Belgium

[sunflower68]

Looking for nice places to stay in and around the Brussels area. Any ideas?

[SteveD]

Please be a little more precise.

When will you require the accommodation?

How long will you stay?

Do you want more than one place during your stay?

What will you be doing (tourism, work etc)?

Will you have your own transport or will you need to be near bus/tram/metro stops or a train station?

[sunflower68]

Sorry steve d. We are considering the fact that my husband's job may possibly take him to Brussels. We have 2 kids who will be 7 and 8 this year. Looking for pretty places, good English-speaking schools, places with things to do etc. Up to an hour out of Diegem. Ta!

[sunflower68]

Oops, would be this summer. Stay indefinite. Just one place, a house. Will have to be rental at first. Will not really need to be near public transport.

[SteveD]

We are English and have lived in Belgium (25 km south of Brussels) for 26 years.

Diegem is just to the north of Brussels, not far from the Airport and is in the Flemish-speaking area. This is the first thing to get your mind round when selecting somewhere to live. Belgium is divided into three areas: the Flemish-speaking north (Flanders), the French-speaking south (Wallonia) and bilingual Brussels in the middle.

The British School is in Tervuren, close to the eastern side of Brussels and there is an American school in Waterloo (just south of Brussels). Because Brussels attracts many international companies, there is an "Anglo-saxon ghetto" in Waterloo. Belgians (particularly the Flemish) are very good at languages so there will be no problem if you don't know any French or Dutch (although you will enjoy life much more if you make an effort to learn one or the other or both.

Life is good in Belgium and the jokes and stupid stories you hear are creations of people who have never lived here and have probably never even visited the country. Most people who come here for work are very sad if they have to return to the UK.

As a first step, check out these two sites:

http://www.xpats.com/

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_content_subchannel.asp?subchannel_id=24

You could also subscribe to The Bulletin (there will be a link on those sites.

If you have any more questions, just ask.

[sunflower68]

Thanks steveD the info you have given me is really extremely helpful. Those sites will give me food for thought too. If my husband decided to take up the offer, his office would be based just outside the airport.

I am a French speaker, lived in France a while and extremely keen to keep it up. I know a little bit of Dutch.

How do the prices of property vary (rental or buying)? Is Waterloo in the Brussels area? What is Tervuren like?

I am interested also to know, if you have children, did you bring them from England or were they born there?

My brother lived in the heart of Brussels for a while a few years ago and absolutely loved it. :)

[SteveD]

There is a large, newish office area in Diegem which, if your husband will be travelling a lot, is extremely convenient for the airport. In fact I worked there for a short time.

However, if you choose Tervuren or Waterloo to live, getting to Diegem during rush hour can be a nightmare. I live near Waterloo and I used to travel a lot. On a Sunday morning it takes 20 minutes to get to the airport from here - on a weekday at 8 o'clock it usually takes an hour (my "record" was just over 2 hours!).

Consequently, Tervuren is better as it is much nearer Diegem and the airport. Tervuren is closer to the centre of Brussels; there is a tram line into the centre of Brussels. It is a Flemish-speaking Commune. Waterloo is French-speaking and is about 25 km south of Brussels but with good road and rail links.

We have two children (now 24 and 21). The older one was born here and the other was adopted aged 2. They both went to local (French-speaking) schools.

Here is a link to St John's (American) school in Waterloo:

http://www.stjohns.be/index.htm

and one for the British School in Tervuren:

http://www.britishschool.be/

Here is Tervuren's web site (only in Flemish):

http://www.tervuren.be/

and here is Waterloo's (a bit in English):

http://www.waterloo.be/home/index.cfm

For housing, have a look here:

http://www.vlan.be/

It depends what you are looking for.

END OF PART 1

[SteveD]

PART 2

Your best plan would be to come to Brussels for a weekend and have a good look round. Prices and taxes tend to be high in Belgium, but relatively higher salaries should compensate somewhat. Make out a comprehensive "shopping list" in the UK, bring it here and compare the prices.

If your husband is only going to be here temporarily, his employer should be able to put him on the "ex-pats" taxation system.

[sunflower68]

He had mentioned the tax system regarding school fees. It's all very early days but I cannot help but be curious; I would love it all to happen!

Thankyou SteveD for the most valuble info. I have kept all the sites on my faves. These are sites that I can't locate by trawling through Google so immense thanks again. I will keep you posted.

[SteveD]

Just ask if you have any more questions!

If you get the chance to come, go for it! The standard of living is very high in Belgium and you will be sure to enjoy it.

[SteveD]

If you speak French, you will find things much easier and more fun.

Apart from accent, pronunciation and some vocabulary, Belgian French is not much different from French French. The most striking common difference is the use of septante, septante-et-un, septante-deux etc instead of soixante-dix, soixante-onze, soixante-douze etc and nonante, nonante-et-un, nonante-deux etc instead of quatre-vingt-dix, quatre-vingt-onze, quatre-vingt-douze etc.

[sunflower68]

Hi there SteveD I just noticed your last thread there (was emailing some of the schools you sent me, just in case it all goes ahead). I managed to read the one in what I thought was normal French - did not realise there was a difference so thanks for that. My husband has a week's training in Monaco (yes, I know!) from next Mon; if all goes ok he will post to the Brussels office to be based there, we hope. Fingers and everything crossed!