Two years in Frankfurt and I’m not leaving any time soon

How often do you rely on other people? When at work, playing sports, or for some friendly advice? I reckon it’s more than we realise but for those times when we do actually need someone, whatever it may be for, we generally know exactly who to go to and why they’d be the best person to ask. Thing is, when you move abroad, unless it’s something that can be solved over the phone, when you physically need people there, this network kind of fizzles as your friends can’t just pop over for a quick 30-minutes.

Whilst I’ve experienced loneliness, being the outsider in ready-formed friendship circles, feeling distant from friends at home and wishing I could go to my grandparents with all my cousins on the weekends, moving abroad on my own has taught me to enjoy my own company and prefer not to have the week planned out by the day but rather just go with the flow. But whilst I’ve become more independent regarding social situations, there are always times when you need help from others and that’s when my situation became difficult.

Two years of living in Frankfurt and I’ve moved apartments (again haha). However, this is the first time that I’m living alone and well, the first time that I need to furnish an entire home. There. Is. Loads. To. Do. However asking for help was not the problem, rather who to ask for the help, as I realised that not having my family around me meant that this wasn’t going to be such an easy task. Well, not that it would have been easy in the first place.

However, although I still have loads to do, bit by bit my apartment is coming together and what I really am grateful for is that so many people have offered to help me, which I couldn’t be more grateful for and didn’t really expect at all. I guess this is one of the pros of living and working in such an international city. People know what it’s like to need help and not have their family on their doorstep. The help has taken a huge weight of my shoulders and I have realised, although I think I knew it before, that DIY is really not my thing. At all.

Moving into my own apartment and celebrating two years abroad is a huge milestone, and when I compare my life in Frankfurt now to 12 months ago today, there are just a few main differences:

• Two years abroad allows somewhere to become your home. At one year, I was still settling in many ways.
• At two years I am more settled in my friendships, this time last year I had only just met some of my closest friends in Frankfurt.
• I don’t know how long I’ll stay in Frankfurt but one year ago it would have been a lot easier for me to leave, at two years I feel more committed to this city.

So my point is, that as I’ve reached two years in Frankfurt, and am currently going through a big transition of having my own apartment for the first time, what I’m truly thankful for is not only the opportunity itself and exactly what I have made from it, but also every single person who has contributed to my journey here. Even my friend in London who just told me my accent is becoming “less and less South London.” Great!