Moving back to the US (after 7+ years living in Germany)
NOTE: I do not want comments bemoaning the current state of US politics on this post. Rest assured that I am well aware of all that. Focusing on that will not help me in my current situation and will only serve to depress me. Please respect my wishes on this.
So others here might remember that about a year ago I posted about how I was getting divorced. While nothing's happened on paper yet, my ex and I have lived separately since then. Between taking in-person German language classes and making new online friends, I've been doing a lot of work on myself in the interim, and my mental health has been mostly doing a lot better than it was while I was married, barring a few short-term dips.
Unfortunately, my unemployment ran out, and I'm no closer to getting a job in my field, and not for lack of trying. The German job market sucks absolute ass right now, and while my German language skills have improved a huge amount over the past year, they're not good enough to overcome the average German's preference for a native speaker, which in this job market is enough. Anyway, the long and short of it is that I'm broke and there's no clear solution here in Germany for that for me.
Luckily for me, I'm still quite young in the grand scheme of things, and I have parents who love me and are willing to support me in getting back home to the US, alongside letting me live with them in my childhood home until I get a job and can save up enough to get back on my feet and get my own place. The job market in the US is better for me than in Germany (especially given the lack of a language barrier) and I have opportunities for further education and career pivots that wouldn't be possible for me in Germany right now. This, plus the fact that I really want to be there while my sister's young kids grow up, means moving back to the States is probably my best next step, moving forward.
I'm excited to be near my family again and to reconnect with friends in the area, but obviously I'm also pretty anxious about the whole experience. I'd love advice from others who have moved internationally about little things that are easily forgotten or are left out of the usual lists of things to consider during the planning stages. When I first moved to Germany, I was a poor student who just had a few suitcases with me, but now I'm an adult with more stuff I own that I value to some extent. I've already begun the process of slimming down what I plan to bring with me to the essentials and checking which electronics can be safely operated in the US with/without a transformer. But I'm sure there's something I've missed that other people have experience with and I'd love any advice from people who have made similar moves themselves.
Also, any little positives about adult life in the US or bits of advice for once I move back are appreciated. I moved to Germany right after I finished my bachelor's, so I don't have much experience as a "real adult" in the US. So any tips to help smooth along the adjustment process or little bits of advice for someone learning to live as an adult in suburban Ohio would be welcome. And any positivity is extremely appreciated -- it might be a tough ask here on Tildes and I know it can be hard in the current times, but that's exactly why I need what I can get.
Hey,
There are good peeps in Ohio (yes even there!). Idk the job prospects where you are heading or what you're thinking of doing but public universities and college towns are along with major cities often comfortably blue bubbles in red areas.
Most people will be Midwest polite - chatty and what have you - if you are, and living in Germany is the sort of thing that will get a lot of folks being chit-chatty. It's also great life experience you can sell in a job interview. You're now worldly. I haven't made any similar move so I can't help there. But if I can put you in touch with someone in higher ed, lmk.
Best of luck to you!
I'm sure you're mostly consumed with the logistics, cultural concerns, the divorce, etc. And that's all fair and practical, but it might help you to focus or at least just sit with the thought for awhile about how nice it can be to have a fresh start. Most people don't get to push the reset button on life after a big event like that and I wouldn't be surprised if it let's you bounce back sooner than most. Plus having the family nearby again will give you some great opportunities to reconnect, stave off the loneliness, and create opportunities to get out and do things. I'm sure it's a scary situation now, but this could very well turn out to be best case scenario. In any case, this Internet stranger is wishing you the best!
How much stuff are we talking about here? Definitely shop around on shipping costs (FedEx, UPS, DHL, EMS, freight...) vs bringing four pieces of luggage. It's more annoying to ship stuff because US Customs makes you itemize everything.
Get rid of large stuff unless it has a lot of sentimental value. Allow yourself to keep the small useless stuff. Make tradeoffs between them to cut down on the total amount of stuff.
There's not much that you actually need. Make sure your passport isn't expired and that your luggage isn't overweight. Don't worry about other things but also make the most of the time that you have left in Germany as you probably won't be back for a while! Do the Germany bucket list. I think that's the most important part (or if there's any paperwork that you need to do that you can only do in Germany)