An engaging and humorous look at how she came to Belgium, what she does there, and what she's doing to adjust to the local culture is what Kiwi expat Di gives us in her interview. She lives in Antwerp with her family, where she spends her days growing her photography business and learning the language, among other things. Read on for the highs and lows of Di's expat life in Belgium.	Di Mackey

-Where were you born?
I was born in Dunedin, New Zealand.

-In which country and city are you living now?
I’m living in Antwerp, Belgium these days.

-Are you living alone or with your family?
I’m living with the Belgian who lured me over here, he married me last August and we share our space with his 2 children for a couple of weeks every month and then ... my 20-year-old daughter and my 2-year-old granddaughter arrived from New Zealand some weeks ago.

I’m so very definitely not living alone :)

-How long have you been living in Belgium?
Hmmmm, I’ve been living in Belgium for almost 2 years now.

-What is your age?
I’m 42.

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Belgium?
Well, I was living and working in Istanbul, Turkey ... a move made after my divorce in New Zealand and a late finish at university which left me equipped to teach English someplace else and open to adventure when a friend over in Istanbul invited me to come work for her.

The move on into Belgium came about by accident really. I had never considered Europe as a place to live but Gert, my Belgian bloke, and I realised that we were in love and it would be so much more convenient to live in the same country. His children are 10 and 12, he couldn’t move to me and so here I am ... residing in Belgium.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
Oh yes. The advertising says 6-8 weeks for permission to live there and another 4 weeks for a business permit. Perhaps my situation was a little complicated due to me living and working in a 3rd country.

I started at the Belgian Embassy in Istanbul, just enquiring if they would help me get some kind of permit for Belgium because then I could stay working in Istanbul while my paperwork was processed. They told me to go back to New Zealand and do it from there which was complicated (even more when you realise the Belgian embassy in NZ is in Australia).

I had been out of that world for 2 years and would have had to rely on family and friends and part-time work to survive while ‘in process’ for Belgium. (Later I realised it would have been a huge mistake, as the Belgians are not speedy paper processors ... it could have taken months).

So I wandered over to Belgium, test-driving the whole 'living together' thing on a 3-month tourist visa. Eventually Gert and I realised we had something good and so the application process began.

I put in my papers, they were 'forgotten' ... left somewhere in the office for a month. I had to be patient and wait, the 6-8 weeks passed by. I went into Districthuis to check on their progress at 12 weeks ... No way, not yet.

It went on and on and on to the point where I imagined New Zealanders had been given some kind of new status on the 'dangerous potential citizen watchlist.'

The farce reached its zenith when I was asked for proof of identity on applying to marry Gert more than a year after landing in Belgium. (We knew by then, we had something rather special) and I handed over my passport, proud to have thought to bring it with me.

The woman looked me straight in the eye and said 'This isn’t enough proof of identity.' I found no hidden 'You’re on Candid Camera' cameras and asked what had to be done.

I had to travel to Brussels where they copied my details out of my passport onto a form which was stamped and I think I had to pay for. Then it was off to another office somewhere in Brussels for another big stamp and more money.

It’s crazy-making but I’m in now.

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?
No, I had travel insurance and it was fine. The Belgians themselves are incredibly helpful and I was touched by the way they helped out when I had medical issues.

Then later, we married on a Saturday and visiting the office that issues social security type numbers on the following Monday, I was stunned to find I was completely in the system as Gert’s wife and even had my own refund tickets for medical treatment.

Then again, Gert does pay massive amounts in tax.

-How do you make your living in Belgium? Do you have any type of income generated?
I’ve been working at setting up my own photography business here in Belgium. My ‘about me’ page is over here, along with my photography galleries: http://www.dimackeyphotography.com/about.htm, and I work as a private English teacher when the opportunity arises.

Needless to say, the internet has played a major role in me establishing my business and will continue to do so. But I have also volunteered as a photographer all over the place ... at the immigrant integration centre, pony camps, political campaigns and places like that, working for free but getting my work out there and seen.

-Do you speak the local language and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
I find language learning difficult in general, along with music, maths and sewing. I feel there’s a link ;) And I find Nederlands a real struggle. I can pronounce 1 of about 6 diphthongs which complicates learning. Every time I open my mouth I’m corrected here which is nice (that they care) but frustrating (because I never get it 110% correct and so the corrections keep coming). It’s not how I teach but Belgians are stunningly gifted in language and they often pursue perfection from the start.

Then there’s the fact that I fell in love with an English-speaking Belgian. It’s all we speak at home simply because he’s so comfortable in it and it’s how we began. Conversation is a huge part of our relationship, if we had to go back to nurturing me through Nederlands well ... it could be quite challenging in a way. He works hard, we have limited time together and even the two 70-year-old women who recently struck up conversation with me on the trams spoke fluent English. I remain unconvinced about needing to become fluent ... is that terrible?

So I understand that learning the native language is important, it’s respectful. It helps that I have English, I feel really lucky in that. Even in Turkey, everyone wanted to practice their English with me ...

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
Oh, I surely miss family and home. I miss my dad and my sister and her family ... brothers, friends, everyone sometimes. New Zealand is a stunning country – it does Nature so well. I miss clean air, good fruit and vegetables. I miss uncrowded beaches and roads and I miss seeing the mountains so much.

Biking is probably my favourite recreational activity here in Belgium (the bonus of having no hills, unlike home).

-Do you have other plans for the future?
Travel ... I want to interweave my photography business with travel in Europe and then combine both with a new website I’m working on with a friend and fellow expat traveling type. It’s exciting actually.

As a New Zealander I can’t help but appreciate how centrally located I am in Europe. Italy is closer by plane (2 hours) than driving to the next big city back home (4 hours) in NZ.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
We’re renting an apartment with 3 bedrooms for all the ‘kids’... we’re both divorce orphans who lost almost everything after long marriages. It’s just under 1000 euro for our place in a nice outer suburb, about 20 tram minutes from the city. Antwerp is much cheaper than Brussels, if that’s of any use.

To buy here ... an apartment like ours would be at least 150,000 euro and houses are rarish but they would be over 200,000 euro.

-What is the cost of living in Belgium?
The cost of living is much more expensive than New Zealand with less good quality food and water but superior medical services. Maybe it balances out in other things, I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it.

-What do you think about the Belgians?
The locals have a tendency to avoid newcomers. They explain it as something that developed from constantly being ruled by others ... by Austria, the Netherlands, the Spanish during the Inquisition ... and then they had world wars one and two fought in their country. I guess they could have a point.

Whether it’s shyness or reserve or a lack of need for anyone new, I haven’t quite worked it out but I know that more than a few of us expats have felt so bad about ourselves as we realised, usually for the first time in our lives, we were friendless.

They are kind people but it’s not so nice being a foreigner here.
Is that fair to say ...?
I think so.
It’s complicated by the fact that they feel they’re being overrun by legal and illegal immigrants and as a result there are real problems with a growing swing towards the extreme right political party.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Belgium?
Hmmmm. Well positively is that once the Belgians let you in, it’s nice but don’t expect to develop that ‘stay over’ or ‘party at my place regularly’ kind of friendship. Maybe that’s a colonial thing, writes the New Zealander.

Location-wise it’s very positive. Travel is fun and as each European country is intent on holding onto its own identity then an hour or two, crossing borders into other countries and you see the difference. You know you’re in Germany or Holland or France ...

Belgium is very much into language and by virtue of that, here in Antwerp you can sign up for 25-euro courses in Nederlands. I completed 1.1 and 1.2 and was impressed by what they offer. They’re also very much into assisting immigrants to integrate and run courses you can attend for free as soon as you have your permission to be here. It’s worth checking out.

Negative: I find the pollution in Antwerp difficult. They have most of Europe driving through them each day and as yet, they haven’t put toll charges on their roads.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Belgium?
Make sure that you’re self-sufficient in terms of amusing yourself.

Try not to be fragile if you don’t meet your neighbours or make friends with the locals for a while ... it’s not personal, it only feels like it is :) They are good people.

Tap into the expat groups ... Expatica and the like are great. I found a New Zealand group here and they’re simply delicious to hang out with occasionally.
Volunteer for things, you meet some great people and the integration people here in Antwerp are truly superb.

Learn the language, it’s a great social group of like-minded people sometimes.

Blog ;)

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Belgium?
1. I blog at Woman Wandering. I’ve been blogging since I arrived here so the stories are all there.
2. Alison is a Canadian living outside of Brussels and blogs a weekly column for Expatica. She has her own blog here: Cheese Web
3. Veronica also blogs weekly for Expatica and blogs here: V-Grrrl in the Middle
4. The New Zealanders in Belgium blog here: New Zealanders in Belgium
5. And there's also Expatica Belgium.