Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Living in Belgium
Options
-
10-12-2008 8:40pm#1
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
Hi, I just left Belgium after living in Brussels for ~14 months. Some tips for you:
Belgium doesn't exist in the "real" world that we know of, it exists in a surreal world of "chomage for life" and "le commune". Stuff you would take for granted in other countries just won't work in Belgium. If you query a Belgian on any of the unusual things they will smile and shrug, saying "it's Belgium!". Put it like this, the police just "lost" my papers etc when I applied for official residency (even as EU citizen you need to do this). Then the bank froze my account -.- Took ages to sort it out.
However, the people/place/food are amazing. Had a great time here. Note that I lived in Brussels, and my experiences outside are limited. As said above, Brussels is mostly Francophone. All Belgians are supposed to learn French+Flemish in school (just as we are supposed to learn Irish), but in reality hardly any of the Francophones speak Flemish. Conversely most of the Flemish do actually speak French, and most people speak English (they use it to communicate between flemish->walloon lol). Some random stuff about Brussels:
Wages suck unless you are working for EU.
Cost of living + rent HIGH (only in Brussels, not outside). Still nowhere near Ireland though, however you will get paid a lot less.
There is no "main" accomodation website, but many small ones. All flats/apts usually come unfurnished (this seems to apply everywhere outside ireland). BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT YOUR LEASE. In Belgium they have a standard "3 year lease" which makes you pay 3month penalty in first year, 2 month in 2nd, 1 month in 3rd (if you break lease). Very annoying, and you will find it difficult to get anything different from the "standard 3 year" (also known as a 3/6/9 as it automatically extends).
No-go area = the north of Brussels pretty much
Carjacking/armed robberies everyday here.
If I had choice I would recommend living in St. Gilles area, it's close to center and cheap, and has quite a varied mix in it (in a good way).
Public transport in Brussels is EXCELLENT (after coming from ireland anywhere would be excellent haha). For the average journey you will be spoiled for choice, metros/trams/buses, all regular and on time. To save money buy yourself a monthly/yearly "abonnement" from the big stations in centre.
Belgium has the best food in the world, it's the best of French cuisine mixed with the quantity of dutch/german cuisine :P All win situation. I can't believe we dont have "les mitraillette" in Ireland... It's a baguette filled with chips+meat(sausage/burger/whatever)+salad etc. Absolutely lovely, and they munch them down in Brussels. They have waffels too, but meh.... There is the most ridiculous restaurant area in the center, I can't remember what it's called. Delerium café is hidden in there (1000+ types of beer), and there are like 500000 restaurants packed into one street, all with waiters standing outside trying to get punters in (you have to run the gauntlet to get past).
Anyways, Brussels is lovely city, and I'm glad I spent a year there checking it out (my french pretty good now as well). However, I would not recommend working in Brussels! Coming from Ireland you will find the wages insulting, and at first even though you will think shopping etc is cheap compared to Dublin, you are not realising that Brussels is probably the 2nd most expensive continental city (after Paris). I've now moved to Germany, where I get double the salary and cost of living is half :P (food sucks tho >.<)0 -
Advertisement
-
-
You are welcome, ask anything you want.
Remember, that Ireland has the highest euro wages in the world! It's hard to understand this without leaving the country (except for hols). TAX is a LOT higher in Belgium and most other countries, this is what you pay for superior health care etc. Also, in Belgium there is no such thing as an annual salary (how surreal is that?). Everything is done monthly, and if you work 12 months in a year you will get a 13th month "bonus" in December/Jan. Also you will receive 0.8 months salary as your holiday "bonus". These aren't really bonuses since they are mandatory :P Anyway, when comparing Belgian salary vs abroad remember to multiply Belgian wage by 13.8.
As for TEFL wages, no surprise that English teachers get paid more outside an anglophone country is it?
No shortage of teachers in Ireland after all. I'm sure you will have no problems getting a job in Brussels. A job as a translator for the EU would pay big bucks I bet. Speaking Flemish will significantly boost your job prospects, since all Belgian state jobs require bilinguality with the two state languages.
The metro is grand, depends on where you are going :pac: It's integrated with the tram network, trams go thru metro tunnels etc. Hard to believe Brussels has same population as Dublin and yet has this crazy metro system like London (ok not as extensive but still...).
Re: Residency permit, this is hard to describe... In reality it doesn't really matter, since we are EU citizens. However Ireland + UK are not signatories to Schengen, thus we can only stay 3 months (? or is it 6?) in any EU country at most. Pretty much everyone ignores this rule though, and the cops are unlikely to do anything than wag their finger at you. However, once you start working officially you will have loads of forms to fill out, first a visit to the police station to declare your place of residence. They will post a form to your address giving you a date/time to show up at cop shop for interview. Once this is done you go to your local Commune and register there as well. Expect to queue :mad:
And finally, be careful with that Trappist beer :P Gives an awful hangover the next day!0 -
-
-
-
-
There are Irish bars EVERYWHERE Can't specifically name one in Liege tho. I'm working in Aachen at the moment, which is just over the border from Liege/Maastricht.
To Izzy: Relax!! The documents etc are just a formality for tax purposes. I'm sure a Belgian coming to Ireland would also have to fill stuff out, once you are working and paying tax these things need to be done. The "interview" with the police is just a formality!! It's not a test. The police are very friendly I found.
Funny story: was wandering around grand place with some newly arrived friends (fresh off the train with backpacks etc) and was telling them about how friendly the police were. All of a sudden police appeared and looked suspiciously at the guys with large packs: "up against the wall and spread em"! DOH :pac:0 -
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
You are welcome, ask anything you want.
Remember, that Ireland has the highest euro wages in the world! It's hard to understand this without leaving the country (except for hols). TAX is a LOT higher in Belgium and most other countries, this is what you pay for superior health care etc. Also, in Belgium there is no such thing as an annual salary (how surreal is that?). Everything is done monthly, and if you work 12 months in a year you will get a 13th month "bonus" in December/Jan. Also you will receive 0.8 months salary as your holiday "bonus". These aren't really bonuses since they are mandatory :P Anyway, when comparing Belgian salary vs abroad remember to multiply Belgian wage by 13.8.
As for TEFL wages, no surprise that English teachers get paid more outside an anglophone country is it? No shortage of teachers in Ireland after all. I'm sure you will have no problems getting a job in Brussels. A job as a translator for the EU would pay big bucks I bet. Speaking Flemish will significantly boost your job prospects, since all Belgian state jobs require bilinguality with the two state languages.
The metro is grand, depends on where you are going :pac: It's integrated with the tram network, trams go thru metro tunnels etc. Hard to believe Brussels has same population as Dublin and yet has this crazy metro system like London (ok not as extensive but still...).
Re: Residency permit, this is hard to describe... In reality it doesn't really matter, since we are EU citizens. However Ireland + UK are not signatories to Schengen, thus we can only stay 3 months (? or is it 6?) in any EU country at most. Pretty much everyone ignores this rule though, and the cops are unlikely to do anything than wag their finger at you. However, once you start working officially you will have loads of forms to fill out, first a visit to the police station to declare your place of residence. They will post a form to your address giving you a date/time to show up at cop shop for interview. Once this is done you go to your local Commune and register there as well. Expect to queue :mad:
And finally, be careful with that Trappist beer :P Gives an awful hangover the next day!
:eek:
what i dont understand at all. not you, i mean what is the reason behind this?
why is ireland not part of this?0 -
-
-
Advertisement