Study Abroad? Destination Ghent! - Universiteit Gent

3.3. Interpersonal relations
At first, Flemish people appear to be modest and introverted. Initially,
most of them do not make contact easily with people they do not know.
From the moment they get to know you, however, they become very
sociable. Never hesitate to start a conversation, the Flemish are helpful
and friendly, especially if you try to talk their language. If people hear
that you do not speak Dutch easily they will switch to French, English,
German or another language to help you.
Belgian and Flemish people meet at several places: people with a common
interest often get together for activities like sports, cooking, playing
games or simply for a chat in a pub; young people meet at home, at their
student room, in pubs and in clubs. When the weather is nice, students
also meet on the Graslei in the centre of the city.
It is good to know that if you are invited to dinner, you should bring your
hosts a little present. Students prefer to cook together and, normally,
everybody contributes to the meal.
Flemish people are mostly open-minded. Nevertheless, people may be
offended when young people are violent, make a lot of noise, or behave
dangerously. On buses, trains and trams people talk quietly and it is
polite for young people to give their seats to pregnant women, the elderly
and the handicapped. Leaving rubbish on the tram, train or bus or
throwing litter on the street is not allowed! In railway stations, schools,
buses, trams, trains, restaurants and other public places, smoking is
strictly forbidden.
4. The city of Ghent
4.1. History of the City of Ghent
Around the year 867, Baldwin Iron Arm, the first Count of Flanders,
decided to build a castle at the meeting of the Lieve and Lys (Leie) rivers
in order to hold back the raiding Norsemen. Soon a town arose around
the castle, and Baldwin adopted it as the seat of his domain. By the 12th
century, the castle had expanded and was strengthened and the town
of Ghent was rapidly growing into a prosperous city. The cloth trade
flourished here like nowhere else. Such levels of prosperity, however,
caused the less prosperous workers and citizens to come into conflict
with the ruling nobility several times in the following centuries.
By the late 15th century, the cloth trade began to wane. Nevertheless,
Ghent remained a thriving city by shifting its economy to the shipping
trade along the Lys and the Scheldt (Schelde). In the second half of the
century, however, the closing of the Scheldt brought commercial decline,
which lasted until the revival of the cloth industry during the industrial
boom of the 19 th century.
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introduction