Something I was not expecting, and now I've got to learn how to incorporate this new dynamic in to my future relationships...
People here leave.
They do.
They come and they go, and that is, apparently, the nature of the english-speakers in a foreign land.
You think - tourists, they're tourists, of course you doofus!! No. I mean my friends.
I've made some cool connections with some people and now a number of them are leaving. My closest friend, Jane, is heading back to Canada before taking a South American vacation and then continuing on and relocating to Scotland. I am going to truly miss her. She rocks!!
And Dom - the single syllable of the name doesn't do justice to the charismatic and outrageous guy he is. Over the top in every way, I adore him as well. He just moved here a few months ago - newer than me in fact - and has since been transfered to another country. With 24 hour notice. Job well done! (too well, apparently - now he's been promoted and is revamping another location, just one without the culture, clubs, or english-language community that exists here).
And there are others... many others. There's a hole community of people I've tied in to who are couch-surfers - the come and go, gracing us for just a few days... And my local friends - mainly contract people, many of whom will be returning to England once their contract expires... within the next few months.
There are a few I've met who will be here for a while... Those who've married a Czech or are firmly entrenched in their company with no desire to change - a few of whom love it here so much they've established their lives here and have changed company to company, advancing their careers, and living as Praguers, not as English in Prague.
I didn't expect to make friends and then have to say goodbye. I've just said goodbye to all of you. This transitory stuff is rather hard - who do you reach out to? Who do you confide in? How much longer will they be around? Who will I have dinner with next weekend? New Year's Eve? Coffee? Share a joke - how can you create a history with people you've just met who won't be here for more than a few months?
Obviously I miss my friends right now. Those here and you back there. Pretty soon they'll be the same thing - those here will be back there, wherever their back there is.
People here leave.
They do.
They come and they go, and that is, apparently, the nature of the english-speakers in a foreign land.
You think - tourists, they're tourists, of course you doofus!! No. I mean my friends.
I've made some cool connections with some people and now a number of them are leaving. My closest friend, Jane, is heading back to Canada before taking a South American vacation and then continuing on and relocating to Scotland. I am going to truly miss her. She rocks!!
And Dom - the single syllable of the name doesn't do justice to the charismatic and outrageous guy he is. Over the top in every way, I adore him as well. He just moved here a few months ago - newer than me in fact - and has since been transfered to another country. With 24 hour notice. Job well done! (too well, apparently - now he's been promoted and is revamping another location, just one without the culture, clubs, or english-language community that exists here).
And there are others... many others. There's a hole community of people I've tied in to who are couch-surfers - the come and go, gracing us for just a few days... And my local friends - mainly contract people, many of whom will be returning to England once their contract expires... within the next few months.
There are a few I've met who will be here for a while... Those who've married a Czech or are firmly entrenched in their company with no desire to change - a few of whom love it here so much they've established their lives here and have changed company to company, advancing their careers, and living as Praguers, not as English in Prague.
I didn't expect to make friends and then have to say goodbye. I've just said goodbye to all of you. This transitory stuff is rather hard - who do you reach out to? Who do you confide in? How much longer will they be around? Who will I have dinner with next weekend? New Year's Eve? Coffee? Share a joke - how can you create a history with people you've just met who won't be here for more than a few months?
Obviously I miss my friends right now. Those here and you back there. Pretty soon they'll be the same thing - those here will be back there, wherever their back there is.
1 comment:
This was one of the hardest cultural shocks I encountered when I arrived in 2006. In some ways, Praha is like an enormous train station. Part of the void, however, comes from at first wanting to be 'friends' with anyone who can speak English :) Fortunately, that subsides and one returns to being a bit more discriminating.
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