I wanna move to Canada

[Misha]

You might not have read well my posts because I said many times it's fine for her not to like Belgium, even if sometimes (if not often) her critics are based on informations that are not true.

However, to declare that a country is not a good place where to raise children on the basis of idle arguments and facts such as the quantity of snow during winter is highly questionable. And as jeff said, weather is not the most important thing when it comes to raise children, but their parents' equilibrium is. And when I read Aloe's posts, I have several questions about it.

Go to the original post. Aloe writes: "The main thing is the lack of nature. There are just crop fields, pastures and houses here. I haven't seen nature in years."

I can understand where she is coming from. I often have moose that will be sauntering around below my office window, bears that will enter into the city, and hiking trails that cut across raw forest half an hour away from home with signs warning that it is grizzly bear territory.... Can you say the same of Belgium? Again, Aloe stated her preferences and yes based on her preferences Canada would be a better choice

[Leelou]

Go to the original post. Aloe writes: "The main thing is the lack of nature. There are just crop fields, pastures and houses here. I haven't seen nature in years."

I can understand where she is coming from. I often have moose that will be sauntering around below my office window, bears that will enter into the city, and hiking trails that cut across raw forest half an hour away from home with signs warning that it is grizzly bear territory.... Can you say the same of Belgium? Again, Aloe stated her preferences and yes based on her preferences Canada would be a better choice

She's been bashing on nearly absolutely everything Belgian in many of others of her posts on this forum, and if I quote her in this specific thread, she also says the following,

"I just don't see this as a good place to raise children (this place being Belgium). There is no nature here."
"There are just crop fields, pastures and houses here."
"r if economy collapses you die from starvation, cuz there is no nature, so you can't hunt for food." ...(this one is quite childish )...
"How would you like to live in a polluted miniscule country surrounded by out of date nuclear reactors"
"i've had enough of this trilingual country crap"
"If i don't see this as a good place to raise children? I already said why.. ecology, economy, too many nuclear plants around, sucky weather, so crammed, lack of free space, no nature. "

Mate, I don't wanna insist, but is this too much to say she clearly developped an aversion for anything related to Belgium?
The weather, the landscapes, our languages, our economy.... I'm only quoting her, and again, I will repeat myself, it's totally her right to feel and say so if this what she thinks... But you're not gonna make me believe this is all and only about a bit of bloody snow during the winter...

You write me always about this comparison with Canada. Mate, if you wanna hear that Canada is better than Belgium, than there you go, I can say it so that you feel fine, I don't mind. But as I tried to explain it in my previous posts, we're not talking here about any difference between both of those countries, we're talking about someone who's stating ridiculous things about the place she lives in, that presents serious mood swings, and that writes about "solutions" that don't really make sense.

I don't mind about talking who's got the best snowy Winter (you Canadians have shit food anyway  ) but this is not the point. The thing is about someone feeling unhappy and putting most of the reasons of it on a country, and not looking in the possible misunderstandings in her life.
People sometimes needs to take responsabilities in their life, and putting all blame on a country is too easy, especially when this country is one of the most confortable ones in Europe, we're not talking about Ethiopia here!

When I see what's written about the nuclear reactors, I wanna laugh!! Mate, these reactors are everywhere in Europe, and if one blows up in France, it's not because you don't live there that you're fine, we would all be in trouble! 
The Belgian economy is one that resisted the best in this crisis, OK it is not paradise but where do you find a great economic situation in the world right now? In China?
Belgium is a country culturally very rich, we're at the crossroads of Latin and Germanic cultures, with many places to enjoy, including cities of other big nations closeby. Our multilingualism is actually an incredible wealth (BTW, Canada is also miltilingual so I suppose soon Aloe will start hating it too  ).

Isn't that normal to think that her critics might be a slightly too much exagerated?

Again, I repeat, it is her right to dislike this country. I lived 3 years in Italy and disliked it. I left it. No problem with it if Aloe arrives at that point. Actually if she hates our country that much, it will surely be better for her (and for us) that she leaves.
But I simply insist on the fact much of the stuff she writes makes no sense at all, only but expressing some latent frustration that I can not conceive as being only provoked by our society and weather.

My only advice to her would be to ask the good question, and not to fall on the easy game of blaming anyone and anything around her. It's lame and childish.

And to answer to all that bad press about Belgium about being such a bad place where to raise children, I give you a list of things that makes me feel like this is actually a great place where to start a family.

- Strong welfare that gives to all families allowance for the birth of every single child.
- Strong family system that gives you family benefits until the 25th birthday of all children, those benefits increase for every child born.
- Strong social security system with direct insurance, including many treatments for children and teens.
- System that allows unemployment benefits for life in case a parent loses a job. Which is very useful if you have children, this helps not to hurt their level of life too much while you're looking for a new job.
- Strong education system with great universities, respected at European level. One year of higher education studies costs 850euros, around 1120$. That means a complete MA level costs around 5600$. (for example, only my one-year MA in the UK costed more than this).
- Possibility of social housing in case you don't make enough money to provide for a house big enough for your family. Those houses are located in a lot of great neighbourhoods of our cities.
- Free healthcare in case of you go directly to the hospital.
- Many discount on products and services for families with more than 4 children.
- Country with an important density of services that allows you to enjoy any type of activity in less than one hour of drive from anywhere you live.
- Multi-cultural environment that offers a lot of socializing acitivities for foreigners and expats.
- Multi-lingual country with Brussels having many services in English.
- Food of good quality as stated by all healthcare services in the European Union.
- Good geographical situation that allows children to be in touch with different cultures and nationalities as soon as possible.
- Relatively affordable sport and culture facilities.
ect, ect, ect,...

I am not saying this is the best country in the world. I am not saying the things above are the only things you need when it comes to raise children. I agree we lack stuff in Belgium as well. I agree that someone who comes from a different cultural and geographical background can have some difficulties to adpat here.

But do not tell me that a country that presents some of the adavantages I mentioned above is not good for raising children. That's all what I'm saying

[SANDRO43]

I lived 3 years in Italy and disliked it. I left it.

Not enough rain ?

[Leelou]

Not enough rain ?

 
No, altre cose che avevano più a fare con il lavoro che con il tempo. d'altronde ci sarò in Italia la settimana prossima, quindi vedi che ci torno comunque con piacere per un po' di vacanza

[Misha]

She's been bashing on nearly absolutely everything Belgian in many of others of her posts on this forum, and if I quote her in this specific thread, she also says the following,

"I just don't see this as a good place to raise children (this place being Belgium). There is no nature here."
"There are just crop fields, pastures and houses here."
"r if economy collapses you die from starvation, cuz there is no nature, so you can't hunt for food." ...(this one is quite childish )...
"How would you like to live in a polluted miniscule country surrounded by out of date nuclear reactors"
"i've had enough of this trilingual country crap"
"If i don't see this as a good place to raise children? I already said why.. ecology, economy, too many nuclear plants around, sucky weather, so crammed, lack of free space, no nature. "

Mate, I don't wanna insist, but is this too much to say she clearly developped an aversion for anything related to Belgium?
The weather, the landscapes, our languages, our economy.... I'm only quoting her, and again, I will repeat myself, it's totally her right to feel and say so if this what she thinks... But you're not gonna make me believe this is all and only about a bit of bloody snow during the winter...

Yes, some of her comments are a bit childish, but some are legitimate. Countries are different. As we have ascertained, Belgium is not a great country for winter sports and Belgium is not the country you necessarily want to live in if you want to be surrounded by forests and wildlife. Does this make Belgium a bad country? No, but for somebody who loved both winter sports and nature, as Aloe puts it, Belgium would not be their dream country, as Italy was not yours.

You write me always about this comparison with Canada. Mate, if you wanna hear that Canada is better than Belgium, than there you go, I can say it so that you feel fine, I don't mind. But as I tried to explain it in my previous posts, we're not talking here about any difference between both of those countries, we're talking about someone who's stating ridiculous things about the place she lives in, that presents serious mood swings, and that writes about "solutions" that don't really make sense.

My, I have certainly piqued your nationalist pride. I guess the few centimeters of snow must have pushed you to the edge    Yes, Aloe said some things that are not quite accurate and yes Aloe is certainly overlooking the good things about Belgium, but I would say that you are also not interested in truly understanding what she is posting either IMVHO.

I don't mind about talking who's got the best snowy Winter (you Canadians have shit food anyway  )

Ah, you accuse Aloe of being childish, and you then demonstrate such maturity  I am not sure how you would know anything about the food in Canada, but personally I will take a nicely grilled Triple A Alberta steak or a nicely done fillet of wild British Columbia Sockeye any day before the best Belgium has to offer

People sometimes needs to take responsabilities in their life, and putting all blame on a country is too easy, especially when this country is one of the most confortable ones in Europe, we're not talking about Ethiopia here!

True, but at the same time you have people emigrating all the time. Europeans move to North America, North Americans move to Europe, South Americans to the North, North Americans to the South, etc.... People when they have the opportunity seek to live in the countries that best suit their lifestyles and their interests.

When I see what's written about the nuclear reactors, I wanna laugh!! Mate, these reactors are everywhere in Europe, and if one blows up in France, it's not because you don't live there that you're fine, we would all be in trouble! 

I don't disagree on this point.

Belgium is a country culturally very rich, we're at the crossroads of Latin and Germanic cultures, with many places to enjoy, including cities of other big nations closeby. Our multilingualism is actually an incredible wealth (BTW, Canada is also miltilingual so I suppose soon Aloe will start hating it too    ).

The last I remember reading was that the Belgian state was without a government for 18-months because the country was so divided that it could not come to an agreement as to whom should govern.

But I simply insist on the fact much of the stuff she writes makes no sense at all, only but expressing some latent frustration that I can not conceive as being only provoked by our society and weather.

Yes, some things are not well-founded, but it also makes no sense to critique those things that are founded and then lash out irrationally in turn.

ect, ect, ect,...

Sure, Belgium has many wonderful things, but pretty much everything that you said about Belgium could be said about Canada as well   

I am not saying this is the best country in the world. I am not saying the things above are the only things you need when it comes to raise children. I agree we lack stuff in Belgium as well. I agree that someone who comes from a different cultural and geographical background can have some difficulties to adpat here.

And, this is precisely what I have been highlighting in my reading of Aloe's posts. You may not consider winter sports, forest and nature a priority, but some people do. Perhaps she simply latched onto this as an excuse as to why she is not happy in her married life in her new country with her new husband, but perhaps she truly considers these things important to her and her future. It is too bad that Aloe has not posted in a long while as she could clarify herself these points, but she should be given a bit of slack.

But do not tell me that a country that presents some of the adavantages I mentioned above is not good for raising children. That's all what I'm saying

No, but the question is whether Aloe consider it a good country for raising HER children. That, mon ami, is her call.

[SANDRO43]

No, altre cose che avevano più a CHE fare con il lavoro che con il tempo. d'altronde ci sarò in Italia la settimana prossima, quindi vedi che ci torno comunque con piacere per un po' di vacanza

Très bon Italien, sauf pour juste ce petit mot en moins  .

[Leelou]

Yes, some of her comments are a bit childish, but some are legitimate. Countries are different. As we have ascertained, Belgium is not a great country for winter sports and Belgium is not the country you necessarily want to live in if you want to be surrounded by forests and wildlife. Does this make Belgium a bad country? No, but for somebody who loved both winter sports and nature, as Aloe puts it, Belgium would not be their dream country, as Italy was not yours.

She didn't say "Belgium is not my dream country", she said Belgium was a totally an unvaluable place where to raise children. Saying stuff like "Why would you like to live there..." and then quoting stupid stuff. I mentioned I didn't like living in Italy but I never said "Aloe style" that Italy is not a good place where to have a family, bashing on everything and complaining "why would someone want to live there?".
You're constantly minimizing the weight of her words and exagerating mine, we can go on for ages in that manner.

My, I have certainly piqued your nationalist pride. I guess the few centimeters of snow must have pushed you to the edge    Yes, Aloe said some things that are not quite accurate and yes Aloe is certainly overlooking the good things about Belgium, but I would say that you are also not interested in truly understanding what she is posting either IMVHO.

I am not a nationalist but I love my country. I am fine with people criticizing it as long as the critics make sense. Most of what she writes is pure childish stuff, sorry if I feel like answering with facts.
I am interested in understanding why she posted that way, this is exactly why I asked her where does she precisely live, what region, what city. This is also why in other posts I asked her how was her social life in Belgium, how was her plan to learn the language, what was her professional goals in the country. She never answered to any of my questions, go wonder why.
I am sorry mate, but the only person not interested in understanding is you, with your endless game of trying to compare Canada and Belgium and proudly stating that of course Canada is better. Stuff that I said was not the point of the conversation. You're free to go on with this if you like but don't accuse me then not to care about the others' opinions.

Ah, you accuse Aloe of being childish, and you then demonstrate such maturity  I am not sure how you would know anything about the food in Canada, but personally I will take a nicely grilled Triple A Alberta steak or a nicely done fillet of wild British Columbia Sockeye any day before the best Belgium has to offer    

Well it was just a joke, this is why there is a smiley just after the sentence, but you seem only find your jokes acceptable 
If you allow me to answer, what food in Canada is worldwide known a part from the sirop d'érable?
What Belgium "has to offer" is just the best chocolate in the world, with shops all around the world with the "Belgian" label as a worldwide sign of quality, and also the best beers with the biggest brewer group on the entire planet (they also bought your stuff by the way, just check the stickers next time you go to the shop ). I don't even mention the fries that are copied all over the world, including the canadian poutines that are such a pale copy.
We're surely unable to compete with France or the Italians in terms of food, but we surely easily kick ass the Canadians, that's for sure.
I still maintain this is just a a joke and that you should not take this part of the conversation too seriously, but since only your humour is accepted here... 

True, but at the same time you have people emigrating all the time. Europeans move to North America, North Americans move to Europe, South Americans to the North, North Americans to the South, etc.... People when they have the opportunity seek to live in the countries that best suit their lifestyles and their interests.
 

I agree with you. This is why I questioned the fact she's here since she hates absolutely everything. This fact might not even be entirely hers, she might not be in the suitable conditions to adapat and like life here. This is why I asked her several times. I am totally open to discuss that, I don't condamn her as a person, I condamn some of the stuff she wrote here.

The last I remember reading was that the Belgian state was without a government for 18-months because the country was so divided that it could not come to an agreement as to whom should govern.

And what does that mean?
The fact that we had a difficult crisis politically does change the fact speaking different languages is a cultural wealth? Isn't that a cultural wealth that Canadians do speak both English and French?
Your argument is really silly here. I lived years in Italy where regional conflicts in poltics are tremendous, that does not change the fact their differences is a wealth for their culture.  If we have to juge the cultural wealth by politics, many places around the globe are quite fucked up, including Canada and your free Quebec.

Yes, some things are not well-founded, but it also makes no sense to critique those things that are founded and then lash out irrationally in turn.

I didn't criticized the founded things. I asked precision about it, and she never replied.
I didn't lash out irrationally, I am the only one here that has written facts to counter some silly asumptions. Just go find back in my posts.
It's fine, you agree with her and will always find a excuse for her being irrational. I don't mind, just don't say to me I answer with irrational arguments when it's obviously not the case.

Sure, Belgium has many wonderful things, but pretty much everything that you said about Belgium could be said about Canada as well   

Exactly, and if you read well my previous posts, you will see I totally agreed with you on that point. But I also explained to you many times it's not about comparing Canada and Belgium, it's about founding out if the frustration expressed by her is really in line with where she lives or if it's just a way of finding a scapegoat. You might find she is right, I just find she is wrong. We just disagree and it's fine that way.
I just wonder if Canada will not start suddenly to be terrible once she started living there, that would be sad situation, no? I think asking the good questions before would be a better move than directly assuming her current country is such an awful place where "no one could even want to live".

perhaps she truly considers these things important to her and her future. It is too bad that Aloe has not posted in a long while as she could clarify herself these points, but she should be given a bit of slack.

Perhaps, and I never excluded this possibility.
But the point where we disagree is that in her posts, you only see someone who declares that Belgium is not to her taste. While me, I see someone that already showed her instability several times on the forum and bashes on unfounded things just to express someking of frustration.
I am also not the only user (if you back in the whole history of th thread) that said to her that it might be highly possible that Belgium is not the problem, at least not the entire problem. Some even have been way less polite than me if you read well.
Then, if you allow me to share my honest opinion, I do thing such considerations about weather sould not be a priority when it comes to raising children. I think it is childish and if a parent considers this as a top-list argument for their education, I personally think it is a problem. But again this is my personal opinion, I do not ask people to agree with me, I just share what I think.
As I said previously, Russia and Siberia have all the Winter qualities that seemed to be needed to be qualified as "a great place where to raise children and for them to have fun in the snow". I'm sure in terms of snow Siberia kicks maximum ass  Does that make it a great place where to have kids? I am not that sure and many Russian ladies that I know, including some nborn in that region, also share this question.

No, but the question is whether Aloe consider it a good country for raising HER children. That, mon ami, is her call.

yes, I understood that and I'm fine with it. But this is not what she wrote 
She just complained how could "someone possibly want to live in such minus country surrounded by nuclear reactors" and other childish stuff. I think we just simply disagree with the content of her posts, you understand her differently, maybe just because she speaks in such a positive manner about your country (which pleases you) and constantly trashes mine (which annoys me). Therefore, if you don't even agree on the substance of her writing, I doubt we could really agree on the solution to bring to her situation.

[Leelou]

Très bon Italien, sauf pour juste ce petit mot en moins  .

Merci, je ferai attention la prochaine fois

[ghost of moon goddess]

I am not a nationalist but I love my country.

And I love your country and the way you marshal your arguments and facts!

Leelou, between you and me, I could not resist buying a very expensive gorgeous tablecloth finished with Brussels  handmade lace during my trip to Belgium some years ago   

[Leelou]

And I love your country and the way you marshal your arguments and facts!

Leelou, between you and me, I could not resist buying a very expensive gorgeous tablecloth finished with Brussels  handmade lace during my trip to Belgium some years ago   

 
The first thing I ever offered to my fiancée was the same. There is a great shop in Brussels to get this, but the best is to go to Flanders and watch all the lovely grandmothers working on it in the streets in front of the people. 

Anyway, I would also like to say that I am sorry if some people feel I am being a bit harsh with my argumentation, I can assure you I love all cultures, in a few weeks I go to live for a while in Moscow with my girl, and I am very excited at the idea of discovering Russia in a more sustained manner... but hey, when I read some stuff about Belgium over here, sometimes I can't help it, I feel offended 

[Misha]

I am not a nationalist but I love my country. I am fine with people criticizing it as long as the critics make sense. Most of what she writes is pure childish stuff, sorry if I feel like answering with facts.

If I understand correctly, your fiancée doesn't yet live in Belgium. Is this correct? I have to warn you. once the euphoric phase passes, the odds are good that you will have to listen to her telling you in great detail how and why Belgium is a horrible country and soooooo inferior to her home country   

I am sorry mate, but the only person not interested in understanding is you, with your endless game of trying to compare Canada and Belgium and proudly stating that of course Canada is better. Stuff that I said was not the point of the conversation. You're free to go on with this if you like but don't accuse me then not to care about the others' opinions.

Yes, Canada is better for outdoor sports and forest. Belgium is better for chocolate and beer. Are you happy now?

If you allow me to answer, what food in Canada is worldwide known a part from the sirop d'érable?

To be honest, I couldn't really care less.

We're surely unable to compete with France or the Italians in terms of food, but we surely easily kick ass the Canadians, that's for sure.
I still maintain this is just a a joke and that you should not take this part of the conversation too seriously, but since only your humour is accepted here...   

If that makes you happy, then so be it.

It's fine, you agree with her and will always find a excuse for her being irrational. I don't mind, just don't say to me I answer with irrational arguments when it's obviously not the case.

Again, I simply stated that I could understand how she might be nostalgic for snow and how she states that she would like more nature. It is always best to try to understand where somebody is coming from and not discount immediately everything that they feel. It is called trying to see it from their perspective.

I just wonder if Canada will not start suddenly to be terrible once she started living there, that would be sad situation, no? I think asking the good questions before would be a better move than directly assuming her current country is such an awful place where "no one could even want to live".

True, she must sort out what is not making her happy. Is the problem her husband? Her life? The country? Etc....

I am also not the only user (if you back in the whole history of th thread) that said to her that it might be highly possible that Belgium is not the problem, at least not the entire problem. Some even have been way less polite than me if you read well.

Yes, and I believe I asked the same question.

[Leelou]

If I understand correctly, your fiancée doesn't yet live in Belgium. Is this correct? I have to warn you. once the euphoric phase passes, the odds are good that you will have to listen to her telling you in great detail how and why Belgium is a horrible country and soooooo inferior to her home country     

I lived and adapted in 6 years different countries during my life. I know myself what it feels like not to be home, including the periods when it seems your new place is not enjoyable and home is paradise. However, like another user said it well, those are just moments that you need to be able to go over.
My fiancée is not only Russian, but also Ossetian, and those guys definetely have a national feeling even more developed than the Russians (unbelievable, no? ) and I know that there will be a day when she will miss home, but most of all, she will miss the every-day presence of her mother and her sister. I am not naive.

But adaptation and what it implies is already a subject we're often talking about for one year. I think we're very clearly preparing this period. This is also one of the reasons why our style of life will incorporate a lot of Russian/Ossetian things, but that she will also have to go over some frustration and learn to see some of the good things we do have us too.

Yes, Canada is better for outdoor sports and forest. Belgium is better for chocolate and beer. Are you happy now?

I am just happy you stopped using this as an argument in a conversation that was about something totally different

Again, I simply stated that I could understand how she might be nostalgic for snow and how she states that she would like more nature. It is always best to try to understand where somebody is coming from and not discount immediately everything that they feel. It is called trying to see it from their perspective.

It is always good to also open yourself to what is around you and understand how people in your new country live and not discount immediately everything that they do/fell. It is called trying to see it from their perspective.

True, she must sort out what is not making her happy. Is the problem her husband? Her life? The country? Etc....

Exactly.
From what she wrote in other of her threads, it seems that her current life from a family point of view is not satisfying.
If she manages to fix that, and that still the same frustration continues to occupy such a significant part of her life, it will then be very necessary to question the fact Belgium is a decent place for her. But I maintain questioning first the other more personal things in her life would be a smarter move right now. This might includes some of her husband's behavior she talked about, ect,...

Yes, and I believe I asked the same question.

Then we finally agreed. Cool

[Aloe]

"There is no snow in Belgium..."

I hope you look by your window today,
-> http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/belgique/2012-02-03/plus-de-1100-km-de-bouchons-un-record-894862.php

 

Leelou, sorry but this puny amount of snow that we are having in Belgium is laughable to anyone from Russia or Canada It never covers the ground completely, you still see black ground everywhere, and it melts either the same day or within 2 days. And if you would say the current snow hasn't melted yet, well this doesn't really count as snow, you see the ground everywhere, it's nearly melted.
This is snow.


Now this picture addresses another one of my points. You see this reasonable sized open space covered in snow behind this building? This could be where kiddies run out to play, build ice bumps to slide from, and do other stuff. But normally there is even much more open area to play in,  all within 1 minute of exiting your house.
You will NOT get this kind of amount of open space for children to play in in Belgium. You either have to be mega super uber rich to have a backyard this size, or you have to get in the car and drive out somewhere, taking anywhere between 30 min to 1 hour to get there (besides the entire Belgium would be completely paralyzed and you wouldn't be able to drive anywhere anyway if this amount of snow was present, because they barely have any snow equipment). You see how this is more problematic compared to having this space right outside your home?

There is no open space here anywhere, like i said, it is only fenced pastures, crop fields, houses and other private property. All you can do is walk on the roads between the properties. It is depressing. I feel so extremely constricted and limited in my movement, by all these fences fences fences property property property everywhere. A person from FSU is not used to not being able to make one step off the public road, anywhere, everywhere, in town, outta town, village or not, you may never step off the road, everything everywhere without exception is fenced, sealed off and divided. There is not one free spot to breathe. (Of course you could get in your car and drive 30 min to 1 hour to get somewhere to get a breath, but again, this is quite problematic?!)

How this also relates to children? I would raise my children to respect other people's property and to not trespass. What this means in Belgium is look above, they may walk on the public roads between all the properties and never have any play space, unless we get in the car and drive 30 min to 1 hour to get to a specially designated recreation area. So unless you drive them, all the space they have to play is either the public road or your tiny puny backyard of 20 square meter (and you are lucky if you have a yard that big).

So this is addressing the open space/nature comment.

If you read well my post, I never said nor even pretended there was more snow in Belgium than Canada...
I just reacted to her saying "There is like no snow here". That is untrue, on va pas chicaner pour une question de centimètres?

By the way, I am also quite surprised that the quantity of snow per year suddenly became the first argument discussed concerning good environment and ecucation for children and family. But I might live in another type of reality.... or maybe it's just I'm not Canadian (only joking  ).

Exactly, look at my exact quote: "There is like no snow here".  I did not say there is no snow here. I said there is as good as no snow here. Some likeness of snow falls down in puny amounts only to melt away very rapidly .

She doesn't say that, she writes

"... just don't see this as a good place to raise children (this place being Belgium). There is no nature here. You have to drive far away to get to nature. I don't want my kiddies to grow up only seeing nature once a year... But that's just half the problem. The main thing is the lack of nature. There are just crop fields, pastures and houses here. No room to play anywhere and no nature. It's awful...I wonder if i moved to Canada, if i wouldn't wanna move somewhere else a couple of years later. I seem to like moving I wonder if this means i'm failing to integrate in Belgium. I just don't like it here much..."

Another user replied to her that seen what she posts, Belgium is not the problem.

I already explained the lack of nature in Belgium is untrue. I grew up in Belgium and lived there 20 years, I have thousands of memories of being in nature and playing around, including in the snow. Our family's albums are full of this. This is why I asked her where does she live in Belgium because I really want to know the name of that place that is so awful as she describes

If her desire was to have the same for her children as during her childhood...why did she decide to leave Russia?

As I said previously, I do not question the fact she might dislike Belgium, I can understand not everybody can like here... but when I see her posts mentioning things me a born-and-raised Belgian do not know about and also informations about severe lacks in her process of integration... I do wonder if her desire to always change and move is not influenced by things inside of her that make her unhappy, rather than the real conditions of the country she's currently living in.

I am not sure about her, but from what she writes, I have more the impression of a person that is insecure and unsure about her life, and those people generally encounter problems everywhere they live as long as they didn't asked to themselves the right questions. I doubt the inner qualities of Canada would change that. She might then complain about the lack of sun and decide to move to Spain...

Lack of nature we already addressed. If you want nature here, you get in your car, drive 30 min to 1 hour, and you'll find a small piece, ok. That is a tremendous girgantuous lack of nature in my personal opinion. You may disagree, based on the fact there are tiny puny forests here and there, and one big forest far down south, where you need to get in the car and drive 30 min to 1 hour to get to. I for one consider this an enormous lack of nature. It is properties and crops everywhere.

What i personally see as a perfect place to raise children is a house somewhere close to a forest, with nature around it, where bunnies hop into the yard and a deer (moose?) peeks in the garden every now and then, and where birdies sing in the mornings. Where kiddies can run out of the house and play, without bumping into a fence every 1.5 meters. You know i haven't heard any birds in the morning in Belgium? Not in my first village, not in this one, its freaking weird, it's almost like birds don't live here. I freakin horribly terribly miss hearing birds. I don't know why there aren't any here. People from Brussels say they hear birds all the time, but in my two villages it's as dead as it gets. Very rarely i hear one lonely birdie chirp for a very brief time and then gone. Sure brightens my day then. Happened like twice in 2 years.


Since we are calling everyone childish here, let me chime in. I find it childish and stupid whenever someone throws phrases around like "well if you don't like it so much, why did you come over here". One, it is difficult to know if you will like something, if you don't try it first. How would i know i wouldn't like it if i didn't come over first? TWO, i came over to be with my hubby, or is being with someone you love not enough a reason to sacrifice comfort and tolerate different deprivations in your opinion?
Three, is it just me, or that comment "if you don't like it so much, why did you come over here" stinks of GTFO ? That's just impolite. Refer to reason two above. So you can stop repeateadly writing this comment, over and over again, once is really enough you know.


Good job finding the obvious in my first post and restating it!
I wrote: "I wonder if i moved to Canada, if i wouldn't wanna move somewhere else a couple of years later. I seem to like moving  I wonder if this means i'm failing to integrate in Belgium. I just don't like it here much..."
It sure looks like she doesn't wonder at all if the problem is external or internal here. I mean, seriously, it looks from the questions she's asking that it hasn't even crossed her mind!! Let's write her that this all means the problem is in her, and she is failing to adapt. She obviously can't see any of this. That's why she wrote those questions in her first post. Right?

Leelou, your living within 7 years in like 4 or more different countries while studying, so a priori knowing and feeling this is only temporary, does not even begin to compare with the state and phases of mind somebody goes through who immigrates to be with a husband/wife with a mindset: this is it, this is for life, we are making a life here, and the old life is done and gone forever.
I hope your wife loves it where you bring her, but if she doesn't, or if she's going through a stage where she's hating everything, i hope you aren't gonna be a misanthropic little dwarf despising her for critisizing your country and offending your patriotic feelings by that. No offence to dwarves.

When I see what's written about the nuclear reactors, I wanna laugh!! Mate, these reactors are everywhere in Europe, and if one blows up in France, it's not because you don't live there that you're fine, we would all be in trouble!

If one blows up in France you are in a lot less trouble if you are in Canada, then if you are in Belgium. There are too many freaking reactors in one tiny little area. I bet Canada has much less reactors and 1000 times more spread out. Besides, Belgium already has the highest rate of breast cancer in europe. Chernobyl anyone? Also i don't think i've ever seen a young person unintentionally bald before i came to Belgium. Freakin weird, thousands and thousands of men in their twenties all losing hair, how can this be? They are too young for this. Just weird.

- Strong welfare that gives to all families allowance for the birth of every single child.

Oh yes, that 80 euro a month will make all the difference I'm no planning on having 20 children, or even 3, so the allowance is not a really great argument.

- Strong family system that gives you family benefits until the 25th birthday of all children, those benefits increase for every child born.

What's this? Tell me more. Never heard of it. In numbers plz. Cuz i wouldn't call 80 euro a strong welfare like you just did.
 

- Strong social security system with direct insurance, including many treatments for children and teens.

I do like the medical system, altho it comes out of your paycheck anyway, so you may think it's cheap but really you pay quite a lot to keep this system in place.  One of the highest taxes in the world, reaching up to like 50% anyone?

- System that allows unemployment benefits for life in case a parent loses a job. Which is very useful if you have children, this helps not to hurt their level of life too much while you're looking for a new job.

Have you not been following the news, they are talking of closing this tap. And not only this one, social housing and social loans systems are already overloaded, it is predicted the system will go bankrupt by 2020 if it goes at this rate.

- Strong education system with great universities, respected at European level. One year of higher education studies costs 850euros, around 1120$. That means a complete MA level costs around 5600$.

You pay for this with your taxes, see above. Education in Canada is also affordable compared to their salaries, i've looked. While their taxes seem lower.

- Possibility of social housing in case you don't make enough money to provide for a house big enough for your family. Those houses are located in a lot of great neighbourhoods of our cities.

You know the queue to get a social house in and near any kind of a city (plz don't tell me your village of 7k is a city) is 5 years long. What kind of a lazy ass non working bum you have to be to need social housing longer than 5 years? So don't tell me this system is worth something, it's useless for people in immediate need and only works for the long time welfare people who don't bother getting a job, so they are the only ones who still qualify after 5 years queue is done, or single people taking advantage of the system. I live in a social neighborhood, our house is the only non-social house on the street. This is a local traffic only area, so unless they are lost or just like driving in here, all the new cars i see these people driving and parked around, and the way they dress tell me that these people are not needy even a little. They are just taking advantage of the system. Otherwise they wouldn't be driving new cars and having beautiful clothes like that.
There is a very small minority who actually need a social house, and they have to wait 5 years in queue because of all the people who are taking advantage.

- Free healthcare in case of you go directly to the hospital.

What free healthcare? You pay the doctor, then the government reimburses you like 60-70%. Never heard of free healthcare. Besides you pay for it with taxes

- Many discount on products and services for families with more than 4 children.

Not planning to have more than 2.
You are welcome.


 

Country with an important density of services that allows you to enjoy any type of activity in less than one hour of drive from anywhere you live.
- Multi-cultural environment that offers a lot of socializing acitivities for foreigners and expats.
- Multi-lingual country with Brussels having many services in English.

This is outweighed by the negatives for me.
And i hate that people speak 3 gazillion languages, i'm not a freakin polyglot. I want to understand people around me. It is nice to have it temporarily, but not every day, day in day out people you don't understand everywhere around you. I hope in Canada they speak predominantly english.
If i had more time to learn french, maybe i'd be less sick of this multilinguisticality. But now i don't have time to learn french. There is only 1 week between the end of lessons and start of exams this semester, so i have to focus on that.

- Food of good quality as stated by all healthcare services in the European Union.

quality of food was never in question, but i'm sure food in Canada is no worse than here, and probably better, because it probably is grown in a much less polluted environment over there, than crowded, gassed, full of traffic, and at one time radioactive europe.

- Good geographical situation that allows children to be in touch with different cultures and nationalities as soon as possible.

C-da is an immigrant country, plenty of cultures there.


So yes. From where i'm sitting (not been to Canada once), Canada has everything bigger better and cleaner than Belgium.

[Aloe]

Anyway, L, what your argument regarding snow/nature/open space in Belgium comes down to is this. I'm saying: "there is no lions and no space in Belgium", you are saying: "But of course there is! We have a zoo, so we have lions!!!! and look how spacious their cages are". While Canada has the lions and space outside the zoo. Belgium has them only in the specially designated zoo. You understand what i'm trying to say? Just because you have lions tucked away in a cage some rare places here and there where you need to drive 30 mins to 1 hr to get to, doesn't mean that you have lions in Belgium.

[Misha]

This is my understanding of snow and nature:

[mies]

Sorry Leelou, the article you posted about Belgium falling into crisis over a few centimeters of snow was too funny to pass on. It is almost as bad as Vancouver after a dusting of snow.

You should read Washington DC snow news then  You will enjoy them thoroughly.

[mies]

Quite simple: if you have warm childhood memories of skiing and skating and sledding down snow covered hills then you will often want the same for your children. Aloe clearly falls in this category and rightly considers that Canada can give her that as well as good schools, health care and so forth, no worse than Belgium.

Somehow I think that getting to the nearest skiing location from Belgian city or town will take approximately the same amount of time/same distance as getting to the nearest skiing location in Canada.
Although I understand Aloe's sentiments for snow (i like it too), I somehow think that she is working on the symptoms and side effects rather than working on the causes/real factors.

[mies]

I do wonder if her desire to always change and move is not influenced by things inside of her that make her unhappy, rather than the real conditions of the country she's currently living in.

I think her perception is strongly influenced by cultural shock and some shortcomings of her relationship with her husband.

[Misha]

Somehow I think that getting to the nearest skiing location from Belgian city or town will take approximately the same amount of time/same distance as getting to the nearest skiing location in Canada.

Less than half-an-hour?

[mies]

This is snow.


Now this picture addresses another one of my points. You see this reasonable sized open space covered in snow behind this building? This could be where kiddies run out to play, build ice bumps to slide from, and do other stuff. But normally there is even much more open area to play in,  all within 1 minute of exiting your house.

не сыпь мне соль на рану 
now i really want to go sledding, and skiing, and ice-skating... and... and..
I bought a seasonal pass in early October for snowboarding. They promised to open slopes in mid-November. Opened them on December 30th. I went there twice! Why, oh why did I buy seasonal pass. ...

anyway.
I do not know how things are in Canada, but in USA there are rules which say that child younger than certain age cannot be left outside without parental supervision. I often think about these rules when comparing them with my childhood memories: playing in snow, sledding, etc. My point is: even if there is snow in Canada, you still may not be able to get exactly the same experience for your children as you used to have in Russia. If you live in the high-rise - there still will not be decent playing area (with or without snow) for children, unlike in Russian cities.
My friend, Russian born, naturalized American, visited Russia for the first time after 12 years in USA. She told me with her eyes wide open: "THERE ARE CHILDREN! EVERYWHERE! They go everywhere without parents, and they TALKED TO ME!" She was so excited about this that now she considers going back to Russia to live there and have children there. Not that USA does not have vast spaces and nature. Go figure.

[mies]

Less than half-an-hour?

ok, maybe not THAT close, if google doesn't lie - it's about 2 hours drive from Antwerp. But still not too far. It's only 8 hours drive to get to Alps!! What's not to like?

Here: skiing, mountains, and surfing: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Antwerpen/other

[Leelou]

Hi!
I first wrote an extensive reply to your post, but unfortunately it crashed and I lost all of my writing, so I hope I will back here most of what I wanted to say.
First, I am happy that you finally decided to answer with some valuable arguments. Very different from the silly stuff you offered us in your last posts. Second, I am also happy you finally decided to react, since without your contribution there can only be speculation about what provokes your current frustration of living in Belgium.

Leelou, sorry but this puny amount of snow that we are having in Belgium is laughable to anyone from Russia or Canada

 
Indeed, because there is no way to compare countries such as Russia and Canada that are geographically and culturally Winter countries to a place like Belgium that is a normal Western temperate country where winters are not too cold, and summers are not too hot (which is also seen by many people as an advantage, but I will admit I don't agree with them).
However, what I think is well laughable is moving to another country and expecting to find the same kind of conditions you experienced while being home, and when this doesn't happen, to complain about it. If you had done just a bit of homework before coming here, you would have found out that winter conditions in Belgium are very different to the ones you got in Russia.
I was in Moscow last summer and everyone was complaining about the hot summer. You know, for me those temperatures were quite fine, since I experienced more than 42° every year while being in Italy. Reactions of Russians were quite laughable. That doesn't change the fact I didn't started barking at the moon that Russia has no decent summer time.

 

30 min to 1 hour to get there

 
You definitely belgianized yourself a bit if you think 30min of car is a long drive. Where is your Russian perception of distances gone to?

 

(besides the entire Belgium would be completely paralyzed and you wouldn't be able to drive anywhere anyway if this amount of snow was present, because they barely have any snow equipment).

 
They barely have heavy snow equipment because it's simply not a usual situation in this country. Belgium is no exception, all Western Europe is like this and this why we often experience transport problems once Winter has arrived. Situation in the UK last year was particularly difficult, and yet for a Russian the amount of snow was surely modest.
Every country has its own particularities and services adapted to the kind of situations it is mostly used to deal with. Not so long ago, because of warm temperature, there were significant fires in Russia that caused severe damages. Even people in Moscow found it difficult to go outside because of the air. And what could that mean? Russia has specificities due to its climate and its normal that services there are less prepared when it comes to deal with problems related to hot weather.
Now, when it comes to it, I agree they should do something, because now in Western Europe (and that includes many other countries than Belgium) we get the same Winter problems every year and they should learn from it, getting experience form the countries that face strong Winters every year, to develop better strategies to deal with the cold.

There is no open space here anywhere, like i said, it is only fenced pastures, crop fields, houses and other private property. All you can do is walk on the roads between the properties. It is depressing. I feel so extremely constricted and limited in my movement, by all these fences fences fences property property property everywhere.

 
And your remark surprises me. Because I am a Belgian born and raised, and I am currently in this awful and unvaluable Belgium as I am writing to you, and I do not experience what you say. This is the reason why I will ask you again the same question I already asked, where do you live exactly in Belgium? Don't worry, I don't want your precise adress, but your region, your city?
You see, you might very well live in a very populated region of Flanders, and Flanders is already very much populated. But though Belgium remains a small country, this is not the same everywhere you go. I always experienced space here, as there is more space in the country as you're going south.
Have you ever been to the Ardennes?
I have friends living there, and they choose to be there because they live in the nature, their houses are located in forests, they enjoy the nature feel you're talking about. Very well, it might not reach the standards you're talking about, but saying all Belgium looks and feels like what you're describing is I think an exageration from you.

How this also relates to children? I would raise my children to respect other people's property and to not trespass. What this means in Belgium is look above, they may walk on the public roads between all the properties and never have any play space, unless we get in the car and drive 30 min to 1 hour to get to a specially designated recreation area.

 
I never experienced such thing during my childhood here. We have forests and we used to go there often with school, those are strong memories for me. And you see, after I finished writing to you, I will go walk my dog in the forest closeby, not a garden, not a park... a normal forest. Sure, I will surely not meet some fantastic Canadian grizzlies during this walk, but it's still nature. Before condamning the country in its whole as you're currently doing, why not first questioning the precise region where you're living? I can assure life is not necessarily the same in every part of Belgium.
You could also realize that your children won't have anything programmed in their genetics that will allow them only to have fun the way you did in your childhood. Like another user said to you, kids have fun everywhere with anything, unless the country they live in is called Ethiopia or Afghanistan.
We are all born somewhere and we had fun with what we had. You are Russian and you had fun the Russian way. Some guys here are Canadians and they had fun their way. I am Belgian and I had fun during my childhood. Your kids will simply grow up in their reality, not in the one you grew up in when you were a child. They surely would love many things anywhere you decide to raise them.
Recently we celebrated Saint-Nicolas in Russia with the family of my girl, she said to me it was one of the most enjoyable child-stuff she ever experienced. And Saint-Nicolas is really a BeNeLux thing, with all the games that it involves. There are also so many great things for kids in Belgium.
One of my friends is married and has a little girl in Mexico. Never does he complain about the fact his daughter doesn't experience a childhood the belgian way. She just grow up there and has fun the Mexican way, with what Mexico can give her. They are happy, they are not terrified at the idea that unlike in Belgium, they can't drive great carbikes and run in the sandmountains on the sea side... His daughter enjoys another type of childhood than his own... he is happy, she is happy, there is no need for him to force his daughter to live her child years the exact same way he did.
And you see, even if in the case you decide to stay in Belgium and that sadly your child grows up unhappy in Belgium... I would not first look at the inner characteristics of Belgium... I would surely more look towards the behaviour of the mother that would constantly speak negatively of the place where they are living in, developing in this kid a certain disdain for the place he is born in.

You know i haven't heard any birds in the morning in Belgium? Not in my first village, not in this one, its freaking weird, it's almost like birds don't live here.

I hear birds every morning and I feed them myself I am sorry but I really need to know where you're living so that I can know I must not go to that place

Since we are calling everyone childish here, let me chime in. I find it childish and stupid whenever someone throws phrases around like "well if you don't like it so much, why did you come over here". One, it is difficult to know if you will like something, if you don't try it first. How would i know i wouldn't like it if i didn't come over first? TWO, i came over to be with my hubby, or is being with someone you love not enough a reason to sacrifice comfort and tolerate different deprivations in your opinion?

No, what is childish is like I explained previously, not doing some homework about the place where you decided to go living in and then complained that it doesn't feel right like home.
In a bit I go to live for a few months with my fiancée in Moscow, how stupid would that be from me to expect there to enjoy the same kind of summer I enjoyed while being in Italy? How silly would that be to complain about such kind of things. I highly prefer to concentrate on what Russia and Moscow have new to offer me. Enjoyable, particular things and learn how to see and appreciate the beauty of it. Not complaining all the time about the fact Russia doesn't feel and doesn't give the same things as home.
I do not criticize the fact you came here to join your husband. I actually respect. And I do also because I did the same already in my life. I went to Italy mainly for a relationship that unfortunately didn't work out in the long run. Though I finally didn't enjoy the experience of living permanently in Italy (mainly due to professional problems), it would have never come to my mind to connect on a Forum to bash everything Italian, using a majority of silly arguments, just to express some latent frustration of not being happy there.

Three, is it just me, or that comment "if you don't like it so much, why did you come over here" stinks of GTFO ? That's just impolite.

What is funny is how you accept your own rudeness and treat it as a virtue. And even worst, you hypocritically hide your lack of respect behind the unfixed meaning of some of your words. Fact is that you don't connect here sharing your thoughts about this country in a correct way, you just trash everything in sight without exception. Not just once, but often.
If you feel my sayings as a “GTFO”, then I suppose me, and possibly other Belgian citizens who love their country, feels your posts like “this country is a big pile full of shit”. You definitely are way more impolite then you think, and even if I totally assume my words and that I surely personally have some things to work on concerning my style of writing, you might also realise I took some time to debate with you... while other users ignored your words and simply called you a “pain in the ass”.

 

Leelou, your living within 7 years in like 4 or more different countries while studying, so a priori knowing and feeling this is only temporary, does not even begin to compare with the state and phases of mind somebody goes through who immigrates to be with a husband/wife

Darling,
When I went abroad, I always went with the idea I could stay there forever. I always had to work to get my own money and make a living. This is a significant difference with people who immigrate to be with a husband/wife that pays for all of their bills.
And please know that I lived in places like the XIII district in Budapest, where people experience a level of life very similar to the one of poor Russian families “Dostoevsky style”. And I can tell you that it is way more difficult to adapt in a place where the only language to communicate is Hungarian, at the difference of places like Brussels where nearly everything is available in English.

with a mindset: this is it, this is for life, we are making a life here, and the old life is done and gone forever.

If your mindset was really, “old life is done and gone forever”, then you would not have so many difficulties to adapt
However, I do agree that such mentality would be damaging and no, old life is never gone forever. Because it is in it that you get your experiences. But getting them to annihilate your capacity to move towards something new is a problem.

I hope your wife loves it where you bring her, but if she doesn't, or if she's going through a stage where she's hating everything, i hope you aren't gonna be a misanthropic little dwarf despising her for critisizing your country and offending your patriotic feelings by that. No offence to dwarves.

I am currently spending a significant amount of time to explain to her what is to move to another country and how it feels like. I of course speak by experience but I encourage her to talk with some of her friends that already did it.
I also encourage her to get inspire by people who emigrated here successfully, people who have positive energy and ideas to share with her. To give her confidence. That also includes some foreign friends of mine that are now in Belgium and managed to build good things here. I can mention a dear Hungarian friend who just wrote me an email yesterday saying she's just been offered her dream-job in the fashion industry in Brussels, how she blesses the day she decided to move here and how she feels never such could have happened in the place she was before.
I also spoke about your posts. Just to tell her what kind of people she will need to avoid once being here. People that are constantly casting bad energy and negativity. People who spend hours to paint their world and the world around them in black.
I am also telling her that I know very well that at some point she will feel the nostalgia, there will be moments more difficult. I doubt she will really miss Moscow, as a significant part of her happy thoughts lay in Ossetia, very sadly destroyed by war during the last years. But most of all, I know she will miss the presence of her mother and sister, that she never left. But I will also tell her that with good energy, will and love around her (that might be one of your problems here), there is no reason for her not to become successful here since what is also available in this country. I am already always available to listen to her feelings, and will always be... but I hope that when she will need to complain, it will be not in such a childish-whiny-bitchy little manner as you do. No offence to little childish whining bitches here.

If one blows up in France you are in a lot less trouble if you are in Canada, then if you are in Belgium. There are too many freaking reactors in one tiny little area. I bet Canada has much less reactors and 1000 times more spread out. Besides, Belgium already has the highest rate of breast cancer in europe. Chernobyl anyone? Also i don't think i've ever seen a young person unintentionally bald before i came to Belgium. Freakin weird, thousands and thousands of men in their twenties all losing hair, how can this be? They are too young for this. Just weird.

Great news for you, there are nuclear reactors in North America too. Seems like the risk is potentially the same. Russia has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in Europe, if not in the world. Never saw such masses of people dying in their 50/60s before I came to Russia. And talking about North America including Canada, those guys live in general 6 years less than the average European. Maybe it's because of the crappy food they are eating all day.
Isn't that silly? I agree. You see, such meaningless comments can be written about any place. What I mean by this is that you should relax... You are in Western Europe and though it is surely not paradise here, there is no more threat to your health being here than in other places.

Oh yes, that 80 euro a month will make all the difference I'm no planning on having 20 children, or even 3, so the allowance is not a really great argument.

You might not live in the same kind of reality than most of the people here, but once you will grow up you will realize that for most families 80euros per month for every child (knowing there is a percentage of increase for every birth) is something that no one refuses neither neglects. I am even more surprised by your writing since on this Forum you often complained about the fact you feel there is not enough money in your marriage right now to allow you the level of life you desire. Strange then that you start spitting on the money the State is ready to give you in case you become a mother.
Needless to say that I am also very surprised by how you're trying to find a place where it is possible to enjoy a comfortable level of life, to raise a family and having only one salary. In 2012, in developed Western economies, such situation doesn't exist anymore. I won't go to the point of saying that you're waiting for things to be given to you on a silver plate, but the question might come at some point.
The welfare system is so good that a child can stay covered by the social security system of his parents until the 25^th birthday, even if he is unemployed. By the way, the fact that our system is so generous is exactly the reason why Belgium has one of the highest rate in family immigration in Europe. People have no problem at using the family-reunion law to come over here with all their parents and children and get the benefits of the social system since foreigners are also entitled to have it here even if they never worked here and never participated to the system.
It's not uncommon, actually the French are even more generous and this is why they are the country in Europe with the highest rate of family immigration. I do not criticize it, I do not criticize the people doing so, I am just stating the situation here.

 

I do like the medical system, altho it comes out of your paycheck anyway, so you may think it's cheap but really you pay quite a lot to keep this system in place.  One of the highest taxes in the world, reaching up to like 50% anyone?
Have you not been following the news, they are talking of closing this tap. And not only this one, social housing and social loans systems are already overloaded, it is predicted the system will go bankrupt by 2020 if it goes at this rate.

Great, here is one thing that we agree about!!!
Indeed, this system is great but it costs us a lot of money, too much money. If you wanna know, at the last election I didn't support the actual government and though I think Elio Di Rupo is a very nice man, I think his policies will make the situation even more difficult in the long run.
I totally agree the level of taxes in Belgium is tremendous. But you see, as an independent and soon opening a new business, I am the first one to criticize the fact small business owners are suffocated by taxes. And I will say to you that if there is really something to criticize strongly in Belgium, it is the fact that it is a society where culturally any kind of entrepreneurial spirit is very small.
However, I would like also to mention the fact (and you know it since you seem to be following the news) that we're right now in one of the most terrifying economic crisis in modern history. Is there any country where right now there is no bad cuts in the states' spendings? Haven't the Britons fought the police in the streets of London very recently about cuts in education? Haven't the French strongly protested against the Pension system's reforms? And Canada, how are they doing over there? Is by any chance and magic/divine intervention Canada the only country where the crisis doesn't have an impact on social welfare and the life of people?

 

You pay for this with your taxes, see above. Education in Canada is also affordable compared to their salaries, i've looked. While their taxes seem lower.

Possible. In North America they are quite good and there is no way here to deny that fact. At least the education system seems to be way more honest than the one found in the US.
By the way, I also have a significant part of my family that is Canadian. They were born and raised in Edmonton. Now that they came back, they never tell anything special about the difference of level of life between Canada and Belgium, they tell me they pretty much can afford the same thing with their salary than when they were over there.

What kind of a lazy ass non working bum you have to be to need social housing longer than 5 years? So don't tell me this system is worth something, it's useless for people in immediate need and only works for the long time welfare people who don't bother getting a job

Maybe its helpful for people like you?
You mentioned often that there is not enough money at home right now to allow you to have the level of life you want, and on another thread you also mentioned that you think not being able to get a job before the next 4 years.
Personally I do think it is good that at least there is a possibility for people in need to enjoy things that gives them a better life. It might not be perfect, and I sure want it to be reformed, but fact is that in many countries around the globe (including the one where you're born) many people would appreciate the fact such program exists.
And honestly, even if you're trashing our country in such a silly manner, I am still happy this opportunity is also open to you if really in the future you need something better.

new cars i see these people driving and parked around, and the way they dress tell me that these people are not needy even a little. They are just taking advantage of the system. Otherwise they wouldn't be driving new cars and having beautiful clothes like that.
There is a very small minority who actually need a social house, and they have to wait 5 years in queue because of all the people who are taking advantage.

Great, here a second thing we agree about.
Yes, I totally agree with you, there are a lot of people using the system in Belgium. It is even more the case when it comes to unemployment benefits for life.
I can even give you a proper example, the one of the father of Romelu Lukaku, the famous Belgian football player. While still he and his brother are professional football players (and Romelu plays in Chelsea with the great salary that comes with it), his family got a social house. Simply because the wages of those two sons were not included in the application file.
I think it is a scandal when you see the amount of money those sportmen do... But still, even if we agree that this system must be strongly reformed... does that mean it is totally unuseful and that we should send it to the trashbin?

What free healthcare? You pay the doctor, then the government reimburses you like 60-70%. Never heard of free healthcare. Besides you pay for it with taxes

Healthcare is free if you go directly to the hospital. It is not uncommon, it's pretty much the case in many European countries. I've been unemployed during 2 months in the UK and I went to the hospital for cares. Never had to pay anything. It is the same in Belgium.
However you are right, someone pays the bill in the end and we do it with taxes. But you see, healthcare remains free for people like you... because it is paid by people like your husband and me, people that do work and do pay those taxes

This is outweighed by the negatives for me.
And i hate that people speak 3 gazillion languages, i'm not a freakin polyglot. I want to understand people around me. It is nice to have it temporarily, but not every day, day in day out people you don't understand everywhere around you. I hope in Canada they speak predominantly english.
If i had more time to learn french, maybe i'd be less sick of this multilinguisticality. But now i don't have time to learn french. There is only 1 week between the end of lessons and start of exams this semester, so i have to focus on that.

You already are a polyglot. Your English is excellent, way better than mine and it is even more amazing because your native language is Russian and that you had to make more efforts to reach that level than me.
Listen, one of my passion is languages. I speak fluently French, English, Dutch and Italian. I also have a good level in Hungarian and I start to express myself in Russian. I am not expecting people to share this passion, and I am absolutely not showing myself in example, but I can also honestly tell you that, knowing several languages and with years of experience in teaching French to foreigners from different ages and backgrounds... good will is the main thing.
I learned English and Italian while being a student in Belgium, experiencing the same education system as you're in right now, with the blocuses, ect...
Knowing that French shares 60-65% of its content with English, there is no reason why you could not reach a very advanced level in French quickly and easily. Especially when I see how you master English.

quality of food was never in question, but i'm sure food in Canada is no worse than here, and probably better, because it probably is grown in a much less polluted environment over there, than crowded, gassed, full of traffic, and at one time radioactive europe.

I think you have a lot of pinky ideas about the food industry in the world, including Canada.

C-da is an immigrant country, plenty of cultures there.

And so Belgium is. We have the city in the world, Brussels, where the most languages are spoken. There is no way to compare here Canada with Belgium on this as I truly believe that in terms of immigration, those countries are pretty much the same.

So yes. From where i'm sitting (not been to Canada once), Canada has everything bigger better and cleaner than Belgium.

Exactly. And this is when people are talking in such an absolute manner that generally problems arise. You said it yourself, you never been to Canada and unfortunately you described something that happens very often with people having severe mood swings... I just saw something on TV....
All in all, I am not here to fight you.
I don't care if you don't like here. I just feel sympathy for your case because I lived a long time abroad and I know what it feels to adapt to a new place. I wish you could find it easier. I have no advices to give to you, you would not listen anyway.... But I can only join the other users that replied to you, saying your posts and threads are full of other things, and that this might be more the source of your actual frustration.
And do not forget this famous sentence in French that I will try to translate to English for you...
“All around the world, an unhappy person always takes its own sadness in his luggages”.
Cheers, peace, and good luck!

[Chicagoguy]

Leelou,
I can see why you would be disappointed when your post crashed.   
I would give up.   

[Leelou]

Leelou,
I can see why you would be disappointed when your post crashed.   
I would give up.   

 

Yes but I found back most of what I wrote... And some chocolate gave me the strength to do the rest 

[Chicagoguy]

Ahhh     Chocolate   One thing Belgium has !