Paul De Knop, the rector of the Free University of Brussels (which in Dutch is Vrije Universiteit Brussel and is always referred to as VUB), was one of a number of rectors invited by Cambridge University to write a letter to their successor, 100 years from now.
“What I wrote is not so important,” he told one of the Flemish daily newspapers, De Standaard. “My biggest worry is that 100 years from now, there might not be an address where the postman can deliver the letter. I hope that there is still a thriving university in Brussels in 100 years.”
The financial crisis has hit academic life in Belgium, along with every other sector. Even though VUB has 10% more students than last year, their budget stays the same. In addition, competition with other universities has increased.
The original university was founded in 1834 in the municipality of Etterbeek by Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen, a Brussels lawyer and member of the liberal party. Initially known as the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), it was designed to be academically independent, free from both state and church.
In 1970, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) was created as the Dutch-speaking spin-off of ULB. The universities are separate entities but share the same ideology of “free inquiry”, and they collaborate in many ways. Every year on 20 October, for instance, students from both ULB and VUB still honour their founding father.
With almost 10,000 students, the VUB is a middle-sized university. As well as the Etterbeek campus, it has a second hub in Jette next to the Brussels University Hospital.
While Flemish students tend to prefer other Dutch-speaking student cities such as Leuven, Ghent and Antwerp, international students are often attracted to the Belgian capital. The VUB has 1,400 international students, including 150 Erasmus exchange students.
Twenty-two years ago, VUB created Vesalius College (VeCo), an American-style undergraduate liberal arts school with English as the official teaching language. The college is located on the VUB Etterbeek campus and has approximately 270 students representing 40 nationalities. In addition, there are about 6,000 international students at ULB, and 80 students taking a masters’ degree at Boston University in Brussels, adding up to a dense international student community.
Welcome to Brussels, home to 19 municipalities and about 300 languages. But Dutch and French are the official ones. This language situation has its pros and cons, but here are a few basics to help keep you from going crazy.
1 The northern half of Belgium is called Flanders, and they speak Dutch
2 The southern half of Belgium is called Wallonia, and they speak French
3 Brussels is geographically located in Flanders but largely French-speaking and officially bilingual. In practice, you’ll hear mostly French, unless you are in a pocket of town that is largely Dutch-speaking (the area around Sint-Katelijne for example). However, English is also widely spoken.
4 Road signs, street names and printed information follow the language regions, which means that in Brussels, everything is in two languages. So don’t get confused if you can’t find Sint-Katelijne on your map. It’s Sainte-Catherine in French! All the streets (and many of the municipalities) in Brussels have two names – one in Dutch and one in French. (Flanders Today always uses the Dutch names of streets and municipalities.)
5 Some cities also have two names, which can certainly be confusing at the train station. “Luik” is Dutch for “Liège”, for instance, and “Gand” is French for “Gent” (and in English, we stick an “h” in it: Ghent).
Most local students go home to Mom and Dad’s on the weekend. Sometime that means they’re at least still in Brussels, but lots of them scatter about the country. What do the international students do? And furthermore, what do international students think of Brussels? Where do they live? Where do they hang out?
Stefan Blaesen arrived in Brussels from Germany as an Erasmus exchange student, just a few days before the start of this academic year. The 23-year-old chose Brussels because the VUB is a partner of his university in Germany and because he wanted to improve his skills in Dutch and French: “I gathered most of the information I needed on the internet – via the VUB, discussion boards and Facebook. There are many groups you can join even before the term has started, so you can meet other students and discover the city.”
Greek/Irish student Naomi Clear-Vekinis, meanwhile, studies International Affairs at Vesalius College and is an active member of Vesalius Student Government. “We organise events for new students so they get to know the Brussels lifestyle,” the 19-year-old explains. “We take them to the places we like to go. VeCo is affiliated with VUB, so we also mingle with the local students in their university bars.”
Student organisations also help international students find a place to stay. Most students rent a room (anywhere from €250-€450 a month) or share an apartment with friends.
“Small but cheap” is how Stefan describes his shared flat in the Sint-Gillis municipality. Facebook groups and housing websites, such as www.appartager.be, are good sources for apartment hunting. International students staying for a short period sometimes chose to live with a local family, to make the most of their Belgian experience. Vesalius Student Government organises a range of activities on Friday nights, and many of the students get together during the weekend. “It’s easy to get from the campus to town, but coming back on a week night is impossible because there’s no transport,” Naomi says. “At the weekend, we can take night buses, so that’s when we tend to go downtown to party. Brussels is such an international city, and it has a great atmosphere. That’s probably why there are so many international students here.”
Flanders Today is a 
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