How To Make Friends Abroad | Living in England
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- Опубликовано: 15 июл 2024
- I get a lot of questions from fellow expats on how to make friends while living abroad - good question! Here's some of my favourite tips and tricks that have worked for me (and some that didn't)
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Hey! I'm Alanna - a twenty-something documenting my life as a Canadian living in England.
I share the ups and downs of an expat living abroad and what it's really like living in the UK. It's not always easy, but there's been so many wonderful experiences, too. I post a RUclips video every Tuesday and an additional video every Saturday on my Patreon account. I also livestream every Wednesday and Sunday at 6:30pm GMT on Twitch.
Alanna x
#howtomakefriendsabroad #movingabroad #expat
You're not the worst person to take tips from. You're probably the best. If we were to get tips from the kind of person that's friends with everybody, they'd probably be like 'oh, just go and talk to people' and that's not actually very helpful.
You're a great lady 🖼
I want to travel to Britain. So , i need to ask you some thing on or everyone can help out on what's up 00964 782828 74 20 or on e-mail Sgrwdcg@gmail.com please help out 😘😍
Hi
Hi,
That's true.
I agree with you madam
Walk into any pub, stand on a table in the middle of the room and shout "The drinks are on me" = instant friends (at least for the evening) :)
Hahahahaaha very true 😸
Only if you can afford it.
Fake friends using you for money/free drinks in the future
@@kuku9543 you’ll find at least one actual friend that way
Helo am called shadrack from uganda can we be friends?
As a Brit having lived in Canada for 4 years, I have to say Canadians are probably the friendliest people in the world. Everywhere we went people invited us into their homes and welcomed us, so I imaging its a real culture shock moving to the UK where we all seem to keep ourselves to ourselves.much more and have our small lifelong groups of friends. I find it much harder to meet people who I would even want to be friends with in the UK.
Where do you live? From my personal experience, people in Montreal are the friendliest. I now live in Vancouver and it's a bit like the UK really. It took me at least 5-6 years to build a strong group of friends.
Yep. Of all the places I lived in Canada I probably found vancouver to be the least friendly although vancouver Island was fantastic. I lived in Burlington ontario for 2 years which was really friendly and Fernie BC for a year which was the best by far. But I travelled coast to coast and found most places very welcoming.
As far as the UK goes. I'm basing my experience on the places I have been which are London (I have met a few nice friendly people during my stay), York which was quite nice but not that much and Edinburgh (lovely city and people), Glasgow (fascinating city and generally nice people but I didn't stay long enough to get used to the accent and a few small places in the highlands where people were also lovely.
I am from the North of England which is definitely more friendly than the South. But have lived more of my life in the south.
Is York considered to be in the south? It's always confusing. Ok, I checked on Google and it says North-East.
When I was an ex-pat Brit living abroad (Colorado, USA), I found the opposite to be true. Generally, I would class myself as shy and introverted and, stemming from that, I found the hardest part of meeting someone, was the initial introduction, and just drumming up the guts to start a conversation with anyone. When I was in Colorado, this was no longer a problem. I would go into a bar or wherever and, as soon as I opened my mouth, someone would want to talk to me. I didn't need any conversation skills since, being the foreigner, they were interested in me - where was I from, what brought me over there, what did I think of it etc, etc. Before you know it, you're relaxed and having a conversation. Made more friends over there in six years, than I made in the previous 40 at home. I would say to any one thinking about living abroad to not worry about starting conversations, or making friends, it will follow naturally with seemingly little effort. x
Lol I studied in england for a few months and I’m american, and EVERYONE was obsessed with net ball. I always tried getting an explanation of what it was but never fully understood 😂
I'm an anxious introvert too! I have a hard time meeting new people and making friends EVEN in my home country let alone a foreign country!
I never knew it was so hard for girls to make new friends 00. you should try being a bloke that doesn't like football or fishing. now thats an uphill struggle in this country lol
Add to that not liking drinking in pubs, and you know what it feels to be me :)
good lord aint that the truth
Who doesn't like football?
I met someone once....think it was in 1973....
I've never been interested in football or rugby
Great to see you being so open en honest about the difficult things in life on youtube.... Love the vids. thnx.
100% approve of the natural light set up, this vid looks so good!!
I can relate a lot and I love your spirit. Especially that you're an introvert and anxious but open up to the world in these videos. Lots of respect :)
Even more difficult when you're from Scotland and no other nation can understand a word you say!
Uuh, wut?
People will love you anyway. You just have to make a conscious effort to speak more slowly than you're used to.
That was just noise...
Hahaha! Very true I am in Scotland and can relate.
Only British people can understand Scottish people so it's all good👍🏻
Have been watching some of your videos and must say Im really liking how positive you come across, don't let the haters changes your optimistic outlook
Another great 20mins listening to you how the hell do you find it hard to make friends you sound so friendly
Your experiences and observations are really good to listen to
You're on another level people should consider them selves lucky too know you . All you're tip's are helpful.
How to make friends in England. Walk into a pub and shout "hiya! Its me!" 😀 or just move north, we're all super friendly
Hello
Hahahaha
Hello
@@faithlanie99pagaddut95 hello! :)
@@paulmoore4223 hi
I am from Turkey and come to US one month early. These hints are really life saver. I know you posted the video long before but you should know that even 3 years later your videos can be inspiring :) loved the video hope to see you again for new advisees about this topic if you have one
Really enjoying binge watching your videos. Hoping to move my family of 3 over to England in the next year so I am really appreciating your videos. Thanks for the great content 😊
How are you
You are absolutely right when you say it'll always start off awkward and uncomfortable, no one can escape that but as you say, it'll get better over time :)
:D quite possibly your best post ever :) when i first worked abroad (germany) i had very limited language skills, finding friends was so hard!
Thanks for making this. It’s authentic and elaborate which i found very helpful. I’m a freshman abroad I met someone on reddit and it’s cool we have lots of interest in common. Can’t wait till school starts like you said better chances in a work/study environment. Anyways Keep it up!
This advice is so appreciated, and I love how it comes from an introvert with an anxiety disorder, that is me! Have bookmarked to MeetUp groups near me!
*two
GENERALLY ..Girls don't make friends on internet due to thinking that they will find cringey guys because girls faced a lot those guys. Some Boys act like idiots on internet and ask directly anything which pisses off every girl.
P.S. I am not part of that shit😅 because I do not get free time from my heavy studies.😆😀.
you are a breath of fresh air , I love watching your RUclips vids .I've lived in England all my life and find it hard to make friends lol
Another cool video, thanks! I think the key thing is the "having something in common" aspect which you mention. It's much easier to make friends when the people you are associating with or meeting either have the same interests (like your Facebook group or sports example) or else are in the same "social situation" - age, kids/no kids, married/unmarried, etc. I used to also train myself to be temporarily artificially extroverted :-) in group situations - making fun of yourself is a great way of breaking the ice and getting people talking, for example.
Thanks for making this video. I found it super relatable!
I must say I find it astonishing you found it so hard and that you find talking to people directly so difficult when you gladly put yourself on a public platform that is known for meanies in the comments feed! as others have pointed out, with your bright personality it really is a surprised to me that it was so hard. If it helps, i'll be your friend!
I've lived in England for 38ish years and even I could learn from these tips... Great video... Great channel... :)
very sensible advice, i find buying someone a pint down the pub works well. "Billy no Mates" another classic slang saying in the UK
"Hi everyone, it's me!"
Always makes me smile. :)
Maybe that’s a good way to make friends, just say that line everywhere you go.
From where u are..if are form USA or U.K...send friend request here. miryzone. On fb..u 'll get alot of free gifts..believe me
Hey Alana! Another super vid, certainly the local pub/pub quiz team 👍🏼, even Students Union notice boards, gigs, That’s what I used back in the day. Traveling through and living in Europe Being somewhat introverted myself, traveling in a new country I find you can feel like a new person! You’ve just gotta put yourself out there, say Hello!
Lovely to see you bright and bushy tailed ☺️.
Please don’t lose your accent 🙏🏼.
I thought you wouldn’t have time for friends with all the loving TLC from bf!
Anyhoo! Greetings again from a sweltering Liverpool 🕊🖖🏼
We love our Canadian Cousins with a memorial to the brave souls who passed in the futility of war.
…and in the going down of the sun , we shall remember them.
Bless you, your family and friends.
You are One of our favourite bloggers/vloggers!? Love.👏🏼🕊
I love the way you say 'out'
lol you'll be fine and I'm sure you can make any friend(s) you want to. you're amazing so it's really about you liking them than the other way around. you're doing all the right things, so keep it up
Really helpful video. I’ve been in London 7 years and struggled to make any sort of meaningful friendships.
16:38 - 16:54 truer words have never been spoken - you're so right about this
Wanted to watch the whole vid before I comment, great video, I think the pub quiz idea is really good! And of course, football is top or near top of the headlines at the mo, what with events in Russia currently, so yeah, the whole pub/sport/social thing is good now, but it's still not the be-all and end-all! good advice in your vid as per usual, keep em comin' ... warm enough for you!?? 👍😊🍨
not understanding netball was hilarious. this helped heaps, im looking to move to the UK next year!
Illuminating! Thank you very much!
You have 22,000 friends who love you!❤️
Great advice - I'm doing it the other way round, an English guy living in Western Siberia for the last year, but I've followed a number of the same strategies as you, and it works! Hang on in there, love the uploads, you're doing great!
How we can make friends in UK. Or USA???..any advice..
I was about to mention meetup. I’ve met my best friends through a group which was aimed at young professionals. I now host events regularly. Also if there are no groups that are of interest in your area then you can always start your own.
Very helpful video.I am from Spain and for personal problems and bad decisions I have decided to cut with all toxic friendships that I had.Now I have few friends but at least I know more about friendship,as well as having more time for myself.Sometimes having no friends is not so bad,because you can have more time for knowing yourself for afterwards meet people which you will be really happy,and not toxic or boring friends.I think that there is a lot of people in this situation,and when you feel lonely think that the world is huge and when you less wait it,you will know good persons.
Hi
I found local public activities a good place to start. Take notes after, so you keep everything straight as far as who is who.
I have met many nice people through local Drama groups. You don't have to act. They meet regularly and you get to know local people of all ages. Great videos by the way.
Great video! Sound advice.
Love,love,love the vids.👍👍👍🤪🤪🤪
Talking the same language helps ha Great video again 👍🏻 and yes the weather is great x
Thank you for your videos. Love them all. But this particular video strikes a chord. Making friends is a hard task. You are trying to select someone with whom to make a lifelong commitment to, before you really know them. I can't think of anything harder.
I'm English and have lived and worked all over the world, but personally didn't have these problems as I was working in hospitality and was meeting people all the time as part of my work. But my wife went through all these difficulties and had the added problems of language differences. She is Spanish and when she came here to work, she had no English language knowledge at all. So here she was in a foriegn land, knowing no-one and not even the language. Now 40 years on, she has more local friends than I do. But I know that for years she felt so cut off from everyone. What helped her was meeting people at work, but mainly having children and taking them to school was where she met what became her best and loyal friends.
These are great tips! I moved to Dublin from the States about 6 months ago and I just posted a video about the friends I've made here. It's definitely an adjustment moving to a new country like that, but it's SO worth it.
Hello can we be friends ? Am looking for friendship
I’m studying abroad at Uni of Kent this spring and next fall, so it was really interesting to hear that you’re living in that county right now! I’m someone who has always struggled with making friends, but I’m hoping I will eventually find my crowd once I’m there.
Hi I’m from uk
Amazing channel so unique! Hope you are enjoying England.. & the insane change of weather we have. 😂
Hi dear how are you
Yeh Dear
I've been in London my entire life (was born here) and have always found it difficult to maintain friendships. As you say you need to see someone regularly to stay friends but difficult when life progresses. I would say it's harder to make friends in London as there's a constant turnover of people - hardly anyone works & live in the same place for more than a couple of years.
Hi Sally! I am from Pakistan. And I want to connect with people outside of Pakistan. You are living in Landon. I want to connect with you. Do you want to connect? Please reply here
What great advice!
At least you have the English language - my wife is Argentine, also suffers hugely from anxiety which is made worse due to her language insecurities. She has lived in England since 2001, and still doesn't feel entirely comfortable!
I know how she feels! I've lived in Sweden for 8 years and still can't master the language. Think it may be down to having ADHD, but it's hard to it get diagnosed as an adult. It makes life here so much harder, but people just think I'm lazy and don't want to learn, which just isn't true.
Nice suggestions ~ thank you
You play board games?! Why haven't you talked about this before? You should definitely do a video about that. I'd be interested to know yur favourite games!
Chinaboatman theres a board game cafe in oxford thats pretty cool
Me too!
I'm looking forward to your video tomorrow :)
Excellent advice and tips. I would be very surprised if this didn't help someone.
You had interesting point/tips ... thanks.
You've mentioned your liking for the British 'Pub' culture in other vids. Pubs are excellent places to meet new people. Think of the typical British pub as like a 'living room' for the local community. It's the best place to meet and interact with other people in you area. Pub-Quiz nights are especially good at getting you involved when you join up with a pub quiz team.
Plus...theres booze! Everyone's your best friend when there's booze!
Now you have 13,000 virtual friends on here 😀 thanks for another great weekly video (I'm good at sky sports ) watching it that is 😂
When I watched your video's record, I believed that you were extrovert! thx!!!
I can totally relate to what you said about meeting friends online. I have found it's easier to make friends with people through youtube, allpoetry, facebook groups. I am not as shy online as I am in public. I'm also an introvert, so I like one-on-one conversations and small groups rather than crowds. I actually have a subscriber/friend who lives in Fakenham who I've been friends with since 2008/2009 and I feel like we can talk about almost everything.
How to make friends
I will be moving to Birmingham, UK soon and I exactly have the same social anxiety that you spoke about. This video really helped me get a picture of what to expect. Thank you very much! 😊
Thank you so much, hope you have a great move over here!!
@Cat-zilla it has indeed, I have made friends, I still feel I don't belong here sometimes but other times I feel grateful to have met these new people in my life. Hanging in there and trusting time will help is key. Also thank you for asking ☺️
@Cat-zilla trust the process. Hope you find amazing people around you. I was half hearted too, probably still am but I remind myself there is one life and so much to see and do and live. Take the leap you won't regret it.
@Cat-zilla yes some of my friends are expats too. I realised people here were intrigued and wanted to invite me to things. I never said no to attending them, things like after work drinks, weekend golf's etc. I met more people there and made new friends. Also people doesn't judge you a lot here and they all have their own sets of fair reasoning in their mind which I quite like because where I am from there is societal pressure, not so much here.
@Cat-zilla thanks, I was not a student when I came here. There are lots and lots of international students across all universities. Don't worry so much on your appearances. People here look beyond hair skin makeup etc. If you are into it it's fine, if you ain't it's fine too trust me. Be yourself, you will be valued more. And when you are here make sure to have fun! There is no shortage of things to see and do and people to do them with! Good luck and please write to me back if you can about your experience once you are here. Hope you love it! ❤️
A lot of foreign people I've seen make the mistake of relating everything in the UK to their own country. Countries are different and not everyone wants to know about our time back in your mother country (I love hearing stories btw). A colleague of mine who's Greek invited a few of us over for dinner and did a Greek themed meal, certainly broke down barriers and was good at getting to know each other. I have met a lot of new friends from going to reading group's (Check your library). Listening to people's views on books AND reading some great books is a win win. Board games? Kept that one quiet! Love the video and enjoy the beautiful weather in the Garden of England.
Thanks for the advice.
Any time!
Well here's a friendly comment about your last vlog. The book, Damned by Chuck Palahniuk you recommend was a fantastic read. Two thumbs up.
Local clubs or societies for things that you are interested in. You'll have a focus to start any friendship.
Very clever video,well done ✅💯
Great video :D and It'd be interesting to know what sort of board games you like playing! :)
Hi, love your video and watching sometimes.
Love the hair
Ah, Meetup. Such a wonderful idea in theory, but a disaster in practice! I've only had awkward experiences with it!
use app meetup.com
... right. Well done.
Met most of the people I know since I left uni on it and a few ex-gfs, so it sometimes works. Probably helps I live in a large city though.
Can be a bit of drama in some groups though.
Hey I've found your channel really helpful and informative. I have an american friend who I have never met, moving to the UK in Sept. I'm also planning to move out of my parents to live with him when he arrives.
Hey thanks so much, good luck with the move!!
Can you do a video for those who will move to Canada and what to expect?
Hi guys,,, im from Indonesia, nice to see you here on youtube, im so much eager to make friendship with english speaking people. As you know im both english teacher and a begiinner youtuber. My purpose is of course to boost my english.
Thanks a lot for responding me guys.
With love.
Sir irfan from indonesia, asia..😊😊
Happy Canada Day!
Ha ha you Canadians are funny. I could be friends with someone who when they say couch it sounds like coach. I could listen to that all day.
thank u miss ❤️
Pub after work on Friday is always a winner. When I suggest such I'm often met with the question "what's the occasion?"
Um, it's Friday?!?!?!
Go to a local pub when there is a rugby international on TV. Although I’m from Wales 🏴 it’s the same anywhere in Britain. You will find a packed pub and just sit and mingle with the regulars, start chatting and then go to the pub a little more regularly. Then start making it a permanent fixture of your week. Say go out every Saturday or find a pub that has a quiz night and go every week. That’s an easy way to make friends in a more natural way other than putting pressure on yourself to make friends.
Edit;
I commented before I watched the video then you mentioned a quiz lol.
I really find it hard to believe that you have trouble making friends. You come across as fun and charming.
Yess 👏👏...I just moved to the U.K
How you finding it
Hi Alanna, great video and very good advice. You need to do a "What board games I play" video.
Friendships often develop by meeting people with common interests e.g. if one is a fan of particular group/artiste or genre of music, or perhaps going of a guided nature walk. Taking a course or even a doing a workshop can also be helpful in meeting potential friends. With you now being fairly close to London, check out the 'Time Out' guide which will give you a plethora of options for fun activities!
(Scotland) My mate is touring Germany on his motorbike alone just now and he's calling it The Billynaemates Tour. lol. He posts photos on his Facebook page, to keep us updated.
That's actually awesome lol
You're a great lady 🖼
I want to travel to Britain. So , i need to ask you some thing on or everyone can help out on what's up 00964 782828 74 20 or on e-mail Sgrwdcg@gmail.com please help out 😘😍
Hi Alana, after making all these awesome videos, you would be constantly making online contacts, who could become friends even here. You mention liking board games. Which board games do you like? Years ago, back in the days before computer video games, I used to visit my grandparents, who lived fairly close by. My grandfather was into board games, especially chess and we spend most of our day with that. I actually also run a email hobby discussion group and have friends all over the world, who I regularly contact. Anyway, thanks for another great video. All the best, Robert.
I think that it can be difficult to make friends regardless of where you are from, I have moved house maybe 10 times always into different towns in England and have had this problem every time, for me I find that just being polite honest and genuine goes a long way towards friendships, this is not a hard and fast rule but has served me well most of the time. and you are right, having a few pints certainly helps to reduce your inhibitions if you are a generally nervous individual, just don't have too many drinks ;-)
That Meetup sounds major awks.
"Hey let's be friends, what are you into? I'm into that. Cool " (insert sound of Krusty going from laughter to crying)
I'd agree with the Facebook groups. You can be more niche and nerdy on there than i think you could in a more general setting.
Alcohol, the great equaliser in social circles 😃
Your right
I think part of the trick is to build a regular life to invite people into. By building a life i mean get involved in activities. There may be no-one you really gel with in those activities but you can invite acquaintances to join you for that very reason. eg gym and walking clubs.
My dad said about moving to another country that it made him make friends and realise the benefit of friends. I always thought that was great.
Your hair looks nice today 😍
Nice video! I'm a Lithuanian person who had lived in Canada (Toronto) for about a year and now I've been living in the UK for the past 2 years. I have to say that making friends in Canada was MUCH easier as people seemed much more warm and more open - I made a few friends withing the first few months who I still stay in touch with occasionally.
However, in my 2 years of living in the UK I hadn't made any close friends despite trying pretty much all of the methods you mentioned. Even though British people are very friendly, helpful and kind to strangers, but they seem to keep to themselves a lot. I've been trying to get better at small talk at least, but it's not easy because of the accents and the slight language barrier (as I'm not a native speaker).
Still love living here though, the atmosphere here in Manchester is amazing, everyone's so relaxed and there are a bunch of great take aways and cafes. And since I'm an introvert having a girlfriend is good enough for my social interactions!
Hi!
I know it's from 2 years back but I'm from Poland been in the UK for 2 years and I've made some friendships not a lot but they're meaningful though.
I was struggling to make friends at the first stage but as my English continued to improve then I was having less and less communication difficulties.
Hope you've been making some friends all that time! 😉✌️
Hello am called shadrack from uganda can we be friends?
Hi, One way to meet people from your home country (and here) is to get in touch with the Canadian Embassy and ask them what social events they have coming up. There are also Canadian student gatherings they would be able to tell you about. Even if you are not a student you'd still have at least one thing in common and you might be able to help others who are newer to this country than yourself. Love your vids I would suggest that you take suitable precautions especially going to strange (unknown ) places or areas if you are meeting people on facebook or suchlike places. Best wishes. Rab
True that
Alana, all this lovely advice works equally well for anyone, not just ex-pats... :)
dayum such a scientific approach
Thank you for this, you helped me out. I wonder if there are any pub quiz nights in nyc
Forget it, just checked. I’m very similar to you or maybe you’re just relatable
The way you come across on here, makes us all think you'd make friends very easily, but, when you meet people face to face it's a bit more difficult and awkward. I'd have thought you would have made a few friends through your boyfriend by now. Then again, it isn't easy to have the same type of connection with one of his friends just like he might not get on with one of your own friends. My advice would be simply to be yourself and don't try and force a friendship. If it's meant to be it will happen naturally. Remember though, that you already have over 13,000 virtual friends who like listening to you. You couldn't possibly become true friends with so many of us anyway ☺. You truly come across as a lovely person and best of luck to you.
Hi Alanna, Great video, with sound advice, as always. I think your social interaction is fine, you just need to have a bit more confidence in yourself. 😊
Hi! I was searching about "how to make friends abroad" and I found your video first, I'm Brazilian I want to make abroad friends that want to learn another language I started learn another language in the past year and I'm loving this experience, I realized that you didn't say which languages your talk with your abroad friends.
Wow, I just searching for Brazilian friends to learn Portuguese. Can we friends if you don't get me wrong?
Am here