Consul General Series - 比利时驻港总领事Peter Robberecht
1) Please introduce any special events or culture of Belgium.
请介绍比利时的特色节日文化.
Well, Belgium actually is a very diverse country. For example, we have three official languages: Dutch, French and German. But this also makes us also very rich country in terms of culture.
To illustrate this, there are two festivals I would like to talk about. One is more modern. We have many music festivals, especially in summer. For example, we probably have the biggest electronic dance music festival in the world, in Belgium. It’s called “Tomorrowland”, it brings together people from all over the world, mainly young people. In total there were four hundred thousand people last summer The festival takes place every year of July, by the way lots of people also come from HK. So it's a big festival and very international as Belgium as.
Secondly, on the other hand, we also have traditions that have been going for long time. For example, Carnival is a very big thing in Belgium.
比利时其实是一个多元文化的国家，例如我们有三种法定语言，包括法文、德文及荷兰文，所以这丰富了我们的国家文化。而我想特别介绍两个特色节日，第一个较为现代的，就是我们在夏天有很多音乐节。例如，我们有全世界最大的电子舞蹈节日，名叫「明日世界电子音乐节」，并会汇聚全世界的民众前来参与，尤其是年青人更受欢迎，例如暑假就有多达40万人参与，并且有很多都是来自香港的，所以这是一个大型并且国际化的节日。与此同时，我们亦有不少历史悠久的传统节日，例如有比利时人十分重视的庆典。
2)Any special dates?
是否有特别庆祝的日子?
Yes, it’s mainly in February, sometimes also extending to March. For example, we have the ‘Gilles de Binche’, which has been going on for six hundred years. It's UNESCO heritage and it's a very festive occasion with very special costumes in the French speaking part of Belgium in Binche, in the province of Hainaut. so you have the modern, the traditional, you have all kinds of festivals and culture in Belgium.
大部分主要在2月，有时候更会延长至3月，例如我们有已持续举行了600年的班什狂欢节，并被联合国教科文组织列入为非物质文化遗产。这是一个人们会穿着特别服饰的节日，并主要在比利时的法语地区，即是在华隆大区的班什举行。由此可见，比利时同时拥有现代和传统的节日文化。
3) So are there any celebrations in HK?
在香港有否庆祝节日？
Actually you don't have to travel to Belgium to see Belgian culture because in the upcoming weeks and months, for example we have the famous Belgian dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui , he will perform in HK in December. Then in March, there is also a very well-known choir from Brugge will participate in HK Art Festival, Anima Eterna. so we have lots of occasions for Belgian artists coming to HK and performing here in HK before HK audiences.
其实你无需要亲身走到比利时才能体验比利时的文化，因为在即将来临的月份，我们就有著名比利时舞蹈员Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui在香港12月表演，然后到3月份，就会有来 布鲁日的著名歌剧团参与香港艺术节，所以我们有很多来自比利时的艺术家来到香港表演。
4) So for us, we have to remember certain dates?
那么我们需要特别留意什么日子吗?
Well, the best time to visit Belgium is probably the summer, because the weather is better and there are a lot of festivals going on.
比利时感受体验文化的最佳时机应该就是夏天，因为天气较为温暖，比冬天更好。
5) Any special culture you like about Chinese and HK .
你喜欢什么中国或香港文化?
I don't want to pretend to be an expert because I have only been here for 3 months. But one of the things that strike me in HK is the way that it is very international and sort of a melting pot which Belgium also is. So you have the Chinese culture, you have more Western culture and other kinds of culture. It's a big mix of everything and I think that is what makes HK such a fascinating city, a bridge between East and West.
最令我印象难忘的香港文化......首先，我不想扮作专家，因为我只在香港逗留了三个月，最令我深刻的就是香港的国际化，就像比利时一样，同样是个大融炉，汇聚了不同文化。在香港你同时可以欣赏到中国文化及来自西方及其他外来文化，所以中西交融，而我认为正是如此，才能让香港成为一个连接中西方的桥梁，是一个很迷人的城市。
6) Any food you like?
喜欢什么香港食物?
We have tried everything, the traditional cantonese cuisine, western food and fusion cuisine. It illustrates what I just said about HK, being a very international and mixed city, also in the cuisine you find here.
我已吃了很多美食，例如是传统的中式料理或Fusion菜，所以从美食中就可反映出 ，香港是一个中西文化交汇的城市。
7) What is the national flower of your own country?
比利时的国花是什么?
What we could consider to be the national flower is the Red Poppy. You find them everywhere, especially in the summer time, in fields all over Belgium. It actually also refers to history because in the first world war, there was a poem by an English soldier, poet John Macrae called “In Flanders Fields” where he describes the Poppy against the background of the war. So this had become more or less a national flower of Belgium, symbolizing both beauty and sacrifice.
我们的国花是虞美人，你可以在任何地方，尤其是在比利时夏天时期的田野里面寻找到。虞美人其实是与历史有关，因为在第一次世界大战时加拿大军人、诗人约翰麦克雷作了一首名为《在法兰德斯战场》的诗歌作品，在诗中，他描述虞美人是在世界大战期间的法兰德斯战场上盛开，所以这就变成了我们比利时的国花，并同时象征着美丽和牺牲。
8) So is it very easy to see many beautiful flowers in Belgium? People like to go to garden or plant your own flower in house?
在比利时是否非常容易见到很多美丽的花?人们都很喜欢到家里的后花园种植自己的盆栽?
Absolutely, every two years in the summer, the main square in Brussel is covered by a flower carpet, which is very impressive and may be an interesting thing to visit for people in HK.
当然，每隔两年的夏天，在布鲁塞尔的广场上就充满着美丽的花卉，非常震撼，而且对于游客来说非常有趣，尤其是来自香港的游客。
9) Trendy Slang?
俚语介绍?
Since we have 3 official languages in Belgium, with Dutch, French and German, it's difficult to choose because I could choose a word from every language.
So I choose a word from the dialect of my own hometown which is Antwerp, in Dutch. The word is “Bangelijk”: literally it means something to fear, but is actually used to something that is great and fantastic.
因为我们有三种法定语言，包括荷兰语、法语及德语，所以很难选择其中，因为三种语言都有自己的俚语。不过我会选择一个来自我的故乡安特卫普，一个荷兰语系地区的俚语名叫 “Bangelijk”，字面上意思是指惊恐，但实际上我们会用此来形容美好或赞叹的事物。
10) Supplementary greetings
Of course I would like to invite every one of your listeners to come and visit Belgium as I have discovered HK in the past 3 months. It has been an absolute pleasure and I hope that our listeners will also discover Belgium and discover the beauty of my own country.
