Adjusting to the Expat life is not always easy, especially when you are moving away from your family and friends. Even though I am talking specifically about Lebanon in this article, I’m sure that many points are applicable to other countries as well.
I moved to Lebanon after living in Boston for 5 years, but I grew up in South Africa and lived there till I was 19 years old. Many people asked me if I found the move to Lebanon very hard and if it was a big culture shock for me, and to be honest – not really. In a way, I was already quite used to chaos, corruption in government and some general rule-breaking in South Africa, so there weren’t too many surprises when I first arrived. I adjusted quite well to the expat life, and I think it would have been a bigger shock if I had lived in the United States for a longer period of time (where people are more afraid of breaking the law [especially on the roads] and where there is a bit more order). There were a few things I noticed immediately, and you definitely have to get used to certain quirks of the Lebanese culture right from the start:
