Skip to main content

Anyone struggle with their social lives?

I've left my home country four years ago, lived in two others and now a third. This current country (UK) is going to be my home for the foreseeable future because I moved here with my UK partner that I met abroad.

It kind of goes without saying that friendships are completely different when moving around a lot. I made many, but most were casual and over as soon as we were in different postcodes. My partner was in the same boat. Both of us had long-term friends at home, but we got used to being casual friends with people and not really settling down.

Now that we have moved to the UK (almost a year ago) he is back in his old life. Old good friends, family, normal work routine, being settled. And I? I have... nobody. Except for my partner of course.

My family is an ocean away, my friends and I have lost touch due to our different lives. I hang around with my partner's friends, but they are not really mine. People in the area have pretty set friend groups and I find it difficult to connect with them because it's fairly rural and people aren't as open as they were on the road.

And to be honest, I do stick out. In my home country, food is a shared thing: When we make a batch of biscuits, we go around the neighborhood and share them. When we get invited to a birthday, we bring a salad or cake. If it's a barbecue, meat or other stuff for the grill. So whenever something is up (in accordance to COVID regulations of course), my natural instinct is to bring something, despite my partner's doubts, and it doesn't get received well.

My social instincts are always wrong here and it makes me anxious. My partner keeps suggesting that I make friends with other immigrants from my country, but I don't want to do that. I want to be a citizen of THIS country and part of THIS community. If I happen to come across someone from home in that journey, fine, but I'm not giving up on integrating yet.

It's so hard, though, and after this year I'm quite lonely. I see my partner talking to his best friend every day and we've had so many meet ups with other friends, it makes me a bit envious and home sick - or better, travel sick. When travelling, at least I was part of the travel community in a way. Now he is the only person I have, I feel very dependent and like my character doesn't translate well into British life.

What are your experiences moving to a new place? How long did it take you to build a solid social net? Or did you ever? Plus, do you ever resort to just making friends with fellow immigrants? If so, how do you feel about that? I feel lost and would love to hear other immigrants' stories on the topic of friends.

submitted by /u/schaweniiia
[link] [comments]

source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/k2yxla/anyone_struggle_with_their_social_lives/
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

N-400 form {"data":null,"error":{"developerMessage":null,"userMessage":null}} message

A few questions: I filed my N400 naturalization on March 23, 2020. Nearly one year later on Feb 2021 they sent me a notice that they'll reuse my biometrics from my green card application, but they won't refund the biometric fee! At the same time April 2021 showed up on my account as the expected completion date. Last week, the status was "17 days". Today the estimated time of completion has disappeared!!! Any idea what that means? More importantly - When I click on "View PDF" link under "N-400 Application for Naturalization", to see my actual N-400 form, I get " {"data":null,"error":{"developerMessage":null,"userMessage":null}} " message! The form is also missing under "Documents -> Your Uploads" tab! So, it appears that my N400 form is missing! What does that all mean, considering that it's impossible to file without N400 form! Finally, under profile, My name is incorrectly sp...
Read more

Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status -

Uscis.gov - USCIS August 28, 2024 at 05:12AM Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status Edition Date: 08/28/24. Starting Oct. 28, 2024, we will accept only the 08/28/24 edition. Until then, you can also use the 04/01/24 edition. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions. from RSS Feed
Read more

NVC Case FE Review note

Hi everyone, my family and I are under the F3 category and we just received a notice from NVC that our documents have been approved and that we are Documentarily Qualified. My only concern is this message that we received today in addition to the acceptance: ​ " [Name of petitioner] does not meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor the intending immigrants for this case. The consular officer will make a decision regarding this requirement at the time of the interview. For more information, please visit https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p . To avoid delays, an additional Affidavit of Support Form I-864 for a joint sponsor may be submitted." ​ We already have a petitioner and a household sponsor (the household sponsor's income is above the required level), but still unsure why we received this. Has anyone else received this message? All of our documents say "Approved" on NVC. Does this mean we have to find another sponsor? Can we show the consular officer our ...
Read more