Belgium

A student's monthly budget will be about 850 Euros - which includes books, health care, transportation, food, accommodations and leisure. Though this is one estimate, it is important to realize that your cost of living will depend on the specific program you are associated with, what your standard of living is, and where you choose to study as big cities can be more expensive than smaller towns.

• The main religion in Belgium is Christianity 
• About 58% of the population adheres to the Roman Catholic
• Members of the Protestant and Eastern Orthodox chuches together constitute around 7%
• It is common for both parents to work in Belgium
• The average family has two children. Cats and dogs are popular pets.
• It is common for students to continue to live with their parents after high school. It is not common for elderly people to live with their grown children.
• Customs Belgian teens greet their elders with 'bon jour', and their friends with 'salut'. Good friends are often greeted with kisses.
• Belgians eat 'continental style', with the fork in the left hand, and the knife in the right. Both the fork and knife are actively used.
• Drinking is loosely regulated, and it is socially acceptable for Belgian teens to drink.
• Belgian teens are accustomed to being fairly independent.
• Dress is fairly casual. Like American teens, they wear jeans with sweaters, sweatshirts, or T-shirts.
• Belgium has an excellent public transportation system, but private cars are also used. The driving age is 18, most people get their license then.
• Bread and potatoes are the traditional staple foods.
• At Christmas, people eat sweet bread in the form of the child Jesus; at Easter, children are told that eggs are dropped in the gardens by flying churchbells; and sugar beans are distributed to those who visit a young mother.
• Belgium is considered the world's diamond capital.
• Belgian farmers breed some of the finest draft horses in the world, including the famous Percherons.
• Wealth is most often expressed through houses and cars.
• The upper classes act discreetly, and people make little distinction between classes or social strata
• The unemployment rate in (1999) was slightly lower for men than for women
• The wage differentials between men and woman are the lowest in the European Union, with women earning on average 91 percent of a man's salary
• The divorce rate has increased to about one in three marriages.

With over 12, 224 Filipinos estimated to be living in  Belgium works primarily as tradesmen, in the hospitality industry, as domestic helper, or as seamen on Belgian-flagged ships. The Philippines Embassy in Brussels organizes events around major Filipino holidays, including the Philippines Independence Day and Christmas.