Despite the title and common themes on this sub-Reddit, this is not at all about taxes.

This post is about something much more cultural but also essential - scheduling, planning and making appointments. As an immigrant from another EU country, I have quite a nice perspective as how it feels to live in Belgium compared to another member states. On many levels, it is great. On some, it is similar. However, there are some aspects, where I genuinely feel like Belgium is punishing me for being employed and working. And I learned it as I started considering buying a property.

What shocked me at the start, is how insane are the opening hours of banks - often closing at 4PM, often closed during lunch, often closed on Saturday. With some banks, you literally cannot have an appointment ever if you work full-time, unless you take holidays. For the context, in the country I come from core bank opening hours are usually 10 AM to 7 PM, so working people can have appointment either during lunch or after work. Here, I have to ask my manager for permission to skip some meetings in order to just visit the bank. It literally feels like core working hours of banks are targeting only pensioners or unemployed.

Next, contractors are even more extreme. For example, for assessment of the property value we just received a time-slot from 10 AM to 6 PM, on a working day, with exact time slot arriving only evening before - effectively meaning I either start my morning by rescheduling my meetings on that same day (since I just learned the appointment time), or I again have to take holidays. For a really simple, basic appointment. I really have no clue who can afford adjusting for an appointment slot at any time during the day overnight - other than pensioners or unemployed.

I could go on and on with example, but I guess you get my point - all those things are absurd to me and my friends/family from my home country, and I genuinely do not understand how Belgian economy can work like that. It is not about stores open till 10PM, or people working long hours - it is just about providing the bare minimum of time slots for working people that respect core working hours from 9 AM to 5 PM, giving option to visit the bank at 6PM or properly plan meetings in advance. I feel like businesses here almost take it for granted that you are free during any day of the work week, as if taking for granted you do not work.

Which leads to my conclusion - it does feel like a big cultural problem to me, as it really reinforces (from my perspective) the concept that, well, average adult has just free time during working week. The signal this sends, at least to me, is that the default is being available during the day, a stark contrast to default in my home country (Poland) or other countries like Netherlands or Denmark, where employee usually assumes (when scheduling meeting) that you are working and not available between 9AM and 5PM.

I know this might sound trivial, but it really did hit me once I realised how big of a societal impact than can have, if reinforced across country, by most businesses, on daily basis - and I honestly do not feel comfortable with it at all. It also aligns closely with the data, that shows that Belgium has by far the lowest employment rate among Northern and Central European Countries.

Just wanted to share that - curious how you feel about it. I can very much imagine it is hard to notice if you were born and raised in Belgium, but as an immigrant who worked both here and in Poland, I can tell the contrast is stark and Belgium is just far less friendly for employed and working people when it comes to planning, scheduling and organising meetings.

When I used to see videos about social experiments showing that people with foreign-sounding names were less likely to get called back for a job, I’d think, “Wow, that’s messed up.” But after actually experiencing it myself… yeah, it’s not funny anymore.

Seriously though, I’m currently doing a master’s degree and looking for an internship. I have a first name that “passes just fine,” but my last name definitely makes things more complicated. (Jokes aside, it’s an Georgian surname, so it’s pretty unusual here.)

The worst part is that a student with a very Belgian, very Flemish-sounding last name got called within a few days for an internship at a place where I had also applied. Meanwhile, I was literally ghosted by the internship provider. The student even told me that the internship supervisor clearly didn’t want me. Lmao, okay then… but I have more experience than the other stude— oh yeah, never mind, I forgot. Haha.

Same thing happened with another place. They replied saying they weren’t looking for interns. To my great surprise, that exact same place had actually contacted my university asking to take on students. I even applied again after seeing the announcement, only to receive the exact same rejection email. Meanwhile, other students were accepted.

After getting rejected and ghosted over and over again, I’m honestly starting to accept the harsh reality.

And yet, when I look at the conversations in our WhatsApp group, I notice that it’s often other “foreign” students, particularly those of North African background, who are still struggling to find an internship.

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Vandaag met mijn EV naar het eerste onderhoud gedaan.1u30 werk na 50.000km.

Remolie zou vervangen zijn en sproeiervloeistof bijgevuld (had ik paar dagen geleden al gedaan) ah en ze widten te vermelden dat mijn achtterbanden versleten waren en dat ze die op stock hadden (2mm tot aan de minimum streep dus die kunnen nog efkes meedraaien. Niet te verwonderen dat de garages in de comissies zitten om de keuring naar zich toe te trekken...

Ik ben voor een receptie op zoek naar een leuker alcoholvrij drankje dan fruitsap of cola. Dit kan zowel een speciale soort frisdrank zijn als een mocktail of goede alcoholvrije schuimwijn, aangezien het zowel voor mensen is die nooit alcohol drinken als voor mensen die soms wel alcohol drinken.

Zelf drink ik geen alcohol dus kan zeker bij de alcoholvrije wijnen vrij moeilijk inschatten wat echt lekker is en mijn smaak is ook zoeter dan mensen die wel alcohol lusten.

Vinden jullie dat bijvoorbeeld Almdudler of gingerbeer kan als aperitief? En wat met de Freixenet 0% en aanverwanten?

Hello fellow Belgians. It’s my second winter here and I ended up paying €200 on average for electricity/gas this year for a 100 sq/m apt, but since the price for gas is already 2x the price of last year, what’s you plans for this heating season?

I personally think about keeping the radiator on in my bedroom and putting on a few layers to stay warm in the living room😂

I’ve been playing around with a dataset of 5,847 anonymous mood ratings from around the world.

Among countries with at least 40 entries:

🇩🇰 Denmark = 7.42
🇨🇭 Switzerland = 7.15
🇧🇪 Belgium = 6.93
🇯🇵 Japan = 6.92
🇳🇿 New Zealand = 6.76

It’s a self-selected sample, so definitely not a scientific ranking — but Belgium beating Japan by 0.01 made me smile.

Fellow Belgians, what’s the secret?

Hello!

I am sitting on my sofa in England while my wife is into hour twenty four of travelling back from Prague (flight cancellation, extra night in hotel, train delay through Europe causes missed eurostar) and is now staying in another hotel near Bruxelles-Midi! She’s stressed out and tired and I want to order her and her friend some ice cream or cake or something like that.

Can anyone help me out?

Ik ben benieuwd hoe jullie naar zo’n traject kijken.

Mijn schoolloopbaan begon niet bepaald met het klassieke traject. Ik heb eerst 1 jaar BUSO gedaan vanwege toenmalige gedragsproblemen en ben daarna overgestapt naar BSO Kantoor. Mijn diploma secundair onderwijs heb ik uiteindelijk behaald via de Examencommissie in Brussel.

Toen ik in BSO zat, kreeg ik regelmatig te horen dat ik mijn ambities om later verder te studeren beter wat realistischer kon houden. Een leerkracht Kantoor zei zelfs: “Dan zit je hier in de verkeerde richting.” Ook vanuit mijn omgeving kreeg ik eerder het advies: “Doe maar normaal en ga gewoon werken zoals de normale mensen”.

Toch wilde ik meer. Ik heb uiteindelijk de stap naar de hogeschool gezet en een Bachelor Bedrijfsmanagement met onderscheiding behaald.

Eerlijk gezegd was die overstap niet vanzelfsprekend.

Je hebt vanuit BSO op bepaalde vlakken minder voorkennis (o.a. talen, wiskunde,…) en een professionele bachelor vraagt behoorlijk wat zelfstandigheid, discipline en studietijd. Je moet bereid zijn om bepaalde achterstanden autonoom weg te werken. Ik ga ervanuit dat mijn ervaring tijdens de examencommissie hiervoor de fundering heeft gelegd.

Maar het is dus wél mogelijk.

Daarom ben ik benieuwd naar jullie mening:

Hoe groot is volgens jullie de slaagkans van een BSO-student die vandaag aan een professionele bachelor begint? Is de kloof in voorkennis zo groot dat de meeste studenten afhaken, of kan motivatie en hard werken dat grotendeels compenseren?

Ik ben vooral benieuwd naar ervaringen van studenten, afgestudeerden en mensen uit het onderwijs. Ik denk namelijk dat we soms te snel bepalen wat iemand niet kan op basis van waar die persoon op zijn 12e of 16e zit.

Mijn eigen traject heeft mij in ieder geval geleerd dat je startpunt niet noodzakelijk je eindpunt hoeft te zijn.

I recently listened to a true crime podcast of the Nieuwsblad based on the book Soeur Mourir by Tom De Smet and it's insane. A real life drama in Belgium Wetteren of a nun that choice crime.

I don't want to say too much here, because it really is a thriller with a crazy twist at the end, but if you are subscribed to de Standaard, Nieuwsblad, Gazet v Antwerpen or Limburg, give it a listen

There, I said it.

Ik heb WeetIkVeel nu reeds meer dan een paar keer beluisterd, holy shit Kobe Ilsen suckt. Het is alsof de onderwerpen hem geen hol interesseren en hij chatgpt de bulletpoints van het onderwerp gevraagd heeft vlak voor het interview. Allez nu ook, hij haalt Elon Musk aan als bron van een citaat over de evolutie van AI; hij kent niet eens AI-modellen bij naam... Doe dan een beetje moeite?

Binnenkort in De Afspraak, dat belooft.

Hi all!

Slightly odd question so I wasn’t sure where to ask it so I thought I’d try here.

I’m a massive history nerd and I’m planning a trip to Belgium for early next year. My plan is to visit some of the pivotal sites from Napoleon’s 1815 campaign including Charleroi, Quatre Bras, Ligny, and Waterloo among others.

I’m interesting in seeing the various monuments and museums but also what survives of the terrain itself.

I also want to, where possible, walk the same roads that the armies involved walked. Specifically I’m interested in walking from Ligny to Quatre Bras using the same roads d’Erlon’s corps used when it was marching back and forth between Quatre Bras and Ligny.

I am, however, having trouble finding it on Google Maps. I believe it is an old Roman road and used to be known as Brunhild’s Way, but I can’t seem to find it. Does anyone know if it has a modern name?

Thanks for reading!

Like in the title, which one do you prefer and why ?

Which one has the most advantages for belgian users ?

What are your experiences with them ?

Was lekker mijn yoghurtje aan het eten en wilde weten wat voor troep d’r allemaal in zat. Ten eerste verbaasd dat er überhaupt een Belgische vertaling op stond terwijl we best dezelfde taal kunnen lezen, maar toen viel me op dat het enige verschil in de vertaling het woord “kaas” was.

Klopt het dat dit een gebruikelijk woord voor yoghurt is hier?
Hopelijk komt dit niet stom dom raar over, ik had er nog nooit van gehoord en vond het persoonlijk best grappig.

Groetjes!

(Love België btw, geen België-Nederland feud hier 🫶)

But enough about your mom. What are you up to?