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If you can get 2 months, do it! Even if you're paying 100 euro more than you should or want to. That's 200 euros for the peace of mind of having somewhere nice enough to start with. You can then explore, find a neighbourhood you like and do a targeted search there. If it was for 3 years, you'd be daft to get something more expensive than you want. For 2 months. Not so much of a problem. |
Hello! - advice needed from anyone who has left good ol' Blighty to live/work in Europe (Brussel • Page 4
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Salaman 24,162 posts
Seen 6 days ago
Registered 17 years ago -
PazJohnMitch 17,276 posts
Seen 15 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoI have had a 2 month placement in Indonesia and a 6 month placement in China. (Also another 1 month in China recently)
The Indonesian one was a huge culture shock which is not something I would expect in Brussels unless you hate the French. There I really missed my friends and girlfriend of the time.
For the 6 months in China the only thing I missed was Curry. (Also a birthday and Christmas...)
During the last 1 month trip I missed blue skies. (Although I was in the coal mining district).
Edit: A weird thing is that after 6 months away you start missing the other country when you return. I started missing rice after coming back from China the first time. -
I wouldn't imagine there'll be any culture shock at all really, other than a pleasant one. I presume all the supermarkets etc are the same. Can't be worse than Sainsburys. And not that big a step really; after all, like you say it's hardly Indonesia or China - often quicker to travel back to Manchester from Brussels than it is from London!
I'll might miss Sky Sports, but that's probably it..gif)
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Salaman 24,162 posts
Seen 6 days ago
Registered 17 years agoGreggywocky... wrote:
I presume all the supermarkets etc are the same.
Just a bit more pricey. And different chains I think.
No Tesco, no Sainsbury, no Boots, no café Nero/Costas/Starbucks, etc. -
There's a supermarket 2 doors down, called Ambroisie, and one round the corner called Delhaize. I guess these would be smaller and perhaps more expensive than the big ones, but handy anyway. -
Red Moose wrote:
Get informed before opening your mouth you insufferable cunt.
if the fucking eurocrats lived with common people and didn't get free accomodation and tax-free incomes, it would be one giant motherfucking step in the right direction.
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@OP, I left the UK in 1995 and lived in Brussels for 15 years, feel free to PM me if you'd like a chat about it. -
Toonster 6,930 posts
Seen 3 days ago
Registered 17 years agoI was born and grew up in Brussels, spent the first 16 years of my life there... but I've never lived there independently, so I can't say much about owning my own place/working in Belgium, etc.
Brussels was a great place to grow up, but all in all, it's not the most interesting city, though you'll find plenty of hidden gems. If you fancy looking around town, I'd recommend the Magritte and/or Tintin museum (although the latter is located a bit outside the city, in Louvain-la-Neuve). Plenty of beautiful parks about, as well, with the Bois de la Cambre being my favorite.
When all is said and done, just make sure you go to the Delirium.
Edit: also, don't waste your money on the Atomium. Back in May, I went there for the first time in 15 years with nostalgic tears in my eyes, and then realized that it's not very special, even with its recent renovations. -
otto wrote:
@ OP, I left the UK in 1995 and lived in Brussels for 15 years, feel free to PM me if you'd like a chat about it.
Cheers Otto. -
Cheers toon. Duly noted, though tbh I'm not sure I'll actually get to do much at all at first. Just gonna be work, work, work. May end up so absorbed in it the fact I'm in a different country may be incidental for a while! -
PM sent. Key is to find a decent furnished place on a short-term lease (should be easy for that budget), and explore the city from there, ready to embark on a longer-term lease after six months if you decide to stay. Ixelles is your best bet (Matonge is a tiny area in Ixelles, not that special, broaden your horizons a bit from there I'd suggest). The area around the EU institutions is not a great place to live.
Oh and hey, for the record, eurocrats pay tax, pay for their housing, and have been priced out of the trendy parts of town by business types, just like the other natives. My last neighbours were teachers and hospital technicians. Before that there was a mayonnaise engineer (seriously) and an air traffic controller. As all eurocrats, I've always lived among the locals. Some stupid fuckers need to stop believing the Mail, you'd have thought these last couple of weeks would have taught them something. -
I'm curious about what a job as a mayonnaise engineer entails. -
Exactly what you're thinking
/70s music -
Cheers, returned your pm but thinking I'm leaning towards flat un, with a two month lease. I would never normally hunt an apartment this way, but it's a question of time you see. I don't have any, I just have to pick somewhere fairly quickly! Flat un seems decent enough for the short term, and near to work too. (which has nothing to do with the EU incidentally, it's an Office 2010, W7 rollout at a law firm). -
From your descriptions, you'd be fine with either. The Ixelles one would be better value for money and a much more interesting place to live if you'll be staying there evenings and weekends. The other one's OK but you'll have further to go if you want to do stuff in the evenings, unless you're happy with dull expat Irish pubs. -
Great, will go with that then. Had a feeling 'the internet' was exaggerating. -
Salaman 24,162 posts
Seen 6 days ago
Registered 17 years agoDoes this mean Otto will be attending the Brussels geekmeet at Greggy's? -
Dunno about that but the thread has at least delivered in one respect: in the course of exchanging info about Brussels me and Greggywocky have discovered that we are distant cousins! 
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Dougs 100,414 posts
Seen 16 hours ago
Registered 18 years agoBlimey! -
Heh, this is true. Big-up the Cumbrian massive. (as I believe one might say)
Decided in the end to get an apart-hotel for the first month. Trying to privately rent one in a city I’m not familiar with, just based on internet pictures and from a 1000 miles away wasn’t the brightest idea I’ve ever had.. -
Derblington 35,161 posts
Seen 19 hours ago
Registered 17 years agoGreggywocky... wrote:
I wouldn't imagine there'll be any culture shock at all really, other than a pleasant one. I presume all the supermarkets etc are the same. Can't be worse than Sainsburys.
You'd be surprised. Swedish supermarkets are terrible and I regularly miss Sainsbury's and Tesco! I always make sure I go sfood shopping when I visit home, even if I don't really need to, and all the UK guys out here put orders in with each other... -
Dougs 100,414 posts
Seen 16 hours ago
Registered 18 years agoMy in-laws said the hardest place they found to settle on their travels with the RAF was America. Luxembourg, France, Germany and Cyprus were a breeze in comparison. Especially food, trying to get the equivalent of UK foods was a nightmare as everything was so sugary -
Belgian supermarkets have improved immeasurably in the last ten years. That said, I can't think of a good one near where you're thinking of going (at first) Greg! -
LionheartDJH 20,303 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 12 years agoCan you get the genuine glass bottle stuff over there though? You can't even get that in England 
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Tend to eat all natural stuff at home: pasta, brown rice, veg, chicken, fish, fruit, cheese, beer, wine, coffee, green tea is pretty much my diet, so I hope I'll be fine. Also, I'll get a 6 euro food voucher every day, which sounds handy.
Which country recently banned marmite though, was that Denmark? I like a bit of marmite. -
Salaman 24,162 posts
Seen 6 days ago
Registered 17 years agoSurely he'd invite his distant cousin to his new pad for a drink or two?
I mean he's inviting a bunch of strangers from the internet over ffs. The least he can do is invite his most helpful distant cousin as well.
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LionheartDJH 20,303 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 12 years agoecosse_011172 wrote:
LionheartDJH wrote:
Can you get the genuine glass bottle stuff over there though? You can't even get that in England
Sadly no
Haven't had that for years......
Ah gutting, I've only had it once but it was much nicer than the plastic bottle stuff. Can is alright, but you can't beat the proper stuff.
@Greggy, if worst comes to the worst I'm sure there'll be a Maccies nearby! -
Oops thread has moved along a bit as I had left the reply window open for the last 20 or 30 minutes.
Supermarket wise, you'll be ok. You won't find any tins of baked beans nor PG tips nor marmite in most though. There's one here locally that has a few shelves of regional products per country. They also had a "UK" shelf and it included some of the above. I think it was a Match.
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