Belgian Adventures

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Almost forty years ago, the Flemish publisher Lannoo asked Godfried Bomans to write a book about Flanders. In 1967, "Denkend aan Vlaanderen" was published. Lannoo wanted to repeat this exercise and asked Derk Jan Eppink, a former journalist and collaborator of European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, to describe his experiences in Belgium and Flanders with a wink and a nod. This resulted in the book "Adventures of a NetherBelgian," which was presented in Brussels at the end of May 2004. Eppink, a student of Professor I.A. Diepenhorst and having worked for eight years at NRC Handelsblad, recounts how he, as a Achterhoeker, first had to be accepted by the Dutch. The Dutch are direct and have an opinion on everything. They think they can do anything but often do not recognize their own limitations. He then moved to Belgium to describe Belgian politics from the inside for the Flemish newspaper De Standaard. He learned how the Belgians enjoy good food, live spaciously, and think in a Catholic manner. As the first Dutchman in Belgian politics since 1830, he inspected lands on horseback with parliamentary president Herman De Croo and held numerous reconciliation lunches with Guy Verhofstadt. He even attended receptions at the Belgian royal palace and was approached by both Freemasonry and Opus Dei to become a member. Rarely has a Dutchman become so entangled in Belgian scenes...