Things I wish I knew before moving abroad

Bureaucracy takes three times longer than anyone says

Bring every document. Then bring copies. Then bring a book for the waiting room.

Join something with a weekly schedule

A running club made me more friends than a year of meetups.

You'll feel like a foreigner when you visit home too

Say yes to every invitation for the first six months

Learn the language even if 'everyone speaks English'

They do. Until the landlord calls.

The loneliness hits around month four

Keep a bank account open back home

Ship less stuff than you think

I paid to move a blender. The voltage was wrong.