Stefanie moved from Germany to Australia 4 months ago with her family… minus their labrador dog.
They love it here in Australia and the Central Coast and have made plans to extend their stay for an additional 2 years.
I asked how it’s been making new friends as an adult in new surroundings.
She said, “making friends with other German people is easy but it’s much harder to become friends with local Australians which is what I’d love to do.”
What’s the difference I asked, “why is it so easy to make friends with other Germans? How do you even find them, is there a club or group on Facebook… I didn’t even realise there was a German community on the Coast?”
Stefanie laughed and told me, “making friends with other Germans is easy. They hear us talking or saying something in German and they just approach and say hello, you’re from Germany and it starts from there.”
Linda was with me and asked, “what about your children, parents of their friends?”
“That’s not so easy when they are a little bit older, just the friends come over or it’s a hello from the car and a wave,” Stefanie replied.
The conversation returned to dogs when our dog Roxy was lapping up the attention from the two kids, on her back, legs spread and enjoying a tummy rub.
Stefanie went on to say if they stay for the extra two years, their dog will come over. It’s expensive though – the airfare alone to fly the dog out is more than it cost for the four of them to fly here plus there are injections, blood tests and quarantine to pay for. Stefanie told her husband, if we stay, their dog must come too.
