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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Our blogger Cheeseweb is considering a move from the open spaces of the countryside, targeting an apartment closer to Brussels and its Metro system.A few weeks ago, I wrote of the autumn expat migration. Since then, Andrew and I have been contemplating a migration of our own.
It was about this time, three years ago, that Andrew and I decided to make our dream of living in Europe a reality. We were scrambling to get paperwork done, sell our house and our possessions and find a temporary place to live in Amsterdam before our final move to Belgium.
Town Mouse, Country Mouse
Our time in Amsterdam was fraught with red tape and complications. There were several times we thought we’d give up, but in the end things started to come together. During all the confusion however, we’d left ourselves very little time to find a permanent home in Belgium. 
We had no idea what area we wanted to live in. We had no sense of what the different communities were like. In fact we had only visited Brussels for one long weekend, a year before we moved there. We decided to hire a relocation expert to help us out.
At the time, we knew what we wanted: a detached house with a big enough yard for our Saint Bernard and room enough inside for Andrew, myself and our four cats.
We had one weekend to house hunt. Our relocation expert showed us six houses. None of them exactly fit the bill. As a last resort she showed us a row house in a small village. It was the best of what we had seen and we decided to take it.
Fast forward two and a half years and here we are, still in Everberg. While we still like our house and the area we live, I know now that I would not have chosen it if I had been able to spend some time in Belgium before settling permanently. Also, after living in Europe for a while now, we’ve discovered that our needs and desires in a place to live have changed.
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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