Anyone in Belgium...????

[RuthChan]

I have just learned that my husband is going to be transferred to Brussels later this year.
Are there any MNs over there who can give me any words of wisdom about what I should know or should be doing to prepare?

We currently live in Japan, so it will be a big change of scene, even though I'll be moving in a homeward direction.

We have DD who is currently 1.4, so I guess we'll be thinking about nursery etc for her.
I am also (just) pregnant with number 2, so we'll have a tiny baby in tow too. (Hopefully his company will let us stay here until after the baby's born)

It would be great to know that there are some friendly people waiting over there with some good advice...

I'm in Belgium, in the flemish part. There are a few of us on mumsnet.

I imagine it will be very different to Japan! have you enjoyed living in Japan?

Brussels Childbirth Trust is an english speaking organsation of young families in Belgium here.

I know near to nothing about Brussels though

Hi, I live in Tervuren, about 20-30 minutes from the centre of Brussels in a Flemish speaking commune. I have been here 19 months (moved over from Cornwall), and really enjoy it .

Belgium is quite a bureaucratic society, but the people are friendly for the most part, and I haven't experienced any real problems since living here.

What did you want to know in particular?

Hi - I live in Brussels - Woluwe Saint Lambert area. Been here since October last year.

We moved here with two DDs 3yrs and 6month old baby. Its been really great so far - mainly down to joining the BCT (as belgo said) great organisation - I really recommend it. I dont speak dutch or french so its great for meeting english speaking folk and getting out of the house with little ones.

If you are looking for areas to live in Brussels I would recommend my area or Woluwe Saint Pierre as nice leafy suburbs. Uccle is popular for english speakers as well and I have heard that Tervuren is very nice but further out.

Brussels is great - very family friendly. Is there any other info you need?

Tervuren is very nice - everything you need in one place, and not too far to anywhere. The British School is here, which is why there are a lot of Brits in the Tervuren area, and whilst I am learning Flemish, most people do speak English to you. Brussels is most unlike a capital city, it is compact and reasonably quiet and it is a very civilised way of life here. I am not planning to go back to the UK to live any time soon.

Hi,

I have been in Belgium for about 8 years, living in Brussels and now have 8 month old dd. I would definitely agree that joining the BCT is a good idea, particularly as expat life in Brussels can be quite focused around work, as that is why people move here - you're probably familiar with that from Japan I guess. I found that the BCT opened up a whole new social side of things with other families and non-working people, which is great as otherwise I would have felt very isolated while all our other friends are out at work.

Also, if you are churchgoers at all, the English-speaking churches are very good ways to meet a range of people who can help you settle in. Holy Trinity is in the city centre, and they have links to other churches in/around Brussels on their website here: www.htbrussels.com/news.html.

Belgium is a nice, easy place to live - hope you have a good move and enjoy it! And good luck with the pg by the way...

Thank you so much everyone!!!
It's really wonderful to know that Belgium, particularly Brussels, is a good place to live and that there are so many friendly MNs over there!!

Thank you so much for telling me about the BCT.
I will definitely be joining that.
Like you said, one of my main worries is how I'll meet people as I'll be stuck at home with a baby and a toddler and I expect that my DH will be away a lot on business.

One of my main concerns is about the language.
I don't speak French anymore (when I try to Japanese comes out!!)
Is it much of a problem getting by with only English? (I don't imagine Japanese is much use over there!)

I'm also wondering (rather prematurely) about nursery/schools etc.
If possible I'd like our children to be educated in English as I think expecting them to speak 2 languages is enough. Adding French /Flemish as well is just getting too much.

I'm not sure where we'll be living yet, but that may well be decided for us by the location of the company housing.
If we have any choice in the matter, I'll bear your advice in mind.

There are expats who only speak english, and you can get by, but it really is worth enrolling on a french or flemish course. people are always happy when you make the effort, and many walloons only speak french.

There are a few interenational school around - the British School of Brussels is in Tervuran - very expensive unless your company pays! As it happens I'm sure there is a Japanese schoool somewhere in Belgium.

Yes, BSB is expensive, lots of Japanese students there however. They do French as a second language in primary, but you have a way to go before you need to worry about that!

Yes, of course I will take a French course.
I disagree with people who expect everyone to speak English regardless of the country.
However, it's reassuring that I'll be able to get by until my French level improves.

It would be lovely if DH's company would pay for the British school, but unfortunately that's not about to happen.
We'll have to deal with such issues when we come to them.

I'm sure it depends on the area, but do people who live in Brussels need a car or does public transport suffice?
DH's company will supply a car, but I expect that he'll be away on business trips in it most of the time.
I wonder if I'll need a second one?
Not looking forward to driving on the right, I have to say!!

Where you live will dictate which language you learn. I live in a Flemish speaking commune, so French is no use to me here; I'm learning Dutch.

The British school is very expensive, the day fees for my DS in year 7 are comparable to cheap boarding fees in the UK, or for a good private day school which would provide much more than BSB.

The public transport is good, very well integrated, but it depends where you live. DH uses the tram and the metro to get to work in the centre of Brussels, but had to drive from here to his last posting, as it was not well served by public transport from my area.

We have two cars - insurance expensive and a totally different market to the UK, and driving on the right takes some getting used to. The Belgians are great until they get behind the wheel of a car. What I call a safe braking distance they call an opportunity to cut in. They don't do mirror, signal, manoeuvre either, but manoeuvre, perhaps signal at the same time, and only look if you hit something.

I get by without a car - I travel around brussels on the tram and metro with my two girls. Its very easy just make sure you live near a metro or tram stop.

We are going to join the "cambio" scheme which allows you to pick up a hire car from certain areas ahich you can use when you want - as getting out of brussels by public transport gets a bit more complicated.

Thanks for your comments about the BSB, scaryteacher. I will certainly bear them in mind when it comes to choosing schools.

It's also good to know that we can get by using only public transport if we live in the right places.

The Cambio system sounds interesting too.
Might have to look into that.

Scaryteacher - and don't forget the "priorite de droite!"

RuthChan, I've lived in Brussels for 23 years so if you need any particular advice nearer the time, please get in contact. I agree about the BCT. When my boys were little it was a life saver as all the Belgians I had got to know went back to work a few months after their babies were born. (I'm actually still a member of the "Lifers" group.) I got by with no car until my eldest was nearly 11 (and we decided to have a third child) but what I found was that although we had no car and lived close to a metro, other mums didn't so the travelling to coffee mornings could sometimes be lengthy, especially with two little ones. The BCT is also great for giving advice on doctors, dentists etc so please join them as soon as you get here (if not before!). www.bctbelgium.com/

Choose where you live carefully. Do you know where your husband is going to be working, as it would be a good idea to make sure you're either not too far away or on a metro or tram route as the rush hour traffic can be horrible? There are definitely some areas to be avoided though so if you do get some idea of where he's going to be it would be a good idea to come on here again and ask for advice.

There are also some English primary schools in Brussels itself as well as one in Vossem and the British School in Tervuren. These are the Brussels based ones: www.bjab.org/ www.bisb.org/ www.beps.com/

All English speaking schools are fee paying though and as there are no tax breaks or concessions from the Belgian government they are not cheap.

I actually live on the road (in Auderghem) where the Japanese School is so I'm sure I could find you some information about that if you're interested.

It is possible to get by with English but I teach French to some of the mums at the British School and they find the fact that they can't communicate with the plumber somewhat frustrating. I would definitely suggest learning Dutch and not French though if you end up living in a Dutch speaking area as it's only really in Brussels itself that both languages are used, or at least expected to be used.

Signing into the country in the local town hall can be a bit of a pain, especially if you struggle with the language but you will be expected to do this. There is quite a lot of red tape to get through here to start with but it's pretty okay once you've sorted it all out.

Driving isn't the best here. I still don't like it after all this time here. The drivers aren't very considerate and completely ignore pedestrian crossings. And of course, as you say, MrsSf, there's the infamous "priorité à droite".

Having said all of that, it's really an okay place to live!

Whereabouts are you Belgianbun?

Thanks for all that LTIB!!
That's some fantastic information.

My husband's company office is in Wavre-Nord, which I believe is to the south-east of the city.
I get the impression it's an area with lots of industrialisation and businesses....???
Any advice about good areas to live that aren't too far from there would be really appreciated.
Would I be correct in assuming that most people live in flats and apartments rather than houses?

I can understand what you mean about it being possible to get around without a car, but taking much longer.
I drive here, but only get a car for the first time just before my DD was born. Until then, I relied entirely on public transport and friends with cars, unless my DH and his car were around.
I guess I'll see what happens after we move on that one.

Thanks for the extra advice about schools. We're pretty flexible about British/Japanese/International really.
(Though personally, I'd prefer it to be English language in the main)

Yes, I'm getting the impression that we'll be learning Dutch rather than French, won't we!
However, I'll start off by polishing up a little basic French so that at least I can get by in that before we get there...

That's a coincidence LongtimeinBrussels - I teach English to some of the BSB mums - you got nabbed by the contacts group as well then! I'm also heavily involved in the Youth Club there.

Ruthchan, I think if it's Wavre, you might want to be in Wavre itself, or Waterloo maybe, which is definitely French speaking!! The school in Waterloo for expats is St Johns, which is a US school, but BSB do have buses that run from Waterloo each day as well.

Hi Ruthchan - If you dh will be working in Wavre check out living in the surrounding area - Bierge, Rosieres, Genval, Rixensart, La Hulpe. The local international school is Le Verseau www.eiverseau.be/. It has an english section & a french section. The fees are lower as it gets simle help from the state. Depends if your fees will be paid or not. The Bulletin, english lang weekly, will have a schools supplement in April www.thebulletin.be/

For accomodation look at the ads on immoweb www.immoweb.be/fr/Rent.cfm?xkeep=Y&ongletsearchactif=1&xcarte=N&xidcategorie= I've found that houses are popular with families & there's a big choice of rentals.

If you live in the french speaking area then learning some words of french would be useful as areas in Wallonia (such as Wavre) do things in french en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walloon_Brabant.In Flanders things will be in flemish.

meant Rosières & Bierges & some help not simle help

for driving it would be useful if living outside the city to have a car. In the areas around you will have local buses & also trains to bruxelles but no metro or trams. It's very much a car culture.

scaryteacher (I'm pretty sure I know who you are!), it's hard to say no to Jackie, isn't it!

You beat me to it bctea - I was going to suggest Le Verseau. It's much, much cheaper than the British School as it's much more of a local school, with some lessons taking place in English. There are waiting lists though so it would be good to contact them as soon as possible.

As to Wavre being an industrial area, there are quite a few housing estates out there and plenty of shops in Wavre itself so living there would be fine. People tend to live in houses in Wavre rather than apartments. Even in Brussels a lot of families live in houses but there are some who live in apartments. Also agree with bctea that you'd have to have a car out there though. You certainly wouldn't need Flemish in Wavre as it's in the Francophone part of Belgium.

If you live in a Flemish commune, a few years ago they were under instructions to speak to foreigners only in Dutch (this was apparently because they were getting pissed off with the number of Francophones moving in). They sent everyone a notice to this effect. In Dutch.

Scaryteacher - is the awful woman still in the post office in Terv?

Thanks everyone.
Lots more fantastic information.

I will certainly check out all those links bctea.

It's also great to know about Le Verseau school,and its waiting lists. I will look into that.

So much to be thinking about but it's great to know that there are lovely helpful people like all of you waiting over there!!

The Bulletin's Newcomer guide would help you. It comes out in March & September. Would someone at your dh's office be able to get hold of one - I've recycled mine! It has loads of info on moving to belgium & info on schools, medical, housing etc