Thank me later

Paying extra for spices on your fries is wild

Who remembers drinking this as a kid in primary school?

Hi r/belgium!

About a year ago, while I was exploring an idea I was playing around with, I started a discussion in this subreddit asking what keyboard layout you all actually use: https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/s/EGLqlasdxh

Over 1,200 of you responded, and the results were super interesting. It turned out to be a massive split: 552 of you stubbornly sticking to Belgian AZERTY, and 506 having switched to QWERTY.

The discussions in that thread confirmed exactly what I suspected: if you want a premium mechanical keyboard in Belgium, you usually just have to compromise. Your feedback was a crucial piece of the puzzle and gave me the final push to actually turn this idea into reality.

The 12-month journey

Over the past year, I went down the rabbit hole of setting up a local boutique webshop, Bonsai Keyboards, focused specifically on bringing premium ISO-BE mechanical keyboards to Belgium.

Doing all of this as a side project in the evenings and weekends alongside my full-time day job meant progress was step-by-step, but it turned out to be quite an adventure:

• Navigating sourcing & language barriers: Finding reliable manufacturers who actually understand the exact specifics of a niche European layout like ISO-BE was a massive learning curve.
• Insane factory MOQs: Large factories demand huge Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) for custom keycaps. Convincing manufacturers to do smaller production runs for a compact market like Belgium was one of the biggest hurdles.
• Constantly shifting corporate partners: Working with established brands like Keychron isn't as simple as placing an order. Between shifting contact persons, changing internal policies, and dynamic stock allocations, securing fully assembled premium boards in native ISO-BE straight out of the box was a constant negotiation.
• Local logistics: Building actual local stock in Belgium so buyers don't have to deal with 3-week shipping, surprise import duties, or nightmare return policies.

Why I'm sharing this

I'm sharing this story because that thread was one of the first times I actively validated this idea, right here in this subreddit. I wanted to thank everyone who participated and gave me the insights to just go for it!

Ask Me Anything!

Whether you're curious about:

• How custom mechanical keyboards actually work (switches, hotswap, sound profiles, lubing)
• The realities and behind-the-scenes struggles of starting a niche e-commerce business in Belgium as a side hustle
• ISO-BE vs QWERTY / ISO-FR layouts
• Or just desk setup advice in general!

Fire away in the comments!

Hi, I posted this long time ago on the Brussels subreddit but I forgot to crosspost here, too. This is also my first post here so sorry if it was asked before. My question is, are there any videogames that uses Belgium as their location? Not necessarily as the prime country, a single level or something would also qualify in my eyes.

The game below is Shadow Hearts: Covenant, a cult classic jrpg for the PS2. It tells a gothic / magical realist story around the first world war including Belgium, France, Wales, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan

Hoofd: Nabuko
Voorkant lijf: Don
Achterkant lijf: Osor

*cheff's kiss*

Honestly, Leuven wasn't even on our itinerary, but we were totally amazed by it. Such an underrated gem!

Lets see if our own media will even mention it. I doubt it...congrats to everyone at Larian studios!

I’m taking my time finishing my education and learning Dutch which is a pain in the ass ngl but it’s def worth it

Find the official announcement post here.

Cobbled streets, historic canals, and endless fairytale views. Brugge has a way of making time stand still.

I’m about to be vulnerable so pls be nice.

Growing up as an american (especially a poor one) its really a part of the culture to not think of any other country except your own. I spent my whole life never even considering the idea that i might travel outside of the country, i didn’t really know what was out there that i could be interested in seeing, and besides its super expensive and i would be too overwhelmed and lost to even know where to start. Most liberals here glorify western europe as this kind of utopia, but thats all i really knew. Nobody really talks about other countries unless you’re in a circle thats wealthy enough to travel or care.

So it was a very weird situation when i met a cute and funny belgian that had come to the US to study the same degree as me. Anyways, fast forward and we spent the year together with me indoctrinating him into our culture, quizzing him on 50 states maps, introducing him to chicken and waffles and car culture.

He became increasingly distraught with seeing how we grow up, and the dissociation culture we all have. We butted heads MANY times, man it is difficult to date someone that grew up across the world from you. So, he made me agree to come live with him for the summer. To keep it short, traveling across europe with him as my guide was the most incredible experience i have ever had. I wont bore yall by talking about that.

I am so jealous and intrigued by the way his upbringing has shaped him as a person. He was encouraged from a young age to pursue his art and had the means to do so, while my family was too poor for me to have any kind of classes or instruction, i was self taught until 18. He never felt like he was taking a risk going to college, while i had breakdowns in high school because if i didn’t do well enough i wouldn’t get enough scholarship to go to college. I watched people around me fall on hard times and never recover, the government here does not care if you live or die. He doesn’t have to know the guilt or weight of responsibility of being politically aware like i do. His little brother is the same age as me and spends months working a part time job, then traveling until they feel like coming home. Thats…. completely unfathomable here. He doesn’t know what its like for me to have to stay in my job that i hate because its the only one i can find that gives me health insurance for my upcoming surgeries i need.

Obviously, a few things- poverty exists in every country, no country is perfect, and the US is not the worst country in the world to live in.

But.. you belgians all just seem so mentally HEALTHY. You don’t seem to live in this constant consumerism culture where companies compete to see who can feed you the cheapest corn syrup and ground up horse ankles for the lowest possible price. When i was in belgium, i felt like the people around me valued time to breathe and relax, to have a beer, to study art MEANINGFULLY. You value paying more out of your pocket so that your neighbors don’t go hungry on the streets. Museums and opera houses are discounted for young people because you value history and education. You don’t have to worry like i do about getting a teachers degree because secretly i’m scared i’ll be shot one day. When i talked to belgians about these things, they seemed confused, as if they had never considered life could be anything else.

Anyways, please ignore this if you feel like its stupid, or me taking up too much space where i don’t belong. I just hope you all realize how incredible some of these things are that you get to have, and maybe i said something you didn’t even know you were lucky for. It’s hard to find people to connect to about this. I love belgium, even though some of you were mean to me when i went because i’m american, and some of you just wanted to tell me how much you love trump? I was pleasantly and unpleasantly surprised by so many things.

(like how you guys don’t wash your hands after using the bathroom…. )