I was born in Belgium (to ex pat parents) and lived there until I was 18. I loved my time there, but it's definitely an odd place. The strife between the Walloo

I was born in Belgium (to ex pat parents) and lived there until I was 18. I loved my time there, but it's definitely an odd place. The strife between the Walloons and Flemings (the roots of which stretch back a long time indeed), the large groups of ex pats working for multinational companies, the European Parliament, SHAPE and NATO. Did wonders for my language skills having a steady stream of people to converse with in both French and Dutch though. See also the 2007 political crisis where they went without successfully forming a new government following elections. Despite being a young(ish) country, there's a wealth of culture from Adolf Sax, Hergé to Magritte and sporting icons such as Eddy Merckx.