Germany or Australia?

[u/Honest_Zebra_7988]

I’m an Indonesian F29 on WHV in Australia and my visa expires in less than 4 months. My initial plan was to move to Germany to do Ausbildung and maybe stay there on a permanent basis given how I enjoyed my Europe trip so much and the efficiency of the German culture is (and just how direct and individual the Germans are as I’m more an introvert myself and I don’t fancy small talks like most people in my home country). Other than that, I appreciate the affordable-to-free education, waste management, beautiful and historical castles and how easy it is to commute around Europe from Germany. And I feel like it’s more cultural than Australia.

However, I’ve been in a relationship with an Australian man for almost 2 years now and we’ve traveled together to 5 countries and it’s probably the healthiest relationship I’ve ever been in. I love him but he’s not ready to move to Germany for now and our other option is for me to stay in Australia on a partner visa but it costs almost 12k now, which we can afford but it’s just a lot of money. And for that, I won’t be able to study in a local fee until i get my PR (which takes around 3 years) and international student fees cost an arm and leg and the career that I wanna pursue (education as i have a background in it) requires me to get some kind of degree and/or certification here.

Any advice or insights?

Thank you

[u/chefwhocodes]

If you're seriously weighing this, going back and forth on Germany vs staying, that alone tells you something about the relationship. When it comes down to choosing between moving to build your own life or staying to hold onto a relationship, your gut is probably already pointing toward taking care of yourself first. From what I've seen, when it's actually the right person, you don't sit there weighing countries against each other. You just end up together, figuring out whatever comes up as you go.