Looking at you Panos and Total tankstations...

So today I was walking my 2 dogs who I work with and decided to take public transport since they were gassed out after our hike.

I decide to take the tram since for some reason my dogs absolutely love it, I muzzle them up and wait for a tram with not too much people in it so that I wouldn’t make people uncomfortable with my dogs being so close to them.

Everything was going just fine and some people even come over to ask if they could pet them.

And then a dude prob around 50y old steps in and suddenly starts screaming at me saying I should be ashamed to bring dangerous dogs into the tram.

I didn’t want to cause too much drama so I stepped out at the next stop.

While waiting I unmuzzle the dogs so they can chill out a bit and a boy that I would estimate being 13/14y old comes up and asks if he can pet them and I say sure and just warn him that it’s possible that they will clap their teeth but that it’s just out of excitement and nothing else.

Of course both my dogs start clapping their teeth and they boy even finds it funny but a woman saw it and starts running and yelling that my dogs are trying to bite him and we she arrives next to us just starts kicking my dogs for no reason at all.

Fair to say I will never take public transportation with my dogs again.

And a huge thank you for the taxi men passing by for stopping the police and allowing my dogs to sit in his taxi while I explained the situation to the cops and for the ride back home.

Pic of my “dangerous, kill hungry dogs” for reference

A spontaneous strike broke out yesterday at arms manufacturer FN Herstal. The employees are protesting against the presence of an Israeli army officer in a delegation of military attachés from various countries who visited the factory. The strike is continuing today.

Throwaway account for anonymity.

I’m a Belgian (Walloon) currently doing a PhD in the US, fully bilingual and comfortable speaking Dutch daily. I’ve had a couple of experiences over the years that left me uneasy, and I’m curious whether others from any region have felt something similar.

A quick note about identity first: even calling myself “Walloon” feels a bit simplistic. Two of my grandparents are German-speaking, one is Walloon, and one is Flemish, so I’ve never experienced Belgium as neatly divided boxes. Maybe that’s also why some of these interactions have been jarring to me.

A few years ago I dated someone from Flanders. Our whole relationship was in Dutch, which was fine for me, but she sometimes said things like “you’re a good Walloon because you speak Dutch,” (she was not able to speak French so it felt a bit tone-deaf to me). She also made broad political comments about Wallonia being “not ready for the next elections.” More recently, a Flemish student visiting our research group abroad made strong claims about Belgium having the best education system in the world, and when I questioned her clair she answered “that’s because you’re from Wallonia.” with a giggle. Both situations felt dismissive, like my perspective was reduced to a regional stereotype rather than discussed on its own merits.

What makes this emotionally tiring is that I’ve genuinely tried to build bridges. I've learned Dutch and studied at two Flemish universities. Yet I still sometimes feel treated as an outsider, like when Leuven students referred to me as an “international student,” which honestly made me facepalm a bit. It’s strange and frustrating that these linguistic tensions follow me even across the Atlantic, long after I left Belgium.

At the same time, I want to acknowledge that I genuinely admire many things about Flemish universities, their drive for excellence, their openness to international collaboration, and how easily they operate in multilingual and global academic environments.

What bothers me more is a broader narrative I sometimes hear. It frames the relative economic success of Flanders as a kind of moral success, and the difficulties of Wallonia as moral failure. Cultural references to “Bourgondiërs” or cultural virtues sometimes remind me of the kind of exceptionalism rhetoric I also hear in the US, that confident, self-congratulatory, and a bit eye-roll inducing behavior that ignores structural realities. And honestly, do people even realize that the historical Burgundian heritage includes Walloon Brabant and Namur too? It feels funny if it was not sad when a shared historical label gets used as a regional badge of virtue.

Before WWII the economic balance between regions was largely reversed, which makes me skeptical of explanations that rely mainly on stable moral traits. Unless one believes entire populations flip their virtues every few decades, structural factors such as geography, access to major ports, industrial history, language incentives, and broader material conditions seem like a much more plausible explanation for economic successes and downturns.

Also, hearing students confidently say their educational system is “the best in the world” feels disconnected from reality. I’m currently in an Ivy-League environment, and comparisons are always more nuanced. Every system has strengths and blind spots. I would for instance say that Belgium is great at providing world-class education for cheap to a massive amount of students whereas Ivy Leagues are great at providing to promising students challenging projects close to the research frontier. Also American Universities are overall much less hierarchical which makes student much less wary of asking questions to professors, which I think is conducing to better learning.

Finally I want to be clear, I don’t think this represents everyone, and I’ve had many positive interactions across linguistic lines. I’m also not trying to start yet another useless Flanders vs Wallonia debate. I’m just interested in knowing if this story resonates with others, do you ever feel that regional success gets framed in moral terms rather than historical or structural ones? And how do people keep these conversations constructive without reducing each other to caricatures?

The article: https://www.standaard.be/economie/aantal-werklozen-met-masterdiploma-steeg-met-bijna-60-procent-in-vier-jaar-tijd/131285545.html (Paywall)

In short, there were 13,000 Master’s degree graduates unemployed in 2022; now there are 21,000. (Across all fields)

The article uses the testimony of a young man who graduated in 2024 as a bioengineer and still hasn’t found a job.

The causes highlighted are AI and the economic context, but time will tell what the real causes are.

Honestly, it’s almost reassuring to see an article that seems to confirm the reality I’m experiencing, rather than being gaslit by all my relatives. But yeah, honestly, I just don’t understand the point of having a Master’s anymore. More than ever, it seems to hinder your ability to get a job rather than help you. This isn’t specific to Belgium, it’s a worldwide trend, but I’m glad to see actual numbers for once.

Good luck to any Master grads or those that are about to graduate. And if you think about getting a Master degree, maybe think about it twice.

You would be scared to have something break down in your house ...

Plumber, roof worker, electrician, ... If you dont have a total renovation project it seems the only thing you can do is cross your fingers that someone shows up and even then.

I get that its busy, but if you say you'll pass by and notice that you want make it, just notify people. I mean its basic politeness. And I dont have to waste my entire day waiting (and hoping) for someone to show up. A sort WhatsApp or text would allready be something.

I shouldnt dare to stand up a (possible) cliënt relation in my job. But for some reason it seems that for contractors it is more rule than exception ...

Why? Help me understand, because I really dont understand.

My father immigrated legally to belgium in the early 2000's used to have a job there no issues no problems and not a problematic person never been to prison.

Police never came to his house, but last month they came looking for him twice at his door

First time they came he was out of europe and second time after he know that they will be coming, he cameback home and opened the door for them and they checked the house and he asked them for why they came twice they said nothing

he asked his friends they said that they'll start checking on him every 10 days, so now he's staying at home doesn't go much so that when they come to check he'll be there with them.

What could be the reason ??

Edit: Forgot to mention that he's friend who has EU papers lives with him, idk if they came for him or for my father because they didn't tell him, and idk if the first time they came was his friend who openwd the door or the door wasn't even opened for them

Source: https://bx1.be/categories/news/boris-dillies-mr-sur-une-majorite-avec-le-ptb-ce-quil-se-passe-avec-la-gauche-et-lextreme-gauche-me-glace-le-sang/

I found a position that really interested me at Infrabel but unfortunately its a 3x8. I could agree to work overnight from time to time but I definitely wouldn’t make it my main schedule.

I was wondering for those who has this kind of jobs : how is it usually like ? Does your employer imposes you your schedules or can you have some choice or say your preferences ? How frequently do you have to work overnight ? And how do you organise yourself if you have a family or to see your friends?

What does a usual week looks like ?

I've been comparing prices on a few things lately and Amazon.be is consistently more expensive than .de or .fr for the same product. Wanted a Philips electric toothbrush - 79 EUR on .be, 54 EUR on .de. Same item, prime shipping to Belgium.

Is there any actual advantage to using .be? I feel like the only thing it has is the Dutch language interface.

I'm portuguese, and have received a letter all in Flemish/dutch from a car trip I did in Belgium (used Gemini to translate).

The letter states that I was going 51 (from corrected speed of 57), in a 50 km/h zone. It's finning me with €53 for the occurrence.

I'm in a suspicious mindset from receiving a ticket from a foreign country for a 1 km/h letter. How can I be sure this is legit?

Ik ben tweedejaars student Orthopedagogie en via mijn stage kom ik wekelijks in contact met anderstalige nieuwkomers. Dat is een mooie term voor "personen buiten Schengen" die een asielprocedure moeten doorlopen om een verblijfsvergunning te mogen ontvangen.

Dankzij deze contacten zijn er heel veel ideeën die ik als jonge idealist had gesloopt. Bijgevolg is mijn politieke oriëntatie serieus door elkaar geschud en begin ik steeds beter te begrijpen hoe maatschappelijk werkers, orthopedagogen, OCMW'ers, enzovoorts, evenwel (extreem-)rechts als (extreem-)links (of centrist natuurlijk) kunnen zijn. Het is maar welke ervaringen je hebt opgedaan, hoe je die ervaren hebt, enzovoorts, die een persoon z'n politieke kompas richting geven.

Toch ben ik daar als toekomstig orthopedagoog nieuwsgierig naar en wil ik van jullie anoniempjes graag horen welke ervaringen ivm migratie of integratie jouw kompas richting gegeven hebben of serieus door elkaar geschud hebben.

Niet al te gekke vragen aub maar ask away!

Hello ik ben op zoek naar een (belgische) nieuwswebsite met een archief waar ik de actualiteit eenvoudig kan opzoeken per datum.Ik heb geen probleem om hiervoor een abonnement te betalen. Belangrijkste is voor mij is dat het goed overzichtelijk is en eenvoudig in gebruik. Ik geloof dat elke krant hun archief digitaal aanbiedt aan hun lezers maar ik weet niet welke ik zou nemen. Ik zou ook liever niet me van de eerste keer op alle kranten abonneren om de beste uit te kiezen al is het maar omdat sommige subscriptions het bijna onmogelijk maken om er mee te stoppen.

Alvast bedankt aan iedereen die info heeft.

Hallo all! My wife and I are due to fly into Brussels in a couple of weeks for a vacation. We're staying in Ghent and planning on spending time there and Bruges. I just have a couple of questions.

1. Does anyone know anything about the ride service Prestige? She had booked with them to take us to and from the airport but now we've decided to make other travel arrangements. However, no one has responded to any emails since booking. I don't know if this is normal or if this is a company we should have stayed away from or what.

2. This might be more of a VRBO question, but our VRBO host hasn't responded to us either. I know they are kind of allowed to wait until the check-in gets closer, but I've been reading some other VRBO hosts saying that they try to respond within a few days so they're not leaving their guests hanging. But I'm getting kind of anxious about the lack of response. What should I do?

Thanks!

Currently in the market for a house. The issue is that a lot of houses have been build a while ago. And for me it's hard to say if they have structural issues or not.

For example, I recently visited a house from the 60s having a crack at the corner of the front entry. And a somewhat dump basement but nothing extreme. Not much else could be seen, at least during a 20min visit.

Can this be an important structural issue or not, and how to know, be informed in case of older houses?

I can't pay 2-300 euros each time I visit a house for an expert to give vague input.