What's it like living in Belgium? More specifically, what's it like in Your city? I know Belgium has many places with a different character to each. Do you like living there? What are some of the positive and negative things you face in your area? The "days without a government" situation has been hyped in the news; how is it really affecting life in Belgium? Thank you for your help!
Belgium - 3 Answers
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1 :
Yes, I like it here. While it may seem unassuming and dull at first, it's hard to leave once you've settled down. I live in the north-east of Belgium in the Dutch speaking part. While most of Flanders has been built up, there is still a lot green left in my province, and the nature is here is quite varied. It's especially beautiful in during spring time when the orchard fields all turn white during the blossom season. Life here is also a bit more relaxed and easy going compared to bigger towns. The down side is that culturally, there is a lot less happening here as well. But luckily, Brussels and Antwerp are just shy of an hours drive away. Maastricht in the Netherlands is just 20minutes away, Liege which is in the french speaking part is a 30min drive and Aachen in Germany about 50minutes. So as you can see, everything is relatively close by. Especially if you love traveling. Another down side depends on your field of work. So far, I have been very lucky to find my line of work near home most of the time, but generally speaking, most career driven jobs are concentrated in Brussels and Antwerp. As for our current political situation: well, that is just part of the surrealistic way of life in Belgium. Because if the lack of a federal government truly was a problem, it would have long solved itself by now. The fact that it hasn't says quite a lot about its importance. And so far, it hasn't had any affect on my day to day life other than it being an amusing topic to bring up during conversations.
2 :
I was originally from Brussels suburbs and I left at age 17 - Then I moved to USA where I lived from 1960 to 1991 - Then I moved again to Argentina where I am since 1993 - I was an airline pilot - I retired in 2008 - So I was able to travel a lot "back home" to Brussels to visit my mother and my friends many times each year - I even got based in West Berlin with my airline in the early 1970s and got back to Brussels twice or three times monthly, and in 1992 I had a contract in Luxembourg, and was "home" in Brussels 15 days every month - I sometimes was lucky with my airline to have stops overnight in Brussels with my crew, and my crew always loved layovers in Brussels with me, since I knew all "best" places to have a good time, cheap delicious food at 3:00am - or a nice place near a lake to enjoy a beer outside if sunny - Unfortunately, my mother passed away in 2005, so I do not come for a visit as often, since I now need to go to hotels rather than have "my own place" like it was with my mother, and my wife does not speak any French or English (she is from Argentina) - What I love in Belgium, is the culture and history, the museums, old churches and castles - And add to that the food specialties and the great beers - I love to spend a couple of days at the coast if the weather is ok, also go to little tourist towns in the "Ardennes", the "highlands" of Belgium... Places I love is Bruges and Ghent, or Liège and Namur, and of course my "old Brussels" where despite being gone for long, I still have my habits and remember my youth... It is fun sometimes, I go to my former neighbourhood (where nobody knows me) and go get a couple of beers, speak with the local people as if I was still living there, I can imitate their accent and say the words they use, even though sometimes I do not know what is new in the infamous Belgium politics - And of course the Brussels transit company changes all the routes of trams, buses and metro, so I get lost like a real tourist... laugh at me...! When my wife is with me, she likes to go to Paris for the weekend, which is great, the TGV high speed train travels to Paris in 70 minutes, as I still have friends there too - The only dislike in Belgium for me, is the weather - eternal rains (umbrella is an equipment necessity for all Belgians) and the rain from yesterday, today or tomorrow is the favorite subject of discussion in stores and bars... You say "hello, how are you today, what a rain, do "they say" it will rain tomorrow...?" (mentioning the TV weatherman who is always wrong) - Last winter was freezing cold and miserable - Other than than, I love Belgium, and try to go back as often as I can, once or twice a year, just enough to say "what a lovely little country it is", but sorry, I have to go back to Argentina...!
3 :
I live rural. Very few positives other than my daughters schooling and being close enough to the border with NL to escape and ride our bicycles without needing eyes in the back of our head. Belgium has one of the worst track records in Western Europe when it comes to road safety. So, no, none of us like living here. Too much bureaucracy, no transparency and endless trips from pillar to post to get an answer to the most simple questions. The most complicated tax forms world wide with 30000+ (yes, thirty thousand+) civil servants working for the tax office alone in a country with less than 12 million inhabitants (this does not include Customs& Excise staff). Most couldn't care less about the political situation though. As long as their wages are on time and services are there where they expect them to be. Most that complain you will find their grudge to be that the politicians are still getting paid normal rate. The statistics are that more and more are struggling to pay their bills and having to knock at Social Services's door. And that many self-employed are applying from exemption on social contributions. Older employees have no real value in the job market and many are facing compulsory early retirement as early as 55.
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