I have now been in Germany for 1 year and 4 months eek! How have I been here this long you may ask? I have no idea! This is about the same amount of time I was living in N.Ireland, but dang this flew by much quicker. It is crazy because I feel like I was doing so much more in Belfast day to day, while here I am mostly just working all day which is actually quite tiring itself. I can say that that even though these trips have been about the same amount of time, my reaction has been vastly different. I can defiantly tell a difference to how I have responded to both countries.
I was back home for Christmas for two weeks and I realized how much I missed being home. It was more that it was familiar and comforting for me, aka no struggling day to day. I thought about how nice it would be to just move back home and find a job there. It’s not that I wouldn’t mind moving home, I had considered staying before I moved here. I just know that means an end to a lot of my traveling which I am not ok with, which was why I tried so hard to find a job in Europe, I wasn’t ready to give up my life of traveling. It would also mean no more worrying about language barriers, shops not being closed on Sundays, or walking in unfamiliar areas alone since I would have a car to drive instead. There were just a lot of things I thought about and of course being home made me want it more. It was really hard leaving actually and I was DREADING coming back to Germany because there is nothing for me here. No friends, no pets, no family, just work and a tiny apartment which was pretty depressing to me. While I have a few friends here, they are new friends so it’s not like we are close yet or hang out much. I haven’t felt like I made a home here yet either which is hard since I don’t really come home to place that feels like it is mine. While I have an apartment that I have decorated, it still doesn’t feel right. I know you may think its too soon for me to feel that, but literally after a few months in Belfast, it felt like home to me.
In Belfast, I had friends, I had hobbies, I did a lot and I loved the communities. I do not have any of that here. I never felt unsafe walking home home drunk as shit in Belfast, whereas here I walk some areas in the dark and think “this is where I die”. It’s funny because when I was in Belfast, I NEVER wanted to come home. No seriously! I may have been homesick at times, but I never really missed it or wanted to come back. I cried for weeks when I did have to go home. I was losing my friends, the life I wanted, it sucked! Fast Forward to now and I almost cried coming back to Germany. I wasn’t even here a year and I was dying to go home and visit. You can see how much a difference a city can play a role. I know if I was back in Belfast, or somewhere in Ireland or the UK, I would not be feeling this way. I would be happy to stay there, but sadly I am not there and I am pretty unhappy. The honeymoon phrase has defiantly ended here!
Now that is not saying I am unhappy here all the time. There are moments I LOVE it. I have traveled a lot which is something I wanted to do. I left Belfast knowing there were still so many places I wanted to go and that was something I wanted to change when I came here. I am located centrally in Europe which makes travelling around pretty easy. I do live over 1.5 hours from an airport and that is one of the biggest downfalls as it makes traveling so much longer. The airport was super close in Belfast which made traveling so much easier but flights were longer. I guess both have its draw backs. It is also a similar climate to home, but not as rough which is nice! It makes it feel more familiar almost.
Another reason I like it is here is my job is also awesome. I have the best boss and my coworkers are pretty awesome too. I also get tons of vacation days and sick days, plus federal holidays off. I make good money here too which is why I wanted to move here. This area is super cheap so my money stretches real far, much further than it would in the US. I always joked I couldn’t afford the US which is why I came here, so I could save and travel a few years. My housing is incredibly cheap, so I can bank a lot of money there too. That is probably the main reason I don’t want to leave. While I am not really happy here, I have been able to save a bunch and I have also paid off a lot of student loans. That is another reason I want to stay a bit longer because I know that won’t be the case if and when I move back to the US. Plus I love saying I work in Europe, kind of braggy I know but oh well! I did work my butt off in school to get here so I can say it.
So back to living in Germany. I get asked a lot of questions living over here so this answers most of them and explains how I feel about the rest of it.
What do I think of Germany? I don’t think that is a fair question. Germany is HUGE, especially for Europe, this country is massive. I have travelled mostly in my region and I can not even begin to get an idea of the culture here since it varies so much region to region. I still haven’t even hit the major cities like Berlin, Cologne, so there is no way I can answer that question. It’s kind of like asking do you like America? You have to specify what part, etc.
I can speak for my city and all I can say is meh. I know it is bad to say, but I just don’t like it here much. For me, I know right away if I will like somewhere or if I won’t. It’s not one of those things where somewhere may grow on me, I know right away. To be honest, Germany was never a place I was dying to travel to prior moving here nor had I traveled here before. There were always cheap flights, I just never wanted to really go. I mean, I have heard amazing things yet it was never on my radar. Even now, I have gone to a lot of cities and they are cute and I like them, but they haven’t made an impact on me like other cities have like London. Again, I think if I was in a different area/city, it would make a hugggge difference. I prefer bigger cities and my city is definitely smaller with not as much to do hence part of my disdain towards it.
Another fact I have almost a resentment towards it is that I have not made a lot of friends here and that plays a major role. Of course the fact that I haven’t made many friends is all on me. Instead of staying here making friends, I travel. It’s hard to make friends when you are gone all the time. I know I should stay and attempt to make friends, the thing is I am quite the introvert. It pains me to be the first to start a convo and going out and public and talking to strangers, oh man no!If I had a club to join, that would be different because it would force me to make friends. That was what I did in Belfast and easiest way to meet people. I haven’t found any clubs here or any that I can get to without having a car. Plus I rather stay in any day watching movies or reading and lets be real, that’s what I do a lot. Plus the language barrier sucks and that is just another excuse for me not to go out, not that I really need it.
That leads me to the next question, do I see myself staying here? No. That is an easy one for me. I could never see myself living here. I think if I was able to go to a different city/base, I would be open to it but in my town no! To be honest, I am struggling staying here even now. There has only been one place I have never really like and this place is creeping towards me saying I don’t like it. Again, it is not like it is a bad town, it is just not for me. Plus I am young, I have so many more years to move around in!
The great thing about my job is we have locations all of Europe, not that I qualify for all of them but I have my eye on our UK locations. I may not be able to move there in the next few years, but I can wait (hopefully). Not to mention I would like to stay in Germany for at least another year to experience more of it. However, if the option came open in the UK right now, I am not sure I would want to say no though.
How do I like my job? I like it! Of course there are aspects of it I don’t like, but I do love working in a university. It is quite a busy and hectic job most of the time, which I think is why time flies by. While I wish my job was working with the students more face to face compared to the customer service I give the field mostly, it is still great. My boss is beyond amazing, like seriously she is amazing. My team is really great too. It definitely helps having people you like to work with and I think that is one reason I don’t want to leave and also the thing keeping me from leaving a city I don’t like. There are definitely times I find the job challenging, as this is not a traditional school but it is a great experience nonetheless and when I do leave, it will look awesome on a resume!
Another question I get asked a lot is how is the food? I don’t like meat so I haven’t actually tried a lot of the traditional food so I can’t speak for that but I can say their pastries are on point! Seriously so good! They are very bread heavy here so I have put on some weight which sucks but damn when a bread lady comes to your office everyday with amazing pastries, it’s hard to say no.
All in all, I have no idea what Ill be doing in the next few years. I have too much going on in my brain going back and forth with staying, with moving, with finding a different job over here somewhere else. I know I’ll be here another 1.5 years at least so I can get more experience on my resume and save money. Hopefully by then I will have an easier time finding a job with more experience. After that, no idea. Maybe ill be in the UK, maybe ill be in the US, who knows. As someone who loves to plan like myself, this terrifies me. Hopefully the perfect job will open up and I will just know what to do…. yeah right!
Til next time, tschuss!
AJ goes abroad 