URL: Latest posts
EU citizenship - what it means
I’m researching the different avenues to Belgian citizenship. At night, after work, in between finishing a third degree in law and learning French, I find that it is an interesting if exhausting exercise to try and sort through the Belgian national...
Becoming Belgian - why I'm going to
As they say where I grew up, it's time to sh** or get off the pot. That is to say, I am now officially exploring Belgian citizenship. I'll write about the options and the process here, so that anyone else thinking about it can see how it goes. I've l...
More for less
Companies, customers, and policy makers in Brussels have been using the current economic crisis to justify cutbacks in spending, increasing the competition among their potential suppliers.But much of the competition created as a result of these cutba...
Vietnamese New Year
What: Vietnamese New YearWhen: Saturday, February 20, 2010 4:00 PMWhere:Theatre Marnirue de Vergnies 25 IxellesBrusselsThis will be the first event of the Vietnamese New Year that is!Every year, the Vietnamese community in Brussels organises a Têt c...
Carnival in Binche this weekend for the 600 plus year in a row
This Sunday, Binche, Belgium, will host a UNESCO-labeled Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.This Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Binche will have its annual Carnival celebration, a tradition begun by the city in the 14th century.
The new Bussels Metro Tram and bus card
Change your card! Or, if you don't have one, get a card or get a bike because free-loading is no longer an option this summer....The STIB, the Brussels public transportation office, is putting up access barriers in all metro stations. As of summer 20...
The Belgian office for foreigners who live in Belgium
For information about your 'Civil State', including everything from specific details about how someone from your country needs to apply for Belgian citizenship to a VISA, call theService Public Fédéral Etrangères Etat - CivilRue des Petits Carmes,...
Six steps (and five years) to Belgian citizenship
A colleague has applied for Belgian nationality. The colleague has kindly agreed to share the journey to Belgian citizenship with me for my blog.Before we begin, I’d like to point out that while natural Belgians are not permitted dual citizenship,...
EuroVillage announcement
GRAND OPENING Euro Village Place Luxembourg Friday 29th January Euro Village goes to Quartier Leopold in Place Luxembourg !!! Euro Village, the meeting point of the International Community in Brussels, after Place Chatelain moves to Quartier Le...
New Year and new EU order
We’ve got a new Commission and a new Council President in the EU.The Council President is a former Belgian Prime Minister, meaning that Belgium has new leadership as well. Yves Leterme, the former Belgian PM who tried to resign twice – first duri...
The Eurocrat strike Monday
It amused me to watch the Eurocrats strike on Monday.It has always amused me to see the way the Europeans treat their bureaucrats and politicians--the shock when the press hints that a politico’s personal life is lived in stark opposition to that s...
I got kudos
My blog was posted as one of the top five under-rated EU blogs here.I'm really flattered.The blog's author, Yasin Akgun, noted that my last post was about language lessons in Brussels. I guess my main interest is in EU politics, but I blog a lot abou...
Language classes in Brussels-where, when, what type and how much
There are a plethora of language schools in Brussels offering all the European languages (including Arabic). Most categorize levels of linguistic capacity in the EU format. Many offer negotiated rates for individuals, small groups of friends, or comp...
Gender equality in Belgium
In the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index 2009, Belgium ranks well in education levels between men and women. But when we get to economic and political decision-making, Belgium drops to the 60s..."The lack of equality in economic life is...
The power audit of EU-US relations
Tonight I attended a Transatlantic Network event hosted by the German Marshall Fund. A panel met to discuss a report released by two of the speakers, Jeremy Shapiro (USA diplomat) and Nick Witney (EU Foreign Relations Council senior fellow). Does the...
Cimatics is happening now in Brussels
For the next few days at least, Brussels, Belgium, is the official capital of global digital culture.Cimatics is a digital culture festival that started Friday and will last nine more days. Events in all things digital are hosted all over Brussels. T...
Match your skills to your job in Brussels
Ex-pat employees in Brussels have a lot of skills and expertise. Many speak two to three languages fluently. Most have at least one Masters degree, frequently two or three. Most importantly, all are motivated individuals working more for passion and...
New EU leaders-A President and a foreign minister
Like modern aristocrats, many Eurocrats are overpaid and undercharged. For example, Eurocrats are exempt from Belgian taxes. They get around 40 paid days of vacation a year. They have 35 hour work weeks, enormous EU expense accounts, and many arrange...
Lawyers in Brussels
I have had a few requests about where to find lawyers in Brussels. A lawyer in Brussels directed me to this website: http://www.barreaudebruxelles.be/m1.php. This is a database containing the contact details and specialties of all the lawyers in Brus...
Belgian train strike
I left for vacation Thursday 2 weeks ago. The National Railway Company of Belgium held a strike that same day. My seven-hour train ride became a 2 hour bus ride followed by an hour-long train to Paris and an overnight sleeper train to the South of Fr...
