I recently moved to Berlin with DP and our small baby (DP got a job here). I have always wanted to try living abroad and loved our holidays in Germany, but now that I'm here I'm not enjoying it all that much. I don't speak the language, which is causing me more anxiety than expected, I thought I'd just 'muddle through' and get on with things. I am taking German lessons (3 hours per week) but it's hard to fit in enough practice around the demands of my baby and a lot of what I've learnt so far isn't very relevant to my life. I have not yet needed to ask for a pencil sharpener!
I've found a couple of English speaking baby classes to go to but not really clicked with anyone there and it's only 2 hours of my week taken up. The rest of the time I feel really lonely, we go out for coffee and cake far too often just to get out. Then I feel bad because I should be happy to be having this adventure and spending time with my lovely baby. Has anyone else experienced this isolation and managed to make it work? Any survival tips would be welcome! I want to be happy here but right now I have a strong urge to run for the UK hills.