I'm a simple emigrant for a long time now

This month marks six years since I moved to Germany. Psychologists say that there are four periods in emigration: at first you like everything, then you don’t like anything, then you adapt, and in the end you’ve reconciled and enjoy life. Or you leave. But that wasn’t exactly how it was for me. The first year and a half — I moved into an apartment among other young and energetic people. Instead of Siberia, I started living in the very center of Europe, low-cost carriers flew out of Frankfurt airport. A great team at work and lots of vacation, during which you don’t have to deal with another hundred projects. In short, life was wonderful and full to the brim: I hung out and traveled. But I wasn’t wearing rose-colored glasses: a couple of months after the move I developed a severe rash — an adjustment to everything new. Getting the everyday life sorted out was another real quest; I’ll tell sometime how I almost ended up in the police in the first weeks here. And I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw all these drug addicts on the streets. The second year and a half — COVID. While in Russia there was no COVID yet, they had already locked us all at home and told us what was happening. I was glad that I “had to” stay at home; I needed it myself, to rest and ground myself. Here, the country’s sociability came out in full, and I liked it. Although in this regard I was more of a sponsor of the party than a participant. During this time I traveled around Germany and for the first time realized the importance of citizenship with closed borders. The third year and a half — frustration. At this time I was hit by a small crisis of achievement. I’d been here almost five years, and I still didn’t have an apartment, a car, five kids, and my own business. And not even the whole city knows me yet! Quite a mess. Still, during this period my social circle solidified: someone became a real friend, and someone dropped out completely. And then the war began, and it was strange all the time, and achievements started to mean almost nothing. The war affected Germany as well, but being here was still much nicer. The fourth year and a half — naturalization. I kept studying Germany, its history, customs and culture. But during this period I began diving into all of it more deeply and more consciously. I went, for example, to German courses; I was already ashamed of myself. And I also started paying more attention to ordinary things that people don’t notice. How much basic comfort and that very work-life balance there is here. Definitely I like it here more and more, and I’m unlikely to move anywhere else. I would say I had only two stages of adaptation: an enthusiastic delight at all the good and a sarcastic anger at all the bad, and then a calm acceptance of both. #emigrant_happiness