The Fork Goes in the Left Hand

I have been carefully watching how the locals behave in cafes, restaurants, and in public.

I finally figured out what the Belgium culture book meant by “don’t eat with your main hand”. When people eat here, they hold their fork in their left hand and their knife in their right hand (which is not what I do in the U.S.) And typically if you’re holding one, you’re holding the other. According to what I’ve read, it is considered kind of crude to cut your food with a fork. However, it is perfectly acceptable to put your elbows on the table, eat all communal appetizers bare fingered, and bring your dog into the restaurant. Lastly, tip is included in the bill here, and according to the little Belgian etiquette book and my own observation, pretty much no one puts anything extra on the table. As an American, it feels very strange not putting extra money on the table. Yet when I see the bill, I don’t feel so bad after all.

The Little Burgundy Book also reads “Belgian restaurant service is good but leisurely”. I can attest to that. The servers are friendly, and will do whatever you want- they just don’t do it very fast. Meals are a process here.

A lot of people have asked how people dress out and about. I can only say that I have worked in one company, and seen two cities, so my sample size isn’t very large. Here at Bekaert, the receptionist was wearing some kind of satiny pants and a T-shirt with a puffy print on it. About half the company wears denim pants and T-shirt type outfits, though you do see more belts, short sleeve polos, and trousers. My boss wears pretty much what I wore in San Diego, so I’m safe. I’m told that short sleeves won’t do in winter for practical reasons. About half of my work clothes date from Spring, 2001 (Four pairs of pants and four shirts), and most of the rest are well used, so I am going to spring for about five new weather appropriate outfits. Mom H. suggested I search in Portland, since they are used to colder and wetter weather. The Americans confirmed that Portland is indeed a good benchmark, so while I am there I will do some shopping. So I’m going to clone myself.

As far as clothes on the street go, if you took a snapshot of the people in Grote Markt, and transposed them in a photo of people in downtown San Diego, you’d never know the difference. They have a lot of jeans, t-shirts, some goths and punks and other sub-cultures, as well as some suits and more style-conscious people. People in the evenings in certain restaurants and areas do dress up more (certainly more than what I see at work). So the nice clothes I am more likely to wear out and about in the evenings. On top of everything, umbrellas are indeed ubiquitous here and have taken on the “practical but accessorizing” status of purses.