Belgian Smurfs

The title of this post is redundant, as it turns out Smurfs (or at least Peyo, their creator) were Belgian to begin with. Not only that, but they - as a species, I suppose - are turning 50!
Happy birthday, Smurfs!

Primers

We've been doing a bit of recce, and I just learned that we will have to decide whether to live in the French- or Dutch-speaking district of the city. Apparently, the inner areas are French, and the outlying parts - only 10 km from the center - are Dutch. This allows certain guide books I've picked up to declare Brussels to be "one of very few cities that can claim a spilt personality." A city with dissociative identity disorder - imagine that.

In order to learn about the EU, which is a topic most Americans (including me) haven't the first clue about, we've been pointed in the direction of the latest (2008) edition of The European Union: How Does it Work? by Elizabeth Bomberg.

Finally, the most useful advice we've gotten to date is probably to "bring umbrellas and raincoats!" Thank goodness I have a closetful of absurd-looking print wellies.

Moving to Brussels

I am starting this blog because I found out we will be moving to Brussels, Belgium. We will be leaving New York due to a change in my husband's job. In the mean time, I will be gathering information on all things Belgian. So far, I have learned that, coming from the East Village, Ixelles is the neighborhood we might want to live in, and that the cost of living and quality of life there will compare quite nicely to that of our current hometown.

That said, telling die-hard New Yorkers - which most of our friends seem to have become - that you are leaving New York can be quite a chore. Apparently, many people think that by telling them, you are actively soliciting their advice, despite the fact that most of them have never actually been to Brussels.

Of course, both my husband J and I have mixed feelings about leaving New York in the first place. We've lived here for ten years, and despite our constant complaints about the burdensome logistics of living here, it's hard to imagine making a home in another city. Not to mention leaving our friends and social life - or the simple fact that the latter exists.

So, this will be an adventure. Bienvenue and welkom.