Hello Flanders
Hello Flanders,
How are you? Long time, no see.
You may not remember me, so here’s a little reminder: my name is Peter, I’m twenty-one years old and I’m British. I’ve lived in Belgium, Brussels to be precise, for the past 16 years. I speak English and French, am fluent in Dutch and know basics in German and Japanese.
I read Le Soir and De Standaard every day, and watch only the television channels you have to offer. I’ve had university Law courses at St Louis and the KUB in Brussels, am now at the UCL and am hoping to do a “Master na Master” in Leuven in a year and a half.
I was writing to know what is going on, because the media have been talking a lot about you lately. Awful things, about how you and those close to you have been forbidding people to speak any other language than yours, for some reason.
Now, I’ve known you for a long time. Well, I’ve watched you. Never really got the chance to meet you properly because I went to a French-speaking school, and I can’t say I learnt to speak your language perfectly there. But I understand you, and I know your story. I understand how you feel about your language. I know it would be great if everyone could speak it.
But, bloody hell, why did you have to go and deal with it this way?
Yes, I am annoyed. Writing this letter is getting me more and more flushed. I really don’t care how proud you are, because it doesn’t justify being so closed to change.
Some of these decisions might not have been made by you personally. You may even disapprove of them. But can’t you see they are giving you a bad name? Every time someone around you says “Flanders is great, and has the right to impose her language on everyone who approaches her”, it reflects badly upon you. The problem being that many people say that nowadays. And as someone who isn’t fully trilingual, I resent that.
If I am given the choice of being forced to talk to you in your language and not talking to you, I’ll take the second option because I don’t want you to send me away if I fail to find the words in your language.
You scare me.
And it’s not because of your slow-minded sisters who live down South, French-Speaking Community and Wallonia. Sure, they influence me, but most of all your ideas go against my culture.
You scare me because I fear you will never see me as “Flemish enough”.
I am European. I am Brusseleer. I am British. Heck, I even feel Belgian at times.
But I am no “Wallon” or “Vlaming”. I don’t mingle in your inter-sister bickering. My opinions on the matter are my own.
It is as a third party that I write and urge you to start reconsidering.
Integration is a nice idea. I know you mean well. But where will your pride bring you?
Think twice about where you are going.
Yours sincerely,
Peter