1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
Trying to learn a FSI category 5 language when you don't have a dedicated language class is an ongoing and frustrating experience, but the cost of living is low, the countryside is peaceful, and going back to the states right now seems crazy.
https://www.state.gov/foreign-service-institute/foreign-language-training
I had a good job for a few years and I spoke the language. I wasn’t planning it the whole time, I just tend to save money, and when the pandemic hit, I realized that living near my family doesn’t guarantee that I get to see them, so why not live where I want?
I had done one year of study abroad and a second year of being a normal student at a German university about fifteen years ago, and I’d wanted to live in Germany since. During the pandemic, I joined a discord server with some Germans, began dating one, and had time working from home to do a four hour intensive German class every day before work online.
I was able to stay with the person I was dating for a few weeks while applying to all sorts of internships, master’s programs, and volunteer positions that would give me a visa, and I sent my cat to a different friend’s house until I got into a program and moved into my own apartment. At the time, everything seemed far, far more complicated than it needed to be, and I definitely do still consider immigration in Germany to be kafkaesque, but I now realize how lucky I was that everything fell into place.
It’s now been over four years and I’m married to a (different) German, but I don’t think I’ll really fully unclench until I’m a citizen. I’m from the US, and it’s starting to look fucking terrifying, so I’m very glad that I’m here and that I’m a little more settled. I’m still slogging at my degree (I opted to take a full year of just intense German classes when I started, so it’s not quite as long as it sounds- unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to work during that time and they’re expensive as fuck) and my husband’s an apprentice, so it’s financially a little tight. I liquidated my retirement account in my mid thirties, which felt bad, but I’d like to keep an emergency fund and we’ll be able to save a lot more in a few years and we’ll be entitled to small pensions.
I would say it was worth it. I moved from the Netherlands to Germany for three years for a Master's and then to Canada for a PhD and stayed there and got a job. It's a great way to experience different cultures (though all Western of course).
For the move to Germany, it was really easy. It's all EU so all I had to really do was register at the Kreisverwaltungsreferat. I had also applied for a grant to study abroad so that paid the tuition as well as the rent. Tuition in Germany is very low by the way. It was also a great way to build independence since I had to rely a lot on myself, having come all alone.
I did meet my lovely Canadian spouse there, so there was the opportunity to move to yet another country. Immigration is a massive pain, even when married to a Canadian, but it all worked out with student visa, permanent resident, and finally citizen. Took years!
The downside is of course being 6000km away from my family. Especially from my parents who are not getting any younger. So it's hard to be there for them if something happens. But overall, I would say it was worth it. The experiences have been great and I get to spread ideas that work well from places I've been to my new home in Canada. The lack of proper licorice here is baffling though!
I live in rural Canada, our local (left coast) grocery has the palm-oil-free NZ licorice RJ’s, which is pretty good, and a specialty confectionery in the village nearby has some great icelandic licorice but it’s expensive.
But at 6K km I guess you are on the prairies, so good luck on the licorice hunt eh!
Heh, I rounded the number too much. I'm actually in Ottawa where there is a Dutch grocery store with a large selection. I'm just baffled why Canadians are so reluctant about that stuff. There seems to be only a 50% chance of people liking licorice. Weird! 😆
EU free movement and hell yes. It's so good I emigrated twice.
And you had to tell us about it thrice!
My instance had a rough few days where everything was timing out and double posting 🙁
Guess the first move wasn't so good after all? If you did it again
It was from meh to good and from good to great.
or it turned out so great that when presented the opportunity they were excited to do so
Erasmus and no. Turns out all three countries I've lived in take away your pension when you've not lived there for a while.
EU free movement and hell yes. It's so good I emigrated twice.
Married someone from another country and moved to be with them. Wouldn't change a thing.
EU free movement and hell yes. It's so good I emigrated twice.
I went to Pueblo Mexico at 18 on a youths mission trip. We worked at an orphanage, we dug/built a well and helped with a couple bigger projects like "renovation" a barn. We had learned some plays and songs and puppet shows and we performed for/with the children. It was with my church, it was Christian based. It was an amazing experience, I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I also went to Peru and sailed down the Amazon stopping at villages performing skits/plays/songs and prayed and fellowshipped with the locals. Ive done local out reaches too, providing food and services for the homeless.
My Christian life has been about serving others. As it should be IMO. God provides literally every I need, anything extra I try to use to bless other people.
That is Christianity. Not to toot my own horn, I dont need to, God will toot my horn :). Loving God and loving each other are literally the 2 most important things in this life. Anyway. If you read this, God bless you.
