/French TV - we only have 1 full English channel - BBC1

6. Belgian manners (they are lacking) - cutting lines, butting in front of you on the metro, rude salesclerks....etc.

5. People begging for money with baby's in their arms - women sit on the side of the road with their babies beggin all passersby for money "pour mon bebe"!

4. Shelf milk - yuck!

3. Living in a small apartment with no oven, no tub and no counterspace!

2. Dog poop everywhere - there is no law here requiring people to pick up dog poop...therefore, it is everywhere - on sidewalk, in metro, on road, on shoes....it is disgusting!

1. Rain - need I say more? (Slogan - "Belgium....where rain is typical")



Top 10 Best Things about living in Belgium:

10. Exploring the city - Brussels is quite large and around every corner is a place I've never seen before.

9. The laxidaisy attitude of europeans - no one is in a hurry or has any urgence to get things done (this can also make the 'worst' list and would if I lived here).

8. Fresh baked goods and pastry - the bakery around the corner has gotten alot of business from me over the past six months.

7. Making new friends and meeting new people and seeing a new culture! It was great to experience so many new things and really opened my eyes to new ideas!

6. The metro/subway - I'm not sure how I'm going to adjust to waiting for a bus after using the subway for the past 6 months - it comes almost every 3 minutes and always gets me where I need to go with no traffic!

5. Drinking in public - the novelty has worn off, but I do love the fact that it is an option to stop in a corner store, pick up a can of Jupiler, continue on my way while sipping the golden bliss!

4. Mannekin Pis - my favorite peeing boy! (and all his costumes - here he is dressed like a peeing painter)

3. Belgian waffles - yum!

2. Travelling - Belgium is surrounded by 4 countries and many others are a very short distance away! Also love the cheap airlines (I will never forget that 2 of us flew to Dublin for 53 euro - I couldn't get to Dartmouth for that!)

1. Beer - Belgium has over 1000 brands of beer brewed locally!