2nd November 2006

Lady of Leisure’s social life seems to have picked up another gear following her return. She seems to get invited to every social gathering going, bake off with the Canadian Women’s Club, countless coffee mornings, school fetes, the list is endless. The expatriate community is small here and particularly so when it gets to the young mums. The social circles for the boys can be intense as you socialize with work colleagues. Generally everyone is so happy just to be out of work, that there are few formalities to stand on, though conversation may get a little stilted with work being the only common thread.

The social circle of the ladies who lunch is infinitely more complex. There appears be a hierarchy based on relative positions of husbands in their respective companies and little elite cliques with seemingly arbitrary selection criteria. This can apparently lead to “impossible” situations when a member of more than one of these covens, and listening to the Lady of Leisure dredge excuses for non attendance at one gathering in favour of another gives great levity at her discomfiture.
I’m think of contacting HR to put a health warning of future expatriate contracts; “Your wifes mental health may be at risk if you accept this contract; she may regress to her early teenage years.”