So I truly thought that I would have had all kinds of time to blog when I moved here. Unbeknownst to me at the time, settling into Belgium takes a bit more effort than expected. People ask me all the time what I do with all my free time. Besides the usual of getting to know the city by going out on daily walks, there are all the little things that need to be done.
First and foremost, it was a mission to get an ID, work permit, and bank account. Each of these took several visits to the commune (or bank) and a LOT of wait time. The bank account took more than a month to open, the ID took 4 months to arrive and I have finally received my work permit here in my 5th month. An example of how the bureaucracy works, I received a letter that my work permit would be delivered to the commune. I go down to the commune and they tell me I must wait for a notice from them to pick it up. I get home and they have left me a message saying I can now pick up my work permit. As I am leaving the commune with my permit, they tell me next time I need to wait for a card from them before I come down to pick anything up. So apparently they had it the first time I went but would not give it to me until they personally asked me to come down. (TIB*)
Second, waiting for installation of services and/or repair of appliances, premises, etc. or waiting for deliveries can use up an entire day or days (and NEVER miss an appointment because they may delay the next one out of spite).
Shopping for food is almost a daily event since food does not have preservatives as they do in North America. Even condiments (some that would last months and months in the states) last barely one month, if that. I check all food before I use it even if it has been refrigerated or frozen. It seems the refrigerator and freezers are just not as cold as the ones in the states. Fruits and vegetables are picked ripe here so they have a very short shelf life. All of this is good and bad. Good because you know the food is fresh and preservative free, bad because a lot of food has had to be thrown out while adjusting to the differences in the shelf life.
So now that I feel I am settling in, I will begin back tracking and updating this blog with all of the wonderful (and sometimes not so wonderful) things I have discovered during my first months here in Belgium.
*TIB - This is Belgium
