A Trip to Belgium: Are women now making the first move? 

It’s hard to ignore the topic on love, dating and relationships. You’ve probably been waiting long enough to hear about the dating scene in France. 

Well, that’s gonna unfold sooner but before that… 

Let me just say that I love listening to stories of how couples meet. There’s always something beautiful about how love unfolds in different ways. 

Like, tell me about it; when did you first lock eyes on each other? Who made the first move? When did you start dating? How did it all play out? How long has it been?  

This curiosity led to a story a friend shared with me, about how she met her partner. They are now happily living together in Germany. From Latin America, to staying in France and now in Germany, I’ll call her L. 

As it’s always, once you are in France you have the privilege of traveling to any European country. So, one day during a trip in Belgium, L was taking a walk down the street when she heard a guy playing a beautiful melody of “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran on the violin.  

The music was so enchanting that she stopped to listen, completely lost in the magic of the moment. 

You’ve heard the saying that women can multitask; oh yes, we can. Because even as her heart, ears, and soul were falling in love with the music, her eyes had spotted a gentleman, sitting on a bench, who was just as mesmerized by the tune of the violinist. 

L decided to do a noble course. She walked over, dropped a coin in the violinist’s case to appreciate his talent, then sat down right next to the guy.  

Naturally, she thought that would be enough of a signal for him to notice her, or so we ladies sometimes think. I know you are guilty of staring hard at a guy, thinking he’ll read that as a sign to approach you.  

But the guy, as most usually do, seemed completely lost in his own world, pretending not to notice her gesture. So, L took it a step further and said “hi,” commented on the violinist, and that’s how the conversation between two solo travellers began. 

If you don’t find this story lovely, well I did. I loved listening to it, especially how she happily narrated it. Like she had been transported back to when it all happened. It sounded like a scene from a soap opera.   

As the conversation kept rolling, they realized that in fact they were actually staying in the same hotel.  

And just like that, a trip to Belgium opened up a chapter in their lives. Now, they’re living happily together in Germany. 

Later, the guy admitted to L that he had noticed her too, back when they were both listening to the music.

Lol! Then, why didn’t he approach her first? 

So, I keep asking myself, if L hadn’t taken the initiative to sit next to him and strike up a conversation, would she really be in Germany now? 

How many potential relationships have I missed out on, just because I locked eyes with someone I liked and then chose to ignore them, hoping they’d make the first move? Funny, right? 

I get it, society has evolved a lot, and women have become more empowered, liberal and free to follow their hearts.  

But does this mean the dating scene has changed too? Are women now doing better what men can do, like making the first move? 

I would also love to know, from a man’s perspective, how does that feel?

I feel like I’m a bit out of touch with this dating scene. And if this is the trend, then I’m okay with being the rich solo traveller aunty.

If bad comes to worse, then I’ll head to Belgium and hope to find my prince charming there, haha!