Lock-down, taking stock & a barrel of laughs

I didn’t think I would find myself perched at the laptop, still writing about the situation the world finds itself in. My last post was a mere week into our lockdown in Kuwait and here we still are, day 70 and counting. I guess I am here because this situation is a unique one, one that I will want to remember and forget all in one go, but also one I want to document. There have been so many questions asked, so many unanswered, so many emotions felt. I can’t be the only one that has been on the verge of breaking down one day, rolling around in fits of giggles the next. Schizophrenic mood swings, transforming me into a positivity guru on Monday and by Wednesday she’s replaced by Oscar winning drama queen! None of this is me, none of this is normal, but I ask you, in a global pandemic what is?

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The sin bin

It’s been a while but here goes nothing. Firstly how is it 2020?! A decade of my expat journey done and dusted. I can’t believe at the start of 2010 I was happily sitting in Jersey, starting a new job and had no idea that by the end of that year, I would be sat in Prague beginning a new life abroad. Ten years of this life and it’s gone in a blink of eye. As I marked this milestone, I asked myself am I a better expat now than I was then? I can’t definitive say either way, somethings are way easier now, but the longer you’re away the worse somethings get and  I confess, at times, to be blighted by the 7 deadly expat sins.

Under seasoned & over done

After a long weekend in Dubai, I’m fully recharged and my spirits lifted. There is nothing like a change of scenery to put things in perspective and after a week of being full of a desert cold, feeling very sorry for myself, the stark contrast of a weekend in Dubai helped a lot. Whilst I was more than happy to come back to the sandpit and normality, I find myself not as settled as usual. For the first time in a long time, I feel that I am on December escape countdown. Am I getting sentimental in my old age or are even the most seasoned Kuwait expats missing the seasons?

Fake it ‘till you make it

There are many life scenarios where that element of self doubt creeps in and we smile and nod our way through that awkward dinner party conversation, which you have absolutely no clue about. We have all embellished a CV or done a little bit of self PR in an interview but these are socially acceptable moments to sprinkle a little of that BS glitter. My question is when does that fake it till you make it attitude become detrimental to your expat experience? Do we really know who are the oscar winning actresses are in a sea of bad ass, we totally got this women?

Calendar girls

Most people I know work in a 12 month cycle, the year begins January 1st and ends on preferably a drunken night on December 31st. I used to be one of those people, living the standard calendar and making those new year resolutions to be broken my mid Feb. Expat me, works in a completely different way. My annual flags seems to have moved and fall into 3  distinct phases. Pre Ramadan, summer break and the new year. In this case the “new year” in my expat circle is September, this has now become the clean slate, the bench mark for all the great intentions for the 12 months ahead and the re setting of routines. When did my end of the year become the start, the middle become the end and the start become the middle? Welcome to my expat life!

The summer make or break

As I suspected, my last post caused a few ripples through my expat world. I knew that not everyone would agree with me, which is one of the things I love about this blogging lark, allowing debate amongst expats and see what different perspectives people have. So here we are again, with probably a less divisive post. Schools out for summer and the mass expat exodus has begun. There are a few that will be literally running for the plane, eagerly waiting to be out of the hot sandpit, have a G&T in hand and know they have the next 2 and bit months to enjoy the normality of their home countries. Then there are a few of us, deemed hard core by the rest, that aren’t running for the hills but instead plan to hang around that little bit longer.  I pondered this vast difference between my circle of friends and asked myself, does the summer break, make or break a desert expat?

Virtual reality

In this day and age, we have (sadly?) mostly succumbed to social media. I don’t think there are many people I know, that don’t have at least one of the big 3. I did pretty well avoiding the whole thing and only joined Facebook when I left Jersey for Prague, how else would my so called “friends” know what I was up to?! Since starting this blog, I realised that social media does play an important role in promoting, sharing and building content. It has also given me a beautiful online community, most are expats, and we all support each other from all corners of the globe. However, as I posted one for the ‘gram last night, Hubby laughing at my ridiculous angle, not daring to move a muscle. I questioned whether I was creating many of the misconceptions about me and my expat life. So I ask, what is real and what is just virtual reality?

A big fat expat wedding

Firstly, yes your shock and bewilderment is justified. It is me, the one that would pop up weekly in your feeds, spilling my expat guts. So whilst the shock of my return to writing is shared between us, I hope that my first post back, after my little self imposed blogging break, won’t  disappoint.

When I read expat blogs, many delve into the ins and outs of friendships. I myself have fequently mentioned that there is a fine line between the the ones you had in your old life and throwing yourself into potential new ones. I can only speak of my experience, which thus far has been extremely positive. There haven’t been any transisant, right for right now, kind of friendships, so for me they have been a massive part of my journey.

Silent witness

Apologies for the radio silence, there seems to have been a little blogging drought in the desert. Whilst the prospect of writing wasn’t a chore, I definitely wasn’t in the mood to put this post out there. I have always wanted this blog to be an honest one and at times there have been some posts that have come easier than others, but I have never shied away from it. What I have learnt over the past month, is that there was something I wanted to write about, but I didn’t know how it would be perceived or if I actually wanted to vocalise it out loud. So here we are, I guess I am ready and after a few conversations with the desert girls, my feelings on this matter are not exclusive to this Jersey Girl.

Same but different

There comes a time in every expat’s life, where that ultimate question will inevitably need to be asked. You get to that point, where something or in actual fact nothing, can happen to spark a debate over the dinner table. Pros and con lists are drawn, emotions run high but ultimately there is just one thing that needs to be answered…..Do we stay or do we go?