moving abroad: 6 month review (the good & the bad)
It’s been a hot minute, my friends, but life has been hectic, busy, crazy! Everything has flown by so fast, i have now been living abroad for HALF A YEAR — I can’t believe it 😱
6 months in, I’ve settled in a little more — finally finding my footing at work but still low-key struggling lol 🥲, making new friends, building a community, building new routines. I signed up for a fitness subscription, found my new favourite running routes, pilates studios.
I feel more grounded in some ways, but in others feel more untethered. For one, I have been traveling so much. The mobility in EU/Schengen makes exploring new cities so easy and accessible & I’ve taken so much advantage of that maybe too fast too soon, PLUS work trips are more frequent, that I feel kinda burnt out 😅 really not humble bragging… but it’s like I never fully unpack my suitcase & I’m never fully settled at home before I have to jet off again.
Moving abroad and having a reset in my social life also means… I have to learn to make new friends HAHA and omg adult friendships are so much harder to form because of the sheer lack of time! And it’s making me really miss my friends from back home because I haven’t found friends here who know me as well as they do!! 😭 You gotta be on the same wavelength, same level of gossipy, and have some similar interests & that’s surprisingly hard to find LOL. But I’m still keeping in pretty frequent contact w those friends from back home so it’s still been nice — never taking them for granted ❤️🥰
Culture-wise… Berlin is SUCH a mixed bag of beautiful and weird and sometimes downright nasty, I’m not entirely sure I’m into the city hahaha. Like the fact that they will vandalise / graffiti on their churches from the 1900s??? That shit survived WWII but can’t survive these rascals with spray paint WHAT EVEN 🤦🏻♀️ But the flip side is I really can be whatever I want to be without judgement (at least outright judgement haha), and that’s nice :)
anyway enough rambling. Half a year feels like such a long time already but also way too short to ‘build a new life’— that is such a strange concept to me. But I’m excited to see where life keeps taking me!
Living abroad for half a year truly changes your perspective on life and priorities. While the initial excitement of a new city can be invigorating, sustaining a balanced lifestyle takes conscious effort. Personally, managing my work commitments alongside frequent travel has sometimes felt exhausting, but it also allowed me to explore over ten cities within the EU’s accessible borders. Making new friends as an adult is far from easy. I discovered that shared interests and the right chemistry don’t happen overnight. Keeping close contact with my friends from Singapore has been essential in maintaining my emotional anchor—it’s a reminder of home amidst the unfamiliar. Cultural contrasts, like Berlin’s mix of beauty and rough edges, have also shaped my experience. The tolerance and freedom here let me express myself without judgment, yet some local realities, like the vandalism of historic sites, have been jarring. One unexpected element I've appreciated is the chance to pursue personal interests, such as fitness and running routes, helping me stay grounded. However, the pace of life can sometimes feel either too frenetic or surprisingly slow compared to back home, revealing the complex nature of adapting to new environments. If you’re considering living abroad, especially in a vibrant but challenging city like Berlin, be ready for a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences. Building a new life takes time, patience, and an open heart, but the growth you gain is truly worth it.
omg so fast 6 months alr?!!!!