Hi all, about two years ago I published a post titled The lonely expat problem: Making friends is harder than it looks which resonated with so many expats out there.
A recent comment on that post asked for an update and since the situation in the friends department has changed a little bit β for the better!
So here it isβ¦. When I wrote that lonely expat post about making friends abroad, I had been in France about one year. What changed? Something really simple. And it was the best thing I could have done for myself β both socially speaking and for my fitness.
Living away from your friends and family is hard sometimes. Plain and simple. I felt guilty for not trying hard enough to put myself out there. The gym employees probably think Americans are gym happy or something because I am sure I looked a little too excited to slap down a euro initiation fee and 46 euros a month. But the point here is that I made a change. I do believe we have to do our part though in making things happen for ourselves.
And I finally found something that worked for me. Long story short: After a month or so of hitting the gym consistently, I became friends with one of the employees at the gym and friendly with all of the staff and a few other members I see in classes. Do I consider them close friends? And a handful of acquaintances and people I look forward to chatting with at the gym.
