Life in BRUSSELS - An American Perspective 2023
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- čas přidán 20. 06. 2024
- Start beefing up your language skills with Lingoda’s online courses! You will practice with native speakers, in a group setting or one-to-one. In 2020 I worked as an English language teacher with Lingoda for about 6 months 👩🏻🏫
Use the code: referral.lingoda.com/6tmz2l for 20Euro ($25) off your first online course!
📌First step: choose your language (French, Spanish, English, or German).
📌Next, pick the level that suits you, and the topic that you feel you need the most help with (i.e. grammar, conversation, reading, etc.)
📌Finally, start practicing the phrases you’ll need for your next trip: “What’s your number?”, “Can you recommend a good place to go dancing?” and “How much for the whole pitcher of sangria?”
Good luck!!
Salut everybody! Today I take you around the city to share some of the biggest differences I've found between life in the USA and Belgium/ Europe. I hope you enjoy!
If you're planning a trip to the Belgian capital, I'd highly recommend booking a tour with The Legends of Brussels. Their guides are local, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable.
Check our their site here: www.legendsofbrussels.com/
If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to drop them in the comments down below :)
Great food spots to check out:
1. Antichi Sapori. To get your gourmet Italian food fix ;)
2. Renard bakery. Fresh bread and pastries served daily
3. Great Market. A wide selection of spices, middle eastern baked goods, and fresh produce.
4. Midi market. Only open on Sunday mornings next to Gare du Midi (the train station) but it hosts vendors selling everything from clothes, to make-up, to produce, spices, and meat. Worth the trip!
Animo Studios - I teach 9-10 classes a week:
www.animo-studios.com/
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LIVING IN BRUSSELS | 8 BEST & WORST Things About Living in the Belgian Capital
• LIVING IN BRUSSELS - 8...
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#Brussels #BrusselsTravel #AmericanInBrussels #BrusselsTrip #AlexandraTempleton
As an American that married a Belgian and live in Brussels, I always enjoy your videos.
Thanks so much Mandy! I’m glad to hear you find them helpful :)
I’ve been on a marathon of your videos lately because I’m considering to go to Brussels. And I think the thing I love most about your videos is that they are enjoyable to watch so that an eight minute video doesn’t feel like eight minute because the presentation of the video very relaxing and laid-back.
All the best!
Thank you so much, Ali! That is the best compliment any creator on here could get :) I'm so glad that you found the videos useful! Best of luck on your transition to Brussels!
You seem to roam mainly around Ixelles... you found a few cool places already. Keep looking, there are plenty more everywhere! 😎
thank you for such useful information. I am planning to move in Brussels, so this info always helpful
Hey Teo! I'm so glad to hear that you found the video helpful :) Best of luck on your move to Brussels :D
Great ❤
Having lived in Bruxelles for 4 years I recognize a lot of the places you are showing us; especially the French fry stand at the corner of Place Flagey next door to where I used to live. Enjoy your time in Brussels. I certainly did.
Thanks very much @guenetteworks! It's a cool city and Flagey is a very hip part of town ;) Thanks for watching!
French fries?? Don’t you dare
@mees6642...frites avec mayonnaise...I stand corrected.😄
@@guenetteworks i think you meant *Belgian fry stand 🙃
🤣😂😂🇧🇪
Wonderful video!
Greetings from a real Belgian! 👋👋
Thanks very much, @caldinovin! I’m so glad you found the video helpful :)
Cooooool!
your French is very good, you’re probably one of the rare bilingual American to have a perfect accent. when did you start learning french ?
Thank you very much @sunandmoon1293, that’s kind of you :) I took a bit of French in school, but living in a French-speaking country has been the best thing for my French.
Thanks for watching!
Nice✨
I enjoyed your lill vid. Funny , I lived along the ponds many years and not far from the market now...take care and good luck🇧🇪🍀🍀🍀💕
Thanks @GuyWets! I"m glad you enjoyed it :) Have a nice day!
Hi,I love your video!
Im going to Brussels at the end of February, will be there for 6 days.
Des frites et une bière, c'est le genre de yoga que je pratique depuis 40 ans.
Touché @SonOfBaraki359, I like your style ;)
😂😂😂
Alexandra what about visiting Norway this summer?
nice impressions from Brussels, ...
Thanks! It’s a cool city :)
Very nice place
Hi, great oversight of life in a European City. I'm visiting Brussels next week. You would make a lovely tour guide 😊
Thanks so much, Brian! It's been a blast living here, so I wanted to do the city justice ;) Hope you enjoy your time here!
@AlexandraTempleton looking forward to visiting, a lot! Thank you. I've only got 4 days though and would love to Visit Antwerp and Dinant. Fingers crossed for good Weather
Welcome in Belgium, I hope you will enjoy the country and what it can offer
Watching from Paris
I love Belgium 🇧🇪
Good morning 🌞 nice video 🎉
Hi Alexandra, a true goddess of beauty, graces the screen with your enchanting presence. Your radiant smile and captivating eyes illuminate every video, leaving viewers in awe of your ethereal charm. With each frame, you mesmerizes me with your exquisite grace and timeless allure.
Beatiful girl!!💐💖👍
nice
Hi! I just found channel and I’m considering moving to Brussels with my partner who is from there … I was wondering how difficult was for you to find a job there ? As an English speaker… did you need to learn French or Flammish ??? ❤
Hi @ce7983, thanks for stopping by :) I'd say that it depends a lot on where you'll be working. I teach at a studio that gives classes exclusively in English, and there are many international companies that require only English.
Though, if you want to work for a local Belgian company then I think you will be required to learn French and/or Dutch. Also, for ease of living here it helps to have a bit of conversational French. Hope this helps!
Omg! A fellow east coaster! I’m moving from Baltimore to Bruxelles for my masters. How fluent is your French?
Very cool! Wishing you a smooth transition to Brussels and the best of luck on your studies :) My French is pas mal ;)
^^ for the good food I recommand :
- The Atomium restaurant
- La Moule d'or (for the mussles)
- outside the capital, I recommand the 1600 in the Ardennes
- Le Quartier Latin in Marches ;)
and for the beers, hon' put down that Jupiler slooooowly. Ok thanks. To have an extansive choice, start with the Delirium. That will help you narrow down your preferences (sweet "geuze" or bitter "pils" or rich "abbaye") and from there you can search for micro breweries like "La Mule" in Scharbeek or visit the Orval brewerie ;)
Nice! Thanks for all the recommendations, @Hakitosama :) I do enjoy a cold Delirium now and then but it is quite strong for a Wednesday afternoon :P Thanks for watching and I wish you a nice day!
@@AlexandraTempleton arf I was talking about the bar Delirium 😁 it has an wiiiide card for beers and you really have a beer for each taste there. It's near the Janneken Pis ;)
@@Hakitosama Cool! Will do :)
Hi Alexandra! Amazing video! As a native from BXL I'm wondering what you find of the whole bilingual French-Dutch situation that is going on?
Hey @jhowienitnek! Thanks for watching :) I find the bilingualism really cool, actually! It can make things a bit slow when it comes to paperwork, but for everyday living it’s quite stimulating :) What are your thoughts?
@@AlexandraTempleton I think it's one of BXL's best quirks and I couldn't image it another way otherwise it wouldn't be Brussels
Paperwork can be done in both languages, but French is dominant on the streets
@@camilla_k97 Depends on the area you are going. Some places are very Dutch oriented while others can be French or even English .
Vive la belgique⬛️🟨🟥. J'adore cette vidéo
Thanks for watching, AnthonyA1! :)
Hi Alexandra, Belgian here. I was surprised that DC is a bit like our cities: good public transport and very walkable. Are there more places in the US like this? DC sounds lovely and all but as a musician I don’t think there would be a lot of contacts and work for me there. Correct me if I’m wrong :)
Hey Hans! I'd say New York is also a very walkable city, and it has lots of opportunities for musicians and artists :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Me and my husband are planning to move to Belgium and your videos are making me so excited! Thank you for sharing 🤍
That’s very exciting Vennie! Wishing you and your hubby safe travels and a smooth transition :)
Hi, i'm from Belgium.if you have questions just ask or if you need help here in Belgium let me know.
Hi, Alexandra
Iam planning to come Brussels.
That's great! I hope you enjoy your trip :)
If you need help let me know. I live near Ghent.
@@texangator1400 I need it🙏
приветики мне очень понравилось
Next time please inform me when you come to Brussels :)
Take me with you
Brussels sprout is where you find the European Onion
Well played, sir 😉
Does it feel safe living in Brussels?
Hi @Luis333rules, if you had asked me this last week I would have said yes, though as it is a big city I would recommend you use common sense and try to keep your wits about you- especially near the big transport hubs.
Unfortunately two day ago we had a shooting in the center which resulted in two people being killed. So this week there is definitely a heavy mood in the air 😔
@@AlexandraTempleton I see, I'm planning to visit it next March with my gf but I really hope things calm down and we won't have to cancel because I really love the city and I'd like to know it further 😥
@@Luis333rules I'm sure it will be fine in the spring, and if you book a place to stay a bit outside of the city center I think you'll find things are a bit calmer :)
Do you know any other cities in Belgium? Have you traveled around the country a bit? I would like to get to know the United States better and explore beyond the usual stereotypes.
Hey @Ma_chaine_a_moi1077! Thanks for watching :) I have been to quite a few cities around Belgium: Ghent, Brugges, Antwerp, Namur, Leuven, LLN- for a relatively small country there are a lot of cities. And each one has a unique feel :)
If you go to the US I would definitely recommend visiting D.C.- all of the museums are free and there is loads of pretty parks to explore.
@@AlexandraTempleton I advise you to visit the city of Mons a small but very pretty town is friendly
@@AlexandraTempletonyou also have Ostend Blankenberge de haan coastal town
@@ma_chaine_a_moi1077 Oh I've been there and it's lovely! Thanks for the tip on Mons- I'll check it out :) Take care!!
@@AlexandraTempleton thank you
Do you speak French or Dutch, or both?
I speak a little French :) Enough to get around and order a beer/ croissant ;)
construction works ,that s wat belguim offers the most and traffic jams.
Do you know what "non peut-être" means?
"No maybe"
@@michiel5160 It means "yes, of course".
Just a small correction: the vast majority of American cities were actually also designed before the car (mostly 1700s, 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s) and were then partly destroyed to make space for cars, roads, highways and car parkings. 1800s US looks nothing worse or more spread out than Europe today! Check out pictures of past Cincinnati, Houston, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, etc. and you will be amazed :)
Thanks for the tip, Alessandro! I'll definitely check it out :)
In 1900 (dawn of the automotive era) the U.S. population was 76 million. Now it’s 340 million. It’s fair to say that the country mostly has developed in the era of cars.
@@edmerc92 And? This doesn't change the fact that historic walkable city centers in American cities were for a great part torn down to make space for cars. It's simply a fact. Although also centering their urban sprawl around the car after the 1900s, European cities did not tear down most of their city centers to make space for cars to the same extent US cities did.
I heard that streets in western towns are so wide is because the horse drawn carriages needed to able to turn.
ofc she's eating frites :D
the good life.
What does mean 'super bougie' ?
a long slender semiflexible cylindrical instrument for inserting into body passages, such as the rectum or urethra, to dilate structures, introduce medication, etc
Woah @ikit, this is not what I meant at all :/
Hey @icalcio87 it's slang for very fancy ;) Thanks for watching!
Alexandra, please don't say that we import Tjech beer 🙄 we have more breweries and different beers than anyware in the world 😅
Haha touché Steven, but sometimes nothing hits the spot like a true Pilsner :P
How you need to make a month to be rich in belguim?
Depends a lot where and how you want to live. If you are a bit more specific I can try to answer.
@@michiel5160 you have a 1 bed room while paying everything(what the bare minimum cost)?
@@joshuapayne9811 If you just want a one bedroom, eat at home, just enough clothes, some cheap hobbies, an older car and you have health insurance (you more or less have to work or receive government aid for this), I'd say 2000 after taxes is just enough if you live in a cheaper town. In Brussels you'd have to ditch the car. That's far from rich though, just not poor. And you wouldn't save much (if anything).
Keep in mind that taxes are really high in Belgium.
There also isn't the put an old trailer on a piece of cheap land option like in parts of the US. No (partially) escaping the system in Belgium.
High quality production! Keep doing it like this. I just disagree with the title xD
Thanks so much @Astrofc1, I'll do my best to keep it up ;)
Aren't you relatives with Anne Hathaway? :)
That’s very sweet of you, @ievgenopinionfirst2482 :) Not that I know of :)
Have a nice day!
Yes, when Europeans make fun of Americans for not being well travelled, it's because it's EXPENSIVE TO FLY ACROSS THE OCEAN. We cannot be in another country inside of an hour.
Very true, though each state in the US has its own distinct culture and cuisine so that is something unique 😄
@@AlexandraTempleton i love that you made a video from a city so'close IM from Belgium Gent it's alsof beautiful
Is even cheaper for European person to travel to the USA is crazy
Yes, it's true. I live in the Netherlands. I can come to Belgium, France, or Germany, paying 20-100 euros for a bus/train. It's also no more than 100-150 euros to fly to Ireland/UK
It ‘s not so much the lack of travel we mock. It ‘s the complete lack of knowledge and interest in anything that is not the US. You do not need to take an expensive flight to be informed.
Love your photography in the video. Though some more panoramic views would have been nice.
WORD OF WARNING TO OTHERS: Avoid the Post Office use a private carrier like DHL, (they are located n most newsagents unlike the post office!) if you don't want to end up calling the police for the ensuing chaos that invariably arises by simply asking to be served. And I am not joking. They are not safe places. When a customer service staffer (in any shop) wants to be rude you to you, you must leave. You will not get anywhere with them AND they will call the police on you for daring to continue to talk to them. Train station customer service won't help you if you ask for advice. The travel ticket machines are difficult to use. The staff in the commune offices won't help you. Trying to buy a concert ticket - they will ignore you and let others jump the queue in front of you. I am talking about the Bozar ticket office. To be honest Brussels (and Belgium?) is rough. Violence can erupt anywhere - the shops, the street, at the transport stations, waiting for a tram. Youths will attack you. I NEVER went out at night. And I am male!! The police will arrest you for walking on the grass opposite the Kings palace. The noise of the garbage collectors is, in my opinion, criminal. They make their dump truck bang as loud as they can at 4.30am. Once they arrived at 3.30 am. The city's prices for food is, in my opinion, criminal. The tourism industry has been left unregulated with the result that tourists are allowed to be scammed. There is a large disregard for the law by most. Big cities attract chancers from all around the world and Brussels is no exception.
The place is gorgeous in Summer (stay in the parks - go nowhere else!!) and bitter in winter. The place feels like the last stop on the train - where all the lost people end up. It is incongruous to me why and how Brussels has ended up as the EU city with so many EU institutions there. The country is badly managed with either a dysfunctional government or none! I actually asked about this and was told a committee (the founding members of the EU) chose Brussels because they couldn't decide on anywhere else! Belgium doesn't deserve to be in such a valuable, central location, in Europe. You can get anywhere in Europe in hours (by train or car) from there. Holland, adjacent country, is 100 times better. France - don't even think about going there. Italy? - worse than Belgium. Good luck if you go there. You will need it.
Different currencies? Mmm, GBP, SFR, DKK, NOK, SEK, PLN, HUF, LEV, EUR, EUR, EUR, EUR, EUR, EUR, EUR, EUR, EUR, EUR, ...
how tf you gon say we import czech pilzner? we have our own lmao
implied "flashing" is a huge turn off. You can tell she is from the USA
OMG you are beautifull
Thank you kindly, @Preownedram :) And thanks for stopping by!
@@AlexandraTempleton are you still living in BXL ?
@@preownedram1007 Yessir!
already visited Bruges ?@@AlexandraTempleton
@@preownedram1007 Yes a few times :) It's very nice!
American perspective? America is a continent not a country. There are nice countries with nice people there not only the bully one.
I guess Berlin is a more international city than Brussels although I like Brussels.
You are a very beautiful lady but I wouldn't dress like that in some parts of Brussels.
Can you be anymore cliche?
I can try- Stay tuned ;)
Since when Prague is in Europe? Czech republic is not a European country.
You should visit Germany, Belgium is an old boring tiny country.
Are you sure about that @levent.a.7280? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic
I have been to Germany a few times and have also enjoyed it :) Thanks for watching!
@@AlexandraTempleton I am sorry to inform you that Czech republic is not a European country, it's a Slavic country close to the Balkan peninsula which is also not considered European, you're from America it's only natural for you not to know these geographic facts, Europe starts with Austria being the first European country and then Switzerland ,Germany France Belgium the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain , Italy, Portugal,the United kingdom, republic of Ireland, Iceland, Finland, Andorra, Monaco, Lichtenstein, Norway Denmark and Sweden.
This is Europe.
@@levent.a.7280 I’m sorry you see it that way, but that’s just not true. There are 27 countries in the European Union, including a few Slavic countries like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria.
That is the beauty of having a single union for so many countries- we get to share diverse cultures, cuisines, and languages :) Slavic, Germanic, Romanic- it’s all here! :)
@@levent.a.7280 Both politically, geopolitically, administrative and geographically, Czechia has always been in the continet of Europe. What you are stating is simply not true.
Toi t’es pas Boring t’es inculte et ça c’est grave
Nothing is vibrant and stimulating in and about Belgium. Old, old, boooooring. Belgian train services are the worst in Europe - google it yourself.
Brussels is very boring and depressed city 😊
That's not Belgium! In Belgium there's no sun 😂
Does anyone knows if 3500 euros a month and having no rent to pay is enough to live in Brussels in 2023? Much appreciated.
If you don’t have to pay rent you can live like a king on that income
@@alexandraflamand2142 much appreciated for the info.