YourGuide Destination Consultant
Monique has a lot of experience of relocation, having lived for long periods in the United States, Germany, and Belgium. She is also something of a polyglot, speaking Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish (in that order of proficiency).
She began her working life as a teacher, in the Oudergem suburb of the Brussels area, but within a year had embarked on her expatriate experience, moving to Washington DC to work in the Belgian embassy. It was there she met her American husband (she now has two adult children).
'Living internationally really opened my eyes,' she tells us. 'DC, and later Frankfurt where I also lived, are both major business and political centers, but their differences to Brussels are significant.'
The difficulties she identifies in moving to Belgium are cracking the language codes (it is a two-language country, though English is widely understood), coping with the unfamiliar bureaucracy, finding a home and orientating yourself to the highly fluid society. 'I've heard that 1/3 of the people living in Brussels are expatriates), and that is an extraordinary number!”
Monique has the local knowledge to make sure the barriers facing newcomers can be overcome.
