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General discussion (archive)Living in Belgium: Need advise(29 posts)(29 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 11, 2012
Hi. Belgian here, from the other side of the country than mrtophat101 i.e. I am from Wallonia.

About bicycles, it's true that people use them less in Wallonia than in Flanders but it is mainly because the land is less flat (and maybe we are more lazy :-) ).

Charleroi has indeed a bad reputation (industrial, criminality, dirty...) and I wouldn't recommend it except if rent price is very important (I'd say the prices would be lower in that part of the country but I can't say for sure). A bit like Charleroi is Liege which is not the nicest place to live but better and quite ok. I am personally from Namur (which is midway between Liege and Charleroi, south of Brussels) and like the place a lot. From Namur, you're 45 minutes from Charleroi (also, 30 minutes from Brussels South airport which is in Charleroi and is the airport of choice of low-cost flight companies), 45 minutes from Liege and about an hour from Brussels.

I don't know how is the internet where you live but although the speeds are ok in Belgium, the conditions are nowhere near anything else in Europe (prices, download volume limits...). Belgacom and VOO are the two major players and offer about the same service (i.e. everything is fine until you have to deal with their support).

Hope it helps...
Posted July 11, 2012
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MichaelPalin: Hi everyone!

I have finally decided to leave my comfort zone and travel to some other country to focus on seeking a job, and that country's name is Belgium. The idea is not exactly to look for a job in Belgium, but to live in the middle of Center Europe and seek job in the region, having every possible final destination close. I'm already gathering all the necessary documents and starting to look at possible cities to go, but I'm pretty lost with respect to that strange, strange country called Belgium, so I would take all the advice the internet can give me.

Now the city is pretty much decided. I'm thinking on Charleroi for various reasons (close to Brussels Airport, proper size, has University, apparently a cheap city to live in?) and, unless someone gives me a good reason to go somewhere else, there is where I'll go. In any case, it should be in Wallonia, since I want to learn French while I'm there.

So, any Belgian in the room? I would like to know about anything you may want to tell. Especially, it would be interesting to know about renting, where to look for it, what prices to expect (less than 400€ for a small flat is realistic?), if the flats tend to be furnished (otherwise I'm kind of screwed), if landlords tend to do things right and all that stuff. Also, what about the internet in Belgium?, best company, prices and speeds, is it fast to get a line? do rented flats come with one (I guess that's to much to ask for, :()? Also, about learning French, is there somewhere I should go to in particular? We have "School of Languages" here in Spain, which are public. And is there customary to meet with people, usually in the university, to practice other language (50% yours, 50% his/hers)? Is Belgian French very different from French French? Also, what about bicycles, is Belgium a bicycle friendly country?

Thanks a ton to everyone!
I wouldn't go to Wallony - lots of unemployment, a poor workman attitude I find, lower pay and crap cities. Flanders is much better for jobs and they understand English far better. A flat you can expect to pay €450-700 for depending on where you rent it. Furnished ones 600-900. Rent is NOT cheap anymore here - you're in for a major shock when it comes to how much everything costs too because we're pretty much the most expensive country in the EU.

And yes, OF COURSE Belgium is bicycle friendly - if you know anything about professional cycling you'd know we have tons of championships and a lot of the world famous cyclists come to Belgium to train.
Post edited July 11, 2012 by Red_Avatar
Posted July 11, 2012
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HertogJan: Belgium is quite strange country.
Wallonia is French speaking, Flanders is Dutch speaking. There's a small eastern part where they speak German.
When in Flanders, people often refuse to speak French. When in Wallonia people often refuse to speak Dutch. It doesn't matter wether or not they can, they refuse to it out of some kind of pride.
Brussels is an exception. Although located in Flanders, French is the most spoken language there. Probably due to all the EU civil servants located there.

There's a nice wikipedia article about Belgian internet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Belgium
Expect slower speeds than you're used too, data limits, high prices, etc.

Be sure to check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium
Heh!, the Wikipedia does have the answer for everything. Data limits is serious bullshit, I hope it is not impossible to find something without it, or at least something with a very high limit. What happens when you reach that limit? Do you get disconnected or you are massively charged for any extra GB?
Posted July 11, 2012
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mrtophat101: It's a huge industrial city, so it's full of uglyness. It's has a nice historical centre,
but that's about it. The biggest problem I have with Charleroi is safety. I stayed there
for a couple of days and didn't feel safe at all. I went out at night to go buy
something in a night shop and almost shat my pants. In other big cities, like Amsterdam (I am there a lot), I never feel unsafe. This is a personal experience of course,so this is highly subjective.
I was afraid someone would bring up something like that. I think I could live with nightly unsafety and ugly buildings, but, what about the people? Is people in Charleroi nice, especially with foreigners that can barely speak French, or are they also hard to socialize with?
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mrtophat101: Wallonia has way more poverty
than flanders. This poverty results in uglyness.
Well, I'm poor too, so no problem with that. In fact, I was specifically looking for a cheap city. By the way, can you think on any other city in Wallonia that is cheap, not too small (at least 100,000 or very close to some urban center) and has a university?
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mrtophat101: Renting:...
Thanks, that helps a lot. As for the internet, are data limits very pervasive? Is it easy to find offers without or with very high (>300 GB) data limits?
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mrtophat101: Belgians are big on riding bikes, so it's pretty bicycle friendly. Wallonia maybe less than
flanders, since it's more industrial focused.
Then the next question would be: are Belgian drivers respectful of bicycles on the road?

Thank again. A bit disappointed on Charleroi, but I believe it wont be that bad in practice.
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Fred_DM: wait, you want to move to another country without even having a job there? i bet the Belgian authorities will just love you...

shouldn't you find a job FIRST, and then think about moving to wherever that job is located?
It's called adventure, ;)
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jamyskis: I can't speak for Belgium, but here in Germany, unless you've worked here before (I think it's for one year if I remember correctly) you're not entitled to benefits, regardless of whether you're an EU citizen or not.
Not sure what you mean by benefits. Health care is paid by my country of origin (although only for three months, o_0) and I don't intend to use public employment services there.
Post edited July 11, 2012 by MichaelPalin
Posted July 11, 2012
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HertogJan: Belgium is quite strange country.
Wallonia is French speaking, Flanders is Dutch speaking. There's a small eastern part where they speak German.
When in Flanders, people often refuse to speak French. When in Wallonia people often refuse to speak Dutch. It doesn't matter wether or not they can, they refuse to it out of some kind of pride.
Brussels is an exception. Although located in Flanders, French is the most spoken language there. Probably due to all the EU civil servants located there.

There's a nice wikipedia article about Belgian internet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Belgium
Expect slower speeds than you're used too, data limits, high prices, etc.

Be sure to check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium
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MichaelPalin: Heh!, the Wikipedia does have the answer for everything. Data limits is serious bullshit, I hope it is not impossible to find something without it, or at least something with a very high limit. What happens when you reach that limit? Do you get disconnected or you are massively charged for any extra GB?
Meh these days it's a non issue if you pay enough. I pay €60 and get unlimited at a speed of 120Mbps.
Posted July 11, 2012
With Belgacom, you have a 50Go-limit for 25€/month, 150Go-limit for 34€/month and unlimited for 45€/month.
With VOO, 50Go for 25€/month, 75Go for 36€/month, 100Go for 46€/month and unlimited for 56€/month.
All these prices can be lowered if you take a pack for tv or phone. When you reach the limit, they charge you for the extra Mo.

People are like everywhere else. You can find nice people in Charleroi but you can also find other people. There are places in Charleroi that are not really recommended. When you don't know the city, you don't go out alone in the evening. Better do a bit of exploration during the day and you'll easily detect the places that need to be avoided.

Generally speaking, I think drivers are respectful of pedestrians and bicyles and a lot of road have space allocated for bicyles but I don't really know how Charleroi is about that. I don't think it should be a problem.
Posted July 11, 2012
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sebarnolds:
By the way, is Namur cheap? I'm considering looking on Charleroi, Namur and Liege now, give a look at the prices of different things I may need and choose one accordingly. Things like swimming pool and, I assume at this point, furniture. The thing with the telephone is also important. It's either landline or mobile phone, not both, and I'm not sure which one would be cheaper for the type of life I'm going to do there.

EDIT: Wow!, either I'm missing some important subtlety or Namur does have some interesting prices.

EDIT2: Seriously, where is the trick?
Post edited July 11, 2012 by MichaelPalin
Posted July 11, 2012
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Red_Avatar: we're pretty much the most expensive country in the EU.
Are you serious? I have quite a tight budget, I'm thinking 6 months tops to find a job. I was under the impression that Wallonia was rather cheap, were you talking maybe about Flanders or were you including Wallonia too in that statement? I have to check more, but Charleroi has some nice (but small and typically with decreasing roofs) places for 400€ or under.

Also remember that I'm not looking for a job in Wallonia specifically, it's just a place I'm going in order to focus on job seeking, learn some French and enjoy living by myself again.
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Red_Avatar: Meh these days it's a non issue if you pay enough. I pay €60 and get unlimited at a speed of 120Mbps.
Well, I could live with a fifth of that speed, so hopefully I'll have options then, :)
Post edited July 11, 2012 by MichaelPalin
Posted July 11, 2012
Namur has a university (with a good reputation, I graduated in computer science there) and I would guess that the studios / appartments are those targetted to students: small places (< 50m²) but rent under 500€. Don't forget that you must add charges (electricity, water... and sometimes a little more if there are shared parts in the building).

Anyway, I lived one year in a studio of ~30m² for a little less than 400€ and it was ok, located in the center of the city. Typically, these are rented year by year but you must know that there will be less and less opportunities over time as they tend to be rare once the year has started (september)/
Posted July 11, 2012
Also, for transportation, everything takes me to a company called TEC. Is all of Wallonia transportation run by that company? I wanted to check prices of transportation for different cities, but it seems all of them have the same prices then.
Posted July 12, 2012
TEC is for the buses in Wallonia, in Brussels and Flandria they are run by other companies (one for Brussels and one for Flandria).

For the train, you have to check with the SNCB (in French) or NMBS (in Dutch) which is the same company (different name for the two languages). The website is www.b-rail.be
Posted July 14, 2012
Hi MichaelPalin!

Sorry for the delay in my answer!

I was afraid someone would bring up something like that. I think I could live with nightly unsafety and ugly buildings, but, what about the people? Is people in Charleroi nice, especially with foreigners that can barely speak French, or are they also hard to socialize with?
I honestly have no idea. I don't live there, and I have only been there a couple of times. From my experience, people in Wallonia are nicer than people on Flanders.

Well, I'm poor too, so no problem with that. In fact, I was specifically looking for a cheap city. By the way, can you think on any other city in Wallonia that is cheap, not too small (at least 100,000 or very close to some urban center) and has a university?
Namur might indeed be a good option.

Thanks, that helps a lot. As for the internet, are data limits very pervasive? Is it easy to find offers without or with very high (>300 GB) data limits?
Data limits depend on the provider. Some have it, some don't have it. My subscription with Scarlet does not have it, I am sure some providers in Wallonia don't have it.

Then the next question would be: are Belgian drivers respectful of bicycles on the road?
In Flanders, yes. There are also a lot of bicycles lanes here. Less bicycle lanes in Wallonia, but I assume most drivers are used to having bicycles around.
Post edited July 14, 2012 by mrtophat101
Posted August 03, 2012
Bump
Posted August 15, 2012
Could appreciate some tips here as well. I'm moving to Brussels in about a month to work for 5 months. Accommodation shouldn't be a problem - I've already found a website and will probably flat share with a bunch of students. Hopefully they won't be total tits and will show me around a little, etc.
I'm looking more at what to do, where to go, etc. Tips from locals would be greatly appreciated!
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General discussion (archive)Living in Belgium: Need advise(29 posts)(29 posts)
(29 posts)