Here are some useful hints and survival guidelines about local behaviour. Some are typically Belgian, some are truly Ghentish.

• Don't be noisy when explaining something or asking something. People in Ghent are amazingly relaxed. In Antwerp you can win a debate when you've got the loudest voice, in Ghent they just ignore you. Especially waiters don't like loud and impatient people.

• Cyclists rule in Ghent. They can overtake cars on the left, stick out their tongues and will run over pedestrians if they feel like it. Even some police officers drive mountainbikes. The only thing that trumps a bike, is the tram...

• In case of need, women just step into the men's toilet for a weewee. Men don't mind. At all.

• Ask somebody to teach you the correct Ghent pronunciation of 'vree wijs', 'goe bezig', 'beestig' en 'de max'. They all mean 'nice' but with some subtle differences. Also learn 'saluutjes', because you cannot leave a bar in Ghent without shouting this to the bartender.

• One kiss is for friends, three kisses are for birthdays, for New Year and for old aunties you hardly ever see. Two kisses: never. Hugging is only for children, lovers and close friends when they are crying. We never kiss someone we've never seen before, but it's quite normal to kiss the girls after just one night out.

• Everybody buys rounds of drinks (including women). It's a law. If you only get yourself a drink, you will soon be drinking alone. Learn to say 'santé'. A regular beer glass has ridges around the bottom, so that the beer doesn't warm up too fast in your hand. An invention of genius!
  

• On your fries, ask for 'stoverijsause mee mayonaise'. It's a Ghent speciality: brown meat sauce made with beer, mixed with mayonnaise until it looks like an impressionist painting. Then take a picture of the dirty empty box as a souvenir.

• Bad news for Americans: there's only one Mc Donald's in the city centre, and we're not telling you where.

• Don't feel too welcome... We always want everybody to discover Ghent (it's cosier than Brussels, it's more alive than Bruges) but once the tourists start coming we don't like them taking pictures everywhere or being drunk on the street.