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I had a good job for a few years and I spoke the language. I wasn’t planning it the whole time, I just tend to save money, and when the pandemic hit, I realized that living near my family doesn’t guarantee that I get to see them, so why not live where I want?
I had done one year of study abroad and a second year of being a normal student at a German university about fifteen years ago, and I’d wanted to live in Germany since. During the pandemic, I joined a discord server with some Germans, began dating one, and had time working from home to do a four hour intensive German class every day before work online.
I was able to stay with the person I was dating for a few weeks while applying to all sorts of internships, master’s programs, and volunteer positions that would give me a visa, and I sent my cat to a different friend’s house until I got into a program and moved into my own apartment. At the time, everything seemed far, far more complicated than it needed to be, and I definitely do still consider immigration in Germany to be kafkaesque, but I now realize how lucky I was that everything fell into place.
It’s now been over four years and I’m married to a (different) German, but I don’t think I’ll really fully unclench until I’m a citizen. I’m from the US, and it’s starting to look fucking terrifying, so I’m very glad that I’m here and that I’m a little more settled. I’m still slogging at my degree (I opted to take a full year of just intense German classes when I started, so it’s not quite as long as it sounds- unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to work during that time and they’re expensive as fuck) and my husband’s an apprentice, so it’s financially a little tight. I liquidated my retirement account in my mid thirties, which felt bad, but I’d like to keep an emergency fund and we’ll be able to save a lot more in a few years and we’ll be entitled to small pensions.