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| *Travel Tips>>>Belgium Travel Tips |
Are(Were) you happy in Belgium as a foreigner living there, not as a tourist? |
Travel Info Where are you from? Where in Belgium do(did) you live? If Yes, Why? If No, Why Not? Travel Tips I'm from Asia. I live in West-Flanders. My answer is NO. First of all, their mother tongue is Flemish (some kind of Dutch), and although most people speak some English, it's not goof enough. As a tourist, you have no problem with them. But, to live there as a foreigner, it's not easy. You can't even get a job unless you speak fluent Flemish. And products at supermarkets are written only in Flemish or French, no English. Second, the weather is terrible. The Belgians think it's mild. No way. It's cold - Short summer and Loooong winter. Always rain. Otherwise Cloudy. Third, this country seems it hasn't changed for centuries. You have to fix everything. No product is improving. You have to wait at the cashier for a long time, because there' no efficiency. Banks and the post office are closed for lunch. Most shops are closed on Sundays. If you visit someone for dinner, it won't start until you drink apperitif for 1 or 2 hours. Once they start dinner with friends, it lasts until midnight. People don't want to change things. Others I lived in Brussels and got by very well with English and some French. I have to say that most of my friends were Flemish and spoke excellent English and on the occasions when I spoke French in shops and restaurants annoyingly most people spoke back to me in English so it was very hard to improve! I am English. I easily found work in a shop with my fairly good French and later worked in a translation company. I would say that outside of Brussels the country is very biased on either French or Flemish speaking so you would need to learn fast if you don't already have those languages, but Brussels was a great place to live with good nightlife, fairly reasonable rent (compared to London very cheap!!) and friendly people. |
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