In the CIEE Brussels Business program, the students have a choice between living in a home stay or living in apartment style housing. In this blog, I'm going to compare two options however first I'm going to address the slightly confusing way you go about signing up for housing and how I was a little nervous and concerned about the process.
When you start the program's online to do list items, one is housing. I'm not going to claim this is verbatim of the options but I will try my best to write about what I remember. You have the option of French speaking home stay, Dutch speaking home stay, French speaking apartment style, and Dutch speaking apartment style.
For GW students, the price for home stays and apartment stays are the same due to the tier system meaning you get two meals a day if you do the homestay and no meal money if you do the apartment stay. I think this has quite an impact on student's selection process if you go to GW on the type of housing you want for this particular program.
To save money, I went with the home stay and if you are on a tight budget too I would recommend the home stay. However if you have the means to do either option, I'm going to reflect on both options to make your decision easier. I asked the members of my program this semester whether they regret choosing the option of housing they chose to do. Only two people regretted their decision out of 30. I think this really shows to go with your gut on which option you think will work best for you.
Home stay:
Pros:
Food. It's home cooked and you can try authentic food and experience how Belgians really eat. It is a great constant;
you know you will be fed without having to go to the grocery and plan meals out.
Sick. I had the flu about a month ago and my house mom told me which medicines to take and could take my temperature. It was nice to have a motherly figure around for that.
Supplies. You have all the spices, condiments, cleaning supplies, and other odds and ends you don't need to buy and don't think about needing.
Tips. Travel tips and getting around town are always a help when you are venturing out somewhere new.
Cons:
Burden. I feel like a burden sometimes. I hate being in some else's way, especially when I'm not used to affecting other people's daily lives..
Normal. Normally, as college students, we live on our own.. And home stay reverses that. You don't always have to tell your house mom where you are going, but its polite. I don't enjoy telling someone where I am.
Diet. As an athlete, I change my diet depending on my training. It's hard to do when someone else is cooking.
Apartment stay is the opposite of the above stated pros and cons of home stay. It is nice to live on your own but cooking and providing for yourself is a hassle.
It is said living in a home stay emerges you into the culture of the country more; however, I disagree. I think living on your own having to go to the super market yourself and learn how to survive in the country without a role model helping you every step of the way is a greater way to be emerged in the culture of a new place. Again, it is all preference and go with your gut! I wanted apartment stay and did home stay always and regret it.