First visit to the supermarket

One important thing when you go to live in another country is for sure food, and food prices. After talking with several people, they explained me which supermarkets are the best (cheapest with variety of different products). In Belgium, main supermarket chains are DelHaize, Colruyt, Aldi, Lidl. As everywhere Lidl is the cheapest one, but variety of different products and manufacturers is not so good. You can choose just one kind of product for a cheap price. Let's say for example, they are not selling Pepsi and Coca Cola, they just sell Pepsi for the cheapest price. This is the strategy of Lidl, one kind of product, and a lot of it, for a cheap price. Aldi is also a cheaper supermarket with several kinds of product. Prices are a bit more expensive then Lidl but more cheaper then DelHaize and Colruyt. DelHaize is the most expensive supermarket, with a high variety of products. This was my first choice, because when you enter supermarket, atmosphere is really pleasent, everything is nicely presented, and clerks are also pleasent. In Lidl and Aldi you can't see that, because everything is stored in boxes, it is not so visually nice. Colruyt is something in the middle, they have almost all product like in DelHaize but price is a bit lower, because when they see the price in DelHaize they lower it down for a few euro cents. For one month average expenses are around 100 euro. But I have to say that I am buying a lot of necessary things (chocolates, chips, peanuts...) so you can save a lot of money there. During workdays I have lunch at comapny's restaurant, and I am paying around 120 euro per month for that lunch. It is not so good, but it is something. Also I have advantage, because I have lunch vouchers from my company, so I am paying monthly 25 euro for 20 vouchers (depend on days you worked in the past month). Every voucher is worth 6 euro. So at the end for 25 euro I get around 120 euro. So for 145 euro I have lunch at my company and food and other things that I eat at my home. Let's say that for normal monthly expenses for meet, fruit, vegetables, and some sweets and chips, you will spend around 100 euro. I can't post detailed prices of some products because I forgot them, but if somebody is interested I can post that also. To compare this situation with my country. Prices in Serbia are a bit less, so for one person, for one month you can live with 70-100 euro. To compare average payment in Belgium and Serbia. For Belgium average payment is around 1300 euro. So 100 euro for food is 1/13 of payment. In Serbia, average payment is around 350 euro, and 80 euro for a food per month, that is 1/4 of payment. So you can clearly see a difference. So if you are asking yourself, is it expensive to eat in Belgium, my answer is no, but one hint. Avoid restaurants as much as possible, because it is really expensive, and for one meal you can spend to 30 euro. If you prepare that dish by yourself you can save to 20 euro for sure. Once I went with my colleague and his wife to Greek restaurant. Meal for three persons with aperitif, salad, main meal and desert was 120 euro. I was astonished with the price, becuase those meal I can make by myself.

First day at my new job

After peaceful and short night, I got up later then usually 8h (now it is around: 6:20h). It is really good that I worked in my country before this, so I can compare things. Well, things can't compare, you will see why. At 8h, one guy from the company came to pick me up from my apartment. And guess what, that was my boss. In Serbia, they just told me, you should come here and here, at that time. No help, nothing. Yeah job was also in another city, 150km from mine. So first things that I can conclude is how much your boss care more about you in Belgium. After half an hour of travel and talking, we finally came to the company. It was in some village, but I didn't care about that. After entrance we entered engineering part of the plant. Getting inside and taking a look, it seemed like I am an main actor of some Hollywood movie, slowly walking through long office with more then 50 people. If you remember some ''business' movies you know what am I talking about. At the end of the office there was Infrastructure team, team that I will work with. My boss introduced me with other members of the team. The whole team (4 of them) were very pleasant, talking, smiling, asking funny questions. From the first contact with them, I saw it will be very pleasant and comfortable to work in that kind of environment. Today I have the same feeling when I come to the office. After introduction and half an hour of talking with members, explaining from where I am, and how I get there, I went to HR of my company. One note, that people were not negative when I told them that I am from Serbia. They don't have a bad image of my country, like some other people, and or course there is no reason for that. I met my HR manager and had one hour meeting with her to explain me everything that I will need to do, and that they will need to do. After few company policies, they gave me some crucial information's about some other, non-work related hints. Everybody were so pleasant to explain me everything that I asked for. After that meeting I went to pick up my company laptop, so I can start working. Of course first day is not planned for working, so I was reading those documents that HR gave to me. One interesting thing is that they made a photo of me, and put me on TV screens around plant and engineering department, so everyone can see that I am a new guy there. What a nice thing. HR management showed me hierarchy in Infrastructure and I was already in front of some people, because I am on a managerial position, and they are designers (Bachelor degree). So I was pretty surprised when they told me that I am responsible for them, and that I need to help them and lead them. Wow, I just finished my Master studies, and have a team to lead. Really nice feeling. They really made me feel like I am on the top of the World. Now to compare that with my first job in Serbia. I came to the city of Smederevo to start working as a contractor for a USSteel Serbia. Yeah everything was fine, boss was paying for a lunch for a new engineers, three of us. After that we came to the main office of the company, and we just sat there for 4 hours. Why? They didn't find us an apartment and also not a place to have lunch. They mentioned that we need to go home, and to come back for two days. Come on guys, I just came here to work and live, and they want to send me home before I even started working. Not a good start. Also boss (who finished Bachelor studies) acted like a God, he knows everything, and we don't know nothing. That is pure difference between Belgium and Serbia. In Belgium they explained me everything, why and how to do, and then if I had some good suggestions they listened and told me to do that, and to make a presentation, and comparison between old one and a new one, great isn't it?! After few hours working on my laptop, we had a lunch break, usually in Belgium (from 12h to 13h), and working time is from 8h to 17h, but even that I can change and I can make it more flexible for me, but 8 hours per day of working is an obligation. Lunch time and we are going to the company's restaurant. Hmm Belgian food. Yeah there is one problem, not so good. And when I say not so good, I mean in comparison with Serbian food. You have to try both to know what am I talking about, but OK, I have to adapt to a new things, no excuses. While having a lunch I talked with my colleagues and we were talking about situation in my country (really bad), and in their country (they were without government for one and a half year), so they tough that is bad. I would like that to happen in my country, no politicians, people to lead country, or even our king, like in Belgium. After lunch we went to the office again. I talked with my secretary about other things that I need to get (bank account, credit cards, car, mobile phone...). A lot of things. Back to Serbia, where I got just an mobile phone, after 2 months of working. Really sad, isn't it. After long and interesting day, colleague of mine drove me to my apartment. With a lot of things to think about I was sitting at my sofa, and reading policies. They are really strict, so must do that following instructions. A lot of things to think about while I am there.

First contact with Belgium country - part 2

When I entered my temporary apartment, I saw a lot of space, probably for the whole family. Of course it was furnished apartment with all things that you need to live peaceful and nice life. After my first few hours in apartment I was sad, because it was just temporary (3 months). After looking through the window I saw a beautiful weather outside, a lot of sun, and pretty warm weather. It was beginning of May, but to be honest I expected a lot of rain and colder weather then in my country. It is indeed, truth that more sun means higher moral and more enthusiasm to do things. After few minutes I unpacked my luggage, and started to read documents that my company left for me. Everything greatly explained, so no need for headaches, how and what to do. From some simple stuff, like where to find bakeries, shops to more complicated things like how to throw your trash. Yeah this is really complicated in Belgium, or it was for me, because I get used to put everything in one bag. There you have two bags, white bag for natural garbage (like food leavings and some similar things), blue bag where you throw your PMD (P - plastic, M - metal, D - drinking cardboard). So all things that are packed in those three, like milk, some cans... This is not so complicated, right. But when you need to keep those bags until one specific day when garbageman is coming to pick it up, then things are getting more complicated. White bag is thrown out every week (day depends on the zone of the city you are living), and for a blue bag every two weeks. I had some troubles, because for one week everything can happen in that bag, you can create a new world with bacterias and other bad things. Once it happened that after one week I find worms in my bag, and around it. There were not moving, but it is also scary and creepy to see them there in your kitchen. After that I pulled bag to the terrace and left it there. So some unpredictable things can happen with your garbage bag. How to throw out other things? For glass bottles you can find some specific places in the city, where you can come with your bottles and throw them into underground trash places. Because nothing is so simple in Belgium, you need to put bottles with dark glass in one dumpster, and light glass to another one. Well this is not so complicated, but... Also to throw out paper, you need to pick all paper that you have, and tied it up with some small rope or however, and then to put it outside of your house or building. This you also need to do with your garbage bags, evening before pick up day, to put bags in front of your house.  After few months I finally figured the whole system. At the end of the day I finally laid down in my bed to relax myself, because this was indeed a big step in my life. To be continued :).

First contact with Belgium country - part 1

Everything started May 2010, when I moved out from my home country (Serbia) to Belgium. Why I did this? I got an job offer from one of the best companies in Belgium (N.V. Bekaert). As usual when you leave your country, all people around you are sad, but the biggest sadness is inside yourself, because you know they will be there and continue living without you, but you will be alone in foreign country without anyone, starting your new life. I knew it will be really hard, but I kept in my mind just one thing, I am going to better, to make my own future on my own way. To be realistic, conditions in my home country was not so good, so decision to leave my country was not so hard. Imagine to get an job offer with 4 times more payment then in your own country. Of course money is not everything, but to be honest, today money bring happiness. It is not the same felling when you spend tat money on your own friends, in your own environment. After a lot of sadness on the Belgrade airport with my family and friends, my journey in better tomorrow started. Every beginning is really hard. After few hours of trip and landing at Brussel airport (Zaventem), I felt different. It was not my country, not my people, a lot of things were strange, but I was not afraid of that, today World is like that, you have to adapt to many things. After I picked my luggage, I went out and saw the man holding plate with my company's name, hmmm, yeah that was a taxi driver, waiting just for me. After that I felt a bit more important in that land. Trip from Brussel to Kortrijk was a bit longer then I expected, probably because of usual Brussel traffic jam. Talking with taxi driver gave me an positive start, because he told me a lot of things about Belgium, and he was really pleasant. After 2 hour trip I finally arrived to my apartment. I didn't mentioned but, company arranged me 3 months in a temporary company apartment, well what to say, really kind of them. After my first step in my apartment... To be continued :)