We have been in Kuwait well over a year, in fact, it is coming up on 2 years this spring. I notice a phenomenon that happens to alot of ex-pats when they hit the one year mark. It happened to us, and others have mentioned it as well.
The first year is the settling phase. It takes a while to establish a new normal, get the house and family settled in school, activities, routines. Making friends, socializing and everything is hard, but it is do-able. It is a year of adventure, and while things are different, you know in your mind that you are a guest in a foreign country, and just accept things are they way they are. You conform to local ways of life, while trying to maintain a sense of still being you.
Then....one year goes by. You enter the anger phase. Angry that there seems to be no morals or rules here. Driving seems to just get to you. Everything about the way things are done here just makes you mad. You get anxious just at the thought of heading out of the house or do anything that makes you go off your normal path. It happened to me, anyway. The carnage on the roads on weekend mornings from the reckless habits of some the night before used to be almost entertaining to see the way cars managed to tangle themselves into unrecognized forms. Now, it is maddening, as you know exactly the reason it happened....bullying by vehicle. Some people think they are entiltled to drive like a manic just because they have a car there is no counter-attack by the local police. Even people 'driving' shopping carts feel as if they have no need to accept they may not be the only ones shooping that day. Kids seem to have no parents, the nannies are afraid to discipline.
So, approaching 2 years here, and I have allowed myself to have the anger phase, knowing there is nothing to do about it. I live my life knowing that I have haven't changed who I am, and will come out of this a better person. The nice part in all of this mess, is that often an act of humanity is witnessed, and it seems as though maybe life isn't so bad here. And by life, I mean we are fine, doing well, happy, just it is hard to witness how some others live in a moral fog. I hear that once you get past the 2 year mark, going home is alot harder! :D
The first year is the settling phase. It takes a while to establish a new normal, get the house and family settled in school, activities, routines. Making friends, socializing and everything is hard, but it is do-able. It is a year of adventure, and while things are different, you know in your mind that you are a guest in a foreign country, and just accept things are they way they are. You conform to local ways of life, while trying to maintain a sense of still being you.
Then....one year goes by. You enter the anger phase. Angry that there seems to be no morals or rules here. Driving seems to just get to you. Everything about the way things are done here just makes you mad. You get anxious just at the thought of heading out of the house or do anything that makes you go off your normal path. It happened to me, anyway. The carnage on the roads on weekend mornings from the reckless habits of some the night before used to be almost entertaining to see the way cars managed to tangle themselves into unrecognized forms. Now, it is maddening, as you know exactly the reason it happened....bullying by vehicle. Some people think they are entiltled to drive like a manic just because they have a car there is no counter-attack by the local police. Even people 'driving' shopping carts feel as if they have no need to accept they may not be the only ones shooping that day. Kids seem to have no parents, the nannies are afraid to discipline.
So, approaching 2 years here, and I have allowed myself to have the anger phase, knowing there is nothing to do about it. I live my life knowing that I have haven't changed who I am, and will come out of this a better person. The nice part in all of this mess, is that often an act of humanity is witnessed, and it seems as though maybe life isn't so bad here. And by life, I mean we are fine, doing well, happy, just it is hard to witness how some others live in a moral fog. I hear that once you get past the 2 year mark, going home is alot harder! :D
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