We had an unexpected "culture shock" of the nice kind, when my bride and I went to live in Nassau back in 1967. I wrote about it on my blog a couple of weeks ago, in "Rum and Coca Cola", telling of our introduction to an expats' life. TCB - "Trust Company of the Bahamas" - was a bit old-fashioned in its treatment of expats, and the welcome we received was a pleasant surprise to us. (See the extract below.)
In Nassau, a house and car were provided by Tim, who also worked for the trust company. He was off the Island with his family on 鈥渓ong leave鈥�, and didn鈥檛 find out about the deal until he got back. That was par for the course, apparently. 鈥淟ong leave鈥� was a carry-over from the Good Olde Days when the sun never set on the British Empire, in which anywhere in the tropics was a 鈥渉ardship post鈥�. Two weeks in the hill stations of India or Kenya were a refreshing break from the stinking heat of the population centres, but it needed three months in Blighty every two years to prevent the chaps from 鈥済oing native鈥�. Mad dogs and Englishmen, and all that.
I never actually got to enjoy a three-paid-months "long leave". The year after I started, the Company eliminated that privilege, in exchange for a raise in salary.
