I was lucky enough to meet some fantastic friends in Charlotte, some on my own, some through CHOA, and through CJ. I feel truly blessed for having them in my life. But for that exact reason I was worried that living here would feel lonely and on top of that I would lose touch with people back home.
Well so far the second thing has not happened. Largely thanks to Facebook (glad to hear FB bashing less and less... haha).
For the first concern - it proved to be completely unnecessary. I made so many awesome new friends here, many if not most of them thanks to being pregnant and now having a baby.
Here's a little summary of my new buds in Geneva.
Girls from work: from left Mirian (Spain), Anfissa (Kazakhstan), Miranda (USA), Olga (Russia - not in this picture). Love these ladies to pieces. They were by far my most favorite work team to ever be on. We got along soooo well, we laughed, joked, complained, hung out etc alllllll days. My freak of a German boss aside, this was the most fun I've ever had at work. Up till now we regularly meet for lunch and they bitch to me about Michael, who is as much of a douche as ever.
Girls from G-Locals (a local Expat online service, kind of like CHOA in Switzerland): in order - Liza (Czech Rep, but moved from London), Kate (USA), Agatha (France). These ladies are fantastic. We met back in October soon after I left my job. Agatha posted a meet-up event for future and new moms and Liza, her and I met then. Kate joined soon after and we've been meeting regularly, hanging out and visiting each other all the time. Agatha was the last one of uf to have a baby and now we're a group of new mommies looking forward to nice summer so we can hang at the park or at Geneva beach.
Girls from my pre-natal class: Lucie (England), Bryony (England), Skye (Australia), (from left in the last pic) Adriana (Mexico), Elyse (USA), Katja (Finland).
As stated - we met at the prenatal course we all took. We somehow kept in touch after the class, exchanged pictures of our little ones as they were coming and now we started meeting for walks in the nearby park, coffee and cake etc.
Girls from the expat circle (wives of expat dudes): Samantha (last on on right USA), Lauren ( next to me USA), Tracey (in blond wig Ireland). These were my party friends before Katherine arrived. And they would be my wine drinking buddies if I needed some wine haha. I knew Sam and Lauren from Charlotte. Lauren used to work with me at Rubbermaid. Tracey is the sweetest girl, whose boyfriend works for CJ. They moved here in July or August and she went through a similar work experience here as me, resulting in almost having a nervous breakdown and leaving her job. What a crappy place for people to work... Glad CJ is loving it.
Also expat wives but they're Moms/soon to be moms: Cristina (Italy), Natalyia (Ukraine). This is the latest addition to my little circle of friends so I don't have any pictures with them yet. Cristina is the wife of CJ's big boss, Emilio (head of Tools for Europe). She has a girl and a boy and is expecting another little boy in July. She was super interested and supportive when we met and has given me some awesome breastfeeding advice (TMI I know...). And Natalyia is the wife of CJ's co-worker Jerry (Mexico). They moved here from Munich and they are also expecting a baby (girl) in July. Just started hanging out with these ladies recently but I already like them a lot.
It's funny how coming here (and of course quitting my horrible job) has turned to be such a social blessing! I can honestly say that I've not had such a wide network since I left college. Loving every minute of it! As Katherine gets better about eating regularly and sleeping longer (so I have more energy) I will be able to properly enjoy all my new friends here.
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