Anyone living in Brussels or Belgium - Is it OK?

[michie40]

My husband is likely to be offered a job in the European Parliament for 2yrs. We are all going to go over. Me and my two daughters (3yrs and 3months). Is there anyone out there who has experience of living out there and can tell me what its like. Is it easy to intergrate kids into playgroups etc.. Bearing in mind we don't speak French or Flemish. Am I likely to get a bit isolated?
Any advice gratefully recieved.

HI no you won't be isolated. You will have lots and lots of fun. There are many British people over here and in addition most people speak English anyway. It's easy and cheap to learn Flemish and French with the local "commune" (council) who charge maybe 40E for a year's worth of lessons and qualifications. If you keep it up for two years it really helps you get a job. There's a British school with nursery attached if you want to live in the British community (a small villlage just outside Brussels near the airport) google it, but there are lots of people living in Brussels with their children in local schools doing "full immersion" ie learning in French/Flemish from the start. You will not want to go home at the end of two years I can assure you! By the way Flemish is really Dutch. In Brussels you need French all the time but in the nine "communes" surrounding Brussels everyone speaks Dutch. Good luck. You'll love it.

I haven;t lived there but have worked for belgian company and was there every couple of weeks - becuase of the EP its a very international community so I'd think you would be fine.

You can send your DD aged 3 to the Ecole Maternelle of one of the European Schools (google it to get some ideas) - it'll be free and they'll have to give you a place if your husband works in the European Parliament . And there should be crèches etc attached to the Parliament itself - the European institutions are very good at all that.

Also there should be free language courses for you at the European Parliament. Your husband needs to get in touch with the HR department and they'll give you info - push a bit, they aren't always helpful, but there will be loads of stuff.

Brussels is probably one of the easiest expat destinations on earth IMO. Great standard of living

Thanks - feeling reassured now. Beginning to get excited already.

Oh definitely get excited, Brussels is lovely.

We are going to be looking for somewhere to rent while out there - Can anyone recommend any nice areas to live or is there anywhere that should be avoided?

Uccle - smart suburbia, European School.

Personally, I'd want to live in a great big Art Nouveau town house if I was to move to Brussels - but that's probably not the best place to start off life there. You probably want something easy to run if you've got two small DCs

Depends on your taste and budget (though accommodation is cheap in Brussels) - what sort of architecture and ambiance do you like?

Brussels is a car dependent city - so don't dream of living in the city centre with no car (perfectly possible where I live in Paris or where my sister lives in Amsterdam - we both love that lifestyle).

i lived in brussels (uccle) for 2.5 years from 2003 - 2005, and had DS1 there in 2004. re: where to live, think carefully about your husbands commute into work - the traffic can be hideous (no worse than other cities though).

i would recommend joining the BCT (brussels childbirth trust - www.bctbelgium.com) - they have all sorts of groups, coffee mornings etc. for you to meet other mum's.

there is a MNetter called belgo who could probably give you loads more relevant and up to date advice.

good luck!