Feed Your Children

Upon my arrival to this week's integration class, I proceeded to get myself settled in. This included taking advantage of the free coffee (it's crap coffee, but it's free! One of the perks (ha-ha) of the class). I was standing in front of the coffee machine, my pointed finger en route to the button when a, um, gentleman taking the class decided that waiting his turn was for westernized sissies. He snaked me! I should've been mad, but how could I be? The situation was just too funny. We'll get back to this guy shortly.

This week's lesson itself was remarkably unremarkable. We were given a whirlwind lesson on Belgian history and politics and discussed laws and culture a little bit. That's good and all, but I'm sure none of us will remember much of the history. Political stuff is good to know, but not very useful since none of us can vote. The laws and culture, that's where things got interesting.

The instructor wanted to know how we felt about certain Belgian rights and laws and how they compared to those of our countries of origin. We learned that residents of Belgium are required to provide food for their kids. Good to know. We also learned that it's forbidden to hit one's children. This is where the gentleman in question had something to say. Actually, he had something to say about everything, so I admit that I zoned out a bit. I did gather that he felt that kids have too many rights in Belgium. By the end of this conversation, I was back on track. We then went on to the rights of women and, by law, that they are equal to men. Everybody agreed that this was good. Well, almost everybody. You guessed it. Our friend took issue with this one. He, very seriously, believes that women have too many rights in Belgium. These rights make it difficult for him to control his woman and his household. I'm serious! He said that! The rest of the class did not bother to mask their amusement. They were laughing AT him.

I began to think that there are definitely people who need an integration course. Then again, will it really make any difference to people like this? Will they ever change? I may not be Belgian yet, but I'm more integrated than some will ever be.