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jacq (f)
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I will like to visit these 3 countries some day in the near furture .
has anyone been in any of these countries of lived there ?
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Seun (m)
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What about those three countries makes you want to visit them? And where are you based now?
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nferyn (m)
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I'm from Belgium. Fire away your questions
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ijebuman (m)
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Been to Belgium, nothing much to see  (apologies to nferyn) on my way to Amsterdam 
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nferyn (m)
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Been to Belgium, nothing much to see  (apologies to nferyn) on my way to Amsterdam  There is a film about an american group of tourists on a trip in Europe, the title is "It's Tuesday, This must be Belgium"  Anyway, there's quite a lot to see, but usually Belgians are very bad at self-promotion and patriotism is very rare. You have the historical medieval city centers of Bruges and Ghent, the art-nouveau buildings of Brussels, the old industrial belt in Wallonia (quite a sight) Belgium probably has the highest concentration of excellent restaurants and pubs in the world (Belgium has more than 5000 different sorts of Beer - and not all varieties of lager) Antwerp and Ghent have a very lively cultural scene. In Holland, Amsterdam is OK, the rest is.... say no more  One piece of advice: do not eat anything in Holland, unless it's an Indonesian restaurant. Their food is awful.
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ijebuman (m)
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Just pulling your leg  but it does seem that way if you're passing through to Holland I 've spent a few days in Antwerp in the mid 90s as i had a friend living there and the nightlife is quite good. I've stopped by at Ostende on my way back a few times for some belgian chocolate  The beach there is great. Did you know Marvin Gaye lived in Ostende in the 80s ? He wrote 'Sexual healing' while he was living there.
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sage (m)
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i love the scandanavian countries save 4 the cold. Peaceful most of the way. hmmmmmmmmnn 
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IAH (f)
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If UK is like this, I wonder how all these 3 countries would be like. Much less good-looking.
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sage (m)
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@IAH i think all the scandanavian countries have a higher per capita income and better standard of living than the UK and the US. I guess they are not popular among Nigerian travellers because of extreme cold and Language barriers
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jacq (f)
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How is life for a black woman in belgium @ nferyn ?
i heard belgium has the best educational system in the world is that true ?
if i could get a scholarship i will like to go to belgium to study nursing.
is the language difficult to understand or speak ?
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nferyn (m)
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How is life for a black woman in belgium @ nferyn ?
It won't be easy. Immigration is fairly recent in Belgium. The attitudes are changing though. Your knowledge of the language is very important. i heard belgium has the best educational system in the world is that true ?
Maybe not the best, but certainly one of the best. Flanders (not the whole of Belgium) always ranks in the top 10 of OECD classifications and usually in the top 5. if i could get a scholarship i will like to go to belgium to study nursing.
This is probably one of the few jobs they would encourage immigration for. Do not forget that in Belgium, language is extremely important. If you're in the north, better speak Dutch, if you're in the south, better speak French. Flemish people are very touchy when it comes to language - and I know I'm Flemish is the language difficult to understand or speak ?
So they say, but if you want to learn, you'll have a lot of free help and support
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nferyn (m)
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Been to Brussels
They speak Flemish, French and German i think ( hardly any English but there are some Irish pubs . Most people who speak English there you'll meet work for NATO or the European union)
You've encountered a bad sample, I guess. Most people do speak english, but they will have trouble understanding you if you speak with a thick Nigerian accent. Flemish people are usually better at languages and as Brussels is majoritary French, you probably met the wrong people. The biggest hurdle immigrants have to overcome when learning Dutch is that most people will automatically switch to English when they hear you're not speaking Dutch fluently - makes it harder to learn the language. Brussels wasn't that great but was still some fun though. Pretty neat city- although i hear it has its ghettos too. nice buildings. Get to see the European quarters , royal quarters etc
It takes years to get to know the fun parts of Brussels. Belgium is very bad at self-promotion. Those ghetto's aren't really ghettos as you'd see them in France, there's much more of a social mix. Doesn't mean that those quarters don't have their problems, but I've lived in one of these neigbourhoods for two years and never had any problems, never been mugged and only been harassed once. Belgium is among the safest places on earth. It's all in the eye of the beholder. Not much else I'm afraid . I hear Antwerp is a great place though
Cultural life (clubbing, pubs, concerts, ...) in Antwerp is off the chain. If you're young, you'll certainly enjoy Antwerp. Most Nigerians in Belgium reside in Antwerp.
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nferyn (m)
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@ debanjee Chill  It is I that wasn't clear enough  I really didn't mean to say that you were definitely speaking with a thick Nigerian accent. My wife did when she just came to Belgium and I was just introducing a possible cause for them not understanding you As a matter of fact, it is very hard to appreciate Brussels if you don't live there. I studied in Brussels and stayed there for 4 more years afterward. I didn't even know Brussels all that well when I just finished my studies.
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chrisd (m)
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You should calm down a bit debanjee
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ojonilo
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hello im a 29 year old female nigerian, i want to clear my account and relocate to europe not nessesary for greener pasture but to find in peace which i cant find in my nigerian enviroment, ive been to france, spain,italy n greece before but on holidays and i feel in love with europe in so many ways, odinarily i should look at d united kingdom or usa but i honestly dont like there. im very skillful i can type 80words in one minute, i can sew,cook and make hair very well skills i picked out of boredom. the countries i have in mind to relocate to are either denmark, sweden, norway, italy or greece. i dont know anyone in these places but that does not scare me cos i want to begin anew, what ill like to know is the way they live in these countries considering commerce, tax,racism,on what ground can i get residence permit n how long wiil it take and which of this countries are black populated
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Vicjustice
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Hail, Nferyn. I must admit that as a guy from Belgium, i'm impressed at your level of English, i just checked your profile and i saw a blue eyed handsome white Dude: i understand that you're an active poster and it pleases me to see a guy like you interested in Nairaland and that you're contributing to this forum positively. You're indeed our friend and brother.
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gracy67
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I have been living in brussels for the last 2 years and I believe one drawback of living in Belgium is extreme rudeness in customer service and horribly defunct bureaucracy. No one, in a professional capacity, answers phone calls or emails, even when you need something very urgent. So living in Belgium requires some aggressiveness and a lot of patience.
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gracy67
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I have been living in brussels for the last 2 years and I believe one drawback of living in Belgium is extreme rudeness in customer service and horribly defunct bureaucracy. No one, in a professional capacity, answers phone calls or emails, even when you need something very urgent. So living in Belgium requires some aggressiveness and a lot of patience.
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gracy67
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I have been living in brussels for the last 2 years and I believe one drawback of living in Belgium is extreme rudeness in customer service and horribly defunct bureaucracy. No one, in a professional capacity, answers phone calls or emails, even when you need something very urgent. So living in Belgium requires some aggressiveness and a lot of patience.
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