Breathe. That's it. In. Out. Breathe.
You will be OK. You will survive.
You've made it this far. You landed. You arrived. The rest will come.
Moving to a new country is an overwhelming cacophony of new.
New job. New house. New friends.
And, that's the easy bit.
All at once, you have to figure out how to set up a phone plan, open a bank account, buy some furniture, find the right shops, let alone figure out which is cheapest.
All at once, shopping for groceries at a store with foreign labels and foreign foods means a guessing game of pictionary that leaves you stressed and dissatisfied.
You start to question yourself and wonder how you ever survived before. Am I actually an adult? Am I even qualified to do anything? I feel like an incompetent kid who can't even tie their own shoelaces!
The struggle is real.
In fact, in most cases, you have to relearn everything. You don't know where to get cleaning supplies or which version of milk is the healthiest or whether to stand on the left or right side of the escalator. You just don't know. And, that is OK. No one does, even if they did their research beforehand. We all make mistakes, and we've all been there. Tired, frustrated, and bewildered.
The learning curve is steep but eventually, with time, step-by baby-step, you will get closer to your goal of independence and sustainability. You'll understand the common rules of getting on and off the subway; you'll discover the stores that sell the products you love; you'll establish a routine that fits your new lifestyle.
You won't be in survival mode forever.
But if survival mode is a couple of years, there's nothing wrong with you. You'll grow and change and adapted in ebbs and flows. One moment you'll think you've settled, you'll think you've got this thing figured out, and then you'll encounter a new puzzle that rocks the boat again. The important thing is to know that you're not alone. That this is normal. Give yourself grace to grow. It's a process.
So no matter where you are in the process, embrace it. Let it change you and stretch you. Let it make you stronger, bolder, tougher, fiercer. Let it teach you to be more open, gracious, and understanding.
It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.
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