Make New Friends
I wasn't sure how the whole friend-making bit was going to happen when we moved to Greece. My expectations for meeting my newest, bestest, best friend ever were pretty low. Not that it couldn't happen, but between language barriers and my introverted personality, the cards were stacked against me. And I was perfectly satisfied. I have a wonderful circle of friends and acquaintances in the US, and emailing them fills up that need to talk to people. (Yoo-hoo! Hello there, friends!)
To my surprise, I have made more chance and lasting acquaintances here than I have in the States. A few are American--perhaps we cling to each other like a life raft.
My children had much higher expectations, I'm afraid. The first night we were here, jet-lagged and hot and cross, Z came home from the playground very distraught that she hadn't played with anyone. And after two weeks of school, when she was still getting used to life in Athens, she was still looking for a playmate. She was miserable.
BUT, slowly, slowly she has begun to find friends. And since we all live within a few blocks of each other, we see friends wherever we go.
And I make more pointed efforts to spend time with the friends we have. Just this morning we spent some time with our American friends(they're coming over for dinner tonight, too). They showed us a new playground! That's the mother behind M. Her little girls were getting supplies for the clubhouse everyone was making.
To my surprise, I have made more chance and lasting acquaintances here than I have in the States. A few are American--perhaps we cling to each other like a life raft.
My children had much higher expectations, I'm afraid. The first night we were here, jet-lagged and hot and cross, Z came home from the playground very distraught that she hadn't played with anyone. And after two weeks of school, when she was still getting used to life in Athens, she was still looking for a playmate. She was miserable.
BUT, slowly, slowly she has begun to find friends. And since we all live within a few blocks of each other, we see friends wherever we go.
And I make more pointed efforts to spend time with the friends we have. Just this morning we spent some time with our American friends(they're coming over for dinner tonight, too). They showed us a new playground! That's the mother behind M. Her little girls were getting supplies for the clubhouse everyone was making.
(T was cold and did not want to participate. This is his grumpy face.)
That's wonderful! Sometimes it seems you (I? we?) have to be thrown into the deep end to thrive. How's that for mixing metaphors? But as a fellow introvert I've certainly found that it's easy to become complacent with reaching out and forming new friendships. Congratulations on the leap and the success. We here in Maryland do await your return, though.
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