Belgium is beautiful. Beautiful. It is clean, green, fresh. There is a sense of pride taken in the home. Even a small yard is carefully manicured. We are the neighborhood eye sore since our English ivy has taken over my front garden. I planted flowers in hopes to get back in the neighborhood good graces. Here's hoping.
The people here are very particular about their health also. Pesticides that my country has deemed moderately safe are not allowed here. I had a doctor inform me that dairy will be my death and there is a very strong push to force all children to eat a balanced diet starting from birth (whether or not the kids like it, which FYI no, no she is not going to eat a large raw tomato. Surprise).
So here is what I don't understand.
If the people here are so meticulous and caring about their lawns and the look of their neighborhood why do they never even bother to bring a bag to pick up the poop?
The other day I was outside, a neighbor came by with their pooch and sure enough my yard was it's chosen toilet. They would have kept walking except I was there. They asked for bag when they caught my eye. AS IF THEY WERE NOT EXPECTING THIS EVENT TO HAPPEN.
Gross.
Everywhere we go there are large turds from neighborhood pets. People just pretend like it isn't happening as if not looking will somehow afford their dog the privacy it deserves and then keep walking. My sidewalk is littered with bombs of dog poop.
And now I question health.
I know these people are very conscious of their health. As I mentioned it is part of their upbringing from a baby on. Yet, they haven't seemed to catch on to the whole smoking will kill you message. Everywhere I look people are smoking. Not just at bars or in places adults congregate but everywhere. When I go to pick up Stella there is a mom every day puffing away while she pushes her overdressed baby in her Bugaboo. I don't get it? How can they be so careful in their life that they don't allow pesticides but then in the same breath not do anything to have a campaign against second hand smoke on children.
And then there are the teenagers. We live close to a large school and a large park. At lunch I see the high school age kids eat their lunch at the park by my house. I find it crazy town that they drink beer or wine at lunch during their school day. Am I being Puritanical and prudish? Perhaps but really, don't you need to have a sharp mind to learn at school and do you really want to have alcohol in your system? Does no one else think this is weird? Is this just cultural or am I missing something?
So here I am in the land that disapproves of me for sending my daughter to school with dehydrated fruit instead of fresh fruit and then in the same breath has no problem with a mother blowing smoke on their newborn baby and giving their 16 year old a lager for lunch during the school day.
What do you think? Why is there such a big cultural gap on these things? What makes us different?
2 comments:
We live by the street near Brugge and every day people, car,dog etc pass by our house.Once in a while,we noticed that there is poop by our hedges and were not happy about it. Once i was fantasizing about putting a sign by our house like "keep away your dog or cat from this area". Indeed it seems strange that the people are particular with cleanliness but forget abt the turds from dogs things.
Dutch sidewalks suffer the same doggie vandalism. That is why many post signs of squatting dog profiles with a huge circle and slash. One Dutchman even took chalk and circled the piles and drew arrows and wrote messages and questions all along the walk - kind of an informational campaign against the mess. I don't know how well/quickly it worked, but it will be a slow change if it happens.
And as far as the food differences, just embrace them. Whenever you are immersed you will be the odd one out. Even here in Africa, my kids complain that people think their packed lunches are bizarre in comparison to the 'norm'. It is nice to have the option to adopt local snacking/meal options but to still keep your own too.
And the 'youth culture' of Europe. It is scary wherever in the world this is present. We try to use it as a talking point with the kids.
On a side, and lastly, when stopping in a South African burger joint to use the restroom and get drinks at 9 am we noticed one of the patrons sitting in a booth: she had a mega milkshake, he was drinking a bottle of beer. Ah, the cultural differences!
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