1 Month in Ghent - was it good?

Cost of Living Guide.... was living in Ghent, Belgium good?

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[rangers]

I love Brugge. I love Belgium. My Belgium pen pal (Lut) and I met when we were 8 & 9 years old…I was older by 8 months. Neither of us could speak each other’s language but with a translation book we were able to communicate. We looked up all the bad words first. She had such a nice visit with us, my family and neighborhood friends, that her parents sent her back two times before we reached 18. My parents bought me a ticket to Belgium for my high school graduation. So I went to Belgium for five weeks the summer I turned 18. I had such an awesome visit. I was accompanied/chaperoned by her uncle who was the source of our budding friendship. He was our associate pastor of our Catholic Church in Michigan. My mom often said how honored she was when this priest approached her about hosting his niece/god daughter from Zutendaal, Belgium. It was a fairly large congregation with its own Catholic school. Out of all the children in the parish he wanted me to become an American friend to his beloved niece. I often wondered if he knew that in 1975 he was instrumental in forming a life long friendship between two little girls who had very little in common. This priest died in 2004 of cancer. Even today, I’m still grateful for his wise decision. Back to our introductions. When I say we had very little in common it’s because Lut came from a very affluent, prosperous family. My family was very lower middle class. My dad worked for an automaker, my mom was a housekeeper. Our house was only 900 square feet with one bathroom. I had three sisters and one brother, so seven people living in a 900 square foot house in a baby booming neighborhood. My parents carved out a regimented lifestyle for us. Dinner was very important. We all knew we had to sit down at the same time every day no matter what. Church was also vital. Every Sunday we had to be sitting in a pew. The best thing about our family were our vacations together. You’d wonder how we afforded vacations? My dad bought a travel trailer that slept seven pretty comfortably. Two weeks every summer we went on a camping vacation. When my oldest sister was entering her senior year of high school my parents took us on a two week vacation camping at Disney world. It was amazing. As for Lut, her family home was four times bigger then our family home. They also had a vacation home on a small lake. Her dad was an amazing furniture maker/designer. She had only one brother. For as different as we were to one another, we became best friends so fast.

So my first trip to Belgium was in 1981. It still ranks up there as one of my best memories. Lut and I were both ‘boy crazy’ teens. We often talked about the men we wanted to marry. To this day I’m still surprised with myself for not falling for a Belgium man? But it is what it is. Lut and I made plans to attend a church dance in her town. We got ready, her uncle/chaperone/priest drove us to the church hall. Right outside the entrance door was a young couple making out/kissing. Well, the uncle wouldn’t let us out of the car. He said that was not the place for two sweet girls. We came home and played monopoly that night.

But since that visit I have been back to Belgium with my husband one time. Since our priest died, Lut and her husband and two daughters have been back to the USA three or four times. And every time they were here, we were together. I still want to go back someday, but FaceTime allows us to visit frequently.

But I’ve been to Brugge both times while in Belgium. Lut and her family now live in Ghent in a house twice the size of ours. I love Ghent. The bakeries and shops and marketplace are truly an experience. I think we have been to every castle, tourist attraction and city in Belgium. We also visited Amsterdam and Germany. When we go again someday, I want to see Italy.

Thanks for your video. Brought back many good memories.

[kingrobin]

OMG yes, the waffles Gent-Sint-Pieters are amazing. It takes so much willpower to not buy one every time I pass the stand

[pavelzuk]

What are those airbnb prices though, I can't find anything below 1000 eur

[lemastre]

I just love how you are in Antwerpen Berchem, where I commute to for work, and the guy with the accordion is just sitting there like always. Hilarious.

[JackyRickmans]

frites atelier is accually not Belgian 😢 its from a dutch guy