11 July 2007

We have booked our holibobs in Dubai in October. One or two wags pointed out that it will be nice to go somewhere warm for a change! The point is that we are making an effort to visit people that we consider genuine friends.

Expatriate living is very false and can be suffocating in a small community. I find that many of the friends are little more than colleagues and while I can manage a beer on a Friday evening, conversation soon, runs dry beyond work and football.

It often feels like my life is on hold while I’m here. Things like friends, culture, restaurants, family, shopping, proper schooling are all among the things deferred. Any one of them and it is easy to say , “Well we are not in Jamaica for ever…..” and you can cope with a little sacrifice, but at some point you have to have a look at the bigger picture. Two or three years is a long time and the cumulative effect of these small sacrifices is actually quite large.

Our friends are also pretty much career expatriates, so a good chat with them might help to give me a little perspective. The fact that Dubai would be good destination for my next little foreign adventure should I let myself be convinced on the expat thing is an added bonus.