Share Your European Living Experience

I wish I could help you, but I don't know much about Europe. Have you tried living in America? There are plenty of Nigerian communities around here. Also, the African Americans use and provide similar hairdressers/hair styles as Nigerians.

@Afeni
I live in Houston, TX aka The Nigerian captial of the US! j/k But it's a close 2nd. Thanks though.

@Mochafella
 

@Chinani

Noooo! say it ain't so. Why would you want to move to Europe? Europe is so damn expensive and life is rough out there. Rome and Paris are brutal cities for immigrants. I am sorry except you have Immigration/Status Issues, i suggest you take Loverbwoy's advice and change your state. Please rethink moving to Europe. I think you can do better here in the US. But if that is really what you want to do, i hope Nigerians in Europe can give you true advice/guidance. I suggest you do a "Test Run" or "Dry run" before you pick up and move. Think of the Language barriers, anti-immigrant policies, very high cost of living and the socialist system of government that can sometimes be very slow and depressing.

But like you always say,"To each his own". Beef aside, think hard on this one.

@LoverBwoy
Aren't there any litter boxes in Europe? LOL! I don't think I'm cut out for Eastern Europe - it's rougher than Nigerian But I do want to know about places that aren't London. I feel like I can find out about London & the hotspots anywhere so I was hoping that someone can tell me about the lesser known localities etc. Thanks for the reply.

@OldGlory
You have a point. I am worried about the expense but I want to take the opportunity to travel when I'm young, single and childless as I am now. I also want to do something before I start grad school. I'm only planning on being in Europe for 1 year so I figure it can't be too bad. What makes Rome & Paris brutal for immigrants? These are exactly the types of things I want to know (but don't). Oh & I didn't know about the immigrantion police. How do you think I can find Nigerians in these cities? Sorry. It's so many questions. Anyway, me thinks you will miss me when I'm gone.

Ah, I see I am correct  . Don't worry I won't let your secret out. I'm willing to bet a couple of other things but 


Not many, the odds of bumping into one on the street are severely limited. _{That is understandable given that few people walk out here}. You will meet them at the Naija restaurants and churches though.

i agree with OLD GLORY

you need to actually visit those places, the farther you go from western europe the harsher it becomes, fewer jobs, more hostile, and trust me some have never seen a black person before except for t.v

Rome, paris, spain and co that you'll think will be an ideal society to live in are openly racist!! ahhhh its just another planet on its own in eastern europe      

-but goodluck

Aren't France & Spain in WESTERN Europe? I mean Africa ends at the Pyrenees right?

I thought someone said otherwise. That's all. No and.

I'll give you some info on Brussels later this evening today (CET that is). All depends on what your goals are.

Thank you 1ofall, this is the sort of info I need & want. And Nferyn, I am patiently waiting.

As for my goals, I'd like to learn a language well. Be exposed to art. I prefer cosmopolitan living and big cities though I know they are very expensive. I will be alone. My goals are to take to (a)learn a language (preferable French or Italian), (b)learn TONS about Europe while (c)making observations and doing research for a book I want to write. I know won't have an illustrious job b/c of labor laws, I don't have talents that are in high demand, and I'm not a member of the EU. I am comfortable with this.

My target cities are Paris, Rome and Brussels in no particular order. These are very expensive cities so if someone could mention some other habitual areas, I'd appreciate it. Has anyone lived in Luxembourg? This city is no Paris but it seems peaceful and full of life. As someone mention, there is racism in Europe. This is why I'm trying to find diverse areas. Thank y'all again.

Belgium in General and Brussels in particular

Belgium has 2 main linguistic/ethnic subgroups, the Walloons (French speaking) and the Flemish (Dutch speaking). Although there is and has been a lot of intermixing and -marriage, those two groups have very distinct cultural identities.

Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is an odd case out. Geographically, it is situated in (or rather surrounded by) Flanders. Linguistically it is in majority french (about 70% french speaking, 10-15% Dutch speaking and another 15-20% speaking other languages). Culturally, the French speaking inhabitants of Brussels are a mixed lot as well, in majority, they are of Flemish descent, but switched to speaking French one or a few generations go, a minority has migrated from the Walloon part of Belgium and another minority is truly bilingual French-Dutch. Culturally, they orientate themselves as much to Paris as they do to Wallonia.

This very peculiar cultural/linguistic situation is tied into the history of Belgium as a nation-state. After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, the powers that be in Europe thought that it would be a wise move to limit the powers of France and added the Southern Netherlands to the Netherlands proper. For several reasons (one of them imposing Dutch as the administrative language), this experiment failed and Belgium gained it's independence. In the centuries that the United Netherlands had been separated, the cultural divide between two parts of what once was the United netherlands had grown too large to bridge. The tutalage of Baron De Rothschild (who wasn't very fond of the Dutch ambitions) ensured the viability of the new nation.
During that period (early 19th century), the higher classes all over Europe were using french as a mother tongue to distinguish themselves from the common people. The drive of King William I of the Netherlands to ensure that the country was administred in Dutch did not receive much applause among the Belgian nobility. Even though in the north of the country, almost all common people spoke one or another Dutch dialect, Dutch had not been recognised as a cultural/civilised language by the authorities in the Southern United provinces (Belgium), not by the Spanish overlords, not by the Austrian overlords and certainly not by the French.
At the start of Belgium as a nation, it was clear that it would be organised in a unitarian, uni-lingual, French basis. The impact of the first and second wave of industrialisation on Belgium was enormous. At the end of the 19th century, Belgium was the industrial powerhouse of continental Europe, even though Germany was quickly catching up and overtaking Belgium.
This ensured that the need for adminstrative, white collar labour alse increased and, in view of the state-structure, this meant an increase in French speaking administrative professions. The population of Brussels grew considerably and what was once a Dutch (Flemish dialect) speaking city quickly became more and more french speaking. The introduction of universal free education untill 14 after the end of WWI ensured that this proces of 'frenchification' took up speed.
As a Dutch speaking citizen of Belgium, there was only one option to move up in society: assimilation in the top-layer French culture. This process was been stopped, but there are still cases of discrimination of Dutch speaking people in Brussels. Language is a very touchy subject in Belgium.

To be continued

I would advice you to come to London. Why? Because you will fell like you are in Lagos, lots of Nigerians and enough Nigerian parties every weekend. Jobs are also available, but Nigerians are now migrating to Manchester(3 rd largest city in England) because their are more jobs available their than london, rent is quiet low, plenty to do in manchester (well thats where i study). Racism is low compare to Paris and other cities i've lived in.

Paris is also very lively, its challenging though because of the language, so i would advice you to do few months french language course before going. Lots of Africans, Senegalese, ivorians, camerounians, algerians, tunisians and many more, but Nigerians are not as much as the nationalities lisited above.

Well i'm currently in France on my placement year before going back to the UK, but not in Paris.

I believe London is much better to live in because you will feel at home.

 I have had the opportunity to travel some European countries with my family- Spain, France, Germany, Scotland, Ireland and the level of racism is just appalling although there is a significant number of ethnic minorities living there, the integration is just on different level compared to London. It is  more difficult for an Afro-French boy to get a job (any job not even a top paying one) just because his surname says Abdul or something similar, imagine what it would be like for someone who is an immigrant and doesn’t speak French. In Spain you get searched by the police for just sitting down or playing with your siblings in the park, imagine and they call it random searches and you see white people in the same park getting no hassle. I’m not saying it does not happen elsewhere too!!!

Those European cities have their positives and negatives and just ideal for tourism and gap year travel ie travel round, learn the language and culture and meet new people because if we were all worried about the level of integration/racism there, we will simply sit in the UK (London) or US for the rest of our lifes and not know what is happening in the rest of the world. I was surprised to hear an American girl once asking what language they spoke in England –duh. You tell them u live in the UK and the ask if u know the Queen personally.