Femme de la Rue: My experiences as a girl in Brussels

A few months ago, I came across some articles online regarding a film made by a Belgian student named Sofie Peeters, Femme de la Rue (Woman on the Street). The documentary focuses on Peeters' experiences in the Belgian capital Brussels, with her recounting various times when she has been a victim of sexual harrassment while going about her everyday business: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/03/belgium-film-street-harassment-sofie-peeters

While reading this article, and after watching the documentary, I got to thinking about my experiences in Brussels. As most of you know, I spent 5 months studying in Brussels as part of my degree, and while overall I can honestly say that it was one of the best experiences of my life (although at times it certainly did not feel that way!), Peeters' experiences struck a chord with me. Like her, I was also leered at and called names on the streets of Brussels when going about my day-to-day business. Nearly every day it seems I was approached by men, who refused to take no for an answer. On  a few occassions, I was followed home from the tram or bus after being at uni or going out. I had in no way tried to encourage these men- I avoided eye contact with them, only spoke to them to tell them to leave me alone, and, without getting into the thorny topic of clothing, I was not dressed in a provocative way that could have attracted them. Every time, I would be called various insults or followed for a short distance before they gave up. 

It goes without saying that in many ways, I was lucky. At no point was I ever physically attacked by any of these men, but I did feel threatened by them and in my mind at least, this is unacceptable. Considering that I was always very conscious of my personal safety, never walking around by myself late at night, and always avoiding the less savoury districts of the city, I felt shocked and saddened that in this day and age I should feel like I had to modify my behaviour and fear for myself in this way. 

Another more recent article on Cafe Babel suggets that other girls feel the same way: 

http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/42910/femme-de-la-rue-women-belgium-harassment-streets.html

So, what is the answer to this? It's all very well saying that women should modify their behaviour, or dress a certain way in order to not attract attention to themselves, but surely in this day and age, women should be able to wear what they want, go where they want, act how they want and generally go about their lives without worrying about being harrassed? Some have suggested that the problem, at least in Brussels, is down to a lack of integration amongst the immigrant community, but in my experience this is not necessarily the case. While many of the men who approached me weren't Belgian, a good number of them were. Likewise, most of the incidents took place in the area I lived in, which although not the richest or upmarket area of the city, was far from being a deprived ghetto. 

I should mention at this point that I do still love Brussels, and Belgium, and do still hope to move back there one day. Also, this is not an exclusively Belgian problem, in fact I felt far more threatened, and heard of far more incidences of sexual harrassment in Spain. At times I have also felt threatened by some men's behaviou towards me on the train into work in Aberdeenshire. This is an issue that transcends geographic boundaries.

It's hard to pinpoint why women feel threatened by men's behaviour. What is certain, however, is that it is unacceptable that women feel this way and that now, women are perhaps starting to stand up and speak out about their experiences, which can only be a good thing. The tide may be turning, slowly but surely.

New Year Resolutions 2013

I've never been one to make New Year's Resolutions. Ever. I don't really see the point in them to be honest - I've always been perfectly aware of my lack of focus and determination, why make myself feel any worse about it by setting myself (seemingly) impossible goals and setting myself up to fail? 

This year, however, I feel like I need a change. Since graduating, I have been a little lost and it has come ot the time that I need to actively take control of things. So with this in mind, I present to you my New Year's Resolutions for 2013:

1-Learn Portuguese
Portuguese is a language that I have always been fascinated by, and as I am trying to start a career in interpreting and translating, an extra language can only be a bonus, right? 

2-Learn Dutch
Another language-based resolution! While it may not be as 'sexy' as Portuguese, I'd really love to learn a Germanic language, and given that I want to eventually move back to Belgium, I think it would be useful.

3-Save more, spend less
So many times, my lack of fincncial sense has gotten in my way, stopping me from doing what I want. Also,  I am somewhat pessimistic when it comes to politicians and bankers, and I honestly do not believe that state pensions will even exist by the time I am a bitter old biddy. What's the harm in saving for my retirement early? 

Time will tell if I will actually accomplish any of these, but here's hoping!

It's been a while....

So, my wonderful plan of keeping a year abroad blog kind of fell by the wayside during my second placement I guess. Somewhere between finding a place to live in Granada in Spain, visiting the various monuments that the city has to offer, exploring Spain and the small matter of writing my dissertation blogging didn't appear to be too high on my list of priorities! I would say I'm sorry, but seeing as I have all of about 4 followers...:P

All in all, Spain was 10x more stressful than Belgium! Within a few weeks I found that I had become quite attached to Brussels, despite being convinced that I hated it at the time-hindsight is, as they say, a wonderful thing. Although I didn't have any exams to do while I was over there, I had my dissertation on the Spanish press to get on with, a process that consumed pretty much my entire life out there and triggered many a stress migraine. A tip to all who have dissertations to write: Be more prepared than I was! (That means choosing a topic more than 2 days before the deadline, and actually reading and researching your topic previously!).

Despite this, I did get the oppurtunity to explore a little bit and have some fun while I was out there. Although Granada isn't a terribly big city, there are a lot of Moorish buildings and of course, the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada. I also managed to visit Madrid, which although being a very very VERY boring 5 hour bus ride away has become one of my favourite places in the world, and getting away from the stress of dissertation writing for 3 days really did me the world of good. And that's before I get into the tapas, tea rooms and cheap alcohol...yum :)

So I shall leave you with these words and a pretty picture of the Alhambra, truly one of the most beautiful sights I have ever visited. I may or may not do more posts on my time in Spain, that depends on if anyone wants it :p

Top 10 worst things about Brussels

So now, after careful consideration, I present to you: The Top 10 Worst Things About Brussels!

1-The Drivers

As my friend Kallie once said: "Do people actually need to pass a driving test here?". After visiting Portugal, I was convinced that they were the world's worst drivers, however the drivers of BXL were out to prove me wrong (sorry Portugese drivers). Apparantly Brussels is the only city where one doesn't have to stop for red lights, and, additionally, if there is a traffic jam, it is totally fine to just drive on the pavement...so many times I nearly got hit by cars at pedestrian crossings because apparantly my walking over the road when the green man was showing is a violation of drivers' rights. So yeah, if you do ever decide to visit Brussels, maybe consider just not crossing any roads. Ever!

2-The "OMG-SNOW"

Anyone who knows me knows that I generally despise snow- its cold, ruins my favourite shoes, and, due to Britain's inability to prepare for winter weather, it is just generally a pain in my ass when I have to rely on public transport. In this respect, Belgium is no different- the week leading up to my flight back home for Christmas was mainly spent on weather and airport websites, cursing Brussels airport for running out of de-icing fluid and praying that the public transport in Brussels would be running on Christmas Eve. I won't bore everybody with the details of my epic journey back to Aberdeenshire (when it took me longer to travel the 7 miles between my flat in Brussels and the airport than it took my Dad to drive the 120-odd miles from Inverurie to Edinburgh), but suffice to say, Belgian Winters suck just as much as the Scottish ones.

3-Cost

Maybe I have been spoiled, living in Edinburgh for uni which seems to be quite a cheap city to live in, but I found that nearly everything cost more in Brussels, from rent to groceries. My £400 a month student loan didn't get me that far...

4-The Organisation at ISTI

The lack of organisation at ISTI, my university in Brussels was a major gripe for me the first couple of months. From the Erasmus co-ordinator always being nearly impossible to get hold of, to said assistant being incapable of faxing my documents back to Heriot Watt and failing to tell me, thus guaranteeing the 2-month late payment of my Erasmus Grant, I am convinced that the first 2 months of my studies at ISTI have shortened my life expectancy.

5-Crap flatmates

While the accommodation that I eventually found was adequate for my needs (I was, after all, only staying for 4 months, it didn't bother me that I just had a tiny room to live in), my neighbours were, for the most part, absolute douchebags. As the wi-fi router was in my room, whenever there were problems with the Internet I had 3 or 4 people banging on my door demanding to know what was wrong. Then there were the guys who used to like standing outside my door smoking, therefore triggering migraines and making my room stink. To be perfectly honest, I was happy to leave.

6-The dirt

In my opinion, Brussels was quite a dirty city. Not a day went by when I didn't see rubbish on the street, dog poop left to rot on the pavements, vomit on the stairs at the Metro station, people peeing up against lampposts...put it this way, I was wary of leaning on anything!

7-The...."Interesting" people

I have nothing against people who are a bit 'different', God knows I am a little left of centre...however, Brussels seemed to me to have a rather large population of just weirdos. Particular favourites include the guy who say next to me on the bus and proceded to tell me over again for 20 minutes that I am not Belgian, the guy at the bank who spent a good half hour putting his card into the ATM, ejecting it, putting it back in, then ejecting it, without ever taking any cash out or appearing to do anything, and the guy at Gare du Nord who offered me 100 euros for a blowjob. Nice knowing you all!

8-Sundays

I understand that as a predominantly Catholic country, Belgium would observe the "Keep the Sabbath holy" commandment...however, there were a good few times when a shop opening on a Sunday would have been welcomed, especially my first weekend in Brussels when I had an awful cold and couldn't find any place open to buy tissues and Strepsils! Speaking of which...

9-How hard it was to get basic medicine

When you have a migraine, you don't really feel like going to the pharmacy and begging for painkillers for half an hour before they will give you them. Likewise, if, like me , you suffer from 'monthly' pains and headaches and you want to stock up on painkillers so you don't get caught short, you don't want to be treated like Amy Winehouse for wanting to but some ibuprofen. In both these situations, I would not reccommend Brussels for you...and then, if they do decide that you are all enough, they will charge you a ridiculous amount for it.

10-Smoking in bars

Smoking in bars/restaurants is a pet peeve of mine, I can't stand the smell and I don't see why I should have to breathe in toxic fumes and end up smelling like a rotting corpse just so that someone can satisfy their selfish, filthy addiction. Also, given that cigarette smoke triggers migraines for me, the thought of potentially spending 1-3 days in bed, feeling sick, not being able to focus properly or eat because someone smoked around me doesn't appeal to me. This was a big problem for me going out in Brussels, as people are still allowed to smoke in public places. While I still managed to go out a lot, sometimes I was put off it just by the thought of other people's smoke in the room....yuck


So, there you ahve it: my Top 10 Best and Worst of Brussels. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how hard I had to think to find 10 bad things to write about...I guess when I was actually there, it was easier to focus on the bad things that were happening, and now that I have a bit of distance from the place I can be a bit more objective about it. While I will not be rushing back to Brussels any time soon, Belgium as a country has a special place in my heart, and I met some lovely people and saw some really nice places. As an experience, overall I would say that it was good and well worthwhile- when you are living by yourself in a foreign country, completely isolated from your friends and family you definately learn a lot about yourself, which in itself made the placement interesting for me. Here's hoping that my second placement will be just as good, or better!

And just in case you didn't get it...

Just in case you are unfamiliar with the song that gave my previous post its title, here you go...quite the modern clasic, no?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTbNXMSOBbI

Empire State of BXL

So, after being inspired by the blogs of a few friends of mine (namely the fabulous Katie Barrett and Dani Martines, whose blogs you should totally read as well :) ), here's the first entry of my Erasmus year blog.

As I have just arrived in Granada, Spain, I feel its only fitting to give my first placement of Brussels, Belgium a proper tribute, so forgive me if this entry is particularly long and rambling. Brussels certainly made an impression on me, as most of you will be able to attest to! I've decided to list the top 10 best and worst things about my semester there to try and make it a bit more organised. So, on with the 10 Best Things About My Time in BXL:

1-Living in the same country as Saskia

Saskia is a lovely, kind, funny and all round just amazing person who I met in my second year of uni at Heriot-Watt, while she was doing her exchange there. She is also Belgian, and when my original accommodation plans fell through, she offered me the chance to stay with her and her family for a few days in Antwerp, a city aroundabout 45 minutes by train from Brussels until I got myself sorted, which was just really nice of her. I really appreciated her hospitality and the week that I stayed with her in Antwerp (which I was soon to discover is one of my favourite places EVER) was so much fun, even with all the stress of flathunting in another language .

After I found a place in Brussels, I was still able to spend quite a bit of time with her- there was her birthday night out in Antwerp which was officially one of the most fun nights out I've had despite my not drinking, my first proper guided tour of Antwerp, cocktails at 4pm with her and some of my friends fron BXL who had made the trip, the Christmas market and the teary last visit to Antwerp a couple of days before I left the country. Antwerp is definately one of my favourite cities in the world, such a great mix of the old and the new, and I love the fact that even in the city centre you can just turn a corner and find a little garden. Well worth a visit, and made all the more special because of Saskia, who is officially the best tour guide and Belgian friend you could ever ask for :)

2-My Brussels Friends

One of my main worries about moving to another country for 5 months was making new friends, as I am, by nature, quite shy and quiet (until you get to know me. Then I never shut up and will genrally just be irritating :p). But I needn't have worried one bit, as I made some great friends in Brussels who provided the fun and kept me sane throughout the whole semester. I will probably go into more detail about the various things that we did later on, suffice to say they are all amazing people and I am missing them all greatly now that I have left- bring on the Northern Reunion!!

3-My trip to Cologne

As a bona-fide Christmas freak (I love it! I actually do wish it could be a wombling merry Christmas every day), the European Christmas markets have always been something that appealed to me, so when I realised that Cologne in Germany, which is among one of the biggest and the best of the lot, was only a 2-hour train journey from Brussels, there was no question about it: I HAD to go. This was also my first visit to Germany, and on both counts, it did not disappoint. Cologne is such a beautiful city with its massive cathedral and gothic architecture and the people were all very nice to me, and nobody even passed comment on my terrible German. The Christmas markets themselves were amazing, I went a bit crazy buying decorations for when I went back home for Christmas and returned to Belgium in the mood for doing nothing but singing Christmas carols and eating Berlinners (German donuts), which came in handy when I had a 5-page Belgian literature essay to write, let me tell you :p . Definately one of the highlights of my stay and I definately plan on going back to Cologne one day.

4-The Christmas markets in BXL

A bit of a repitition, I know, but Brussels' Christmas market deserves a mention all of its own. I went there with a few friends for an evening, and we ended up not only going ice-skating (all of us) and breaking a coccyx (just me), but also finding a stall selling British cheeses. It goes without saying that this made us very happy, seeing as British cheese is hard to come by out there, and something that we were all missing. There were also the usual suspect type stalls and the general atmosphere was so festive and welcoming, and I also ran into an old friend of mine Helene, who did an exchange at my secondary school around 4 years ago which was great :)

5-Trip to Ypres and the WW1 Trenches

As I'm interested in the history of the 2 World Wars, this was a trip that I knew I wanted to make when I got to Belgium. Ypres is quite a small town in the Northern, Flemish-speaking part of the country, and is also where a lot of the fighting took place in WW1. One cold December day, I went there with 2 friends from uni, and it was well worth the 2 hour train journey. We started by having lunch at the Ypres Christmas market, and then took the bus a bit out of the town to walk to the trenches. If I'm being honest, the museum was not anything particularly great- it is obviously run by this family who don't seem to care much about it: it is basically a few rooms full of helmets, guns, etc, which in itself is quite interesting, but they let their cats run around all over the place and some of the mannequins they have lying around just seem a bit disrespectful to me at least. However, the trenches outside made it all worth it- a very eerie atmosphere, and as it had been raining in Brussels that week, the mud gave us an idea of the horrible conditions the soldiers had to live in. After heading back into town and having dinner, we went to the Last Post memorial that they hold there every night at 8 to remember those who died, again a very touching moment.

6-The food!

You can't expect someone to write a blog entry about Belgium without food coming up! I will be brief here and simply say that everything you've heard about Beglian food is true: The fries and chocolate are second to none, and everyone should have frites with sauce andalous at least once in their life.

7-The 'odd' monuments

Brussels has a fairly earned reputation as being a bit of a confused city, what with the linguistic and political divides in Belgium, this also seems to have spilled over into their monuments. Arguably the most famous is the 'Mannekin Pis', a small statue of a boy peeing, along with the slightly less famous and infinitely uglier 'Janneake Pis', a small statue of a girl squatting and peeing. Up until fairly recently they were joined by a statue of a dog peeing, but that seems to have disappeared sadly. You really have to admire a city somewhat for having so many peeing statues in it...

8- The Beer

As a non-beer drinker, I was interested to see whether Brussels could tempt me with its beers, and, to an extent, it has. While I still prefer spirits over any type of beer, the price of said spirits in bars is enough to put anyone off, and the wide choice of beers make up for it: my favourites were Kasteel Red, a cherry beer, Pecheresse, a peach beer, and a cactus beer whose name I have forgotten, but not the oddly addictive taste.

9-The Language

I'll show my language nerd credentials here in full force, I chose Belgium over France as my year abroad placement mainly because I thought it would be interesting to study French from a non-French perspective, and on this Brussels did not disappoint. There are quite a few differences between French French and Belgian French, which amused and interested me no end. I think I have to say though that Belgian French, on the whole, tends to be a good bit more logical...it will be hard to go back to 'soixante-dix' and 'quatre-vingts-dix' once you have gotten used to 'septante' and 'nonante'.

10-The Grand Place

Anyone who has been to Brussels will know the Grand Place, the huge square in the historical centre of the city. I had heard that it was stunning, and I have to agree with everyone who said that- you almost feel like you are not in the middle of a city when you are there, and the buildings are just beautiful.

So there's the Top 10 Best Things about Brussels...soonish, or at least when my dodgy Spanish Internet permits me, I will post the Top 10 Worst Things about BXL-prepare for a lot of hating on the Belgian Capital!