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How to make friends as an Expatriate

Moving to a new country is a huge step to take – there are so many things that you have to do to set up your new life outside of your home country! From figuring out banking and phone plans, adapting your diet to the potentially more limited options at the grocery store, dealing with navigating a new public transportation or road system (maybe in an unknown language!), there’s a lot to think about. Although all of these things are important, the only thing that will truly make a new place feel like home is a sense of community. But how exactly do you go about finding friends as an expatriate?

Unfortunately, finding friends in a foreign country isn’t as easy as making friends at home is – especially if you don’t speak the language! At home, you had school, work, the gym, a random person that you can communicate with on the street (the language barrier really makes it difficult!). But in this new country, you never know if you’re gonna have co-workers who have similar interests or are even in a similar age bracket as you! Maybe you’re the only foreigner at your job. Maybe you don’t have a job! There are so many barriers that make finding friends as an expatriate seem discouraging – but never fear! I’m here to tell you the secrets to building a thriving community of friends during your years as an expat.

Bumble BFF

No this is not sponsored – but hey Bumble plz hit me up?? And I know it sounds a little bit silly, but if I’m being honest, the majority of my friend group is all thanks to this silly little app. For a little bit of background, I came to South Korea to teach English for a year, and I’m living in Busan. I hopped right on Bumble BFF the first week I was here, and I met up with a lot of girls who were in similar situations! Before I even met up with the girl who has become my best friend here, she was able to help me start my washing machine (it was all written in the Korean alphabet!) I don’t care how introverted you are, everyone needs a friend to help them when you have problems. It doesn’t hurt if they’ve been living in the country for longer than you and can show you the ropes! I have met up with lots of girls from Bumble BFF, and while not kvinnor Salvadorian all of us have become forever friends, I definitely struck gold with the ones that have stuck.

2. Meet your friend’s friends!

This sounds like a given, but it’s something that should still be mentioned! Victoria, the girl I met on Bumble BFF, invited me to a bar, and her co-worker, another girl around our age, invited everyone that she knew. Her male co-worker even sent invites to a few girls that he knew, and we organized a blind girls get-together! The girls that her male-coworker invited have quickly completed our little group of 4, and we never would have met them if it wasn’t for a little bit of faith and initiative! Never be afraid to reach out to people you know

but don’t necessarily know; you never know when it can pay off in a big way. Never be afraid to politely invite yourself to something you know is going on, even if it is a little uncomfortable or nerve-wracking! Friends are so important, especially as an expatriate, and you have to step out of your comfort zone to find them. Rarely are they dropped into your lap!

3. Facebook Groups

Before coming to Korea, I joined multiple facebook groups of all different types: foodie groups, an all-women’s group, a general group for my city, a hiking group, etc. There is literally a facebook group for every interest, and they frequently organize events and meet-ups. This hasn’t really happened for me as meetups don’t happen as frequently during pandemic times, and South Korea had a 6 person limit on gatherings for a while, but I’ve had success with the hiking group here! Hopefully everything begins to die down soon and these meetups start to happen more frequently again, because facebook groups are an awesome way to meet people.