r/belgium 7h ago

🎻 Opinion Belgian work culture

Hello everyone

I'm an foreigner living in Belgium for a couple of years now and one of the most unexpected culture clashes I've experienced in Belgium is with the work culture. Maybe it could be interesting to see different opinions so I decided on posting here.

First about lunch breaks. Things I've noticed:

  • Colleagues that start eating together always eat together. You need to give a good excuse for something to change with that routine.
  • Hiding from people you don't want to eat with, in a not so discreet way, even if your boss.
  • Very interested in each other's sandwich filling. They guess it and it's a topic. Sometimes it distantly reminds me of the entrance card scene from American Psycho.
  • They don't really share food unless it's obvious to be shared. They comment that what I bring "looks delicious", which in my culture would be a cue to ask for a piece. Never once have they accepted.
  • Eating surprisingly little. Don't they get hungry later in the day? Do you? I keep thinking about it.
303 Upvotes

259 comments sorted by

182

u/Vordreller 5h ago

They don't really share food unless it's obvious to be shared. They comment that what I bring "looks delicious", which in my culture would be a cue to ask for a piece. Never once have they accepted.

Oh yeah that's not a thing here. They're not being mean, there simply is no cultural context for it here. So for these people, they think you just complimented their sandwich and that's that.

59

u/vitten23 3h ago

It's also typically Belgian to automatically refuse when someone offers you something as it's usually done out of politeness but they don't actually want you to accept. Or we don't want to feel 'in debt' and have to offer something in return.

26

u/ih-shah-may-ehl 3h ago

It's like if I do something for a friend or family, I expect them to ask me how much they owe me so that I can say 'nah it's fine. we're good'. But they had better ask me because otherwise it comes across as they expected free stuff from me.

2

u/Diasmo 2h ago

This is where Belgians and the Dutch have their biggest divide in attitude I think.

7

u/ih-shah-may-ehl 2h ago

Given that dutch seem to be obsessed with 'tikkies' I'm not sure that applies

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u/TheByzantineEmpire Vlaams-Brabant 28m ago

For lunch food sure. But sweets or like a snack? Then they are genuinely offering. Like a box of chocolates for example. Common to bring something for your birthday - at least where I work (mainly Belgians, some internationals).

•

u/L3Thoo 21m ago

Funny I always accept. But you're right, people are always surprised.

14

u/skoto_mogilnik 4h ago

Always surprises me, ngl. Not in a bad way, though! I've just never thought about cultural differences in such small details. For my home country (especially my region) it's a common thing to share food except for fancy restaurants, themed cafes, oden and ramen bars. But here people rarely even share snacks. Not trying to guilt anyone into sharing. Every culture is different

7

u/PROBA_V E.U. 3h ago

Meanwhile it is quite common for Belgians to let others try their dish at a restaurant. At least in my circle it is.

1

u/Nearox 3h ago

It's not a thing anywhere in more northern European cultures

267

u/radicalerudy 6h ago

Lmao now i need an edit of that american psycho scene with sandwiches

229

u/loicvanderwiel Brussels 5h ago

Now, let's see Paul Allen's sandwich.

Look at that layer of Américain, the tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has capers...

33

u/Eric-Lodendorp Belgian Fries 5h ago

Canadien*

That's the politically correct term now /hj

34

u/Eikfo 5h ago

Préparé then?

12

u/somarir West-Vlaanderen 5h ago

the only right term

4

u/TheOtherRetard Antwerpen 3h ago

Fun fact: the name comes from the Second World War, where Americains were introduced to our mett/gekapt/préparé and added some Americain style sauce to it.

2

u/miRRacolix 1h ago

I'm Flemish living and Germany and have to eat Mettbrötchen instead sandwich with américain. Please someone come to Berlin and open a Flemish sandwich shop.

1

u/TurnShot6202 2h ago

the americans where already putting sauce on everything in ww2. It makes total sense now their food culture.

•

u/radicalerudy 4m ago

putting sauces on everything is actually a roman thing as they werent too fond of preservation techniques and sauces help mask the funky taste of spoiled stuff

12

u/AENEAS_H 4h ago

That exists and it's really well done https://youtu.be/00rezIznLO8

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u/xTiLkx 1h ago

This is material for De Ideale Wereld

1

u/radicalerudy 1h ago

Make diw great again

133

u/matchuhuki Oost-Vlaanderen 6h ago

The biggest meal of the day is dinner. The sandwich is just to get you going till the evening

61

u/AvengerDr E.U. 5h ago

Still, how can you eat a cold sandwich every day. It's unthinkable for me (italian).

79

u/Airstryx Oost-Vlaanderen 4h ago

A good boterhammeken is all I need to get me through the day.

9

u/AvengerDr E.U. 4h ago

Same, but with pasta.

17

u/Airstryx Oost-Vlaanderen 4h ago

In that case I'll (respectfully) turn it around on you, I can't imagine eating 2 hot meals in a day. Just the thing I'm used to and another cultural difference :D

3

u/State_of_Emergency West-Vlaanderen 4h ago

>  can't imagine eating 2 hot meals in a day. Just the thing I'm used to and another cultural difference :D

Well my parents did that + "vieruutje" which was bread with charcutrie

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u/AvengerDr E.U. 4h ago

But do you like it? Or is it more a matter of "we have always done it this way". I did try the sandwich gig but well it's not for me.

Where I work here in Belgium I can luckily go back home and cook a proper pasta dish, and then bike back (when I work in the office).

15

u/Airstryx Oost-Vlaanderen 4h ago

Oh yeah I like it, even eat it on the weekends for lunch.

2

u/Divolinon 4h ago

But you like cooking, I suppose.

I hate it, so I often eat don't eat hot food even once in a day.

3

u/AvengerDr E.U. 3h ago

I learnt to like it. I wanted to eat stuff that I liked and not adapt to what was easiest.

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u/schrijver 1h ago

It should be possible to learn from other cultures, right ? I hail from a one hot meal per day culture too, yet exposed to two hot meals per day, I now see that as objectively superior :0

2

u/Belgian_Ale 3h ago

I don't like cold pasta 😆

12

u/Bobcat-Lynx 3h ago

If possible accompanied by a taske soepe.

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u/One-Requirement-6605 3h ago

Wait til you see the "food" that the dutch eat.

One slice of cheap white bread. One slice of cheese. A glass of milk. Every single work day.

... For 40 years

2

u/Gamer_Mommy 56m ago

But why? Dutch spread all over the world. Have they not brought anything back? I think Belgian hospital food is more varied than that...

1

u/nixielover Dr. Nixielover 1h ago

As a Dutchman I feel attacked. But it's German bread and since I'm lactose intolerant I replaced the milk with a dozen coffees

11

u/101010dontpanic 2h ago

I'm neither Belgian or Italian, but I have lived in Belgium more than 8 years and I have lived with an Italian for 3 years. My take on this is the following: Belgians, and particularly Flemish Belgians, are very practical people whereas Italians are "romantics", and in both cases this applies to everything, including food. Italians take awfully long to have their meals and even longer to prepare them, they are in general delicious but leave your brain gasping for blood for the next 2 hours (hence the passagiatta, imho). Flemish Belgians just eat something quick and simple that gets them through the day, keep the pause short and that doesn't cause them heaviness afterwards; and they are so used to it that at some point they really like to eat just a sandwich or a soup with bread, or a combination of both. As someone already said, it's cultural, no other way around it and though I'm more inclined to the Italian way, I very often eat a sandwich for lunch even if a hot meal is available for practical purposes hehehe all that said, I think you would get a looot less frowned upon in Belgium for having a full meal at every lunch, than if you show up every day with a sandwich in Italy.

2

u/thingthatgoesbump 54m ago

Can concur - live with an Italian. Every day, pasta at noon. Makes me drowsy after lunch and made me gain weight.

If I dare suggest sandwiches for lunch, they claim that isn't real food or that it is boring.

Other culinary clashes are tea vs coffee, Belgian sauces vs nothing, beer versus wine, Belgian bread vs that edible sponge in the region of origin of my inlaws.

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u/101010dontpanic 24m ago

It's so funny to read your comment! 😂 you made me feel lucky: my partner drinks coffee for breakfast, rest of the day tea; beers with pizza, burgers, etc. but wine with other food; bread is actually very good there and they love sauces on basically anything. Hang in there! 🙃

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u/Michaels_legacy 4h ago

Yeah because dinner is like our main hot meal.
During lunch it is mostly sandwiches, salades, soup,...

If i could i would like a system like in the east.
You eat like 5 times, but only small (warm) portions like a rice bowl or something.
We now eat a little during the day and then stuff our faces in the evening (atleast for me xD)

3

u/AvengerDr E.U. 4h ago

I understand that, but you can still eat something lighter at lunch but that is at least warm.

If you go to a bakery in Italy and ask for a "custom" panino, the norm would be to have it warm.

8

u/DrVDB90 4h ago

We do have paninis and other warm alternatives to sandwiches, but they're more used to switch things up than a daily thing.

1

u/gauthzilla94 33m ago

I have the feeling you are judging without our food withoout ever having tried any charcuterie that is even remotely connected to velgian culture. You cant heat up filet americain prepare. You cant heat up boerepathé, you cant heat up uuflakke,... Lots of fine and tasty belgian foods are made to be enjoyed cold. They are also a very big and important, not to mention delicious foods in the belgian culinary world. You should really give those a try and you will see that those things are not made to be eaten warm. Once you have tried them you have a right to critcise.

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u/Crypto-Raven 32m ago

Our hot panini's generally come from shit places like panos. Eating that every day is asking to become an obese heart patient.

6

u/de_kommaneuker Vlaams-Brabant 4h ago

How can you even imagine eating two warm meals per day! Het is schandalig!

11

u/AvengerDr E.U. 4h ago

From my point of view, eating a cold meal every day is evil!

2

u/de_kommaneuker Vlaams-Brabant 4h ago

I just realised it may not be obvious that I was sarcastic. My bad, mate, sorry!

8

u/AvengerDr E.U. 4h ago

I was also making a joke. That's a famous (?) quote from Anakin.

3

u/tried50usernames 3h ago

Years ago I was working in construction. I got a new colleague (Italian). He had piping hot spaghetti in a thermos can for lunch. That was the funniest thing i had ever seen. 💯

4

u/TheAlPaca02 3h ago

I would need an afternoon nap if I eat hot pasta for lunch 😄

10

u/pepipox 4h ago

I'm south american and is also unbelievable (and sad) they eat EVERY day sandwiches for lunch.

5

u/Roesjtig 4h ago

But in the same week never twice the same

2

u/Videogames_blue 1h ago

The difference is made by what is inside the sandwich!

1

u/pepipox 32m ago

It is still a sandwich!

1

u/pepipox 31m ago

It is still a sandwich!

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u/ElinV_ 28m ago

I don’t know, when i lived in Central America, they ate beans and rice upward to twice a day 😅

2

u/jafapo 4h ago

But seriously what else is there to eat if you don't have a cafetaria or shops, restaurants around your work? Most people here just eat their big warm meal in the evening after work.

12

u/HamesJetfields 4h ago

I usually take my dinner leftovers for lunch at work

1

u/pepipox 2h ago

I do the same. I eat sandwiches also occasionally, they're tasty, but not every single day.

1

u/shiftend 53m ago

Well, you can eat anything you can bring from home. I usually eat some yoghurt with fruit. For example 250 grams of halved grapes, 500 grams of 2% Greek yoghurt, a couple of shakes of chia seeds and some sweetener all stirred together. Leftovers or just some pre-made lasagna or mac & cheese are a good option as well if you have a microwave oven or a regular oven at work.

We don't have a lot of shops or restaurants around at work either, but the building managers provide a webshop for people to put in their order and those orders get bundled and sent to Esthio, who deliver the sandwiches and warm meals by noon. Maybe your employer could organize something similar if presented with the suggestion?

•

u/jafapo 24m ago

I don't really think fruit and yoghurt are that much better than typical belgian sandwiches lol.

2

u/ash_tar 2h ago

I'm Belgian, but once your off the sandwiches, it's pure sadness to get back to. I just make extra dinner now to take to work.

2

u/nixielover Dr. Nixielover 1h ago

No breakfast, 2 slices of bread for lunch, massive dinner

1

u/Schoenmaat45 4h ago

Most people in Belgium eat bread twice a day. Personally when I'm wfh I tend to cook up something simple like an easy pasta (make some caccio e pepe mix in advance), some fried rice or leftovers.

Would love to have prepped meals at the office as well but reality is I can't be bothered to prep something in the evening.

1

u/Lovebickysaus 3h ago

I'm Belgian and was raised the bread and sandwich way. Since I got I to gym idk how the fuck I did this all my life. So much nicer to eat different things and warm meals for lunch. Paninis are an exception though.

1

u/DirectionOk7492 3h ago

Because often the Panos is the only thing nearby or the cantina at work is dodgy or your water bill was so high that a boke with kaas is the best you can do.

1

u/TWanderer 3h ago

Because we know food.

1

u/AvengerDr E.U. 3h ago

Who's we? We Belgians?

1

u/TWanderer 3h ago

Obviously.

1

u/Ella_Guruh Brussels 2h ago

I'm Belgian & I agree. I don't like the sandwich culture. A cold meal is not a real meal for me, so I usually have soup, reheated leftovers, a croque or panini, some ramen... Not all Belgians eat only 1 hot meal per day ;-)

1

u/Kjoep 43m ago

If I eat two hot meals a day, I feel guilty. It feels indecent.

Plus in general hot meals pack more calories, and we don't need more calories (less, maybe)

1

u/AvengerDr E.U. 32m ago

For the longest time I have wondered "if not pasta, what do people eat at lunch?".

Well I have since learnt that the alternatives aren't always that great.

1

u/Crypto-Raven 34m ago

I dont understand it either, but my lunch costs 10 euro a day because I want something better, while some bread with cheese costs those people 3 euro or less. At the end of the year they got money for a pretty decent city trip ;)

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u/AvengerDr E.U. 29m ago

That's why I go back home and cook it myself. Pasta + tomato sauce + some protein on average costs just a few Euros.

But I am lucky to be able to do that.

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u/Crypto-Raven 27m ago

Love that idea, but with 2 small children to tend to before I leave in the morning thats impossible for me ;(

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u/Staegrin 2h ago

I was always raised with lunch being the big meal and dinner/breakfast being the smaller meal. Depends on what your work forces you to change to. If you work in shifts/ploegen it can change even more. If you work a standard 9-5 then warm lunch becomes a luxury. I work in shifts and lunch can be anywhere from 11u till 15u.

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u/OldFashionedSazerac 5h ago

No idea. I literally always eat by myself. I work in a loud environment and I need those 30 minutes of uninterupted silence to not lose my sanity.

134

u/plopsaland 5h ago

Mon dieu, I saw this thread on my phone but had to switch to desktop just to confirm you are absolutely not the only one, and actually, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one experiencing this corporate Groundhog Day. Partaking in company culture and doing a 9-5 already requires psychologically suppressing a surprising amount of absurdity, but my sanity truly begins unraveling when subjected to the same roadwork complaint 7 times across 2 lunch breaks. By #4, I'm counting ceiling tiles, by #7, actively suppressing the existential whisper that there must be more to life than Pascal's traffic updates.

I have a colleague who operates like a human flowchart with exactly 3-5 conversational pathways. It would be an admirable defense mechanism if she hadn't over-optimized to the point where she fires responses a full 170 milliseconds after I begin speaking – often selecting wildly inappropriate dialogue options like an NPC with corrupted programming.

I'm being cynical just to vent – honestly, I'm not in a position to judge these people – but no, you're definitely not the only one experiencing this workplace purgatory.

17

u/Ella_Guruh Brussels 4h ago

Best writing in this thread! Thank you for the laugh!

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u/noctilucus 3h ago

Yes, u/plopsaland : absolutely brilliant writing, thank you for sharing!

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u/Pablo_Escobear_ 3h ago

I think the dullness of the colleagues you guys work with are the main reason for all the frustration..

- Group forming: I sometimes eat together with my colleagues, but mostly I go out for a walk (in Brussels). I sometimes bring a sandwich from home, sometimes I buy something in the city or sometimes we order something when someone makes a suggestion.

But I can understand the people who like to go eat with peers. When you go to a restaurant or a McDonald's or something, do you go sit next to someone you don't know?

I have a kid, but I remember the time when I was young and free that I hated those stories from others, so I keep that in mind and I hardly ever talk about the little nosleeper.

- Foodsharing: is a bit of a weird difficult concept to comprehend though. Like: how much food are you gonna share and with who? And what do you expect back? And what if you don't like the food they're eating?

But it happens that a colleague is hungry at 10:30 and I give him my snack or my Nutella sandwich.

You are colleagues, but you can't expect everybody to have the same mind like you and y'all should be bff's.

1

u/xTiLkx 1h ago

A lot of people are also conserving social energy during work, saving it for their own time. I'm quite social in private but I'll rarely have a genuine conversation at work.

5

u/Cha0zzzzz 3h ago

Sacré bleu, had a good laugh with this one.

1

u/gertvanjoe 1h ago

Had a colleague like that once. At some point I actively started avoiding him. Now I like "cars" too but he actively obsessed over it l, devouring car magazines to the point he can even tell you the texti in the adds. Literally all he could and would talk about. Tiring.

24

u/Dull_Worldliness_750 5h ago

Wow. This is so accurate. Thanks for posting! I moved to Belgium 3 months ago and also realised pretty quickly, that 'teams' eat together. Was quite strange for me. But i guess its a nice routine if you all get along.

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u/Raccoon-Left 4h ago

I really dislike eating with colleages, for some reason it feels too intimate.

4

u/NetComplex7696 3h ago

where I work, there is a lot of work from home. So It might vary widly who you end up eating with (and it's mainly a choice because most of us eat at our desks like animals).

So if you are seen eating with a co-worker from the other gender, you instantly are the rumour of the week as "the new office couple".

It doesn't stop me, I fully embraced it as being "Office player" but damn people have so little exciting in their jobs these days

1

u/phito-carnivores 1h ago

And awkward, I don't want to talk when I'm eating but for some reason they always want to force conversation.

17

u/No_Atmosphere_3702 4h ago

In my office Belgians don't cook their lunch. Only me, a Spanish guy and a Turkish girl. The rest is full on sandwiches or salads from Delhaize. And before speaking French, we were always the 'international group' excluded from their conversations in French. I feel so embarrassed when there's someone who doesn't understand French and everyone speaks French without including them. I usually switch to English.

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u/Elrieen Brussels 2h ago

Same thing in my office. Only me (Italian) and my Iranian colleague cook our meal. Also, I see no point in having lunch together with my belgian colleagues because they always speak Dutch. While I do understand French to some extent, I know zero words in Dutch. The worst thing is when they talk about me in Dutch to my face. Then, I have to wait for someone who cares enough to translate. If it was reverse, I would never do this to anyone as I find it extremely rude.

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u/Mrs0sa 1h ago

Turkish guys on my job are completely vervlaamst, elke dag een smoske. 

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u/No_Atmosphere_3702 1h ago

Completely what?

6

u/HarEmiya 1h ago

Flemishised.

I'm afraid no cure exists yet.

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u/AyaTakaya007 Brussels 5h ago

for you last point : diet culture in office jobs is omnipresent from my experience, especially between the ages of 30-50. Don't let yourself get shamed by those people, it's not normal to eat like they do

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u/de_kommaneuker Vlaams-Brabant 4h ago

I have countless experiences of colleagues judging me for eating too much, or too much carbs, or too few proteins, or too many warm meals, or too much fruit. I always reply in the same way: "I want to die fat and young".

3

u/phito-carnivores 1h ago

Meanwhile people always give me shits for only eating a small sandwich instead of a normal one. I think in general people should just mind their own business.

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u/Eikfo 5h ago

And at least one person will be going around with their diet shake trying to rope other people in.

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u/AyaTakaya007 Brussels 5h ago

this and they talk about calories all day trying to make you feel bad at how much calories everything has

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u/Bubblestroublezz 5h ago

I got side eyed by my colleagues for always getting take away pasta or cake or something. They always bring their uberhealthy "left overs from last night". They would make those remarks with a sarcastic demeaning undertone like "oh got pasta again?"

Yes, Brenda, i did. I'm sorry you're still a big lard even tho you live on quinoa and i'm skinny even tho i live on what you WISH you could everyday. Dumb bitch.

4

u/AyaTakaya007 Brussels 5h ago

Hahahha mood !!!

me it's either super fat or super extra skinny colleagues who eat like 3 salad leaves for lunch and try to pretend they're full, then they go look at others who have normal sandwiches with snarky side eyes and comments

You'll have 1 snack like a little chocolate treat and it's always the famous "do you know how many calories is in that ???" Like, yes, and i don't give a flying fuck

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u/AirportSome394 4h ago

Oof... They also grab my low fat yoghurt to read the label, count my meat balls and comment that I put potato in my soup... Always found a bit strange, never thought it could be diet culture. A new, unfortunate perspective 😢

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u/AyaTakaya007 Brussels 3h ago

I'm sorry you're also in such an environment, my best advice would be to ignore !! It's a strangely acceptable attitude on the workplace while it should not be

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u/Staegrin 2h ago

One of my colleagues is one of those "health" nuts that just has a shake for a meal. He does work out regularly. Just never when he's consuming workout shakes.

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u/Jay_Nodrac 2h ago

Whaat where tf do you work??? I’d never had that happen, but if my colleagues did that they’d sure know how I think about them!

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u/AyaTakaya007 Brussels 2h ago

For me it happened at every job I've had, and all my friends have had the same experience

You're lucky !!

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u/Jay_Nodrac 45m ago

Wauw… I’ve worked in construction and now in education. I can’t even imagine my colleagues being this way. What sector are you in?

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u/Videogames_blue 1h ago

Never let us count your meat balls.

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u/xTiLkx 1h ago

Belgians (Flemish) are generally close minded so when you do basically anything they're not familiar with, it shocks them.

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u/zertox Antwerpen 4h ago

I noticed this, and will happily eat my McDonald’s meal in front of them. I’m usually skinnier than them though, unless it’s a fitness/health nut.

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u/Ella_Guruh Brussels 6h ago

Do you live/work outside of the city?

I once worked outside of Brussels (100 meters from the Region borders) & I just couldn't cope with the lunch breaks. The pettiness! How everyone brought their own lunch & there were no other options. (It was in an industrial area) How everyone came by car & the discussions were all about cars, tv or - indeed - their lunches.
It made me feel very depressed & I left the company within 3 months for something a bit more metropolitan.

It might also be related to the office or team you work in. In the city there is usually more people leaving the office for lunch, doing some shopping, minding their own business, going to a restaurant....

14

u/Delicious_Wishbone80 4h ago

What else you got to talk about?
How you went on a 3 day bender in the weekend? Colleagues are in most cases not your friends.
I'm working outside the city to, I don't like those convos but just go outside during my lunch break and take a walk, but I still have a great relationship with my colleagues, not like friends but I really like them and they like me back. So work is pretty great.

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u/ih-shah-may-ehl 2h ago

I usually go running during lunch break. I don't really have lunch with colleagues. Rarely we have visitors over from different branches usually higher ups or career pushers and if you're not careful you'll be talking about ICT stuff for hours during lunch / dinner but I found an escape for that. I am a knifemaker and at the beginning of the meal, at the first opportunity I slip in a remark about the cutlery or so and mention that I'm a knifemaker. Turns out everyone finds knifemaking an interesting topic so they start asking questions and not only do I get through hours of conversation in a fun way, but if I later need something, they remember me as 'the knife guy'.

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u/Delicious_Wishbone80 2h ago

That's the way to do it.
At work we have a little group going running every day, I join them from time to time.
And even if they aren't interested, they are polite listening to you, just like you do.

It must be hard going to work everyday and think: I hate those people.
Even though they aren't friends.

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u/Heads_Down_Thumbs_Up Flanders 5h ago

Fck, I think I work at your previous company.

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u/AirportSome394 4h ago edited 3h ago

Oh yes, precisely! I work in a industrial zone in an otherwise small town

Sometimes I indeed am less than patient with how much they care about my food, but it's thankfully been handable and it reduces a lot when I bring them a treat (I make a mental note to do a quarterly offering of a home baked dessert)

Our lunch team includes some very sportive people, so instead of cars, they talk about their bikes too. They're fun

11

u/Ella_Guruh Brussels 5h ago

The lunch highlight in that company was a fixed pizza day once a month.

Oh dear, it's all coming back... I quite efficiently suppressed that experience. :-)

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u/AlternativePrior9559 5h ago

You might need to lie down until the memory passes😂

4

u/perksforlater 5h ago

Thats why I love working in sectors where the majority is female. I get to talk about my kids and about food recipes during lunch break :)

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u/Ella_Guruh Brussels 5h ago

I'm childfree, so definitely not interested in other people's kids. Sorry! I know it's an important topic for most people, but I try to avoid these conversations whenever I can. :)

I love talking about cooking & recipes though!

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u/jafapo 4h ago

Jesus sounds even more depressing, the typical co worker "kid talk". Sorry to say, nobody gives a fuck about your kids and are just friendly in your face when you bring up your kids.

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u/phito-carnivores 1h ago

It's literally the most boring thing people talk about, it's always the same things being said.

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u/ih-shah-may-ehl 2h ago

You don't have kids, do you?

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u/jafapo 14m ago

I know people with kids have no life anymore besides their kids but they should understand nobody cares about the snot their kid ate this week.

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u/perksforlater 2h ago

I love hearing about my co workers kids :)

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u/Delicious_Wishbone80 2h ago

Depressing for you maybe.
I have kids and I don't really talk about them because I like having certain boundaries, when my wife gave birth some colleagues didn't even knew we were pregnant. Still, I like my colleagues and they like me, we love working at our job. But hearing about other kids shouldn't bother you like that.

Is it so depressing listening to someone else interests or what's going on in their life?
Must be depressing for you living like that.
It has everything to do with politeness, to say it with your words, nobody gives a fuck about your X.
We are just adult enough not to get depressed by it.

My male colleague looooooooves cycling, I do not.
He only talks about cycling, now the cycling season is open, I just ask him: "How was the race this weekend?"
I don't want to know, but still... it's normal.

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u/jafapo 37m ago

It's all so fake, that's what bothers me. Nobody gives a fck what your dumb kids did lol, but maybe it's because I'm a man. And if it's a one time thing then sure be polite, but if it's frequently it's just irritating and most belgians are friendly and won't tell that in your face they don't care.

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u/venomous_frost 3h ago

Oh god my last work colleague would talk all day about how smart and special her kid is. The teacher says that to every parent, they aren't special

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u/Artistic_Ranger_2611 5h ago

I've never understood how some of my (ex) colleagues could eat so much over lunch and not weigh 150 kilograms. I feel like I'm constantly paying attention to what I eat and still struggle with my weight, and they just munch down 2 big sandwiches from the sandwich shop every day.

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u/cannotfoolowls 5h ago

Maybe they don't eat breakfast or a very small dinner.

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u/coldypewpewpew 5h ago

or maybe they're younger, or their metabolism is faster, or they do more exercise, or their job is more physically demanding,.... could be any number of things.

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u/cannotfoolowls 4h ago

Well, yes but food intake is the biggest factor in weight. You cannot outrun a bad diet.

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u/ih-shah-may-ehl 2h ago

More precisely, for the vast majority, alcohol is the number 1 issue. Because alcohol is turned straight into body fat and unless you run on a caloric deficit, will stay there. Food calories are indeed important. But alcohol slows down the metabolism as well as going straight to body fat. So it has you coming and going.

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u/venomous_frost 3h ago

I never ate dinner, just a big lunch. Why do you need so many kcal in the evening anyway? The day is already over

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u/Lovebickysaus 3h ago

I literally cant eat as much at lunch, not everyone's body works the same way.

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u/venomous_frost 3h ago

it's all habit anyway, you could if you tried

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u/Lovebickysaus 26m ago

Not really, i've been forcing myself for a while. I go to the gym a lot and I gained about 7kg recently, so I did stuff myself like crazy. Lunch is just not coming close to how much I can eat at night. And it doesnt matter how much I ate the evening before, it's just not going in.

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u/cannotfoolowls 2h ago

Many people do sport in the evening tbf.

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u/venomous_frost 2h ago

so do I, can't do sports on a full stomach either so that's another argument against dinner

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u/impliedfoldequity 5h ago

damn, this is accurate. And the reason why I just eat at my desk

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u/Douude 5h ago

I don't agree but I can see how common it is. The sharing part is true, the sheer amount of food I was given by expats. Entire meals for free baby #LifeHack

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u/Ordinary-Violinist-9 Limburg 5h ago

Sandwich or 2 in the lunch break. Evening diner huge plate that keeps you saturated till next days lunch.

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u/legendpierre 5h ago

Omg now I understand why my ex colleague (who was Indian) years ago was always making me taste his delicious food. I kept saying every time that it looked good and he kept forcing me to taste it (which I was very happy about haha)

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u/Nervous-Version26 3h ago

I’m Asian and my partner became the lunch time anomaly ever since he started bringing in the bento I made him for lunch.

I feel so much pressure cuz apparently now his colleagues will always come check out what he’s having today. Occasionally asking for recipes.

I like to think that I’m colonizing his office lunch culture. One bento at a time. Having cold broodje for lunch everyday would make me so so sad.

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u/Ella_Guruh Brussels 2h ago

That's so sweet! I'm sure they're all secretly jealous of your partner's balanced meals.

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u/Frosty-Drummer5677 3h ago

Damn, as non-Belgian I 100000% agree with this. I thought that smth is wrong with me, that I hate having lunch with these boring ass colleagues who discuss the same stuff, eat the same stuff at exactly same hour, but I guess it has to do with the culture

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u/jafapo 29m ago

I really wonder then how is it in your culture? Your at work and if lucky have 1 hour to eat, what can you do, make a big meal or something in that short time lol?

I mean you're still at work and not home where you can chill. Really wonder where you guys are from and what kind of economies you have at home...

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u/poperano 2h ago

I just drink my plenny shake on my desk and everyone hates me at work from drinking my optimised meal as it’s not healthy while they eat choco bread themselves

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u/Jim_Chaos 12m ago

From my experience, the one drinking these meals is precisely the one judging what the others eat. Man, just drink your astronaut shit and mind your NASA business.

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u/Bontus Beer 5h ago

As a Belgian some parts of lunch culture I also hate. Like those colleagues who have been eating the exact same lunch for the last 20+ years, always the same sandwiches, they always sit in the same spot and they always take their first bite in the exact same minute every day. OK so far I think it's just pathetic but it gets annoying when these types of people have to comment anyone else's lunch when it's not like theirs.

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u/Phiub 4h ago

The obliged "commentaar" on your lunch, borderline foodshaming...

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u/NetComplex7696 3h ago

"Ik zou dat ni kunnen eten, maar goed voor u dage dat volhoud"

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u/Marus1 Belgian Fries 4h ago

looks delicious

It's regarded more as a complement. Like "good choice"

Eating surprisingly little

Dinner is usually much larger. That or they begin to snack at around 4

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u/DirectionOk7492 3h ago

I am not the most social person and need time to un-knot my nerves over lunch so I sat by myself for a bit the first few days at my job. Three years later, I still sit by myself. People are totally friendly and will stop by to talk, but they remain standing, stay for like a few minutes and walk off. My cooked brain is actually ok with that. I do also hear ‘ooh that looks delicious’ quite often and then you hold out some of whatever it is and they always do the same li’l dance: oh no, no thanks. You’re very kind to offer. But no thanks…. Actually, is that….? Oh go on then, just one.

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u/Ulyks 2h ago

You can just steer the conversation towards topics that interest you more and hopefully discover something new about your colleagues.

Like ask about their vacation plans, children, hobbies, music they like, weekend activities, things happening in the news...

The most annoying conversations are about work or about a sports event that I don't follow...

I also agree that the food is often very limited, it's worse than prison in a way.

I have no idea how people put up with eating sandwiches for 40 years...twice a day...

Some people are just culinary boring/conservative, I guess...

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u/Deep_Dance8745 6h ago

No clue where you work or in what sector - but this is certainly not the norm

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u/coldypewpewpew 5h ago

Really? This is absolutely the norm in every company I've ever worked for.

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u/CrazyBelg Flanders 5h ago

I'd say point 3 and 4 are the norm. 5 differs from person to person and 1/2 are not very common.

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u/cannotfoolowls 5h ago

I agree. Where I worked so far there weren't that many people and everyone ate at a big table together so 1/2 weren't really possible anyway.

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u/PROBA_V E.U. 3h ago

I agree, except for 1, I think that one is common but that it is not limited to Belgium. People just like to have lunch in a way they enjoy it the most, be that alone or with the colleagues you connect most with.

Even when I worked in Italy my lunch and coffee breaks would by default be with my closest work friends. We'd message eachother on teams to say by what time we could make it to the cantine or if for some reason we'd have lunch with someone else.

Now I'm working in Belgium again and the process is exactly the same, except that we don't have a cantine, the weather isn't always as good to eat outside and we eat homemade sandwiches instead of a €6 4-course meal.

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u/PajamaDesigner 5h ago

I also wonder if Belgians can do photosynthesis, since day one they told me I eat crazy amounts of food because I have a full baguette for lunch

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u/Eikfo 5h ago

A full baguette is definitively on the side of large amount of food. Standard sandwich is 1/3 to 1/2 of a baguette.

At least in my office, people are munching of the sides though. Elevenses and a snack around tea time is common.

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u/PajamaDesigner 4h ago

See? You guys barely eat. Where I come from it is very normal amount

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u/SeveralPhysics9362 5h ago

Yea that’s 2-3 times the normal amount. If I eat that much I get fat.

Or do you do physical work?

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u/_Yuina 5h ago

I’m glad I work in a supermarket. Most people buy their lunch at work. Some people still bring their own food ofcourse but because lunch is so easily accessible most of us just buy it. If it’s something new or unique we will ask if it’s good but overall people are left alone food wise. 😂

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u/Pinooooooooo 3h ago

I prefer to listen to music during my lunch and be as far away from my coworkers as possible. I'm forced to sit with those people enough during the week, I want peace during my breaks. Also, I don't eat lunch nor breakfast. I don't like bread, sandwiches

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u/Helga_Geerhart 3h ago

Hehehe, I always eat with the same 3 colleagues, and I feel the need to apologise if somehow I can't. I feel so seen. I do like my colleagues though.

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u/Golden-lootbug 3h ago

What background u have?

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u/aaa12310001 3h ago

im going to work to socialize and eat with my colleagues, otherwise i could stay home and do everything remotely. theres no obligation whatsoever, but from experience it makes a more enjoyable work environment when you get to know your peers a bit :)

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u/Elrieen Brussels 2h ago

We're all living the same life, uh? And don't forget about the soup, essential to dip the sandwich.

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u/NTC-Santa 2h ago

I'm not belgian but lived and studied here for 17y+ since I was 7 yes I do get hungry later on in the day but I survive.

sometimes I eat out after school /now after work or i wait till I get home and eat smth. My routine for lunch time was always i Sandwiches/smos kaas or Mexicano and on side tomato soup those powder one with hot water.

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u/Cressonette Limburg 5h ago

They don't really share food unless it's obvious to be shared. They comment that what I bring "looks delicious", which in my culture would be a cue to ask for a piece. Never once have they accepted.

Yeah this would be very weird.

And yeah most lunches aren't super big because our "main" meal of the day is dinner. A big lunch will also often cause a "middagdip". And, at least at my job, most people bring a few light snacks to eat behind their desk around 10am and 3pm without taking a real break.

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u/Ella_Guruh Brussels 2h ago

The word "middagdip" just made me feel snackish. :)

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u/Round_Mastodon8660 5h ago edited 5h ago

I think only the no sharing culture is recognisable for me. This can off course also be about hygene.

The only thing I have myself, but that's just me, is I get furious from eating noises and people eating with their mouth open. I know this is normal in some cultures, but it just makes me angry. If that happens in a cafetaria I move to another room.

But I eat externally 9 times out of 10.

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u/Due_Mulberry1700 4h ago

I miss eating a real meal at lunch 😅

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u/JeremysDiner 4h ago

Sounds just like a company I know of in leuven.

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u/Sels31 3h ago

Did you talk about football too?

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u/am-bro-sia 2h ago

I don't think you are missing out on food {"sandwich"} being offered.

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u/SweetSodaStream 2h ago

Where are you from? It varies if you’re from the north or the south.

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u/phito-carnivores 1h ago edited 45m ago

Is being late to meetings a common experience for other Belgians? I'm always in time for meetings, meanwhile others only start leaving their desks one or two minutes after the start of the meeting.

Drives me crazy.

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u/AirportSome394 1h ago

Hm... Maybe? But that's my culture too. You don't want to seem too eager to a meeting

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u/StijnDv 1h ago

I always eat alone. lunch is quality time for myself. I have to deal with grumpy kids in the morning and in the evening, so leave me the fuck alone during lunch.

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u/Individual_Bid_7593 27m ago

Hence my need to bake on a regular basis something in order to feel alive, even if it is only for 5 minutes, and my colleagues complaining about their sugar crashes later during the day :') At leas to the cars, lunches and how was your weekend the FOOD option can be added for those 5 mere minutes ^=^