Brussels Experience

As a teenager living in Belgium, the experience is very different from that of Canada.

I moved to Brussels only one month after turning 13. Having lived in North America my whole life, the change was very hard and different from what I was used to. Starting school was probably one of the scariest things about the move. Going into eighth grade, everyone had already formed groups and made friends, so being new was difficult, but with Brussels being such an international city, I wasn’t alone. Most were very welcoming to newcomers, most likely due to them also having been in the same situation at one point.

Another challenge I experienced was the difference in education. Coming from a very small public school in Canada, I was very behind in the curriculum, which made transitioning and keeping my grades up very difficult. Teachers were very understanding of this, though and within the first year, I was caught up in the majority of the topics.

My biggest piece of advice to the new teenagers moving abroad is to just ask for help from people. In such an international city as Brussels, many people understand the challenges of moving abroad. Asking for help makes things much easier than trying to figure it all out on your own, especially when it comes to education.

One of the things I have enjoyed most about living in Europe is how accessible it is to people my age. Though the legal driving age is higher than in Canada, the city provides numerous ways to get around, such as public transportation, and easy access to biking and walking lanes. There are so many options to travel around the city by yourself or with friends as a teenager, and it makes it much easier to be more independent. It also makes it so much simpler to hang out with people and provides a much easier way to socialize and explore the city.

Traveling is also very different from living in Europe. While it may be tiring and stressful at times, living in such a tightly packed continent makes it much cheaper to travel and explore different cultures, languages, and countries. From taking the train to Amsterdam for a weekend to flying an hour to Rome, living OUTCAN provides so many opportunities to see the world and have so many amazing experiences at such a young age. There are so many different historical monuments to see and cultures to learn about, and most places you go will speak either English or French, making it very easy for Canadians to travel and learn.

Living in Europe has definitely been one of the biggest changes of my life. At first, it was very challenging, but the longer I have lived here, the easier it has become and the more opportunities I find myself finding for the future. The education here is great preparation for college or university and provides so many different pathways depending on what you want to do and where you want to go. Being OUTCAN, I have had the opportunity to experience so many new things that I would never have experienced in Canada.