granbury

My daughter, son-in-law, and 2 grandchildren are moving to Brussels. My 8 year old grandson is very sad and nervous about the move. I would love to find some books and videos on Belguim and Europe in general geared at that age child that would give him an idea of the great adventure this can be. Also, can anyone suggest a website that could give some info on the different neighborhoods in Brussels. My daughter is going in 2 weeks to find a house. Thanks for any info you can give me.

leah6

When we were in Brussels, we hired a limo to pick us up at the airport and give us a two hour tour. Perhaps this limo driver could assist your daughter with local knoowledge and driving to the different areas. He spoke english and was quite helpful when we had a problem with our hotel. I believe his email may have changed but this is my information: Limo Service
Carille 0475-768978
Fax: 32 (0) 2’7090900
Phone 32 (0) 2/7090909
Email [email protected]

I do not know of any books but it was fun to see the Mannaquin de Piss dressed up in different costumes at Christmas time. Also the old town area has a nativity scene with live animals and very tall Christmas trees.

Good Luck.

PBProvence

I've lived in Brussels off and on since 1964... I think they'll enjoy their stay there.

Here are a couple of sites that your daughter might look at before she heads off to Brussels.

This first one is full of information, published by the Bulletin (the English language magazine that is packed with information and comes out every Thursday in newstands)

http://www.brusselsreporter.org/living.php

This second one is for expats living in Belgium:

www.expatica.com

For your eight year old grandson, I suggest they take him to visit the Comic Book museum on the rue des Sables.

It's kind of hard to give information on neighborhoods that she might be interested in.... do they want to live surrounded by other ex-pats ? or do they prefer city life ? (good public transportation, walking everywhere, etc.)

I imagine it depends on which school the children will be attending - St. Johns is an American school in Waterloo, the International School is in Boitsfort, closer to the city center.
I don't have the website for St Johns, but I do for the International School (ejust got my alumni newsletter)...

www.isb.be

Patricia

BTilke

We lived in Brussels until December 2004 and still live there part time (we have an apartment there). It's a great place to live.
First, get your grandson some of the Tintin comic books.
Re nieghborhoods, we lived in several. With two children, your daughter and her family might enjoy the Woluwes, which are green and pleasant (Woluwe St. Pierre being even greener than Woluwe St. Lambert). Lots of nice apartments and homes, lots of kids, a very attractive park (the Parc Woluwe). Many Brits live in Woluwe St. Pierre or farther out in Tervuren to be near the British school (in Tervuren). Expats of many nationalities like the Woluwes, particularly Italians and Germans. One of the finest grocery stores in Belgium is in the Woluwes--Rob's Fine Foods (www.robfinefood.be).
Uccle, Rhodes St. Genese(RSG) and Waterloo are popular suburbs. Waterloo in particular is an American enclave; the American Women's Club is headquartered in RSG. (The Canadian Women's Club members tend to be more out in the Woluwes.) A popular Uccle neighborhood is Fort Jaco (the end of the 92 tram line). Good services (shops, restaurants, etc.) there, lots of high end apartment buildings and nice houses.
Ixelles is also popular, especially around the lakes, the Parc Tenbosch, the Chatelain area and the Jardin du Roi. It's green, more apartments there than houses (the houses would be townhouses). It's closer to the Avenue Louise shopping area. The Place du Chatelain is home to a fabulous outdoor street market every Wednesday afternoon. Lots of good, moderately priced restaurants in that area.
A couple of considerations re language skills. Workers in most communes are officially bi-lingual (French and Flemish/Dutch). But in some of the Flemish areas (like Tervuren) expats have found it frustrating because some officials will refuse to deal with them in French (and newcomers to Belgium are more likely to speak French than Flemish/Dutch unless they come from the Netherlands or possibly South Africa). FYI, there are some smaller British schools springing up around town, particularly in Ixelles.
We've lived in Ixelles, Scharbeek, St. Gilles and the Woluwes (Lambert and St. Pierre). Of those, we found Woluwe St. Pierre the most pleasant (also the most expensive). We weren't interested in suburban life so never tried Waterloo or RSG.
A few other areas where you may find many expats are La Hulpe, Genval/Rixensart, and Zaventem (near the airport). La Hulpe is a very nice small town with a chateau and a 500+acre park. Very popular with families. Genval/Rixensart are attractive towns and are home to the Glaxo Smith Kline operations in Belgium.
Your daughter's choice of neighborhood may depend on where her (or her husband's) work is and which school they choose for their children. Fingers crossed that that school and work aren't at opposite ends of the city!

BTilke

Assuming the family will be staying in temporary housing for a month or so while they get their paperwork sorted and find their permanent home, this is a good web site
www.homeinbrussels.be
It shows a variety of temp. housing options in various Brussels neighbhorhoods. Of their selection, I'd recommend:
Forty-One
Green Court (very well kept building, near the Parc Woluwe and within an easy walk of a big grocery store that carries some U.S. items like Skippy peanut butter, Jolly Time popcorn and ice cream sandwiches)
Euro Tomberg
Thielmans (a little plainer than the other three, but it's only a block from the Parc Woluwe and a tram stop, just up the street from Rob's Fine Foods, a Fortis bank on the corner, a German deli nearby, and across the street from the Hotel de Ville for Woluwe St. Pierre, very safe neigbhorhood).

P.S. If your daughter needs to find a hairdress, I highly recommend Zen Coiffeurs on the Ave. Louise. Very friendly and nice staff (French speaking only, as far as I can tell), and they do a great job. Even though we now live outside London, I still go to Zen to get my hair done! Their number is 32 2 648 0010. By appointment only. Authorized Redken salon.

hanl

In addition to BTilke's very detailed post on Brussels neighbourhoods, there is a clickable guide (in English) to the communes here: http://www.blbe.irisnet.be/brussels/tour_en.htm

To get an idea of house prices/rent in the Brussels region, a very useful website is www.immoweb.be

We found it very easy to find somewhere nice to live here (we rent a 140 sq. metre apartment in Ixelles, on two floors, with a large garden) - rental accommodation certainly isn't in short supply and rents are very reasonable for a major European capital city.

Prospective tenants don't pay agency fees (landlords do!) but leases here can be complicated and long-term so it's important to read the small print and understand the system before signing anything!

A helpful book on life in Belgium:

Living and Working in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg by Beverley Laflamme (you can get it on Amazon)

Sally

Please ask your local public children's librarian for book suggestions about Europe and about moving. There are lots of story/picture books available.

gomiki

I have no need for this info but read it and am so impressed with the detailed info especially from BTilke.
What a great place Foderville is

lincasanova

i would always suggest using a relocation firm. they can contact "EURA", the european relocation association for registered agents.

they will provide total family support and, hopefully, the receiving company would include this as part of their overseas package.

granbury

Wow! - I'm overwhelmed with all the information. My daughter and I have been pouring over the websites. Great stuff!

PBProvence - My daughter is leaning towards the International School. I really agree with her on this. It appears the children will get more cultural diversity with this one. The Comic Book Museum is just the kind of thing I am looking for. The websites were great.

BTilke - what great information on neighborhoods. My daughter and son-in-law leave next Sunday for their first look at Brussels. They will go now armed with all your information. It helps tremendously knowing something about the area ahead of time. My daughter really appreciated the info about the neighborhood with lots of kids. That is so important to my 8 yr. old grandson. Thanks for all the time you put into your replies. My daughter especially liked the info about peanut butter and the hairdresser.

hanl - the websites you mentioned are great. I have to tell you that all this info also helps me tremendously. I have a lot of anxiety over this move of my daughter (also my best friend) and my grandchildren.

Thanks for all info all the fodorites provided! I am still looking for books or videos for my grandson. I emailed him last night with some websites of "cool" stuff to do in europe. I'm sure the more he learns about europe the more excited he will become.

BTilke

Granbury, hope your son and daughter in law like Brussels!
A couple of off-the-cuff bits of advice:
1. When looking for an apartment, remember that (at the higher end) tenants have the upper hand. There is a good supply of apartments; the family can afford to be choosy.
2. Be careful with real estate agents. Some of them may try to push their less desirable and overpriced properties to newcomers--ignore them if they say another tenant is very interested in the apartment and your family needs to act fast if they want it. Be sure to ask how long the apartment has been vacant, are there any other vacancies in the building, etc. (we didn't and it was a mistake--we had a lot more leverage than we realized). In the Stokkel area, some very well built new apartment complexes have just gone up; ditto for the Fort Jaco area of Uccle. Assuming the family has some kind of housing allowance, they should be able to find at least a 3 bedroom with two bathrooms, well equipped kitchen, space for a washer/dryer (probably stackable--avoid a place that only has space for a combo unit), a fireplace (Instead of "cheminee", they say "feu overt" or FO in Brussels), parking, and good quality construction.
3. It's a little complicated to explain, but once they set up their Belgian banking arrangements (probably with Fortis, ING or KBC), they can arrange for the bank to guarantee the rental deposit for a small fee. They should NOT deal with any landlord who insists on the 3-month deposit in cash. They will never get it back. Also, make sure a full inventory is done of the apartment (usually the tenant pays half and the landlord pays half)--those are incredibly detailed. Ours cost the equivalent of about $300 back in 1999.
4. Make sure any lease has the "diplomats" clause, which allows expats to break the lease if they move away from the area (without a big penalty).
5. The neighborhood guide Hanl mentioned is very interesting (I learned a lot from it--thanks Hanl!), but it tends to gloss over any negatives. For example, while St. Josse is one of the most diverse communes in Brussels, it's also the poorest and has the highest crime rate. And be aware that there are TWO "Madou" areas. The 39 and 44 Madou tram stop is a very nice area out in the Woluwes; the metro Madou stop is in St. Josse and isn't as nice.
6. If they plan to buy furniture, the best place (IMO) to buy bedroom stuff is at Au Bon Repos, near the Sablon and rue Haute. Very good selection of bedding and bedroom furniture. If they like contemporary, Hulsta (a German company) is one of the better brands.
7. Check out the mass transit service in the neighborhood, even if your family plans to drive everywhere. Brussels is well served by buses, trams and metro. Some lines (like the 91, 92, and 93 lines) use only new trams; some use only the rickety old trams.
8. The International School has a good reputation. It also offers bus service (and these are high quality buses like they use on expensive tours), not your old American style school buses.

While they are scoping out Brussels, a couple of restaurant recs (where they will see more locals than tourists)
Canterbury's by the Ixelles lakes. They are the best place in town for chicken dishes.
Au Vieux St. Martin--more for drinks than meals--a great people watching spot on the Sablon
Notos--on rue Livourne, just off rue Bailly. Very high quality Greek cuisine; this is not a local taverna. Elegant.
Les Larmes du Tigre--near the Palais de Justice. Best Thai in town.
If they go out to the Fort Jaco area, Le Jaco (on the Chaussee de Waterloo near the 92 tram station) has good dishes and is *the* hangout for that neighborhood.
Shake Hands (weird name, isn't it?), over near Stokkel. Another local hangout with a good wine list.
Les Etangs Mellaerts (sp?)--the restaurant in the Parc Woluwe. Surprisingly good food. Lots of families there on week-ends.

HannahHall

I know just how you feel, my daughter and son-in-law and 2 grandsons (9 and 5) just moved to Brussels. They have only been in Brussels 3 weeks. It was hard to find books for children on this move. Are they using a relocation company? My son-in-law's company really helped them. I know my daughter read to them from the travel book on Brussels. They also recorded a couple of travel programs on Brussels and watched them.
My daughter did take the children over for a vist before they moved so they would get an idea of where they would be going. They went on the house hunting trip. So they would know where they were going to live--that made them more secure on the final move.
The little one really was interested if they had a pool or not! They took them to a water park(ocean something)--that helped him. They did visit their school also. The boys are adjusting well. We are going for a two week visit next week. They live in the Woluwe St. Pierre area. The park is behind their house. They have really enjoyed it. I do not mind you e-mailing me for more info.

TheWallaces

Hi Granbury. I'm HannahHall's daughter. We have been in Brussels long enough to get unpacked. And, my husband had to travel back to the states for three weeks, so I have been alone here for a while with just the two boys. I must say, it's been very enjoyable. Everything is easy to find, and I feel very safe.

Please tell your daughter to make the school the priority. Since it's already so late in July, it would be good to go ahead and get the application moving. We looked at ISB and St. Johns. We chose ISB. It was really a toss up between the two, based on our visits. St. Johns is a bit further out in Waterloo. We wanted to be as close to Brussels as possible, since my husband commutes to Bornem each day (it's between Antwerp and Brussels). St. Johns did seem like it was a bit more strict than ISB. I thought my two boys would be happier at ISB. . . we'll see!

Please email me and I will be glad to send you my phone/mobile number. I would be glad to have your grandson come play with my 9 year old once he arrives, to have some English speaking contact - they're all in the same "boat".

We used SIRVA, the relocation company supplied by my husband's office. They are helpful. At times, though, through the whole process it can seem like there are 10 million things to do, and you'll never get them all done!! But, you will, and it all works out.

The water park we took ours to is called Oceade. It's up north of Brussels center in a complex called Bruparc. They also have a very nice theater that shows OV (original version) movies, i.e. in English. Tell your daughter and son-in-law to enjoy! So far, it's a great place to be.

PBProvence

to granbury:

I can vouch for the fact that the children will get an excellent education at ISB..

One of the best things about it is that it's an extremely diverse school and has great parent and community involvement.

I graduated from ISB in 1965 and my daughter graduated in 1987.

Patricia

granbury

leah6 - thanks for the idea about the limo. I had not thought of that and I think it would be great.

HannahHall - thank you so much for your posting. And to you daughter. I have emailed her. It really helps to hear from someone who is experiencing the same things. Any information you could share with me would be appreciated. My email is [email protected]

TheWallaces - Thanks for your posting. I have emailed you for your number. It made me cry when I read in your post that my grandson could meet your son. I can't wait to tell my grandson that he already has someone to meet and play with in Brussels.

PBProvence - Thanks for assurances about ISB. I think the kids will do well there.

BTilke - You are incredible! Thanks so much for all the detailed info you have provided. It is more helpful thank I can even say!

hanl

Just wanted to add that the current issue of the Bulletin, Brussels' English language magazine, has a feature on Brussels for children with ideas of things to do over the summer. I don't have kids myself but I had a flick through the article and it looked quite interesting.