Claire Drinkwater wasn't interested in a long-distance relationship, so she moved to Belgium to be with her partner.
Provided by Claire Drinkwater
When I tell people I live in Brussels, they often ask how I ended up here. The truth is, it wasn't my original plan. I came for love, and didn't know how long I would stay.There was a heat wave when I arrived in Belgium. It was May 2015, and I was moving in with my partner. We'd met in New Zealand while on a career break to travel, and after returning home, he was rehired at his old job.To avoid a long-distance relationship, I took a chance. I packed up my belongings and left my home in London to see if we could build a life together. As I took French classes and interviewed for jobs in the sunshine, people insisted on telling me, "Don't get used to this weather," as if obliged to manage my expectations.This was a year before the Brexit vote, when the UK was still part of the European Union, making my relocation — with a British passport — easy. But I wondered if I'd made the right decision: The streets were clogged with traffic, and there didn't seem to be much to see or do.The city revealed itself slowlyMuch of what I knew about Belgium proved to be true. Chocolate shops and friteries serving crispy Belgian fries with 20 different sauces are everywhere. Waffle vans in the park sell warm, vanilla-infused snacks. And, there are over a thousand Belgian beers, each with its own branded glass.The first thing that pleasantly surprised me about Brussels was the property prices. We found an apartment to rent in a leafy neighborhood and paid almost half the price of my London flat.
