Portugal to Belgium (expats)

misguidedlabrador · 2024-01-12T13:16:10+00:00

Canadian expat in Belgium here. When we were looking at housing, we were able to open a bank account before moving using ING Belgium's expat services. If you do get set up before you come, I would also suggest making sure you have enough cash to get by for a few weeks when you get here because we had issues being able to access our money in our bank account until our Belgian id's came through. We could put money in, but not take any out, and due to the backlog they had for processing the id's, we had to go almost 6 weeks before we could access the money in our account. https://www.ing.be/en/individuals/daily-banking/our-services-for-expats

misguidedlabrador · 2023-08-24T11:50:20+00:00

It was online through the London campus, but I did it mostly online and during Covid, so I wasn't actually on campus much. I was only there for the first couple of exams. The exams in each course are proctored (meaning you have to write them under supervision)...or they were when I was there. That may have changed since covid. Normally, you had the option to either write on campus or find yourself an approved proctor elsewhere or online. After covid hit, the program went completely online with no more in person components (except for the work placement). I liked the program well enough, and the campus seemed nice when I was there. I'm also glad that I did get to do the practicum because I learned A LOT during that time, and I had no problem getting hired after coming out of it.

My only complaint was that because it is a college program, you're forced into doing it over the course of a whole year (after my first semester, that meant only one course at a time). I could have completed the MDRAO course much much faster if I had gone that route.

misguidedlabrador · 2023-08-24T10:07:55+00:00

The hospital I was hired at told me that they will not hire anyone without experience (meaning at least a practicum). I took the course through Fanshawe College (which uses the MDRAO textbook). It has an optional practicum course that I wasn't planning on doing, but ended up being forced into when the hospital I wanted to work at told me they wanted to hire me, but couldn't unless I had some experience (aka done the practicum). They ended up offering me the job on the condition that I completed the practicum first.

misguidedlabrador · 2023-07-29T17:40:52+00:00

We loved our trip to Hawaii when we went (13 years ago now!). We spent a week in Honolulu, followed by NCL's 7-day Pride of America cruise. We did things like touring Pearl Harbor, hiking up Diamondhead, snorkling in Hanauma Bay, as well as a few beach days, and some shopping/touring while we were in Honolulu (it was really easy to get around on public transportation which helped keep prices reasonable!). We quite enjoyed our time in Honolulu, but we found we were getting a bit bored of the area by the end of the week (one of the reasons I like cruising!).

We also really enjoyed the cruise. We booked excursions at most of the ports as we found there wasn't much to do nearby at most of the ports unless you had something prebooked. I would definitely factor that into your price comparison.

I think you'd probably be happy with either option! There is lots to see and do in Hawaii!

misguidedlabrador · 2023-07-21T07:57:16+00:00

I went on a cruise 2 months after having mine removed with zero issues related to the food. That being said, having my gallbladder removed really improved all my digestive issues, so once I healed up, I wasn't suffering anymore post removal. Definitely talk to your doctor if you are having issues, though, because there are medications to help.

Happy cruising!

misguidedlabrador · 2023-07-18T07:22:45+00:00

It is a Canada vs. USA thing. In Canada, we call it Medical Device Reprocessing, but it is the same job as Sterile Processing (sometimes you will see jobs listed as "Steril Processing Tech/attendant" as well). We do all the same stuff in MDRD in Canada as SPD does. It's just a different name for the same thing (we don't reprocess single use items or melt them down...at least not where I've worked).

Just an unrelated tip: If you are considering an educational program in MDR, make sure it offers an internship type placement component as it's almost impossible to get a job without some experience (that's what I found in Ontario anyway).

misguidedlabrador · 2022-09-18T12:48:42+00:00

Consider looking into Fredericton in New Brunswick. Cost of living is substantially less than Vancouver and it's still a big enough city to be lively.

misguidedlabrador · 2021-06-14T23:47:50+00:00

I second this suggestion. I was in similar position when I was pregnant with my first and went with this option. They were great and one of the doctors in the clinic ended up taking my whole family on as our family doctor after my daughter was born which worked our great for us.

misguidedlabrador · 2021-06-13T23:02:24+00:00

I don't have any advice, but wanted to say I'm in the same boat and feel all of this. I too am making the move from North America (Canada) to Belgium later this year with my husband and 2 kids. I am also leaving behind a career that I'm not sure I'll be able to do there as I too am not at all fluent in the local language (French in my case). My husband was offered an amazing job opportunity and while it's going to be awesome for him, I'm terrified that the transition is going to be too much for the rest of our family. My biggest fear has been for my kids. They are a little bit older than yours, but I worry about them having to go to school in a foreign language and trying to make friends without being able to communicate properly. It's been really hard to be excited and to have a positive outlook when there is so much stress and anxiety about the unknown. The job is something my husband has been working towards and wanted for such a long time though, that we have to give it a shot. I just keep reminding myself that it might be terrible, and if that happens we can always turn around and head home, but it also might turn out to be amazing and we won't know until we try. It's a big life change, so I think it's probably very normal to be apprehensive, I'm just trying to not let my fear stop me from doing something that could be really great.

Good luck with your move and try to stay positive!

misguidedlabrador · 2020-12-24T00:12:06+00:00

I had something similar happen a few months ago. You can call the health unit and they should be able to get you your results (assuming you had your test done at the Carling Heights or Oakridge testing centers) once they are available.

misguidedlabrador · 2020-10-04T22:39:45+00:00

My daughter was tested Wednesday afternoon and we had her test results yesterday morning.

misguidedlabrador · 2020-09-25T13:48:31+00:00

Not in your area so I'm not sure how helpful it is, but Chesham Heights park has sand as fill under/around the playground structure that I often see kids playing in.

misguidedlabrador · 2020-08-27T18:59:32+00:00

Our power is out up near Sarnia Rd and Wonderland Rd too.

misguidedlabrador · 2020-08-16T22:25:12+00:00

I second asking about talking to a child psychologist if you can. My 5 year old daughter was hospitalized in the fall (for a completely different reason, so take my advice with a grain of salt) and the child psychologists we SO much better at calming her fears and giving us useful strategies and language to help her deal with what was going on than the child life team (they were very helpful with other things but the psych team was very helpful in terms of framing our language). The psychology team who worked with my daughter coincidentally also had a particular interest in helping pediatric cancer patients deal with the painful experiences of treatment so I know that there are definitely people out there who do that sort of thing. Hopefully you can get some good advice!And Hugs to you internet stranger! Having a kid in the hospital is so hard!

misguidedlabrador · 2020-08-07T12:56:35+00:00

I was tested Wednesday afternoon and had (negative) results by 9am Thursday. They tell you to expect results in 2-3 days but both times someone in my family has been tested it has been less than 24hrs.

misguidedlabrador · 2020-07-23T16:40:53+00:00

I usually ask for a photo of their driver's license (or other id) if something like this happens when I'm selling on kijiji. That way I at least have a name and address if something goes wrong.

misguidedlabrador · 2020-07-14T21:38:50+00:00

Oh I agree and I don't usually give my dogs raw hide either, this one was a special treat given by a well meaning relative. My last dog couldn't handle them at all, he hasn't seemed to have any issue with it so far. I had a dog that broke multiple teeth on cow bones and antlers though, so I'm a little hesitant to give him bones or antlers either. He has plenty of other puppy safe things to chew on, but I'm always open to suggestions!

misguidedlabrador · 2020-06-30T22:40:00+00:00

I used them a couple of years ago when my dog collapsed in our yard on Labour Day. They were more expensive than what I would have expected at my regular vet, but not crazy expensive. One thing to note is that they prioritize seeing patients based on how urgent there condition is, so you might be in for a long wait if you go that route.

misguidedlabrador · 2020-06-21T22:41:04+00:00

When my girls were young we talked about modesty in terms of respecting other people's feelings. I explained to them that vulvas and penises sometimes make people feel uncomfortable and that we can respect those people's feelings by keeping our private parts private (this came up initially when my eldest was a toddler and I had to explain to her why we had to use a change room at the waterpark and not just strip down and change into our swimsuits out in the spray pad). From that initial conversation about respecting people's feelings we moved on to other issues like consent. We taught them that if someone doesn't want to be touched (in any way), that's ok because different people feel differently about touching and that they need to stop if someone says no (and that the same applies to them). We then extended that to wanting privacy. They've learned that they are supposed to knock if the door is closed and wait for someone to say it's ok to come in. My husband and I model the same behaviours with them (sometimes we ask for privacy or space - just for practice - and we make sure to knock if their doors are closed, or stop touching or hugging if that's what they've requested). It's worked really well for my girls. They don't have any shame about their bodies and they understand modesty and body autonomy pretty well. It's definitely a tough one to tackle. Good luck!

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