decade

Today, I celebrated 10years in Belgium! 

At first, it was a complicated, short-term relationship with Brussels. Like many others, I came just for a 5-month intern with unknown ideas about the future. Slowly, I discovered an amazing city, wonderful, though difficult to explore. 

This is one of the best images for me. Brussels is like London (where I was before moving here), but with one, fundamental difference. In London there is 'everything' and it constantly comes up to you overwhelmingly. In Brussels, you can find 'everything', but you have to find it, go looking for it, and this makes difficult to appreciate the European capital. 

It's ten years in Brussels, rather than Belgium, and I'm still in love with this fantastic, small global capital. Fragmented, complicated, slow, immobile and dynamic. A real European crossroad where everybody can meet, come and feel strangers as we all here. 

I am used in mixing English and French, Italian at home and (some) Dutch at work. I bought a grammar book of Brusseleir (the Brussels dialect, which is a mess between French and Dutch) and wrote a lot of papers about this city-region. I know everything about its institution, history, water, tunnels, innovation policy, cohesion policy and research performance, but these are boring stories. I still have so much to learn. 

Brussels means my family life with my 2 kids born here, countless friends and, among many other wonderful things, I can't forget Impro for Dummies - Brussels, an amazing story that had ended as all great stories have to. I think it is the day to start applying for the Belgian citizenship. Let's see if feasible. 

Meanwhile, merci, bedankt, thanks, grazie!