" My name is Jody Wall and I too am moving to Belgium. It is approaching closer every day. My husband''s company is having us take culture classes and language class, but we are taking two teenage boys with us. Any advise on moving to Europe with two teenagers? We are going to be living in the Antwerp area. "

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" Dear Jody, I am a Belgian spouse living in Germany. My husband works for the US gov. here. You''re asking some advise about your teenage boys moving with you to Belgium. The first thing I can thing of is that you must remember there''s no drinking age limit in Europe really. You''ll see 13 or 14 year old hanging out in bars. It is normal over here, and oddly, teenagers can handle their booze better since it''s not a taboo. When we still lived in Belgium, however, I have seen US kids taking advantage of the fact that they could go out and drink with no ID check. Since it was a new thing for them, I''ve seen teenagers completely drunk in bars downtown. I wish you an easy transition (as easy as it can be) and enjoy Belgium! I know I am biased but it is a great little country, very central if you want to visit Europe... The food is great and you''ll find that most people speak English. Brussels has become very int''l, and it is, after all, the capital of Europe! Best of luck, Catherine Murphy "

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" Hi, We moved to Maastricht with an 8th grader two years ago. My biggest advice to you regarding the move would be to research available schools thoroughly. My husbands company recommended a small international school which seemed like a good idea at the time. We moved mid-year and the curriculum was far beyond our American educational system. In 8th grade they were taking 3 foreign languages, physics, chemistry, etc. The transition was too difficult for our daughter and we learned later that most kids ended up having to repeat a year eventually in order to graduate. Great education but not realistic. I''ve done some research on available schools here in Limburg and I imagine you may have a larger selection to choose from in the Antwerp area since you can go north east or south. My husband''s company never told us about the military/NATO schools that are scattered throughout the region, which is where my daughter goes now. They are regular high schools. Lindsey attends the one in Brunsum that is shared with German, British, and Norwegian military, civilian support, and private students. I do know there is a small NATO school east of Brussels (Brussels American), the International school of Brussells (ISB), and there is a catholic (St. Johns) just south of Brussels. Really try to understand the educational system of the school prior to enrollement. Each of the above will have different approach to education. The Dutch and British systems are far different than what we are used to, and problems are difficult to diagnose due to the culture/communication differences until too late. Ask lots, and lots of questions. You can never ask enough, again due to lack of information that gets left out due to language and communication differences. I hope this gets to you, and if I can be of further help, please feel free to e-mail me directly at anderson_terri@excite.com "

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" hello we have lived in the Waterloo area for about a year- my 16 year old daughter and 14 year old son have completed their first year and we are now moving to London. The best advice I can give is to be honest with them. Try and let them give input on the house that you choose(if possible) the bedrooms they will get etc. It is very different here- if you donot have a satelite dish, tv is very restriced so we brought as many videos as possible .Books, video and computer games too are a bit difficult and expensive. There are very few arcades like we have at home(video games at the mall)You can order items from amazon.com from Britain.There are so many things really-email me and ask away -I will be glad to help you - Stephanie "

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