By David Baeckelandt
As a young Flemish-American growing up in Chicago I earnestly wished to study in the country where my father and grandfather were born. Unfortunately I was unable to find any such program in Flanders or Belgium at the time, and neither did I find any opportunities to study about Flanders as an undergraduate here in the U.S. As a result, I ended up studying abroad in Asia. While not a bad career move, I would have much preferred a chance to study in and about Flanders. Today’s North …

LANDEN – De Bovenbouw van de Sint-Gertrudisschool in Landen is goed op weg om de strafste school van Vlaanderen te worden. Sinds gisteren is de school al de strafste van Vlaams-Brabant. Sint-Gertrudis kwam als provinciale laureaat uit de bus bij de wedstrijd De Strafste School 2012 op radiozender MNM (vroeger Radio Donna). Op 9 mei maakt de jury van de wedstrijd, die bestaat uit Tom Dice, Aagje Vanwalleghem en Tom De Cock, bekend wie de wedstrijd wint. Voor het zover is, komt de jury nog op bezoek bij de vijf …

BELGIAN MOVIE opening in Michigan this Friday, March 30, 2012 – exclusively at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak:
“THE KID WITH A BIKE” (Le gamin au vélo) by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the deeply moving new film by the Dardenne brothers (L’enfant, Rosetta) delves into the emotional life of troubled 11-year-old Cyril (newcomer Thomas Doret). When his father (Jérémie Renier) abandons him, Cyril obsessively tries to find his bicycle—after all, his father must have cared about him enough …

Like last year, Ashley’s Beer & Grill of Westland is doing its part to beat the winter blahs by organizing a Belgian Beer Festival. Expanded to 11 days (Feb. 9 through Feb. 19), the event will feature over 80 Belgian drafts and over 60 bottled Belgian beers, a special Belgian food menu, a prix-fixe Valentine’s dinner, a Belgian waffle breakfast and more. Most of the offerings require no tickets or advance signup.
However, for the hosted dinners where multiple courses are paired with different beers, as for the beer-blending seminar on …

By David Baeckelandt
The White House has a formal process by which one can petition. It is my belief that the Flemish have long gone unrecognized for their contribution to the discovery and settlement of America. If you share this belief please kindly click on the below hyperlink. If we reach 150 signatures it will allow us to keep the petition live. If we reach 25,000 electronic signatures the White House will formally review our petition. Please spread the word if you believe in this. http://wh.gov/2uD