12 Signs You've Been an Expat in Qatar Too Long

As an expat in Qatar, you start getting used to the lifestyle and things that used to surprise you seem quite normal now. If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll definitely relate to these!

1. You take a taxi for a 5-minute walk during the summer.

Because it’s better than arriving drenched in sweat and sunburnt.

2. You know better than to trust Google Maps.

It’s just safer to find your way around using hotels, restaurants and malls as landmarks. Considering that there are no postal codes and that Google maps might or might not lead you to a closed highway or a construction site, the only way to navigate is to describe the surroundings.

3. You think it’s cold the minute it reaches 20 degrees Celsius.

By now, you’re just used to newcomers or visitors to look at you like you’re a crazy person when you start bringing out your jumpers while they’re walking around in T-shirts.

4. You just expect an “Inshallah” reply to most of your questions but you ask them anyway.

Even worse, you start using this “maybe at some point in time… or never” technique on yourself when you don’t feel like doing something.

5. You get overly excited about the rain.

Except not long afterwards, dread starts creeping in because you realise there will soon be floods and chaos everywhere.

6. You’re unfazed by ridiculously bad driving.

Making a right turn while they’re all the way in the left lane and cutting in front of everyone else? Oh, just a common thing. It’s also totally normal for them to get the angry “how dare you!” reaction when someone honks at them for what they did.

7. You’re no longer surprised when you see wild animals as pets or roaming the streets.

A tiger on the road? Oh, just another day of life in Qatar, at least it’s making traffic more amusing.

8. You mentally prepare yourself before taking a shower in the summer.

Because you know that no matter how cold you set the water, it still comes out as scorching lava.

9. You know that reading signs is not as boring as it sounds.

There’s bound to be some amusing mistake or odd translation somewhere.

10. Smashing your phone is a regular occurrence.

How else are you going to let out your frustrations when the customer service person doesn’t understand what you’re saying (and vice versa)?

11. You have given up on your hair.

The water is ruining it, the weather messes it up and you have already spent a fortune trying out hair products that really didn’t do much.

12. You barely remember what it’s like to pump your own petrol.

It’s just easier when someone else does it for you. Which side is the tank on again?