The day had been welcomed by the Flemish regional government, who partly finances the association, to emphasise the positive role emigrated Flemings can play in strengthening the reputation of the region abroad. “Public diplomacy,” a government representative called it during his speech in the mediaeval Provinciehuis on the Grote Markt. “Every emigrated Fleming is an ambassador.”

It is difficult to deny that the name Flanders doesn’t immediately ring a bell in, say, Buenos Aires or Singapore. “Most people have a hard time remembering Belgium,” one Flemish woman living in the US said during a group discussion in the afternoon. The region’s name is maybe most famous internationally for the poem “In Flanders Fields,” written by Canadian physician John McCrae during the brutal battles of the First World War. In fact, the Flemish government is currently preparing a “Flanders Fields Declaration”, to be signed by the countries involved and in remembrance of their fallen soldiers.

Among those who do know it, the region and its people have a good reputation, most participants agreed. “We’re silent but hard workers,” one man said who lives in Dublin and deals in ramps for trucks. Another woman, also from Dublin: “We integrate well. We’re known for our language skills.” If anything, it’s the Belgian quarrels that cast a damp glow over the country’s reputation, according to many.

The returned seemed to enjoy talking with each other, sharing experiences of living abroad, soulmates from different parts of the world. Most were open to the words of the government representative, calling upon them to be ambassadors of Flanders, however that may materialise in practice. “But then the government should also do more for us,” one of them said. “Our children go to the Dutch international school, run by The Netherlands.” Another, at the same table: “You decided to move abroad. Do you really insist on speaking your own language?”

One point of concern, though, seemed to be voiced unanimously. “The government asks us to represent them,” one man said, “but we haven’t even elected them. The French living abroad have their own representative in the assemblée générale; we aren’t allowed to vote at the regional elections.”

Vlamingen in de Wereld has some 40,000 members across the globe. The total number of Flemish people living abroad is estimated to be three times bigger. Estimated, since emigrants aren’t obliged to tell anybody their destination. “When I move from Wevelgem to Kortrijk, the commune asks me for my new address,” said one member, who apparently would like to see the association grow bigger. “But when I move to Hong Kong, they don’t.”

Walter Thiebaut, director of Vlamingen in de Wereld, thinks that his association will only grow in importance because people simply move about more easily. “The whole concept of immigration has changed over time,” he said. “Travel has become so much easier and will become even more easy in the future. Students today often go abroad; pensioners go to Spain. Staying in touch has also never been easier. I remember when I lived in the United States, before the era of the internet. There was one small news item in The Washington Post that the Tindemans government had fallen.”

Those days have indeed long gone. In fact, nothing stands in your way of getting in touch with, say, Flemings living abroad in your home country, to share tips and tricks about each other’s particularities. It might help you to understand this country a little better.

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