I thought moving countries would be more cinematic

And by that I mean - I assumed moving countries would come with more sense of momentum. New routines, immediate stories, a bit of a narrative reshape. Instead it's been quiet mornings, daily rituals of going to familiar coffee shops and supermarkets and a lot of time that doesn't seem to be rushing anywhere. Not a bad time, just uneventful and the kind of days that don't Instagram well.

This is probably more noticeable because last week I was in the French Alps (I appreciate how this comes across) on a hectic group ski trip. One of those weeks where life feels loud and fast and full. The kind of trip where you're rarely alone and slightly relieved when it's over so you can recover. And then suddenly I'm back in Joburg on a weekday morning and regular life resumes.

Coming back from a week with my home friends makes the sharp contrast to my new life in Joburg hard to ignore. In London, a social life assembled itself around you. Work, proximity and mild obligation did most of the organising. You saw people because you always had, after work, on the way to somewhere else, squeezed into whatever time was left. Friendships could be accumulated almost by accident. Whereas here, nothing is automatic. Particularly because I'm currently unemployed and have no long standing routine, my social life has to be deliberate.

Because we're both new here, we've had to be open to meeting people outside of our usual circles. Some of those connections have come via apps that are better known for other things, but in a new city they've turned out to be an unexpectedly efficient way of finding community. Another, more conventional, way of forming friendships has been from joining a run club (if you follow me on Strava you will see how the altitude in Joburg is seriously degrading my stats). Either way, making friends in a new country is slower, and mostly one person at a time, rather than being easily absorbed into a ready-made friendship group. Here, we can meet people for a coffee, then another catch up a week or two later. A message that doesn't lead anywhere immediately, but then it does. Overall, meeting new people has been surprisingly less awkward than I expected - one of my first observations about Joburg is how warm and welcoming her people are. Jozis seem happy to introduce you to the city, but through their own routines. This takes longer to form genuine friendships but it also feels more intentional - like something being built rather than stumbled into.

In my more quiet days here I'm unlearning old routines. In London, my life came in schedules and deadlines. Here, my life is slower and unstructured. My socials with run club, coffee catch ups and conversations with new people happen because I have chosen to do so when I wanted to do them - not because they were in a calendar slot weeks in advance.

So while moving countries isn't cinematic and doesn't feel like a montage of main character energy moments, I am settling into a life in Joburg that moves at its own pace. Life in a new city can still be full, just less orchestrated, and that makes noticing small things - the city, the people, the unexpected connections - feel a little more vivid.

Notes from 26° South.