freaking out a little about moving...

[SANDRO43]

Now i find out he turns into a huge annoyed meanie if he's hungry, i wonder if that's normal,

Why don't you suggest that you BOTH see a doctor ?

[Misha]

oh that could be it, when i first came i was freezing my butt off all day long, its way too cold here compared to my home, 21 c is bad, i need 22+ for comfort, at least used to, dont know about now, no AC to check and no thermometer lol

So, a one or two degree temperature change will make you uncomfortable? [i.e. going from 23 degrees to 21 degrees] You would not survive long in our household. In the winter, my wife keeps the temperature really low to save money and because she prefers sleeping in a cool room. It must get down to 10 degrees Celsius most winter months in our home.

[Aloe]

So, a one or two degree temperature change will make you uncomfortable? [i.e. going from 23 degrees to 21 degrees] You would not survive long in our household. In the winter, my wife keeps the temperature really low to save money and because she prefers sleeping in a cool room. It must get down to 10 degrees Celsius most winter months in our home.

i was playing with AC, setting different temperatures, anything below 22 i felt chilly. 10 degrees sounds awful Anyhow, the best climate for me seems 30 degrees with high humidity, when we were in Thailand, it was really awesome
Sandro, cuz he wont go to a doctor unless hes sick for many months lol
mies, yoghurt is a good idea

[CallMeSasha]

my wife always moans how cold it is in the house (as does her mother when she visits)

what i don't understand is why RW won't put extra clothes on (especially in the summer when it's not cold!!) instead of moaning! 

i think part of the problem arises from their home in RF where water, electric, gas etc is all estimated (so you pay one fee regardless of what you use) so it doesn't matter how much they use (the heating is on determined by those who manage the building - when it's on it's hot hot hot!)

as well as amenities being expensive in england, i'm also very keen on trying to be green - i've noticed the russian mentality to recycling is somewhat different to ours.

so many times i explain to my wife that england is a very small, over-populated country with limited resources - the complete opposite of RF and we need to nuture what we have left/import. my arguments fell on deaf ears for 3 or 4 years however i can see she's making an effort at long last.

whilst communication is important, so is listening and my wife can be so stubborn at times. the trick is not to lose patience - hopefully by blowing off steam to my new peers on here i will lose it less often. thanks, i'm already feeling better! 

[Misha]

what i don't understand is why RW won't put extra clothes on (especially in the summer when it's not cold!!) instead of moaning! 

That is part of the problem as well. I noticed that in Russia, in June, on nice warm days, children were dressed as we would dress children in the middle of the winter in Canada. They had on thick coats, hats.... The same kids in Canada would have been running around in shorts and t-shirts  In Russia IMHO you are trained from birth to feel cold all the time no matter the temperature

[boaterguy]

you are lucky you never got to be around me when I am hungry LOL
I can eat alive the person who stays close enough when I am craving for food. Or bite anyone who prevents me from getting my food NOW
My husband found great solution for this - when i am hungry - he immediately sticks a yogurt to my hands and then peace is reestablished

  You sound like my wife! I wonder if you eat as frequently as mine. She seems to have to stuff something in her mouth about every hour! She does eat a ton of fruit! I think she could break a record eating bananas...her normal intake is about 3 pounds a day! I've seen her do away with a 20 pound watermelon in 2 days!

Wouldn't want to see the 2 of you locked up together in a room without any food! 

[boaterguy]

I think the key point about temperatures is a lack of tolerance to temperature changes. My wife seems to need the consistancy of say an aquarium where the temperature needs to remain constant. I can remember heading out in Moscow on a warm summer day and her having to wear her coat when we left. ARRRUGH...of course that meant I would be carrying her coat around all day! My wife has adapted well now the temperatures I keep our house...68-70 in the winter and 78 in the summer. And yes...she does layer up with clothes in the house in the wintyer whilst I longe around in lightweight pants and a T-shirt....drives her nuts when I take off my slippers! 

Are all Russian women so sensitive to changes in temperature?

[OlgaH]

Are all Russian women so sensitive to changes in temperature?

Three years ago I hated our air conditioner. Two days ago Robert came home after long working day and his words were: "What is going on! It's freaking cold!"

[Gator]

RW sensitive to temperature change?

Not in the winter.  When indoors RW prefer the room temperature to be hot, really hot (central heat was free, the temperature regulated only by opening a window).  Maybe they do this to warm the blood before braving the frigid temperatures outside.  Even the taxis seem to keep the temperature unbearably high. 

I recall vividly bouncing in and out of hot flats, stores and taxis and then into the frigid outdoors.  I dressed in layers and was constantly taking something off or adding it.   Isn't this a method for killing fish (hot-cold-hot-cold).

Summer is another story.  A few days after my Russian family arrived here in Florida, my younger son (who still lives with me) asked me, "Dad, is the A/C broken?" 

[kievstar]

I guess I was lucky as my wife likes air conditioner.  But she does believe the air conditioner can get you sick.

[BC]

I guess I was lucky as my wife likes air conditioner.  But she does believe the air conditioner can get you sick.

I despise A/C, especially at home, and daytime temps here are around 100 F.

I'd much rather work and lay around in my boxer shorts or even nude than deal with the aches and pains brought forth by cold A/C.

Right now I just turned off the fan.. I feel the starting of a sinus infection and kink in my neck on the side where the fan is..

I used to laugh at the doctor here when he told me to stay out of drafty areas.. I don't anymore..

[mies]

You sound like my wife! I wonder if you eat as frequently as mine. She seems to have to stuff something in her mouth about every hour! She does eat a ton of fruit! I think she could break a record eating bananas...her normal intake is about 3 pounds a day! I've seen her do away with a 20 pound watermelon in 2 days!

Wouldn't want to see the 2 of you locked up together in a room without any food!  

yes! That does sound like me only i eat tons of apples, tomatoes and celery. maybe 3-4 apples a day - I suppose that's about 2-3 pounds or so, or 3 tomatoes if stock of apples is empty in the fridge. I do not eat much of "normal food" though. I can't finish a large meal one at a time, but i am munching something pretty much every hour

together in same room me and your wife, and no food - that could be tough LOL

[boaterguy]

yes! That does sound like me only i eat tons of apples, tomatoes and celery. maybe 3-4 apples a day - I suppose that's about 2-3 pounds or so, or 3 tomatoes if stock of apples is empty in the fridge. I do not eat much of "normal food" though. I can't finish a large meal one at a time, but i am munching something pretty much every hour

together in same room me and your wife, and no food - that could be tough LOL

LOL Yeap, when bananas are out...the apples are in! She also eats an apple or 2 between her bananas! Guess I need to introduce her to celerey(YUCK!).

[Aloe]

belgian roads are something strange. They artificially narrow down the roads in some places or convert 2 lane roads into 1 lane, this is so weird.
The 1 lane road is something unusual, altho i have seen 3 so far, and i havent been to many places, but the picture where they put signs in the middle of the road to create a bottleneck are EVERYWHERE. Those weirdos! My husband tells me its to slow down the traffic, but man, is that annoying or what !

[BC]

Aloe,

This is also quite common in Germany.  Yes, slows down the traffic in populated areas.

By the way, believe the second picture (red road) is of a bicycle path..

[Aloe]

Aloe,

This is also quite common in Germany.  Yes, slows down the traffic in populated areas.

By the way, believe the second picture (red road) is of a bicycle path..

it is 1 lane road and bicycle road next to each other

[Misha]

By the way, believe the second picture (red road) is of a bicycle path..

It is. Given the fact that the country is very flat and that this country has one of the best systems of trails and roads for bicycles, it would take less than an hour for Aloe to bike from her "village" to the city  :evil:

[Aloe]

i would like to complain about the qulity of service in Belgium!! It is so awfulllllllll!!!! Today im just outraged !!!! its been piling up for the last 4 months !!!!
1. The building we live in was built last year, the problems with it are so many, you'd think its 50 years old. There is water coming from dunno where in the wall closet with electricity meters, there is water leaking from the shower, also dunno how, there is water leaking in the toilet all the time, the bathroom lock got broken on the very first use, the boiler is leaking water, unbelieveable right, and they call this a new house?
2. Shopping for computer parts, also something unbelievable. 3 times out of 4 we bought computer parts in different stores, they screwed up. First we bought a monitor online, they took 2 weeks to deliver it, cuz they messed up and delivered it to smb else instead, and they would say every time, "yes yes we'll deliver it tomorrow", on the next day it would be "we'll deliver it on friday", on friday its "we'll deliver it on monday". 2nd time everything went fine in a different shop, thank god, 3rd time we buy a new pc, power supply got broken on the next day, they had to replace it, 4th time we buy a new monitor, the leg of it isnt working, it doesnt tilt up and down as its supposed to, so they took it to replace, gonna take 2 weeks they say. I mean seriously, what the hell? 3 out of 4 times in all different shops they screw up?? How the hell does that happen?
3. Our internet and TV provider's digibox for TV has got broken twice already, and we have to restart it every day otherwise it freezes.
4. Our car got broken, they fix it, it breaks with exactly same thing 1 day later.
What the hell is wrong with them?? Ive never ever ever seen anything done in such an awful manner all the time before, this is just amazing !

[Aloe]

oh and it took 3 calls for electricity company to get our name and address right. Whats wrong with them? I hope they arent gonna screw up their bills, i read on the forum from at least 20 different people that they make thousands euro mistakes in their bills (always for their good, never for you)

[CallMeSasha]

1. The building we live in was built last year, the problems with it are so many, you'd think its 50 years old.
2. Shopping for computer parts, also something unbelievable.
3. Our internet and TV provider's digibox for TV has got broken twice already, and we have to restart it every day otherwise it freezes.
4. Our car got broken, they fix it, it breaks with exactly same thing 1 day later.

Chill!

1. new-builds are notorious for "problems" and you also pay a premium to buy them. I personally wouldn't touch a new-build - our friends are having problems with theirs & the 10 yr guarantee they have is pretty worthless it seems.
2. you get bad service everywhere not just a belgian thing - find a good shop, stick with them even if it means paying a small premium over other suppliers. good service is worth paying a little extra for IMO
3. LOL! i didn't know those rogues "Virgin Media" have rolled into mainland europe! only kidding you, but we have similar issues here
4. is it a main-dealer who's fixing the car? i've gone to back-street mechanics and in the long run i've ended up paying more for bad workmanship/inferior parts.

[Shadow]

i would like to complain about the qulity of service in Belgium!! It is so awfulllllllll!!!! Today im just outraged !!!! its been piling up for the last 4 months !!!!
1. The building we live in was built last year, the problems with it are so many, you'd think its 50 years old. There is water coming from dunno where in the wall closet with electricity meters, there is water leaking from the shower, also dunno how, there is water leaking in the toilet all the time, the bathroom lock got broken on the very first use, the boiler is leaking water, unbelieveable right, and they call this a new house?
2. Shopping for computer parts, also something unbelievable. 3 times out of 4 we bought computer parts in different stores, they screwed up. First we bought a monitor online, they took 2 weeks to deliver it, cuz they messed up and delivered it to smb else instead, and they would say every time, "yes yes we'll deliver it tomorrow", on the next day it would be "we'll deliver it on friday", on friday its "we'll deliver it on monday". 2nd time everything went fine in a different shop, thank god, 3rd time we buy a new pc, power supply got broken on the next day, they had to replace it, 4th time we buy a new monitor, the leg of it isnt working, it doesnt tilt up and down as its supposed to, so they took it to replace, gonna take 2 weeks they say. I mean seriously, what the hell? 3 out of 4 times in all different shops they screw up?? How the hell does that happen?
3. Our internet and TV provider's digibox for TV has got broken twice already, and we have to restart it every day otherwise it freezes.
4. Our car got broken, they fix it, it breaks with exactly same thing 1 day later.
What the hell is wrong with them?? Ive never ever ever seen anything done in such an awful manner all the time before, this is just amazing !

1. Welcome to the area of new buildings. Unless built to last, new buildings are much worse as old ones.
2. Buy at Mediamarkt, their customer service is usually reasonable.
3. Check if you have to adjust setting through a program installed on a PC. We had the same until I left the program running with the cable connected for 24 hours, advised by the help desk. Since then all has worked without intervention.
4. If you fix a car with plastic tape that is what happens.  

But I would have to agree that in many things Belgium needs to step up, they can be a bit sloppy and careless. Still the monitor thing could have happened anywhere. I remember my sister bought one and it was dead. They picked it up and offered a temporary replacement. The replacement was given only after two weeks, and after us hearing the woman at the call center say ' you can work the PC without monitor'   After two months it came back, they however never picked up the replacementso in the end we got two for the price of one....

[Aloe]

So it has been 6 months. I found out many new things.
1. I hate having stairs in my apartment, i dunno if its our particular stairs, but its awfully inconvenient, especially when vacuuming with an 11 kg vacuum. To think of it, i was excited to have a multi-story place before we actually moved in ! Silly girl
2. Living in a village is not ok!! Buses run once an hour, awful.  I wanna move to a city, but we are stuck here for at least 3 years and until we can scrape 3 months deposit for a new place. I thought living in a village is fine, since i like sitting at home, but commuting to my study place and back is awfully inconvenient, cuz it requires bus switch and i can only do it so few times in a day. blah
3. I miss having 24/7 cheap heating like at home. Now im constantly cold and feeling guilty every time i turn on the heat cuz the heating bill comes at the end of the year and no clue how much we will have to pay, probably a lot.
4. Dutch language seems to be really easy, yay. Funny i have such crappy memory for facts or faces, but learning dutch has been very easy so far, i memorize most of the stuff they tell us without having to repeat it much, its a miracle, dunno if its individual, but it sure makes me feel empowered, i do not put any effort in my studying at all. Graduated first level with 99%, while skipping like 6 classes. Amazed.
5. Belgian people are very friendly, much friendlier than russians. Very pleased. Service still sucks badly though.
All in all, it is not so bad here, more importantly, me and my hubby worked out most of our stuff and now we hardly ever argue anymore. Very happy.