The British MEPs – many of whom were only elected in May – are packing their bags in Brussels for the last time. British ministers have attended their last European Council meetings. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has signed the document ratifying Britain's exit from the EU. 

And on Friday night Big Ben will (much to the frustration of some pro-Brexit MPs) witness the end of 47 years of British membership of the European project in silence.

If Britain ever rejoins, it will be many years in the future and on very different terms. Every sign is that the immediate future relationship between Britain and the EU will be a far looser relationship than Norway or even Switzerland currently have. Free movement won't be a part of it.

If you, like me, are a Brit who made your home in another EU country it's a strange feeling.

I hopped on a train to Paris at 22, got a job, fell in love with a Swede and eventually settled in Sweden. Others have moved for work, to retire, to study – or like me, just on a whim – and many have stayed. When my nieces in England are 22, many of those opportunities will be closed to them. But for too many Britons, the idea of living in another country – especially one where the language isn't English – is entirely alien.

Being an EU citizen in another EU country is a funny thing. Culturally you're an immigrant – a new language, a different culture, a frustratingly unfamiliar bureaucracy. Yet in an important sense you are there as of right, as a European citizen, not as a privilege.

For those of us already in an EU country that right is only partially protected after Brexit: we will be legal residents but not citizens, and we will lose our right to vote (in most countries) and stand for election in local, regional and European elections as well as onward freedom of movement to other European countries.

There are Brits living in the EU who welcome Brexit, and not only because they want to keep immigrants out of the UK (though some people with an underdeveloped sense of irony hold that view too).

But when we asked The Local's readers for your feelings ahead of Brexit Day, the overall sentiment was one of depression – the word 'devastated' came up again and again. 'Like a hangover that won't go away' was another comment. 

And your thoughts weren't primarily occupied by your own predicaments – many of you were more worried about the big picture: Britain's future, Europe's future and the future of friends and family left behind. 

The Brexit negotiations have been deeply unsettling for many Brits living in the EU, as they have for EU citizens in the UK. We've often been asked to trust politicians with a shaky grasp of our realities and sometimes an open disdain for our views. Theresa May's 'citizens of nowhere' jibe may not have been meant for us, but for some it felt like it.

Brexit has also engendered a venomous political debate that has seeped into our relationships with friends and family. We now live in a world where we either approve of or disdain the political opinions of people with whom we had never previously even discussed politics. Increased engagement in politics, we've learned, isn't always an unalloyed sign of progress.

But as withdrawal approaches these tensions have subsided a bit, as they must. As Brexit became inevitable, the subject moved further into the background at the Christmas dinner table. Choosing not to fight a culture war doesn't mean renouncing your views.

Thankfully most Brits living around the EU will be able to continue their lives as before, even if some important issues – such as the rights of those who work in different countries, the rights of people who don't meet various income requirements for residency and onward freedom of movement – remain unsolved. The Local will be watching these issues closely over the coming months and years.  

Indeed, if we're to play the glad game (and why not?), some genuine positives have come out of this process: more of us have reached out to fellow Brits in our communities across Europe and built deep and lasting bonds – something that's been palpable among the Brits who read The Local; more of us have become citizens in the countries in which we live, planting our masts firmly where we live, work and love; along with countless people in Britain we have reflected on what unites us as Europeans, not only what distinguishes us as Brits.

These don't compensate fully for the negatives, but they're worth recognizing.

Perhaps we've also reflected on divisions in British society, divisions reflected across Europe, that gave rise to Brexit in the first place. 

Britain enters a new world on Friday night, and so do Brits living in the EU. We might not have chosen this world, but we can choose how we relate to it. We should choose carefully.

James Savage is Publisher and co-founder of The Local Europe. You can follow him on Twitter @SavLocal