I'm a {slightly confused} Belgian

As time goes on I am getting more and more used to how things are there that I sometimes forget that they are 'different' than home. I have recently been paying more attention and coming up with some more ideas for this series.

Something that I have noticed here (and to be honest, at first really bugged me) is that the people use a specific name brand for the name of an item. Huh? This is not the official language, but it is what people here understand. It does make it easier to explain something, since most are the same in English, but I tend to be a call-an-apple-an-apple type of person.  I find this more common in Belgium than in The Netherlands, but that could be a false impression. Here they also use more French words, but that is another post for later...

Some examples:

Pampers-Luiers-Diapers

Maxi Cosi-Autostoel-Car Seat

Cornflakes-Ontbijtgranen-Cereal

Chicklets-Kauwgom-Chewing Gum (not sure if this is only in dialect)

Kodak-Fototoestel-Camera

Spa-Water-Water

And then for fun, just to show how confusing things can get...

Here what we know as a dinner roll/bun is called a sandwich. What we think of as a sandwich is called a broodje. What we call a map is here a kaart and a Dutch map means folder.