How can I meet British expats in Antwerp, Belgium
Dec 15th 2016, 12:59 pm
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2010
Location: Antwerp
Posts: 6
How can I meet British expats in Antwerp, Belgium
Hi everyone. I hope this is the right location for my thread, you do not seem to have a Belgian forum so...
I am 23 years old, just finished a Master's degree in Translation and hope to start working as a self-employed translator English-Dutch/Dutch-English soon. Please excuse the rather... direct language I am about to use, but I am sort of beyond the beating about the bush stage.
I have been blind since birth and am perfectly oaky with that. But my country is not. To put it bluntly, 99% of the natives have been treating me like thin air for most of my life. Exchange students and international people never do this, because, well, they have social skills. Especially in the UK, the different behaviour has led to little culture shocks. I have been on holiday to your country five times now and simply can't believe how friendly and good-natured you all are! Whether people ask me to move or whether I ask them to help me open a table on the train, everyone is equally charming and... human. Being in the UK isheaven. And on top of that, you also consistently talk to me as if I am a normal person. The British themselves underestimate those qualities, but you really are great. Being in the UK is heaven. Also, had it not been for the UK, I would never have been able to watch films like other people do thanks to your fantastic audio description services. Britain actually tries to integrate disabled people into society, whereas our government - and this was recently confirmed by a report - only invests in keeping us separated from other people and the less we know and the less educated we are, the better.
Apart from the cherishedh holidays in England and elsewhere, I only talk to people who live abroad on-line. I'm no longer wondering why things aren't working out in this place and am desperate to meet British people in my own city. Whether it would be for leisure or work purposes, to help them with Dutch, or even religious groups, you name it, I don't mind (if there was a company with lots of British employees that would be interested in hiring me, I would drop my self-employment plans right now.)
I have been doing some research which so far has not been too promising. The Britis embassy thinks that about 50/70,000 Britsish people are living in Belgium but because of the freedom of movement principle, they do not know who is working/living where. They did refer me to the Antwerp British Community Association. I got in touch and they told me that they have a fairly large amount of Belgian members and that most of their members are over 50 years old. I would have loved to meet British people in the age range of 20-60, but am rather hesitant to join a 5-90 group. So now I can't help wondering where the younger people are 'hiding' and if/why there isn't an organisation that attract them.
I had originally planned to study another degree at the Univeristy of Manchester, but even though I got an unconditional offer, tuition fee costs skyrocketed and I had to abandon that plan. Moving to England would be a leap in the dark and practically impossible for now because I would first need to become a British citizen before councils could offer me pracitcal assistance and the idea of moving to a completely unfamiliar area without any acquaintances does not really appeal to me.
I do know, however, that if I choose to remain in this Belgian bubble, I'll inevitably end up in one of these wretched day-care centres where they shield you from normal society. I would do absolutely anything in the world to meet more native English speakers here, so that I could improve my English but also for the social aspect. If anyone has any ideas, I am open to everything!
Best wishes,
Vincent
I am 23 years old, just finished a Master's degree in Translation and hope to start working as a self-employed translator English-Dutch/Dutch-English soon. Please excuse the rather... direct language I am about to use, but I am sort of beyond the beating about the bush stage.
I have been blind since birth and am perfectly oaky with that. But my country is not. To put it bluntly, 99% of the natives have been treating me like thin air for most of my life. Exchange students and international people never do this, because, well, they have social skills. Especially in the UK, the different behaviour has led to little culture shocks. I have been on holiday to your country five times now and simply can't believe how friendly and good-natured you all are! Whether people ask me to move or whether I ask them to help me open a table on the train, everyone is equally charming and... human. Being in the UK isheaven. And on top of that, you also consistently talk to me as if I am a normal person. The British themselves underestimate those qualities, but you really are great. Being in the UK is heaven. Also, had it not been for the UK, I would never have been able to watch films like other people do thanks to your fantastic audio description services. Britain actually tries to integrate disabled people into society, whereas our government - and this was recently confirmed by a report - only invests in keeping us separated from other people and the less we know and the less educated we are, the better.
Apart from the cherishedh holidays in England and elsewhere, I only talk to people who live abroad on-line. I'm no longer wondering why things aren't working out in this place and am desperate to meet British people in my own city. Whether it would be for leisure or work purposes, to help them with Dutch, or even religious groups, you name it, I don't mind (if there was a company with lots of British employees that would be interested in hiring me, I would drop my self-employment plans right now.)
I have been doing some research which so far has not been too promising. The Britis embassy thinks that about 50/70,000 Britsish people are living in Belgium but because of the freedom of movement principle, they do not know who is working/living where. They did refer me to the Antwerp British Community Association. I got in touch and they told me that they have a fairly large amount of Belgian members and that most of their members are over 50 years old. I would have loved to meet British people in the age range of 20-60, but am rather hesitant to join a 5-90 group. So now I can't help wondering where the younger people are 'hiding' and if/why there isn't an organisation that attract them.
I had originally planned to study another degree at the Univeristy of Manchester, but even though I got an unconditional offer, tuition fee costs skyrocketed and I had to abandon that plan. Moving to England would be a leap in the dark and practically impossible for now because I would first need to become a British citizen before councils could offer me pracitcal assistance and the idea of moving to a completely unfamiliar area without any acquaintances does not really appeal to me.
I do know, however, that if I choose to remain in this Belgian bubble, I'll inevitably end up in one of these wretched day-care centres where they shield you from normal society. I would do absolutely anything in the world to meet more native English speakers here, so that I could improve my English but also for the social aspect. If anyone has any ideas, I am open to everything!
Best wishes,
Vincent
Dec 17th 2016, 7:32 pm
#2
Austin. TX.
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 5,930
Re: How can I meet British expats in Antwerp, Belgium
Welcome to BE!
Well, I'd start with Internations. They are everywhere and generally attract young, international professionals.
then a google search gave me all these options.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...oups%20antwerp
You could do worse than contact the local women's group and ask for help....
Where is your degree from?
Well, I'd start with Internations. They are everywhere and generally attract young, international professionals.
then a google search gave me all these options.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...oups%20antwerp
You could do worse than contact the local women's group and ask for help....
Where is your degree from?
Dec 17th 2016, 8:34 pm
#3
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2010
Location: Antwerp
Posts: 6
Re: How can I meet British expats in Antwerp, Belgium
Thank you. I actually just deleted my Internarions account because I thought their membership policy was kind of over the top: I'm not going to pay to read usernames.
I studied at the University of Antwerp.
I studied at the University of Antwerp.
Dec 17th 2016, 8:52 pm
#4
Austin. TX.
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 5,930
Re: How can I meet British expats in Antwerp, Belgium
