u/Remote-Golf2156

Hey!

Me and my fiancee are currently living in Leuven (renting) and we are considering moving to Mechelen and buying an apartment (or optionally house) here. Before committing to it, I wanted to ask couple of general questions:

1. Healthcare - This is probably the most important one. How is it with accessing (1) GP, (2) health centre and (3) hospital? We currently have a good GP, good health centre (MCH) and hospital (UZ Leuven), all within walking/biking distance. How is it with it in Mechelen? Is it easy to find GP and/or specialist? Importantly (as my partner is not fluent in Dutch), do doctors (GP, specialists, hospital) speak fluent English? We never had a problem in Leuven (to be honest, most doctors speak here C2 English that is genuinely better than most native speakers and make me feel almost intimated), but I just want to make sure it will be more or less the same (no need for perfect English, just ability to communicate well, explain diagnosis etc.)

2. Biking - Second most important point. In Leuven, to be honest, it is a mixed bag. Most times it is very good, but some huge SUVs with boomers/students driving erratically can make biking really stressful (rarely, but can happen). I wonder how is it in Mechelen? Is it in general safe and comfortable? We plan to bike everywhere (station, groceries, GP, restaurant), and in future have our kids also bike to school etc. We will be mostly moving around Mechelen and Coloma suburb, albeit we will also have to go from time to time to Lidl and AH in the north (is it accessible with a safe bike path?).

3. Integrating as an immigrant - would you say it is hard or easy to integrate as an immigrant from another EU country (I hate to mention my EU origin but I do know it sadly still matters at times)? In Leuven, making friends is in general relatively easy, since it is quite international, but I wonder about Mechelen - it is quite important for us to be able to make friends in apartment block or neighbourhood, invite someone for a dinner, have trusted people next door, etc.

4. Overall safety - I work in Mechelen so I do know the city quite well from pedestrian perspective, I do not feel like it differs a lot from Leuven (aside from clearly much fewer students, thank God!). But please share any concerns you might have.

5. Coloma - we might move in the Coloma suburb of Mechelen (or simply the city centre, to be still seen), so curious how you find it?

6. How do you see the city improving over the coming years - least important, but I am also curious how you see the city improving in coming years given its recent trajectory? I think it quite decent for biking now (still much to be improved, but it is not bad anymore), the new train station and district behind it also look like a great development for the city. I am curious how you find the current dynamics - my personal take is that it has much more room for the growth compared to Leuven (so much more nice new apartment projects compared to Leuven!), and the new station will also boost it a lot.

7. Last and minor question - please feel free to recommend any good fish, vegetarian, or vegan restaurants in Mechelen you like going to!

Thanks a lot for answers, all comments are welcome! Have a nice day.

I have a question regarding exposure. My anxiety is simple - fear of swallowing and chocking related to food, liquids and pills. For the context, I will start working with a professional in couple of weeks - but I nonetheless wanted to hear your thoughts and experiences on this issue.

So far, I was trying to do exposure on my own. The small steps was removing some safety behaviours - for example eating without watching anything and simply focusing on the meal. Another form of exposure that I tried was "just do it" - an approach I am trying with pills. Whereas I can admit that there is success in the fact that now I regularly swallow the pills I want to, the issue is that... my anxiety and physical symptoms are almost exactly the same as they were.

Despite weeks of "fighting" with swallowing those pills day by day, I do not really feel any improvement of terms of anxiety or stress. I repeat swallowing them every day, yet the next day I am just as scared as I was the day before of doing it again.

I am wondering at this point - is there a point at which exposing myself to this uncomfortable activity (swallowing pills) actually results in reduced anxiety? Can it actually every get more comfortable based on repeated feedback that day by day I do it and do not choke?

Sure, I am still tense when I swallow, but it is simply impossible not to be - I am genuinely scared of doing it. Do you have any tips, advice or suggestions how to improve my exposure practice? Again, I will start working with a professional soon, but I still want to understand it better. Thanks!

How is it possible, that someone can destroy parts of a public garage while completely drunk, and not even have his licence revoked permanently and car confiscated? As I understand, his driving licence is just suspended for 2 weeks, and by September he will be able to do it again, with the same car.

Why rules for drunk driving are so extremely lax in Flanders, and Belgium, in general? Taking away licence and having to retake exams and driving school, along with confiscation of his car, seems like a very minor penalty for such a crime anyway.

I am considering moving to Coloma, which would mean almost daily cycling along the Jubellaan to the station.

I went cycling there today and what surprised me is (1) how had the condition of the bike path is, (2) how fast cars are driving on Jubellaan and, most shockingly, (3) how there are some huge trucks parked along the street almost everywhere, some actually entering the bike lane.

It was honestly quite horrible biking experience, and I am wondering whether there are any plans to fix this street? The moment you reach intersection with F1 biking path the bike lane to the station is good, but up until that moment it’s really bad. I do not mind biking like that for a year, but I would really hesitate on moving there if it would stay like this for years (trucks everywhere, holes in bike path constantly, speeding cars next to you).

Thanks for any tips and info on wether it would be changed/improved anytime soon!

Hey! We are considering moving to (suburbs) of Mechelen, around the area mentioned in the title - Coloma/Ghandiwijk. We both really like Mechelen and consider settling down around that district.

Me and my partner commute by bike, so we would be biking almost daily to train station, to buy some bread, buy medication, for a dinner in city centre etc.

I wanted to ask how is your general experience of biking in that area? My partner is always anxious of speeding cars or aggressive drivers, so I want to make sure we can be comfortable there.

For the context, we currently live in Leuven, and while it’s by no means ideal for biking, it is surely decent - including suburbs like Kessel-Lo. I also biked on multiple occasions in Mechelen and it Is just fine - just do not know how it is on daily basis in suburbs like Coloma. Our goal is to make sure we will move to an area where we can comfortably and safely bike, more or less like right now.

Thanks for any information and feedback!

As the title says. How is living in the apartment buildings behind the train station, especially for working adults and young families? I know there are some student apartments between them - is it in general calm and quiet (aside from some cars and trains noise)?

We really love the location (so close to the train station), but wonder about noise and student parties that might disrupt the night - or some (sadly) AirBnb rentals, given the location.

Thanks for any info and tips!

I've been researching cameras for months at this point and my decision was more or less set on Nikon Z5II. What, however, is stopping is mainly lens - or rather, lack of thereof.

My main use case will be walking around with the camera and using it with a prime - for that, I could choose either 40 mm f2 or 50 mm f1.8 S. The problem is that the former is quite bad at f2 or even f2.8 and only really good from f4, whereas the latter is huge for a prime - both in length and weight. What I am missing is, essentially, what Sony has - an FE 40/50 mm F2.5 G lens, that is both sharp, short and light (same weight as 40 mm f2).

Coming from an analogue prime (50 mm), I know that especially for city context, I would usually lean towards using prime over lens just for its lightness (less than 200g usually) and size (short). It simply makes the camera much lighter and more compact. To give context - with 50 mm f1.8S we are talking about 1100 grams setup, whereas Sony a7V with FE 40/50 mm F2.5 G is just 860 grams, 250 grams less and just 200 more than my Olympus with prime.

Hence, I wanted to ask - is there any hope for Nikon (or 3rd party company) filling this gap? Any rumours, roadmap or news regarding this? Basically just sharp, weather-sealed but short and light prime for daily use and compactness - just copying Sony FE 40/50 mm F2.5 G would be more than fine. Choosing camera ecosystem is a commitment (I am very much hesitant between Sony and Nikon, but given Sony a7V is way more expensive I am leaning towards Nikon Z5II), and I just hope that if I pick Nikon, there is high probability this gap in the line-up will be filled in a year or two (and until then, I would most likely use 40 mm f2). Thanks for any tips and info!

Last week, I had a meeting with my manager at work where they flagged I am sometimes very sleepy at work, or even almost falling asleep. It could be the case, as I recently changed my medication for anxiety and it really makes me much more sleepy (other than that, it helps a lot which is essential).

In the meeting, I did not pluck up my courage to bring up the real reason for this sleepiness (SSRI medication), however now I am reflecting on it again and wondering whether honesty would not be the best option - sure, mental health and medication is a "sign of weakness", but it also allows me to be fully transparent and honest, without making it seem as if I am not interested or committed.

What is your opinion? Do you think, in general, it is fine to be honest on mental health with a manager in Belgium? Would it be better perceived by my manager to be fully transparent and share it, or keep pretending it is because of other factors (while trying to be more alert, too)? For the context, I work in Flanders in your average corporate environment.

Thanks for any tips and suggestions!

Hello,

As the title says - I am looking for a solid and secure but preferably slim pouch/case for Nikon Z5II with a lens. The idea is to use it to put my camera in it into a backpack or suitcase.

I do not find the Nikon-brand one really nice. I was considering e.g. this one from LowePro, this one from Hama or this one from Manfrotto.

They are all kinda similar, and I just want to make sure that my camera will be safe in them. The one from LowePro does seem to be most secure.

I did look into dedicated backpacks from e.g. LowePro, but they are usually for camera with multiple lenses (3 or more), while I will have literally single camera with single lens. Any recommendations are welcome! I so far found mainly typical camera pouches, but something more squared-shape is also fine - as long as it is compact and secure.

P. S. I am based in the EU, so looking for brands available here.

P. P. S. I was looking also into straps and found PGYTech Camera Shoulder Strap - does anyone have experience with this brand and item? Alternatively I was looking into Peak Design as I know it is popular.

Thanks for the help!

To put it shortly, I am a rather tall male (190 cm) with large hand and long, slim fingers. I tried getting myself OM-3 from OM Systems, but there was absolutely not enough space for my fingers and the experience of holding it was very unpleasant (for my partner, who has much smaller hand, it was actually fine - which indicates that my hand was simply too large for its body).

Thus, I turned to looking into FF cameras and set my sight on Nikon. I was looking into Z5II, which I find comfortable, but I’ve read that Z6III is a bit larger and has a more pronounced grip.

Hence, I wanted to ask - is there a meaningful difference between Z5II and Z6III for someone with long fingers and generally large hand? Would Z6III be clearly more comfortable? I could not find Z6III in store, so did not have a chance to test it. Thanks

Thanks for tips and your help!

Hello,

I am looking for a psychologist in Leuven that has experience with anxiety, health anxiety, generalised anxiety disorder. Preferably CBT/ACT methodology, but feel free to share any recommendations.

It does not have to be strictly in Leuven - I can commute to Kessel-Lo, Heverlee or even Herent if needed.

Thanks!