My adventure as an expat in Johannesburg began many years ago. At the beginning, I had mixed, even negative feelings about the city. It took almost two years for that to change.

In those two years, I got lost countless times, threw several navigation devices out of the window in frustration, narrowly escaped being carjacked and regularly had to convince my small family not to flee the country. On top of all this, I was also burdened by my work commitments.

These two years were full of stress, outbursts of anger, frustration and doubt. But what changed after that time? We had finally settled in. We understood what was 'normal' in Johannesburg, knew the best places and the right people to talk to and had created an environment in which we felt comfortable.