Crazy how time flies by in the past 2 years. The fact that covid squeezes time and makes all the work from home lockdown time pass by isn’t the only reason why it really doesn’t felt like I’ve been in Germany for 2 years. I think it’s also partially because of how I still haven’t fully settled in Germany as I linger my mind in London and still holding myself back to fully embrace Germany. This is an article where I’d like to dissect my life in different aspects to see whether I’ve really settled in Germany….or not?
Work
Let’s start with the easiest one. This month marks my 2nd anniversary working at adidas. Two years sound short but I really felt a lot has happened. Counting all my rotations and reorganizations, I’ve actually been in 6 teams and worked with people from all over the world and all different expertise. I think work is where I feel the most settled. Not necessarily because I’m based in Germany but really the fact that the headquarter is such a diverse, international environment that makes me feel very welcomed. Though there are still some “German-ish” things at work, e.g. lots of German-speaking colleagues, German food served at the canteen and sometimes more conservative ways of thinking and acting, in general, I feel comfortable and settled at work.
Living
Housing
I’ve been in the same shared flat (or how German called it- WG) in the past two years since I moved. To be honest, I could say I’m pretty settled in this place with being fine with the space I have, the utilities in the flat, and how to live with 5 other people. There have been some ups and downs in terms of the flat situation. Whether it’s having a difficult flatmate, who is very sensitive to noise and demand a high level of cleanliness in the flat, or someone who is making a shared flat room his “family house” and bringing kid and wife and occupies our public spaces, I’ve been able to navigate through it with a lot of patience.
However, I’ve also been thinking about whether it’s time for a change to really get on my own feet and live on my own. The reason holding me back is the fact that I will have to deal with all the setting up of all the internet, water, electricity and also possibly need to get all the furniture to set up the place. Nevertheless, this reason might just be why I don’t feel really settled in yet as I’m still holding myself back sometimes and hoping I’d be back in London or move to somewhere else someday soon. This realization has hit me in the past few days. I’m pretty clear that I’ll definitely be here for at least a year and a half to two so it’s not a reason anymore to still think about moving to another city. I should be brave enough to give it a go and brace myself with new challenges and excitement of having my own place and learn to live on my own. (As long as there’s a nice place with a good price)
Essentials
Essentials include everything in life other than the living space, e.g. phone plan, health services, transportations…etc. I feel very fortunate and supported by the health insurance services in Germany so far. Though sometimes having difficulties with German-speaking staff when booking an appointment, the doctors are really nice and patient and I feel healthy and protected. As for transportation, even though in the beginning I complained a lot about our company shuttle bus and how much the commuting time eats up my free time, I’ve also come to terms with it and using it as a nice leisure time to relax, get on social media and even learning.
The point that agonize me in the past few days and another thing similar to the housing situation that makes me realize how I’m holding myself back is my phone number. I’ve always known (and sometimes even proudly telling people about it) that I’ve still been using my UK phone number and plan this whole time. However, they updated their policy and I’m no longer available to use the roaming service for a prolonged period of time. It just makes me have to think whether I would get a German number and fully transition from the UK to Germany or still lingers on the UK number. Realistically thinking, it’s just a normal process to get a new number when you move to a new country. Partly and Technically because I was still in the EU (it was 5 months before Brexit that I moved), I didn’t really get that transitional feeling compared to when I moved from Taiwan to London. Now that I’ve actually lived longer in Germany than I had in the UK, I should really have the transition and properly move here no matter wherever I’d move to in the future.
Leisure time
The last part of living is about how I spend my leisure time in Germany. It was quite a transition from a hustle and bustle London city life to a calm and peaceful Nuremberg life. There are still some city elements of bars and shops around but most of the time people enjoy the hiking and the exploration of surrounding nature than having exciting nightlife, going to countless exhibitions or having a shopping spree. I wouldn’t say I’ve settled in this aspect but I’ve also learned to embrace it and find the balance by having more travels than before. The fact that I’ve spent the covid era here isn’t all bad as most things are also closed in big cities. It’d just be another new beginning when things start opening up all over the world and whether the FOMO would take over me and make me feel unsettled again.
Relationships
The last thing I want to talk about is relationships and unfortunately, there have only been friendly ones, not romantic ones. I’m really happy and grateful that I’ve made quite some friends here. Really thinking back, I didn’t think I’ve made as many friends in London as here, however, weirdly in my mind I sometimes thought I had more connections in London. Even though in the beginning I felt hard to make connections outside of work due to the language barrier, luckily I was still able to find these friends who are open and kind to me and inviting me into their world. Another realization I had is also with friendships. I was also able to keep the connection with the friends I’ve made during my trips in Europe. This makes me feel more settled and at ease and feel like being in a big home called Europe. I’m curious about how I deepen my connections with the friends I have and look forward to new connections.
With a mixture of feeling settled and unsettled, I think the key for me is to really change my housing and phone plan as a symbolic but also literal change to Germany to kickstart the feeling in my brain that I’ve really moved to Germany and UK is just an amazing chapter in my life.
Thanks for reading and let me know if you’ve also had this transitional unease before. :)
