In this month's Gazette van Detroit my interview with Mr Hugo Du Bois, the man behind the Belgians in America Facebook group, is published. Enjoy the read and if you are a Belgian living in the USA,
join the group (if you aren't one of the 900 members yet that is)
Since the scan of the pdf is not entirely readable, please find the entire text below:
Houston, we
have a … Belgian!*
Hugo Du Bois about his American Life
If you are an active
Facebook user, you probably know Hugo, since he started the Belgians in America group. We had the
opportunity to steal half an hour of this busy man’s time to chat about his
Texan life.
Leentje De Leeuw
Photos: courtesy of Hugo Du Bois
Hugo Du Bois (47) from
Strombeek-Bever in Flemish Brabant, is married to Houston native Cami. They are
the proud parents of two children:
daughter Trinity (9) and son Anderson (7). The family also houses five
rescue pets. Hugo: “Our dog Bella
was shot in the shoulder and we nursed her back to health but unfortunately
even the vet couldn’t save one of her front legs. Despite only having three
legs, she is the fastest dog we have. Even though our other dog’s name is
‘Bolt’, he cant keep up with Bella. We also have three cats: Pasmans (named
after the character in Flikken),
Kitty (named by my daughter since this is her cat) and Lilly (names by my son
since this is his cat).
About
living in the USA
“I moved to the USA on
January 3rd, 1997, to be with and marry my then girlfriend Cami. We have been
married for almost 19 years. What
I like or dislike most about the US? Well, the
best and worst things about this country are actually one and the same, and
that is chauvinism. Chauvinism as a good thing is pride and preservation of
things that make up the country and culture. A great example of this would be
the Texas Barbecue. I had never had it so my wife's family went out of their
way to cook up a smorgasbord of different meats and side dishes so I could
taste it all. And man: it was good!
Chauvinism as a bad thing:
If I were to complain that there is no mayonnaise with the fries and go on
about how it is always part of fries in Belgium, I would get the response that
if it is that much better in Belgium, I should just go back. Neither of these
two examples is actually really bad, as chauvinism is generally just pride. And
pride is good…”
About
Belgium
“My favorite thing about
Belgium is the extensive choice of
several foods that are the best in Belgium. Like chocolate and beer. Belgians
take pride in their meals, much more consistently than they do in the USA in my
opinion. While it is impossible to drink a bad Belgian beer, you will find some
beers in the USA that should be illegal - and I mean that as a joke….”
On the contrary, the thing
I do not like about Belgium is the non-existence of customer service. The
customer is a nuisance in Belgium, and there are almost no exceptions to this
‘rule’. And then there are the strikes. Highways are being blocked with
tractors, airports are locked down, tires are burnt on public roads, etc … All
these things hinder the common man and not the bosses that caused the strikes
to begin with. Unions in Belgium need to grow up and quit acting like
children!”
About
Belgians in America – on Facebook
“The Facebook group started
to give Belgians in America an avenue to voice their complaints and concerns in
an uncensored way, without being afraid of being kicked by the administration.
Anything can be discussed in my group. The only "rule" so to speak - and
no I don't have an extensive acceptable use policy, as a matter of fact I have
none - is that there has to be mutual respect. Personal attacks or insults are
not tolerated. That has worked great for the past two years and only two people
got kicked for violation of this rule. The group has forgiven them and we are
in the progress of letting one of them back in, the other person has moved out
of the USA. The requirement to join is that you have to be a Belgian native and
live in the USA.”
“Also, in the Belgians in
America group you don't have to stick to Belgian topics. Any topic that
interests you as a member is accepted, although advertising is limited to
Tuesdays, a day that is now called Advertuesday.
After there had been a little too much fighting, arguing and complaining, we
also have tested a Friday called "no fuss Friday" which cooled the
users’ jets and was quite an interesting experience.”
“After I started the group,
I spent a lot of time on the group. But now the group has more than 860 members
(update on Aug 19th, 2015 there are 911 members, LDL), so it's as
lively as ever. I pitch in once in a while and post or comment occasionally. No
need for me to be on the podium so to speak. This is the members' group more so
than my group.”
Belgian get-together…?
When we exceed 1000
members, we will have a get-together in Houston, Texas. The group's choice meal
was Barbecue since I believe, and so do many others, that Texas can teach this
country (if not the world) about barbecue. Maybe the Gazette would like to be
part of this? That would be
great! My wife gave me a drone for
Fathers' Day, so expect some areal footage of the TX BBQ 1000 member
celebration!”
Would you ever consider moving back to
Belgium/Europe?
“No. I made the conscious
decision to move here and get married. We now have two kids and my life is
pretty much rooted in the USA now. Kids need consistence and normalcy and
that's what they will get. No country hopping. We visit every so many years and
plan to show the kids a little more of Europe the next time we go over there …”
*There are actually about 200-300 Belgians
living in the greater Houston area.
+Kahlo.jpg)
