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Luxembourg: Relocating to Lux from London, help!:
Hi, I suggest you have a look at websites like athome.lu or habiter.lu to get a feel for rental levels in Luxembourg. It's not cheap and if you would prefer a house to an appartment you may have to consider going further out of town. If you have a dog and enjoy walking in the woods, some of the suburbs are worth considering. Niederanven for example has a reasonable selection of shops, a good bus service, excellent sports facilities (including a pool ), close to the woods and there are a lot of anglophones living there. Sandweiler is also nice, although the shops are a bit more scattered. Bertrange has plenty of shops, a large number of foreign residents, excellent facilities and a good bus service.
Remich, on the Moselle has loads of shops (and petrol stations). Because it's a bit further out of town the property prices should be more affordable. There are lovely walks through the vinyards or along the river there.
The only area I would suggest that you avoid is the "Gare" i.e. around the central railway station.
Luxembourg: Am i mad to move to Lux ?:
Hi,
Definitely not mad to move here!
I came here when I was young, free and single, directly from Dublin. When I arrived there was a limited amount of entertainment and you really had to organise your social life actively. However, that was over 25 years ago and Luxembourg has changed dramatically since then.
There are loads of great concerts to go to, many big artists stop off here between Frankfurt and Paris. There are plenty of different types of pubs, films are usually shown in English, loads of clubs which cater to almost every interest, huge selection of public swimming pools, a few museums etc. It's also very well located for travelling to neighbouring countries- just hop on a train or in your car to spend a weekend in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Strasbourg etc.
A lot depends on what you like to do in your free time. If you like drama/singing, there are a few anglophone groups here that you can join. If you're more into sports there are a wide range you can get involved in quite easily and most clubs are quite welcoming as they are nearly all international. There's even a very active GAA club here.
The place where you will be working might have a good social life, this tends to be the case with some of the larger companies with a considerable number of foreign employees.
The English speaking scouts always welcome new leaders and it's a good place to meet people. You could take up a new hobby such as archery or fencing. There are evening courses you can do in subjects as diverse as yoga, Indian cookery etc. (Check out The Second Degree).
If partying is your thing, then there's plenty of that too in places like The Black Stuff, The Pyg, Urban, The Tube, Melusina etc. (I'm a bit out of touch in this area but I have younger colleagues who have no problem finding parties).
At the beginning you will have to make an effort to meet a few people but,after a while, you'll see it's like a big international village.
The quality of life is good.
The healthcare system is great. When you go to your GP, you pay up front but then you get approx 80% back from the state health cover that you have as an employee in the private sector. Same applies to dentist, specialists, hospital etc If you need something from a pharmacy, you only pay a proportion of the price if you have a prescription (proportion varies depending on what it is but inhalers for example are free).
I think you should go for it. Wait until you get here and see how many people say "I came here for two years but that was XX years ago".
Luxembourg: English speaking G.P.near Sandweiler:
Dr Marc Van Damme in the practice above the post office in Sandweiler speaks English (my husband uses him). Alternatively there is a practice with three English speaking doctors in Limpertsberg which is where I go. Details are:
Centre Médical
30 rue Frantz Seimetz
L-2531
Luxembourg-Limpertsberg
Tel; +352 278528-1
www.cmilux.lu
Luxembourg: 3/ 4 Bedroom house needed in September:
The school is in an area called Hamm. You could look on the website athome.lu for properties in the area. However, be advised that although Hamm and Bonnevoie are near the school, they are under the flight path for the airport and it can be noisy. Sandweiler and Itzig are not too far from Hamm but would be quieter.
In general properties are rented unfurnished but sometimes it is possible to find something furnished. Unfurnished means not even a light bulb attached to the wires in the ceiling and, usually, there is no fitted kitchen.
Luxembourg: SCHRASSIG:
It's a nice suburb with some very nice houses. It's on a bus route, half hourly service and the train station in Oetrange is within walking distance. There are no shops so a car would be advisable. There is a supermarket in Niederanven which is about a10 minute car journey together with a selection of other shops and a lovely swimming pool. It's also about10- 15 mins from the Kirchberg area where there is a large shopping mall. It is in the "Commune" of Schuttrange, which is the name of the neighbouring village, where we live. We like the area as it is quiet but yet close to the airport. There are some lovely walks in the area-through woods or countryside. There are a few restaurants within walking distance.
If you have children who are going to the European School or St.Georges then it's well located. Slightly less well located if using the ISL .
The main prison for Luxembourg is officially in Schrassig but it is located well away from the residential areas.
Luxembourg: Schools:
The European School is for the children of employees of the European institutions but a small number of Category II and Category III pupils are accepted every year. Category II pupils are the children of employees of NATO or certain companies in Luxembourg that have negotiated a contract with the school, the fees are higher than category III. Category III children can be from anywhere but there are a limited number of spaces. Applications have to be submitted around Easter and decisions are made in June for places the following September. There are language sections for most of the EU countries. Children are taught in their mother tongue and must choose either French, German or English as their second language.
St. Georges follows the UK curriculum with children in the secondary school doing GCSEs and A levels. The ISL curriculum leads to the International Bac.
The quality of local schools varies. Based on experiences of many of our friends here, the rural schools can be less welcoming.The syllabus is very heavily weighted on languages. Children start learning through German- reading and maths-French is added when they are eight. They get a lot of homework. Children who are not linguistically inclined will struggle but, until they try the school, it is hard to know who is strong or weak in languages. Local schools tend to be weaker then the other schools in both maths and science. Check out the results of the PISA studies for a comparison with other countries.
My children are in the European school as category III students. My nephew and niece were in the local school in Bertrange, quite an international suburb, but eventually were switched to the ISL where they are doing well.
Some good friends of ours-from UK- had their son in the local system but by the end of primary his results were not great so he was heading for the second tier of the local secondary school system. He was particularly weak in maths. They switched him to St. Georges where he is thriving, his maths level has soared and he plans to do engineering when he leaves school.
We have other British and American friends whose children are doing very well in the local schools. From an integration point of view it is a better option.
Decisions about education in Luxembourg are not easy!
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