Friday, December 16, 2005

The Canuck

How would I describe the Expat online magazine here in Belgium, and I need to, to explain how I met a Canuck living in Belgie ...

Well, they promise to deliver 'news and information to Expats in Belgium', and that about sums it up. They provide weekly news, weather and entertainment updates, with editorial and reader comments. They also try to provide any information a person might need when moving to Belgium ... things like relocation, housing, education, and employment details, to name just a few. You can have look at it here: expatica

And Expatica Online is how I met up with Alison, mentioned more than once on my site here. I wrote to her after she wrote a particular blog about Belgian road rules, which confirmed all I had experienced in terms of terror regarding one of the right-of-way road rules they have here. Terror, because I come from a land that drives on the other side of the road, and having cars shoot out at me from the right is wrong, beyond wrong really.

I'll quote her here, as she explains perfectly:
This leads me to the 'unique' Belgian driving rules; the most confusing for newcomers being Priorité à droite. As it does in English droite (right) has two meanings: the opposite of left and a legal or presumed entitlement.

Priorité à droite definitely embodies both of these definitions. The rule is: if you are driving along and someone is entering your road from the right, you must yield to them.

This almost makes sense in a four-way stop where all roads are of equal size. But imagine barreling along a major road and suddenly a car pulls out of an unmarked lane you didn't notice until the last second …

Of course there are exceptions to the priorité, but only Belgians are allowed to know them.


She's also a superb photographer, and this link will take you into her own website.
CheesewebII

1 comment:

Alison said...

Awwwwww.... I'm Blushing.... Sweetie, you rock and I'm so glad you took the time that day to comment! Who would have thought I'd move to Belgie and hang out with a Kiwi from Istanbul! (We need to work on your HTML skills though) :)