It's summer time and the living is very easy.
And I notice, after my friend Kate went on holidays, that I didn't have any friends!
I didn't have one person to call for a casual drink.
A couple of friends from Norway sent me messages earlier in the year chastising me for not being their to catch the rays of sun with them and I laughed indulgently.
It's been weeks at a time now where I sit for longer and longer periods on facebook talking to friends from other parts of the world.
I feel heavy and unwilling to change.
The people here have friends from when they were 5, or 15 and they are not really willing the invite you into their group. They don't need another one. Of course, none of them have lived abroad, either.
It's true that I don't do much to gain friends. In practice, I don't really want any either. They take a lot of time, and I don't have it. But, it could be nice to have one on the shelf, for when you needed one.
Anyway, I wanted to share part of the reality of living in another country. It took me three years in Norway to get a group together, and it's taking longer here because I have a partner.
Don't get me wrong, I have never had a lot of friends, and I love my own company. But it is true, that occasionally it would be nice to have someone to call for a drink, if I so happened to want one.
Anyway, Kate will be back soon and I will have forgotten this moment ever happened.
Virtual cheers dear reader.
And just in case someone was in the same position as I but wanted to change it, I just saw this nice poster:
And I notice, after my friend Kate went on holidays, that I didn't have any friends!
I didn't have one person to call for a casual drink.
A couple of friends from Norway sent me messages earlier in the year chastising me for not being their to catch the rays of sun with them and I laughed indulgently.
It's been weeks at a time now where I sit for longer and longer periods on facebook talking to friends from other parts of the world.
I feel heavy and unwilling to change.
The people here have friends from when they were 5, or 15 and they are not really willing the invite you into their group. They don't need another one. Of course, none of them have lived abroad, either.
It's true that I don't do much to gain friends. In practice, I don't really want any either. They take a lot of time, and I don't have it. But, it could be nice to have one on the shelf, for when you needed one.
Anyway, I wanted to share part of the reality of living in another country. It took me three years in Norway to get a group together, and it's taking longer here because I have a partner.
Don't get me wrong, I have never had a lot of friends, and I love my own company. But it is true, that occasionally it would be nice to have someone to call for a drink, if I so happened to want one.
Anyway, Kate will be back soon and I will have forgotten this moment ever happened.
Virtual cheers dear reader.
And just in case someone was in the same position as I but wanted to change it, I just saw this nice poster:
Poster by Karen Kerney
Edit 14th of August 2012 - Hi guys. I just wanted to say that a few people, after reading this post, have contacted me affirming their friendship. Thank you for that. I appreciate it.
However, I really didn't mean it to be a call for friends!! I just meant it as a factual report from a foreigner living abroad. It is one of the problems we all face at one time or another.
Thanks to everyone though!
1 comment:
Oh how I know what you mean! Will be back soon and perhaps we can go out and grab people on the street and handbag them into being our spare friends for when you/I are away!
Will be back soon but not for another few weeks.....when it cools down.
love K xxx
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