Setting aside the great Belgian story, gingko's hisotry is very interesting.
It was everywhere on the earth tens of millions years ago, but mysterically it all became extinct except southern part of China.
Then the samurai ruling class in the Kamakura adopted Zen and Ginko from China, so the tree became a sort of symbol of newly ruling class, samurai, after the Heian era.
Imagine if no ginko had been introduced to Germany, what poem had Goethe written for his young partner. You don't have to write a nice poem like him, but your partner would highly appreciate your kindness if you pick up ginko nuts for her to eat there.
FYI: The easiest way to cook the nuts is to put them in a paper envelope and heat them in a microwave oven.