How the Expat Lunch Bunch got started
by Jeanine Herrera
It was early November, just the beginning of winter in Dresden, and I was already feeling kind of down – depressed and isolated, wondering why none of the expat wives ever got together to do stuff. I finally got tired of complaining about it, and invited everyone I knew to come over to my house for lunch. The first lunch bunch get together at my house included about eight women, and it was a huge success. Everyone enjoyed swapping stories, and giving each other helpful hints about making life in Dresden a bit easier – English speaking doctors, good hairdressers, even things we wished we knew before we came to Dresden (turns out just about all of us brought our cookie sheets with us, not knowing the ovens are too small to accommodate them). Since then, the lunch bunch has just taken a life of its own. We have had as few as 6 or 8, and as many as 20 women attend, either at someone’s house or at a restaurant. We meet once a month, and there is also a German speaking group and a book group.
What is it that we do, anyway?
Certainly social contact is one of our primary reasons for being, but not the only one. We also are there to help each other when needed, and we try to help the new expats get settled and acclimated, so that they don’t have to learn everything the “hard way” like some of us did. We have put together a document called “What we wish we knew before we came to Dresden” that we send out to expats before they get here, and we have a welcoming bag that we give them once they arrive. And, of course, we invite them to the next Lunch Bunch, which is a great opportunity to make new friends.
Contact Ladies Lunchbunch
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What We Wish We Knew Before Leaving Home
Useful Websites
Directory of English Speaking Services
Kid Stuff In Dresden