13 years ago
Making Friends Abroad
13 years ago
Hi expats:
I could use some advice. First of all, a little background:
I'm living abroad in Poland right now teaching English. I've been here for about six months and will be here until July 2012. I'm literally one of two Americans in this city of 40,000 people about 4 hours south of Krakow. The other American is a girl about my age (we're both recent college grads), and while I thought we'd be good friends and a support system when I arrived, it's not happening. (She had been here for a year when I arrived, and will be going home at the beginning of June).
I'm mainly wondering if people have any advice for making friends while abroad. I know bits and pieces of Polish, but it's an insanely hard language to learn. Plus, as my job here is teaching English, I'm not "immersed" in Polish all the time. There's also not a whole lot to do in this town-I've joined a local dance studio, but it so far hasn't really produced any results. I don't have a car so meeting up with people in other towns is difficult as well.
I'm not terribly lonely for the most part because I teach a lot, but it sure would be nice to make a few deeper connections while I'm here!
Thanks for any thoughts.
I could use some advice. First of all, a little background:
I'm living abroad in Poland right now teaching English. I've been here for about six months and will be here until July 2012. I'm literally one of two Americans in this city of 40,000 people about 4 hours south of Krakow. The other American is a girl about my age (we're both recent college grads), and while I thought we'd be good friends and a support system when I arrived, it's not happening. (She had been here for a year when I arrived, and will be going home at the beginning of June).
I'm mainly wondering if people have any advice for making friends while abroad. I know bits and pieces of Polish, but it's an insanely hard language to learn. Plus, as my job here is teaching English, I'm not "immersed" in Polish all the time. There's also not a whole lot to do in this town-I've joined a local dance studio, but it so far hasn't really produced any results. I don't have a car so meeting up with people in other towns is difficult as well.
I'm not terribly lonely for the most part because I teach a lot, but it sure would be nice to make a few deeper connections while I'm here!
Thanks for any thoughts.
