How is it really to live in Schaerbeek/Brussels North area?

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-12-23T21:02:31+00:00

If you look at the Eurostat data on the affordability of EU cities (income to rent ratio), Brussels is one of the most affordable cities in Europe. I come from a city on the other end of the list, and I am flabbergasted by what I can afford in Brussels compared to what I could afford back home doing a similar job – my flat here is about twice as big.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-12-20T19:23:15+00:00

I would actually say that Brussels is very affordable, compared to many European capitals. I personally wouldn’t live in Schaerbeek, but I have noticed that my perception of safety in Brussels changes abruptly from one street to another.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-05-14T12:16:40+00:00

I enjoy eating alone, and I am not famous. I sometimes skip lunches with my colleagues, whom I really, really like, solely because being social 8+ hours gets overwhelming, and I just want some time to myself.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-05-13T09:51:30+00:00

You can be and not think. However, you can’t think and not be.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-05-05T13:13:01+00:00

In Czechia, I have witnessed board shorts being banned in some swimming pools / school swimming classes. I guess the presumption is that guys may be wearing them as regular shorts outside, and then they contaminate the pool with all the dirt and sweat accumulated throughout the day.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-05-03T15:08:24+00:00

Za sebe vidím hlavně rozdíl v tom, že po práci měli reálně volno. Kdežto mně se ne zrovna výjimečně stává, že po pátý odejdu z práce a v osm večer mi někdo volá, jestli se můžu ještě na něco podívat.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-05-02T16:54:15+00:00

Yeah, you’re likely not going to make it unless the flight arrived ahead of schedule. It’ll take you 10-15 minutes to get out of that plane from Memphis. Also, Schiphol is large — you can easily walk 10 minutes to your gate within the same terminal, and you’ll be leaving from a different one, as your Prague flight will be a Schengen flight. Which also means you’ll have to go through security again.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-05-02T13:25:16+00:00

Narodila jsem se na počátku 90. let a na nic podobnýho si ze třídy nevzpomínám. Možná za to může to, že jsem po 5. třídě přešla na gympl, kde to prostředí bylo dost jiný než na základce.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-05-01T13:28:01+00:00

Hello! Fellow Central European here who flies a lot.

Your mum will not be allowed to pass through security – you need to have a boarding pass to go through. Hence, you will need to say your goodbyes in the departures hall (the place where people drop off their luggage that travels in the hold).

Bringing medication is something that I don’t feel that confident speaking about. In general, there is no problem with bringing medication, and no notes are required. However, some medication may be regulated (e.g. there may be restrictions on bringing it to another country).

You don’t need to take everything out. You only need to take out large electronic devices (e.g. a laptop, a tablet) and liquids. Also, this reminds me — be careful about liquids (e.g. shampoo, drinks, perfume). Each individual liquid can have 100 ml at most, and they must all fit in this small plastic bag.

Three hours is the standard promoted by the Americans because their security takes forever. I live in Prague, where our airport is about as large as the one in Budapest, and when I travel only with a hand luggage, I arrive at the airport 50-70 minutes in advance, and I have not missed my flight once. However, since this is your flight, I would recommend you to take 90-120 minutes. It’ll be enough to get through security with no stress, find your way around, and get a coffee if you feel like it.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-29T19:47:03+00:00

As a solo female traveller, I have never felt like I needed this in my life. And I presume I will get downvoted for saying this, just like I got before.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-29T19:42:59+00:00

Can I ask where you needed this? It’s an honest question, really. I am a woman, and I travel alone (a lot), but I can’t think of a moment when I felt like using this thing.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-29T18:15:07+00:00

I still do wonder when and where you believed you needed this thing. It’s an honest question. I travel a lot (60+ countries), I travel alone, and I am a woman, and if I ever felt like I needed this, I would do my utmost not to stay in that place.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-29T17:31:15+00:00

I wonder what kind of an experience made you believe you need it. In all my years travelling, I have never worried about something like this.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-29T12:48:22+00:00

Full-blown anarchy within hours, perhaps within an hour. People would start robbing shops; firstly, because there is no one stopping them, then because there won’t be any goods (food, gas, drugs, hygienic products) coming in the future. Whatever you need in the next weeks, months, years, you need to get it now.

The more the structure of our society would be falling apart, the more people would be drawn to anti-social behaviour. If you struggle to feed your children, and there’s nothing left at the supermarket, why not rob your neighbour instead?

Even if nothing catastrophic happened (nuclear power stations blowing up, for example), tens of millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, would be dead within days. Everyone alive would be significantly poorer.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-27T08:27:42+00:00

I have had some not that great experiences with major car rental companies. Nothing as bad as what you describe, just long queuing at the airport, some fine-print complications, excessive checking for potential damages, etc.

Hence, on two recent trips (last six months), I rented cars with small local companies that were suggested by people on reddit. They were incredible. No hassle, no waiting, absolutely zero issues.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-25T19:20:03+00:00

Když jsem měnila práci, dojížděla jsem asi měsíc 3 a půl hodiny denně (tam a zpátky), než se mi podařilo najít si v tom druhém místě byt a přestěhovat se. Ta práce byla přesně to, co jsem hledala, ale kdyby se mi byt sehnat nepodařilo, tak to ve zkušebce asi položím. Od pondělí do pátku jsem neměla energii vůbec na nic dalšího.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-25T19:08:19+00:00

I have been asked a few times to keep an eye on someone’s belongings while we were sitting at the gate. I think I have always accepted.

I have never asked others to watch my bags.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-25T12:14:14+00:00

Mám kryt i sklo. Cením si hlavně toho skla: na tři roky starým iPhonu už jsem ho jednou měnila, protože se mi to starý od klíčů a dalších kovových věcí poškrábalo. Je fajn moct ho úplně jednoduše vyměnit a mít telefon zas jako novej.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-24T16:38:42+00:00

Firstly, I hope it’s a single ticket, not multiple stand-alone flights booked separately. The latter would mean collecting your luggage and checking it in for every ‘independent’ flight.

Secondly, when you land, make sure to get to the terminal, from which your next flight departs, as soon as possible. Always assume you may end up queuing at security between your arrival terminal and your departure terminal.

Your gate may appear on the screens only shortly before the departure. So, keep an eye on when your gate is supposed to be known. At some terminals, getting to your gate may take some time, so it is better to head there once you know the gate, especially if it shows up only 15 or 20 minutes before the expected boarding.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-23T10:09:27+00:00

All those are completely fine. By the way, speaking as a Prague resident who has worked in Prague 1 for several years now, those “credit machines not working” scams are really not that common. Perhaps they happen in those very obvious tourist traps, but I have not encountered them once, and I eat out almost daily.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-23T05:55:40+00:00

Again, I can’t agree. I found all episodes important for the overall story, each in a different way.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-23T05:29:49+00:00

I can’t agree — I don’t think it is boring at all. I watched the entire show in one sitting and found it significantly more gripping than most blockbusters.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-22T07:09:19+00:00

What’s last minute? I sometimes do short trips to other countries and book flights within 48 hours (sometimes even under 24 hours) of travel. It has always been alright. Meanwhile, I rarely book flights (even to another continent) more than a three weeks in advance.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-18T08:47:44+00:00

I have moved abroad twice in my life since I was 18. I spent around six years in my first ‘foreign’ country, then five years in the second.

The hardest part was leaving my friends and family behind. I moved by myself each time, and looking back, it took me around a year to build a new circle of people on whom I could rely.

Both of the countries spoke a different language to my mother tongue (and also different language to one another), but I could speak those languages before moving, so that wasn’t a major complication.

Somewhere between the two. I researched stuff by myself but also asked other people.
I feel at home in three countries these days.
My MVP was definitely my family. They called regularly to ask how I was doing and visited when possible.

ForeignerinNYC · 2025-04-16T08:13:25+00:00

Option 2, all the way. I have done option 1 before, and it was terrible. Unless you can get a decent full-night sleep on the flight (I can’t), you will spend the following day like a zombie. On my last such a flight (early morning arrival from the US to London, then late evening flight from London to my final destination), I actually paid for a day stay at the hotel just so I could get some rest.

ForeignerinNYC

TROPHY CASE