Here's a tip... if you live in Belgium and have relatives in countries outside the European Union, tell them not to send packages to you. Receiving a package in Belgium (or at least Brussels) is a frustrating activity. Aside from the money you have to shell out to take delivery of the package, you have to count on adding two to three weeks on top of the normal transit time. For example, my mother sent us a box of presents just before Christmas. The box "arrived" Thursday of last week. Kristen was here, but the guy asked for 18.73 euros for the package and she didn't have any cash on her, so she had to turn it away. He said he would return the following night at 6pm. Promises, promises... he has yet to return. However, yesterday we received a postcard notice in the mail stating they had a parcel from the USA in their warehouse and we need to contact them within 5 days or it will be sent back. I called them this morning before I went to work and scheduled a delivery for this Tuesday. We have a 20 euro bill sitting on our counter for the day that they decide to return.

Speaking of which, you may wonder why we have to pay to receive the package. So did we, especially since my mother made sure to mark it as a "gift" on the customs for. Well, I asked the guy about this morning. Why is there a charge? He said it was 9 something for the VAT (Belgium's goods tax) and 9 something for customs. Even though it was marked as gift? Yes, customs takes an interest in anything marked with a value over 55 euros. However, I don't think that's a hard-fast rule because when my mother sent a small box with 8 old cassette tapes in it, customs had cut the box open to see what was inside and we had to pay about 18 euros then too.

UPS charged us a little over 100 euros for our computer, but they sent that bill after the fact. But, gee... I'm not sure what has happened to that bill. Hmmm. Maybe they'll send another one?

Nothing wrong with taking advantage of the fact that must government offices and global shipping companies in Belgium are neck-deep in paper-work. I get the feeling it can be very easy to get lost in a stack of papers here. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not.

-RP-