v      Official club name: The Friendship Force of Limburg

v      Closest major airport(s):  Zaventem (Brussels international airport)

v      Closest RegionalAirport: Liege

v      Cost of transportation between the airport and our city: 35? (min 20ps)

v      The maximum number of Ambassadors our club can host: between 20 and 25

v      About the club: The Friendship Force of Limburg, Belgium, was chartered in 1986. We have approximately 65 families (husband, wife, children) and about 10 single people in our club. We like to welcome two incoming exchanges each year and send two outgoing exchanges. Belgium is subdivided into 10 provinces, of which Limburg is the one in the north east, close to Germany and the Netherlands. In the northern part ("Flanders"), Dutch is the first language. In the southern part ("Wallonia"), French is the first language. Most of our members are bilingual and speak Dutch and French fluently. Moreover most of them possess a fairly good knowledge of English and German.

v      About the region: The province of Limburg offers a great variety of activities and many places of interest for our visitors. The things unique to our province are: A beautiful open-air museum which reflects the way of living in Belgium in the past two centuries. Hasselt, the capital city of our province. It has a famous gin museum and a lovely japanese garden. Tongeren, the oldest town of Belgium. It celebrated its bimillenium in 1985. It has a very rich Roman and medieval history. There are a Roman and a medieval wall, a famous basilica and a very good Gallo-Roman museum. Alden Biesen", a grand castle that dates back to the 15th/16th century. Other potential choices for the week are: The art cities Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp. Our capital city and at the same time the European capital city, Brussels. The Belgian Ardennes, known for the terrible battle against the Germans at the end of World War II, "The Battle of the Bulge".  Flanders Field: World War I Liège, the capital city of the southern province of Liège. Monschau, an old and picturesque German town just across the border. The host and day hosts assure opportunities for the Ambassadors to visit points of interest. The climate is good in summer (20°/30°C). Also around Easter it can be quite good (15°/17°C), but might also be rather chilly (10°/12°C).

v      About the exchange: We arrange transport from BrusselsNationalAirport (Zaventem) to Hasselt, Limburg by coach (about 35? per person, estimate based on a group of 20 persons). The Exchange Director will be at the airport upon arrival. Hosts greet their Ambassadors at their arrival in Hasselt. Our primary emphasis is of course for the host family to make friends with the Ambassadors, but we do have at least one group function in addition to a welcome party and a farewell party. Neighborhood dinners give the Ambassadors an opportunity to meet other persons and see their homes. Our Exchange Committee plans the week creatively balancing their budget. Should the Ambassador group request a special activity not planned by the Committee, this could be arranged in advance at an extra cost for the Ambassadors. This could be worked out with the Exchange Directors.