What a relief, I made it through the chaos of Silvester in Hamburg and am now midway through my third January in Germany. It’s quite a surprise to me, making it through the exploding fireworks that were set off along the streets once midnight struck as well as starting a third year in the country. I’ll be honest it was never our plan to stay in Germany longer than two years and yet, here we are and still loving it.
As I stood on the balcony outside the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, a safe enough distance from the fireworks and shenanigans surrounding the Binnenalster, I took a brief moment to think about the year ahead and what it has in store for me. It’s going to be hard to top 2018, the year when I felt my life as an expat turned a corner for better. For the first time, I felt settled, I had an established group of friends, my social activities increased and returning home to the UK was often bittersweet. Whether I like it or not, I can’t stop time so my thoughts turn to how I am going to invest in making 2019 a success.
Since I arrived in Germany, I have worked remotely for a not-for-profit social network based in the UK. It has meant I held strong ties with home, which has its benefits such as making the transition to being an expat easier (and I can still get supplies of Cadbury’s and squash), however, I’ve never really felt that I lived in Germany full time. I’ve noticed that other expats who also return frequently to their home country don’t transition as quickly or find it more difficult to settle in. There are constant reminders of what you could be missing out on back home or the cultural differences. I know for sure that a return to the UK is on the cards for us, when I am not sure, but it’s difficult to fully put down roots in Germany when you know you’ll be uprooting them.
For the first time since moving here, I’ll be living in Germany as an unemployed person. At the end of 2018, I resigned from my role. After this month, I will no longer be returning to the UK as frequently. I have opted to take this time out to discover in which direction I would like my career to head in, to hone old and develop new skills, improve my German, plan a wedding, do some freelance work, explore my host country, and generally, enjoy Bremen more than ever whilst I can. Germany has been tipped as one of THE countries to visit in 2019 and now I have all the time to explore it. I am in a fortunate position to be able to do this and I don’t plan to take it for granted.
GirlWithoutSquash 