Following Vietnam, I returned to Singapore for a few years, and then headed to Europe – specifically, Belgium. Belgium is a particularly challenging country to understand for most foreigners, given the country’s long history of strife between the two major linguistic communities in the country – Dutch (Flemish) and French. In addition, there is a third official language in Belgium – German – that is spoken by a smaller community. However, despite political and linguistic differences, this is a country that for most of its near 200 years of existence, has had a healthy economy and is, in fact, one of the most multi-cultural countries in the world with the existence of several European Union institutions in the land. Any problems are usually sorted out using “a Belgian compromise” – an expression that deserves a longer explanation than I have space for here. One of the things I’ve learned in my many years here is that the Belgians love the good life, and this includes the arts, fashion, food, culture and nature. Most Belgians also have an opinion on where the best fries can be found – just don’t get them started on whether the potato sticks should be rightly referred to as “French fries” or “Belgian fries” – you might be there the whole night!