Expat life angst

No one told me about expat life angst. Not that it would have stopped me from coming here, but it would have been good to get a head's up.

Apparently, it's a rather common phenomenon. A friend calls it being part of the "third culture". You feel like a foreigner in the place where you work and live (well, because you are one) AND because of the time you spend away, you also feel like a foreigner at home.

It's this whole detached existence thing I've mentioned in previous posts. It appears that I am not alone and that this experience is fairly standard for expats.

Hmmm.... Interesting.

And here's the clincher: it never goes away. You live with it. That feeling of being completely comfortable in a place, of being familiar with everyone and everything around you? That's gone.

Hmmm.... Interesting.