Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Our family has been thrown into different cultures, learned about different religions and been fortunate enough to form long-lasting friendships with people of all nationalities around the globe.
We have tasted new foods, still dream of certain dishes from previous expat postings and now know to avoid durian at all costs!
I, for one, miss the fresh young coconuts that were delivered each morning whilst in Vietnam and the husband still pines for the green tea lattes that he would pick up on his way to the office.
Our children have been thrown in to a delicious melting pot of life that has taught them and us about tolerance, respect and acceptance. This life experience cannot be bought and is perhaps the pinnacle of expat life.
Unfortunately, our children had a real eye-opener the previous evening in their home town when we caught a taxi to take us home from a family BBQ.
The taxi driver seemed friendly at first as he asked our children when they were going back to school but when they mentioned that they go to school in Bahrain and explained to the driver where Bahrain is, sadly the driver’s personality took a turn for the worst.
The children went quiet as they listened to this ignorant, rude, buffoon of a taxi driver. As I sat up front, my blood boiling and wondering if I should get him to pull over and exit his vehicle but it was late and raining heavily. We had no choice but to endure this man’s appalling rants, his use of bad language and aggressive demeanour.
We quickly jumped out of the taxi at our destination and as he drove off we all stood in silence and looked at each other, in shock and disbelief.
A lesson taught to my children whilst home and out of their ‘expat bubble’ that sadly, ignorance and racism is still rife.
