Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics | Final paper- Belgium- China | Introduction to China – Yang Jing | | Nora Rijpstra | 2013-2014 |

Contents Foreword 4 1. Basic information of Belgium. 5 2. Politics in Belgium 7 2.1 Constitution 7 2.2 Government 8 2.2.1 Head of state 8 2.2.2 Federal government 8 2.2.3 Regional and community governments 8 2.2.4 Provincial and local government 9 2.2.5 Legislative 9 2.2.6 Judiciary 10 2.3 Elections and parties 10 2.3.1 Electoral system 10 2.3.2 Political parties 11 2.4 Linguistic division 12 2.4.1 Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde district 13 2.5 Own opinion. 13 3. How to do business with Belgium 14 3.1 Belgian management style 14 3.2 Belgian meetings 14 3.3 Communication style 14 4. Marriage in Belgium 15 4.1 The wedding dress 15 4.2 The bridal veil 16 4.3 Before the law 16 4.4 Right or left? 16 4.5 Bridesmaids 16 4.6 The bridal bouquet 17 4.7 The wedding rings 17 4.8 The church portal 17 4.9 The speech during the evening party 17 4.10 The wedding cake 18 4.11 Over the doorstep 18 4.12 Own vision on the Belgian marriage 18

Foreword

With this final paper for the class Introduction to China, I would like to thank my teacher Yang Jing, the office for overseas students and the Chinese student volunteers. All of them made it possible for all the overseas students to make this an unforgettable semester and experience.
In this final paper I will give some short general information about Belgium, I will also talk about the politics of Belgium, how you do business with Belgium and the marriage in my country.
I hope you enjoy reading the paper.

1. Basic information of Belgium.

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium is a federal monarchy in Western Europe.
Belgium is a very little country when you compare it with China. To start our population counts only 11.099.554 inhabitants while China has 1.350.695.000 inhabitants. The total area of Belgium is 30.528km2 and the total area of China is 9.596.961km2. So as you can see, Belgium is really small in comparison with China. On the following map you can see Belgium.

The capital of Belgium is Brussels, known for “Manneke pis” and the Atomium, but also known as the capital of the European Union. Belgium was one of the founders of the European Union in 1958 and hosts the EU’s headquarters as well as those of several other major international organizations such as the NATO.

Our country has 3 official languages: Dutch, French and German, China has only one; Chinese. About 60% of the population speaks Dutch, especially in the Flanders. Approximately 40% speaks French, especially in Wallonia. And less than 1% speaks German, especially in Eastern Wallonia. Although almost everybody is bilingual (Dutch and French). Then Brussels, the capital- region, is official bilingual, but is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish region. This linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the political history and complex system of the government.
Belgium declared its independence in 1830 after the Belgian Revolution, when it seceded from the Netherlands. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, the area of Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture. The area of Belgium served a lot as the battlefield between many European powers from the 16th century until the Belgian Revolution. People called Belgium also the “Battlefield of Europe”, a reputation strengthened by both World Wars.
After the declaration of independence Belgium became one of the precursors of the Industrial Revolution, due to the heavy industry in Wallonia. The development of Flanders stayed behind, until the economic center shifted towards the north in the 60’s of the 20th century, this is also the period that we secured the language border, the period that the country got divided into several states and the period we declared the independence of the colonies in Central- Africa. We can say that the second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Flemish and Francophone’s, fueled by differences in language and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia. This has led to several far-reaching reforms, a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement. For example the formation of the last federal government in 2010 lasted 18 months. In the last weekend of May 2014 we had again elections and we are all very curious how long it’s going to take to form the government now.
Belgium became one of the 21st world economies, became one of the most prosperous, most developed and most globalized countries in the world. Belgium became an extensive welfare state due to its free market with limited government interference.
The national emblem of Belgium bears a lion. This lion is also known at Leo Belgicus. This is in accordance with an article of the Belgian Constitution: The Belgian Nation takes red, yellow and black as colors, and as state coat of arm the Belgian lion with the motto “unity makes strength”. Like I already mentioned Belgium has been the battlefield for many wars in the past, but still the Belgians are alive. That’s why they choose for a lion, a lion is a strong animal that survives. In the national anthem we also sing about the lion. So the lion is a very important sign for us. 2. Politics in Belgium
Belgium is a constitutional, popular monarchy and a federal parliamentary democracy. The head of state is the king, Philippe. The prime minister of Belgium is the head of government in a multi-party system. The executive power is exercised by the government; the legislative power is vested in the government and the two chambers parliament (the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The federation is made up of communities and regions.
Belgian political parties have been split into distinct representations for the interest of each community, since 1970. There are three main political families in Belgium: the right-wing Liberals, the Social Conservative Christian Democrats and the Socialists (the left- wing). Since a decade other new parties (also important) are the Green parties of Flanders and Wallonia and nowadays in Flanders the nationalist and far-right parties. Lobby groups, such as trade unions and employers’ organizations, influence politics. Due to the fact that the French-speakers are a minority, the majority rule is often superseded by a de facto confederal decision making process where the minority enjoys important protections through specialty majorities. If Belgium needs to make decisions, 2/3 overall and majority in each of the 2 main communities is needed. 3.1 Constitution
The primary source of law in Belgium and the basis of the political system is the “Constitution of Belgium”. The constitution was established on February 7 in 1831. Since then is has been changed several times, there have been 2 relevant reforms in 1970 and in 1993.
The reform in 1970 was a response to a growing civil conflict between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities in Brussels. The government declared that “the unitary state, its structure and functioning as laid down by law, had become obsolete”. The new constitution recognized the existence of strong communitarian and regional differences within Belgium, but sought to reconcile these differences through a diffusion of power to the communities and the regions.
In 1993 another important change of the constitution took place. The parliament approved a constitutional package transforming Belgium into a full- fledged federal state.

3.2 Government 3.3.1 Head of state
The king is the head of the country, since the 21st of July 2013 we have a new king, King Philippe, he succeeded his father Albert II. The last head of the government, the prime minister, was Elio Di Rupo, representative of the Socialist party. But since the last election of May 2014, Belgium needs a new Prime Minister, but as I already mentioned in this paper it can take some time before we know who will be the new one.
The king of the Belgians is the constitutional head of the Belgian state and holds office for life. His duties are laid out by the Belgian Constitution and other laws enforced under it.
The king of Belgium plays actually a ceremonial and symbolic role in the nation. The main political function of the king is to designate a political leader to form a new cabinet after an election or the resignation of a cabinet. When there is a case of a” constructive vote of no-confidence” the government has to resign and the lower house of parliament has to propose a new Prime Minister to the King. Another role the King plays is to represent a unified national Belgian identity. 3.3.2 Federal government
The executive power is held by the Prime Minister and the ministers. They form together the Council of Ministers and the secretaries of state. Each of them is a deputy to a minister and is part of the federal Government, but they do not sit in the Council of Ministers.
The government is formed by a coalition of political parties, this means that members of the Federal Government are formally appointed by the King and they are drawn from the political parties which form the government coalition.
Before the government can start to work the Chamber of Representatives needs to give confidence to the Federal Government.
Another rule is that the total number of minister, excluding the Prime Minister, cannot exceed 15 ministers. Also the number of Dutch- and French- speaking ministers must be equal, with the possible exception of the Prime Minister.
The role of the Prime Minister and his ministers is to administer the government and the various public services. Also the ministers must defend their policies and performance in person before the Chamber. 3.3.3 Regional and community governments
The regional and community parliaments and governments have jurisdiction over transportation, public works, water policy, cultural matters, education, public health, environment, housing, zoning and economic and industrial policy. These governments rely on a system of revenue-sharing for funds. One of their authorities is to levy a very few taxes (mostly surcharges) and to contract loans, even more, they have obtained exclusive treaty-making power for those issues coming under their respective jurisdictions. Of the total public spending (interest payments not considered), more than 30% is authorized by the regions and communities, although their financing comes for over 80% from national Belgian budgets; at the same time, the national government controls 100% of the social security and strictly limits the taxation policy by the federalized entities. As a result, Belgian institutions still control over 90% of the effective, global taxation levels on individuals and companies.
Though since 1993, article 35 on the Constitution requires the creation of a list specifying federal, regional and communities’ competences, but such list has never been created until now. Therefore, the federal government continues to exercise all competences not explicitly dedicated to the lesser levels.
The Flemish parties generally favor much larger community (and regional) autonomy, including financial and tax autonomy, while the French parties generally oppose it. The French- speaking parties tend to favor more state control.
There are 5 regional executives in Belgium: * Minister- President of Flemish Government * Minister- President of French Community Government * Minister- President of Walloon Regional Government * Minister- President of Brussels- Capital Regional Government * Minister- President of German Community Government 3.3.4 Provincial and local government
Belgium is also divided in 10 provinces, 5 in Flanders and 5 in Wallonia. The Brussels- Capital Region is directly divided into 19 municipalities. Belgium counts in total 589 municipalities. Provincial and local government is an exclusive competency of the regions. 3.3.5 Legislative
In Belgium legislative powers are divided between the national, the regional and the community levels.
The Belgian Federal Parliament consists of the Senate (60 members) and the Chamber of Representatives (150 members). All the 150 representatives of the Chamber are directly elected via a system of proportional representation. The senate consists of 50 senators elected by the parliaments of the communities and regions and the other 10 senators elected by the others.
Since the Constitutional reforms of 1993 and 2013, the two Houses of Parliament do not sit on a level of parity. The Chamber of Representatives is also the only house that votes the confidence to the government.
Each of the 5 components of the federal system has their own, directly elected unicameral council or parliament. Their task is to vote decrees that have the same value and are on the same juridical level as the federal laws.
The Belgian political system is often called to be a “particracy” because the influence of the main political parties and party leaders is enormous; the presidents of the main parties have considerably more power than both minister and the entire parliament. 3.3.6 Judiciary
Our judicial system is based in the civil law that originates from the Napoleonic code. There are different courts: The Court of Appeals is one level below the Court of Cassation (an institution based on the French Court of Cassation).The most important court is the Court of Cassation. If you want to become a judge in Belgium, you need to be appointed for life by the Belgian Monarch. 3.3 Elections and parties 3.4.7 Electoral system
The election of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives is based on the system of “open list proportional representation”. For each election, each party forms a list of candidates for each district; this has to be done several months before the election. Each party is allowed to place as many candidates on their list as there are seats available, the formation of this lists is a process that varies for each party. The place on the list plays an important role, most of the time you have a stronger visibility high on the list. But since the last electoral reform, this phenomenon has lost some importance.
As a Belgian voter, you are given 5 options: * Vote for a list as a whole, thereby showing approval of the order established by the party: * Vote for one or more individual candidates, regardless of his? Her ranking on the list (a “preference vote”); * Vote for one or more of the “alternates” (substitutes); * Vote for one or more candidates and one or more alternates; * Vote Invalid of blank, so no one receives the vote.
But still there are some pitfalls. For example, while there are some options to vote on more than one person, you have to know that you cannot vote for candidates of more than one candidate list (party), if you do so, your vote is invalid.
The political campaigns are relatively short, most of the time only 1 month before the elections. There are also some limitations on the campaigns: * Restrictions on the use of billboards. * For all of their activities, campaigns included, the political parties have to rely on government subsidies and dues paid by their members. * An electoral expenditures law restricts expenditures during the campaign.
Due to the fact that the Belgians are obligated to vote, we have the highest rate of voter turnout in the world.

We have different elections. * The elections for the Chamber of Representatives (Federal parliament) are normally held every 5 years (since 2014) and coincide with those for the European Parliament. * The community and regional parliaments are elected every five years as well and they coincide also together with those for the European Parliament. * Elections for the members of Belgium’s municipal and provincial councils are held every 6 years.
In May 2014 we had the federal and regional elections. The latest federal elections before this one were in 2010, in that time it took Belgium 18 months to form a government, this is also the world record. Now with the latest elections of May we are all curious how long it is going to take our country to form a new government. 3.4.8 Political parties
All the important political parties in Belgium are either Dutch- speaking of French- speaking, even in Brussels the parties are, or Dutch- of French- speaking, there is no single party that is mixed. So you can say that the political parties are organized along the community lines. The internal organization of the political parties reflects the fundamental linguistic split of the Belgian society.
The main political parties:
Main Flemish parties: * Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) * Groen * Libertarian, Direct, Democratic (LDD) * New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) * Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld) * Socialist Party – Differently (sp.a) * Vlaams Belang
Main French-speaking parties: * Ecolo * Francophone Democratic Federalists (FDF) * Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) * Socialist Party (PS) * Reformist Movement (MR) * Citizens' Movement for Change (MCC)
German-speaking parties: * Christian Social Party (CSP) * Party for Freedom and Progress (PFF) * ProDG

3.4 Linguistic division
As I already mentioned several times, language is a major political issue in Belgium. In the 19th and the 20th century, the people who lived in Flanders did not have the same rights as the French-speaking people. For example: when the country was founded in 1830, only 1% of the population could vote, namely: nobility, haute- bourgeoisie and higher clerics, all of them were French- speaking. Of course the Flemings were not satisfied with this so they started e Flemish movement that fought peacefully to gain equal rights. Nowadays most of these are obtained.
This North-South division was even further accentuated due to the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th and 19th century. Wallonia became a booming industrial place and Flanders remained agricultural and was economically and politically outdistanced by Wallonia and the capital. During the 19th and the 20th century the elite spoke French, even in the Dutch-speaking area. But mid 20th century the situation started to change (after World War II). Now Flanders became an economic flowering while Wallonia economically stagnated. Tensions between the 2 communities rose because Flemish people became more educated and earned more money, and they fought for their equal share of political power.
In 1962 there was an establishment of a formal linguistic border and elaborate rules were made to protect minorities in linguistically mixed border areas. This Constitution was amended in 1970, included the fact that Flemish and francophone cultural councils were established with authority in matters relating to language and culture for the two language groups. But if Belgium thought that would have solved the problem with this constitutional revision, it was completely wrong. It took them 10 years (until 1980) to implement this new constitutional division, due to a controversial amendment that declared that Belgium consists of Three cultural Communities (Flemish-, French- and German- speaking community) and three economic regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels) each to be granted a significant measure of political autonomy.
Finally in August 1980 the Belgian Parliament amended the Constitution, establishing: * A Flemish community legislative assembly and Flemish government; * A Francophone community legislative council and government competent for cultural, language and educational matters; * Walloon and Flemish regional legislative assemblies and governments competent for regional economic matters.
In 1988-89 the Constitution was again amended to give additional responsibilities to the regions and communities. Nearly all responsibilities for educational matters became tasks of the communities. Even more, Brussels Region was given its own legislative assembly and executive and the regions and communities were provided more revenue.
In 1993 there was another important constitutional reform that took place, this one changed Belgium form a unitary to a federal state. The bilingual Brabant province was split into separate Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant provinces, the problem was Brussels than, so they decided that they Brussels power will be exercised on federal level, by the Governor of Brussels- Capital. However the problem of Brussels- Halle- Vilvoorde was not solved, this electoral and judicial district were still not split.
Nowadays, there are still a lot political tensions between French- and Dutch- speakers, even after all the constitution reforms. 3.5.9 Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde district
This district is an electoral district which was condemned in 2002 as unconstitutional by the Arbitration Court, however they still not split it.
The reasons behind this ruling are as follows: the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral district includes both the bilingual Brussels-Capital region and the unilingual DutchHalle-Vilvoorde. Brussels is constitutionally bilingual. As such, its voters can choose candidates from both communities for European and national elections. However, because of the bilingual Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral district, that possibility is also extended to the French-speakers in the Halle-Vilvoorde district, which belongs to the Flemish Region. That allows French-speaking candidates from Brussels and Wallonia (thus from outside the Flemish region and from outside the constitutional Dutch-only area) to attract votes from outside their electoral district. The current Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral district breaches both the constitutionally established provincial borders as well as by the borders between the linguistic areas, and between the communities.
At the same time, Flemish candidates have no possibility of attracting votes from Flemings living in Wallonia, not even from those in Walloon municipalities with legally established facilities. The court ruled this unconstitutional, too much controversy. 3.5 Own opinion.
For a country that is as big as a hand, we have way too much governments and ministers. 5 different governments for 1 little country is too much. Our country is completely not united, yes now that the world Championship is coming up, everyone is saying Belgium, but most of the time in our country it is like “high I’m from Flanders” or “high I’m from Wallonia”, this is even visible in the political parties, there is no single party that represent and Flemish people and French-speaking people. Now with the last elections we are all really curious what is going to happen. Sometimes I even think why should I go and vote, each time they have the same problems.
When you compare our political situation with the one of China, it is way too complicated in our country, we only have 11 million people. If I try to imagine that China would have the same political situation, I think China would explode.

3. How to do business with Belgium 4.6 Belgian management style
The Belgian management style is characterized by a desire for compromise and the need to reach (each time) a workable and acceptable solution. This kind of approach is necessary for my country as it is characterized by factionalist and regionalism. I think this can be very frustrated sometimes because making decisions take a long time and if the decisions involve any changes, these could be very painful.
To conclude, the management style of Belgium is a complex mix of inclusiveness and management by direction. The management style is influenced by the Belgian way of doing politics, so the main characteristic is the desire for compromise.
If I compare our management style with Chinese, I can say that the Chinese management style is very influenced by the Confucian philosophy. The older person should automatically receive respect, so it’s the same between the senior and the subordinate. The senior manager is the person who gives instructions to the direct reports who in turn pass it on down the line. So the management style of China is very hierarchic.
I cannot say which management style would be the best because you have to look at the culture of the countries and they are completely different. The compromising style of Belgium works very well for us, we are used to be and the hierarchic style of China works very well for China. 4.7 Belgian meetings
Meetings in Belgium are characterized by the search for a pragmatic and workable solution, whatever the problem might be. We really value everybody’s view. But then again we need to make a difference between Flanders and Wallonia. As Wallonia companies are most of the time more hierarchically than Flemish companies, it is often seen that the boss is never contradicted and that the rest of the views of the team are irrelevant.
I think that Belgian meetings are less formal then Chinese meetings. Like in China when you give a business card or when you receive it you always have to give it with two hands, and the cards will also be scrutinized in detail. In Belgium we do not really care about it, because most of the contact goes via mail or phone, even videoconferences. 4.8 Communication style
The communication style of Belgium is difficult to describe due to the dual-language nature of the country. I will describe the Flemish and the Francophone’s communication separately.
Flemish people are more direct in speech, they say more or less what they mean in a matter of fact way. One of the things Flemish people really don’t like is arrogance, so don’t act like you’re special, it is best to appear low key and modest. Also always use the family name until it is said that you can use the surname.
In Wallonia the approach is less formal, but they attach more value to a well- presented case. The way you say things carries a good deal of the weight.
For Belgium in general, it is the safes to speak English, because if you speak French or Dutch, people will think you are allying yourself to one particular fraction of the country and as I explained in the politics of Belgium, is this a big thing. Humor is used during the meetings, but most of the time in the beginning or at the end of the meeting. If you greet someone, always shake hands!
If you compare the Belgian and the Chinese communication style, you can notice one very big difference and that is that Chinese people find it hard to say “no”. If they say “no” they will be embarrassed and lose their face, so for them it is better to agree with things I a less than direct manner.
I think that if a Chinese person would do business with someone of Belgium, he has to learn that he or she should clearly say no if they disagree. Sometimes the direct way of saying things in Belgium is either a good thing, because it can hurt people’s feelings. 4. Marriage in Belgium
Ages ago was it very simple. An oral statement was more than enough to call you married. People got married in a garden under a beautiful tree and the bride and groom sealed their marriage with a kiss. In the Middle Ages it became different. This was mainly due to the church, which found it was important to link an official status to the marriage. From then on, it became mandatory to close a wedding in front of witnesses and to capture it in a marriage register. 5.9 The wedding dress
Today the bride can choose her own wedding dress, no matter which color or style, but for a long time white was the designated color. The white wedding dress appeared for the first time in old Egypt, where white was a festive color and also the symbol for virginity. Even the Roman husbands choose for a white suit.
In the beginning of twentieth century people married a lot in black. On that moment white was the color of the wealthier class. White is a color that gets pretty fast dirty en so it has to get washed very quickly. After World War One brides wore most of the time their best dress when they got married, even though there were clear ideas about the color the dress should have. This was expressed by rhymes such as: blue gives fidelity, green runs away with another, white brings love, yellow squints, red is cheeky and black means dead. It was recommended to wear a dress made of silk, because satin would bring bad luck and velvet would bring poverty. Girls who married during World War Two didn’t had much to do with this kind of facts, their dress got sometimes even made of a parachute. Since 1950 the white wedding dress was back in use. If the bride would marry in the dress of her mother, this could bring good luck. If the groom would see the dress of the bride before the marriage, this would bring bad luck. Another thing that would bring bad luck is if the bride would see herself completely dressed in the mirror, this would mean that she is already married and it could challenge the gods to stop the marriage. 5.10 The bridal veil
There are a lot of different explanations about the meaning of the bride’s veil. One of the interpretations is that the bride wore a veil to make her less recognizable for the evil spirits who would like to destroy the day of the wedding. According to another source it would be a sign of subordination to the man. If the husband of the bride takes away the veil, it means that the bride abides to the dominance of the groom. If she would take it away herself, she showed her independence.
Another explanation goes back to the time that brides got stolen by another hostile tribe. During the fleeing they used a cloth or blanket to make her unrecognizable. They only took this veil away just before the ceremony. Out of this use the bridal veil would have been arised. 5.11 Before the law
A couple who wants to get married has to make a declaration of the wedding at least 14 days or maximum 6 months before the wedding day. In the period between the declaration and the wedding day everybody is allowed to oppose the marriage. Obviously you cannot do this without a good reason; such protest needs a good motivation,
The wedding ceremony solemnized by the mayor or deputy of the mayor of the city. During the civil wedding some articles of the civil law book of the rights and duties of the spouses got read aloud. After this praxis the weds got asked if they want to take each other as husband and wife. After e loud “yes” of the bride and the groom, the couple is called married in the name of the law. After this praxis, the document of the marriage is official made. This got registered in the registers of the city and the government and this is the official proof of the marriage. The bride and the groom both brought a witness, who has to sign the act. The just married couple gets a little book in which later the names of their kids will be written. In the Flanders you’re only official married if you are married before the law.
For a long time only a man and a woman could get married, but since 2003 they changed the law, so now persons of the same sex can also marry before the law. 5.12 Right or left?
During the wedding ceremony are the family members and friends of the groom seated on the right side behind him in the church en those of the bride are seated on the left side behind her. The reason for this is simple. Previously, it was often the case that there were quite a few feuds between the two families. To prevent that they would start fighting during the ceremony were the families seated on their own side. Also, from each family, a little girl had to sit at the other side with the underlying thought that someone of the own family would not be attacked. 5.13 Bridesmaids
Nowadays the duties of the bridesmaids are helping to dress the bride, to hold the drag of the bride’s wedding dress… But originally there task was completely different! Previously people believed that the evil spirits during the wedding ceremony would like to destroy the dress of the bride. So the bridesmaids were used to distract the evil spirits. The bridesmaids needed to look like the bride. 5.14 The bridal bouquet
Originally was the bridal bouquet a bouquet of spices (bouquet garni), which was also used to keep the evil spirits away from the bride. Later the bridal bouquet became a symbol of fertility. In ancient times a lot of messages were worked up in the bouquet: with each kind of flower was a special meaning associated. For example: a lily meant purity and innocence. A lot of times they used white and green colors in the bouquet. White is the color of virginity. Previously the orange-blossom was common used, because this flower symbolized prosperity and fertility.
Now a days, the bride throws the bridal bouquet at the end of the evening party behind her to a group of unmarried friends. The girl, who catches the bouquet, should be the next one to marry. This was already a custom in middle Ages; the guests followed the just married couple to their home. On the way they tried to steal a piece of the clothes of the couple, they thought it would bring them good luck. To distract the people and to try to disappear from the crowd, the bride throws the bridal bouquet behind her. 5.15 The wedding rings
The peak of the wedding ceremony is the exchanging of the wedding rings. The forth finger is called the ring finger because this is the finger around which the wedding ring is carried. The Greeks thought that there was a special vein or nerve going through this finger which goes straight to the heart. The carrying of the ring would be derived from the Egyptians, for whom the ring symbolized the indissolubility, the infinity, so it symbolizes the eternal loyalty.
Most of the people choose for a golden or silver wedding ring. In Roman times the ring was made of iron, because of the symbolic strength of the metal. A lot of times there is a little diamond processed in the rings. The name diamond is derived from the Greek word “invincible” and that is just what a marriage should be. 5.16 The church portal
When the couple leaves the church, it is usual that friends, family and acquaintances throw rice or confetti over them. This is an tradition that is taken over from the east. Originally they used wheat instead of rice and only the bride got sprinkled with it. This ritual symbolizes the fertility, so that the girl gives birth to children at a young age.
Another tradition Belgian people do when they leave the church is throwing 2 white doves in the air, which should bring them good luck. 5.17 The speech during the evening party
During the evening party, the groom or the father of the groom dares to hold a speech full of ambiguous allusions and jokes. This ritual already existed in the Roman ages before Christus. In this times they even hired a professional joker during the wedding ceremony. This was meant to distract the attention from the couple, to protect them from bad influences. 5.18 The wedding cake
On a wedding party it is used that there is a lot of drank and food for everyone. This is due to the Germans, they drunk and ate so much during the wedding dinner to get the gods at their side. The wedding dinner has to be seen as a kind of offer.
The most important part of the wedding dinner was the wedding cake; also this tradition finds his roots to the reference of fertility. Previously the bride and the groom received the cake as a gift from their guests instead of taking care of it themselves. If there were friends who weren’t at the wedding party, the married couple sends them pieces of the cake, so they also could share in the revelry and luck of the wedding.
The wedding cake in different levels is an ritual from America, that is taken over in the last couple of years. 5.19 Over the doorstep
The bride is most of the time carried over the doorstep of their (new) house because one was afraid that otherwise she would lose her virginity to the earth. Another explanation is that previously people thought that the spirits of the ancestors lived under the doorstep of the house and they could certainly not be disturbed.

5.20 Own vision on the Belgian marriage
The Belgian marriage is based on Christian traditions, but I don’t think the Christian traditions are still much followed. Like a lot of people don’t want to get married before the church or if they do it before the church it’s just to show their gratitude to their parents. But like me, I only want to get married before the law, even in some people’s eyes it’s only a paper contract. But for me it would mean a lot, in my eyes it would mean that my husband really wants to spend the rest of his life with me.
Now a days there are a lot of people who get divorced very quickly, I don’t know why, but I think that you should keep trying and not give up easily. The vowels of sharing your life in easy and hard days mean something.
I’m also glad that my country allows people from the same sex to marry. I think everybody should have this right.