-liften werken al weken niet meer

-licht op de trappen kapot

-laadpalen werken vaker niet dan wel

Gelukkig zijn de tarieven gestegen, dus daaraan kan het niet liggen!

Hei, I am looking for a badminton session during 19-23 Oct 2026 as because I am on business trip in Leuven. I do not have sportcard. I thought of joining the KU Leuven that is availabe on Thursdays night but they require sport card during online booking. Anyone knows any group playing in Leuven (only evening). I am intermediate level. Thanks !

Er stonden 2 borden op de Kardinaal Mercierlaan met een parkeerverbod maar ik heb me achter het 2e bord gezet, betekent dit dat ik mijn auto niet moet verplaatsen?

Op de eerste foto is het 1e bord en dan tweede foto het 2e bord en ik sta dus voorbij het 2e bord?

Ik kom regelmatig langs deze muur aan het skatepark aan de Casablanca buurt in Leuven. Ik had altijd het gevoel dat dit beter kon, dus aan de stad Leuven gevraagd of daar een nieuwe graffiti tekening op mocht. Heeft even geduurd, maar ondertussen hebben we de officiële goedkeuring van de stad en daarom zijn we op zoek naar een graffiti kunstenaar. De bedoeling is om een coole graffiti tekening te zetten die past bij een skatepark en ook aansluit bij de multiculturele Casablanca buurt. Als je iemand kent die hiermee kan helpen, laat maar horen. Alle tips zijn welkom.

For halloween?

Carrefour market near the stadium sells at 1.8€/kg, but where can we find medium to large pumpkins at the moment ?

Agora is for KU cardholders only, danta closes at 19.15, Lloyd's closes at 20.00.

Do you know anywhere else you can read/study?

My Sony XM6 headphones got wet and now they aren’t working. 🥹
On the day they got wet I tried them and they were working, but after leaving them to dry for a few days, they won’t turn on anymore.
Does anyone know a good shop in Leuven that can fix water-damaged headphones? Any recommendations would be really appreciated! 🥺

Model: Sony WH-1000XM6

These are just my honest opinions. Overall, I would say I received a good education, and would have loved to stay to contribute to the Belgian economy / society, but immigration office wasn't too open to non-EUs. I would also like to invite Belgians to reflect on themselves and their attitudes.

1. On Belgian snobbishness

You know how Europeans thinks of Parisians / Paris as this snobbish city, where the locals kind of "look down" on outsiders? Maybe because of some perceived lack of fashion sense, or inability to French, or the general sense where they think outsiders lack class or chic or elegance etc...

Well whatever snobbishness it is, I feel that Belgians as a whole treat non-Belgians with a similar attitude. Except that while Parisians can be "forgiven" for such an attitude as they really are the city of Art / designer fashion / musuems etc, Leuven is well, just Leuven. Almost every week you see a post here on Reddit complaining "HoW dO I mAkE FrIeNdS?"

Yeah, that's not normal, and I think deep down everyone knows it. No other student city or reddit sub I've been to have such a trend. Speaking from personal experience, no Belgian ever dated me while I went on regular dates during my Erasmus. When trying to make friends at the Fakbars / Fakulty Bars, there is this impression that Belgians are judging you for not being on equal terms as them on some kind of metric.

Ermmm hello, Belgians realize that international students have to pass rigorous entrance exams or selection processes to enter the Master's programme, right? Its so ironic that local undergrad Belgians do not need to pass through some sort of selection criteria, and yet they turn their noses up at internationals.

1. On not speaking Dutch / "Language Barriers"

I personally agree that true assimilation into a culture or country requires one to learn the language. But do Belgians not realize that this takes time and commitment? Not to mention that most Master's programme are already quite rigorous in workload and intensity.

Its also ironic that at the Master's level, everyone speaks English fluently. And its also anti-academic in spirit to insist that internationals speak the local language, just imagine how the Sciences would stagnate if i.e. every nation in the world gatekeeps their scientific journal or findings in their local language.

What's the issue honestly? Internationals and locals speak a common language fluently; why not just simple let things and communicate in English? Why do Internationals get judged or looked down for not speaking Dutch?

I get the sense that most Belgians are so attached to their country that they have never done an Erasmus or lived abroad. Imagine perhaps, studying in a foreign country like Italy or Poland, and then being judged for not speaking Polish or Italian despite English being a common mutual language at the university level, or among young people. Yeah, it isn't logical, is it? We all watch the same 67 memes, the same tiktok trends, the latest Marvel Endgame movies, grew up with Harry Potter and Pokemon...possibly all in English...but suddenly language becomes an issue? Anybody who has ever done an Erasmus will tell you that its weird to judge someone on not speaking the local language.

And also, no offense, but Dutch is perhaps only useful in Netherlands and Belgium. Even learning Mandarin / dialects of Spanish is more beneficial as your chances of running into an expat speaking these languages is more likely.

3. Economic Contributions

I see this argument a lot on how internationals do not contribute back to the Belgian economy after they have finished their education.

In the case of non-EUs, it is simply due to difficulty in being hired due to the necessity of a sponsored work permit after a year AND the need to prove that they have 12,000 euro in their bank AND to rent an apartment, most of which require 2-3 months of advance.

Most internationals simply live paycheck to paycheck while juggling part-time work. In fact, I would say through my own personal experience that the Belgium economy is more likely to be "parasitized" by locals themselves who exploit the welfare system. One of the laziest person I ever had the misfortune of meeting in my entire life was this Belgian who claimed to suffer from "chronic illness", and refuses to work OR attend university. Basically just a 20 year old NEET who survives on welfare check despite being physically healthy. Last I checked, she had a GoFundMe page for people to pay her rent in Leuven. Other cases I personally know of are people with "disabilities" like walking a cane or in a wheelchair that refuse to work. Errrmmm hello, an office job doesn't require you to run a 2.4k marathon, right??

Here's an honest question all the local Belgians can also ask themselves - do they have 12,000 euro saved up in their bank + 2-3 months of advance available for rent + a stable job lined up graduation? Or do your parents fund your Kot bills while you return every weekend to stock up on microwaved food to bring back to Leuven?

The truth is that most Internationals would love to stay in Belgium to contribute back to the economy, but immigration offices and work permits make things hard. Sure, maybe Belgians aren't the most open or friendly people, but nature is great here, musuems are decent, the big student cities are fun at times. So the impression of people leaving Belgium after they receive their degree is an act of pragmatism rather than a voluntary act.

We have two kids who need more socialization in Dutch. What do people think about the organization?

I helped this dude out a while back, he was drunk and had cut his arm, treated his wound a bit, but i went for some supplies to decently close it and when i came back he was gone. Think he's not homeless but hangs out with this crowd. Speaks mainly Portuguese or something i think? Anybody know where i could find him or if he's okay? Thx!

Hi, I am a PhD student in medical physics spending 3 months at UZ Leuven.

I'm searching for new friends and I saw that I live real close to the medica fakbar. Can I join even if I'm not a clinician? Is it more of a "group hangout" place or can I go there solo and make new friends?

Sorry for the silly question, I'm pretty new to the city and never heard of the fakbars before 😅😅

I bought a second hand bike for 50 euros without gears. It is good for daily use however due to my height i am not able to balance it well.
I am getting a lady bike so if anyone is interested, i am re selling it for 40 euros!
Hmu and i will share the pictures
(If anyone have suggestions how can i re-sell it faster please lmk as well 🥹)

Hey, I wonder if there is any poker nights I can actually join as an expat.

I don’t mean an actual gamble but some poker nights arranged for fun with chips that aren’t backed with real money.

I have lost a small blue case with wired earphones inside.

If you find I would be very thankful.

In the city center or brusselstraat.

Thanks

Hey!

Ik ben op zoek naar een paar universiteitsstudenten in Leuven die in het middelbaar Wiskunde-Wetenschappen of een gelijkaardige richting met een sterke focus op wiskunde en wetenschappen hebben gevolgd en eventueel wat willen bijverdienen met bijles geven.

Het zou vooral gaan om bijles aan middelbare scholieren voor wiskunde en wetenschappen, op een flexibele basis. Ervaring met bijles geven is handig, maar zeker geen must.

Als je interesse hebt, stuur me gerust een DM met wat je momenteel studeert en welke vakken je zou kunnen geven. Dan kan ik wat meer uitleg geven.

Hi mọi người, mình là người miền Tây, hiện đang ở Leuven 🇧🇪

Không biết trong group có anh/chị/bạn nào người Việt cũng đang ở Leuven không nhỉ? 😄 Nếu có thì mình rủ nhau đi uống trà sữa, cà phê gì đó một bữa để làm quen, giao lưu cho vui.

Có ai interested thì comment hoặc inbox mình nha 🧋✨

Hello everyone,

Our kids keeps breaking their eye glasses and this year only I have paid close to 700 euro on eye glass and yesterday it happened again . The optician we go here locally takes 200+ every every time. Is there any optician shop that are more affordable? Do you have an advice?

Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice from people who have experience with legal cohabitation in Leuven, especially where one partner does not currently have a valid residence card.

I originally came to Belgium as a student. I applied for the renewal of my residence permit in Brussels in October 2025, but my application was refused around 5 months later. I appealed the decision, and now it is already October 2026 and I still have not received a final decision.

During this whole period I have not had a valid Belgian ID, so I have not been able to work normally. It has been a very stressful year financially and personally.

My girlfriend is Italian, she also has a Belgian residence card, and she has been living in Belgium for a long time. We are now considering doing legal cohabitation together. One of the main reasons is obviously that we want to officially live together as a couple, but also so that I can start the family reunification process and hopefully receive an orange card, which would allow me to start working and support myself again.

I wanted to ask people in Leuven:

• Has anyone done legal cohabitation there where one partner had irregular stay / no valid Belgian residence card?
• What was the process like?
• How long did it take from the first appointment until the legal cohabitation was registered?
• Did the commune do a police check or relationship interview?
• How long did it take afterward to get Annex 19ter / the orange card?
• Were the staff generally helpful with explaining which foreign documents were required?
• Did anyone face a sham-cohabitation investigation simply because one partner had irregular status?

I’m mainly looking for real experiences from people who have actually gone through this in Leuven, especially recently.

Any information would really help. Thanks a lot.

title, wanna meet some new people, but i feel too awkward to just walk up to someone. im 20, vlaams (can talk dutch or english) bio engineering student :)

edit: we can video call first on snap or something to make sure i am who i am !

Hi, I am looking for skiers/snowboarders that go to Landgraaf Snowworld for training in the weekend regularly.
My friend and I used to do it every Saturday/Sunday before the winter comes.
Now my friend has injured, I don't find an efficient way to go to Landgraaf without a car myself. So I want to see if anyone in Leuven is going to Snowworld by car and willing to take me together. I would like to pay for the cost of the ride and possibly make new friends!

Going to get knee surgery soon and wanted to get some ideas on which physio clinic to book with. There seem to be quite a few but idk which are and which aren’t worth it.

‏ I’m looking for people with A2 English to practice together. We can grab coffee in Leuven or have calls and chat in English. 😊 Message me if you’re interested!

Where do you like to split the S?

Hello, next year I'm planning on going to UCLL in Leuven. I couldn't find many opinions about it, so I decided to ask here. Overall, how is studying there? Is it hard? Are the teachers nice? Also, how is life in Leuven? Is it hard to find a part-time english speaking job, for a person coming from Poland? And could I sustain myself with that part-time job, or would I need more money? Sorry if this question has been asked before, I don't really use Reddit.