I had a really great night last night. It’s been quite a while since I have been out with ‘the girls’ so it was frankly just what I needed to feel like someone other than MOMMYMOMMYMOMMYMOMMY.
I recently met an expat here from my original home state of Michigan. She mentioned that she was going to an ‘International Women’s Expat’ meetup and I was more than invited to join her. On our way to the Tilburg city center via the train last night, I asked her what kind of group this was going to be.
She explained that it was just a no frills get together with some interesting women. I wasn’t exactly sure how well I would fit in- as I barely knew my friend that well, and I didn’t consider myself even remotely interesting either- but I was really dying to get out of the house after our self-imposed cold quarantine. The hubs is always supportive whenever I tell him about some kind of social gathering that I want to attend- so I gladly traded in my role as bedtime asylum orderly and looked forward to meeting some new people. I imagined ladies from the United States who had been in the Netherlands for a few months like myself. Ah. Sometimes I have to just laugh at my egocentricsm.
As a whole there were 10 of us. England, Latvia, Bulgaria, US (Philadelphia, Michigan and South Carolina), Ireland, Austria and the Czech Republic were represented. Our common language was English- and of course, wine. My first thought was wow! What an eclectic group!
A couple of us were married, a few had kids- and the rest were in a relationship. I was the only one who didn’t work- and had the most kids at 3, so it was nice that we didn’t sit around and talk about sippy cups and sagging body parts. We talked about what books we were reading, where we had been- where we were going and what the relationships were like with our significant others.
It was great that instead of swapping tales of nap schedules and one uppers over diaper messes- the conversations were more along the lines of how we got here. It wasn’t a competition. We were genuinely interested to learn from each other and share anecdotes about our home country. I was pleasantly surprised when the Czech lady told me her favorite book of all time was Gone With The Wind. She knew facts about the Civil War and what southern society was like then and now. How much did I know about her homeland? Try nothing. But it didn’t matter. We chatted away anyhow and before we knew it- it had gotten late. Midnight was most defiantly past my bedtime but I made a mental note that I had some research to do on the countries around me.
Sometimes I need to remember to step outside of my social comfort zone. I tend to get into that rut of ‘meh. I don’t feel like getting myself together to go out… I’ve been home all day and now I’m just exhausted..’ but if I had done that last night, look what I would have missed! I was inspired by what these women have done, were currently doing- and at the same time proud of my family. I was impressed with their rather worldly jobs- and they were impressed that I would move a world away with three little kids. Wanderlust abounding- I now have 20 other places I want to see while we’re here. Yeah. Maybe the fact that we are doing it- and happy- IS something after all. Learning about others=learning about myself. Maybe I’m getting the hang of this expat thing.
Was it worth the wine-headache this morning and 5am child wakeup? Yes.
Have you ever joined a meetup or club? What did you think?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
So fun! Good for you for getting out. Sounds like the wine headache was well worth it. I really need to start looking for an expat woman’s group that speaks English!
thanks for the encouragement.
I’m telling you- it’s a great thing. Besides that- I learned that our membership to the local expat club (a separate thing) gets us into a (get this…) WAREHOUSE CLUB. Like a Costco! I doubt it will be just like our Costco- but from one of the girls’ descriptions- sounds like something we have got to check out!
Yes! You’re doing it right.
Just raising small children in a foreign country is quite an accomplishment.
I hope you do get the chance to travel. Prague is so great. We loved London too. European travel has expanded my world and got me reading books about Germany in WWII.
I’m sorry I keep talking about my experiences; I’m just so happy to meet someone who gets it.
Never apologize- I love it when people are reading and interacting. It gets pretty boring if it were just me blabbering all the time!
I am looking forward to our travel plans once winter breaks. We have a couple trips coming up- so looking forward to those at the end of Jan
Yay! So happy that you got out and enjoyed yourself. I have the same problem of canceling because after a long day, the last thing I want to do is put effort into dressing up instead of throwing on some comfy pjs. I do force myself to go sometimes and I rarely regret it.
Hope you get to do this again soon!
Me too! They were a cool group of ladies. I think once a month is probably best
I’m glad you had such a good time. The people are what it’s all about, right?
When I first began researching taking a family sabbatical, I remember thinking it would be best to go where no other expat had gone before. But we ended up in our current situation, which is very remote. We do have a few other Americans around us but they are retiree-age and we have little in common with them. We’ve decided to move, in a couple of weeks, to a larger area in Belize (San Ignacio) where there will be opportunities to meet all kinds of people, of all ages and family situations, from Belize and beyond. I do believe there are several expat groups there, too! I’m excited. I had underestimated how alone I would feel as an American with four little kids. No one at home understands the ups and downs of this sort of life so we need some contact with people who get it.
I’m very glad that we did not end up in a remote location- I doubt that I could have handled it. I wish you guys the best of luck in your new location- and what an absolutely awesome adventure for your kids! My boys would love Belize and all of the wildlife. I really have taken comfort in meeting people that aren’t necessarily ‘Dutch’ as it helps me think I’m not completely inept or crazy
That sounds like awesome night. It’s nice to get out and meet new people and have interesting conversation.