Sun, 8 November 2009
A guide to doing gaffe-free business here.
Includes geography, people, government, economy and transnational issues.
Find an affordable roof over her head.
Heroic Gauls celebrate their half century.
Kimberley uncovers the sacred rituals of Frite Almighty.
Tips for managing a successful relocation back home.
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Editor Paul Morris replies to some of your letters, including responses to 'The Not So Gentle Art of Belgium Bashing' and a request for a good burlesque club in Belgium.Re: The Not So Gentle Art of Belgium Bashing
Hmmm...just read your "bashing" article. Good insights...too many folk want to live some place different, as long as it's just the same (?!?!!??). I wonder how many of the folk who bash Belgium have ever faced the DMV in New York? I suspect the bashing
isn't what's serious, it's the people who take their bashing serious that is serious.
Unfortunately, the "ugly American" (or "ugly ex-pat") isn't dead...only sitting somewhere, whining.
Keep up the good work.
And yes, it will get better...
Murray Frick
Dear Murray
Thanks for your letter. I haven't ever faced the DMV in New York but you make it sound like I should be glad. Could be used as a bedt-time story for kids. Be good or you'll end up at the DMV. With Halloween coming up, perhaps that's where the real monsters hide...
best
Paul
Re: The Not So Gentle Art of Belgium Bashing
Dear Mr. Morris,
Great article on Belgium bashing. You are right that some expats seem to feel self-entitled to critique every thing about their host country as if they are not priviliged to live there (or as if their own country is so perfect). Those people are among the most tedious imaginable.
However, I believe you missed out on making a distinction between the foreigner who
occasionally vents legitimate frustrations of life in a foreign country, and the foreigner who seems to be searching to prove to the world the superiority of where s/he comes from.
The first foreigner is just human, the latter is xenophobic, ridiculously nationalistic, or just plain inept at adjusting. The first complains about real inconveniences and unkindnesses of people from time to time (the same stuff one would indeed complain about "at home"). The second type complains like this, "There's nothing to do, everything is ugly. Everyone is stupid", etc. etc.
This handy guide from Expertise in Labour Mobility includes how to write a CV, application procedure, interview dos and don'ts, Belgian management culture.
Belgium’s first alternative directory assistance services - available through the shortcode 14-14 - can now be accessed on the internet.
Moving to Belgium presents a host of challenges to expats, not least of all finding the right home.
The psychological effects of global mobility can be physically painful.
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