Brussels and Ottawa - some objects are closer than they appear

One Saturday night only a few weeks after I had moved to Ottawa a friend called me and asked if I wanted to go to a club with him. I said "sure, but what do I wear? Can I wear jeans and running shoes?"

His answer surprised me and summed up my time in Ottawa perfectly: "It's Ottawa, man."

At the time I didn't understand so I asked again and again the response was that it was Ottawa. He then explained that in Ottawa anything goes. This was not your Montreal nightspot but Ottawa. So I went out dressed in my normal going out clothes - a shirt and dress shoes. Only when I got to the club did I realize that this was Ottawa and dress code was "whatever."



Now I tell you this because last night I went out for one of the first times to a nightspot in Brussels as I was lucky enough to escort the Cypriot and the Lithuanian/Icelandic ballerina to an event at a Brussels nightspot.

So as I stood there watching all the guys drooling over the Cypriot and the Lithuanian/Icelandic ballerina (side note - if you want to see some INCREDIBLE dancing go out with the Cypriot and the Ballerina) I couldn't help but feel back at home - this was an Ottawa bar (bear in mind Ottawa is not home but I did live there a while).

There were all the qualities of an Ottawa bar:

Guys were dressed any which way. Guys outnumbered girls 10 to 1. No one is from Ottawa/Brussels and you're shocked to meet a local (we had this experience with a guy who we all thought was from the States due to the crew cut and exceedingly bad dancing, but anywho on with the story). People dance ... "interestingly" (I am no Fred Astaire but still I was definitely in the top 15% of the men at that bar). Oh, and to make it even more Ottawa-like, there was a guy there that I am sure came from Riviere-des-Loups to the big city for a good time (no offence to anyone from Riviere-des-Loups, I love any place where there is a river of wolves).

That is when today's jonathanism hit me: Brussels is the Ottawa of Europe. If Montreal is the Paris, Brussels is definitely the Ottawa. So next time anyone asks me what to wear to a club/event here in Brussels I will be sure to answer "It's Ottawa man, it's Ottawa."

(Side note for any Canadians out there - when I made this analogy to the Cypriot and the Lithuanian/Icelandic Ballerina they both laughed at the idea of Montreal being like Paris and said "oh you Quebecois!" What does that mean?)