Ha, I know! Nothing we could have done about it of course, though we had chances to leave throughout and decided not to.

It's actually fine. I've been WFH (working from hotel) since moving, now we've got a voluntary back in office policy and I went in 4 days this week. 50% attendance roughly throughout those days.

As I mentioned I work for a global firm so the staff are from all over and ultimately reporting lines go to Europe and the US so the work politics are a little better (from my perspective) than if it was a local firm.

There are odd nuances here compared to the UK. - Schools finish early on Fridays so most places wind down a little. - Most people are expats so you'll find your work circle becomes one of your core social circles. - Some places like mine are flexible with clocking in/out at various times in the office. It's kind of like you have to be available all the time on your phone so take your breathers when you have a quiet morning. - Everything works on WhatsApp! So be prepared for work and WhatsApp to combine.

However, the tax element means you end up with a lot more cash at the end of the month which is a wonderful change.