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Before our move to the United Arab Emirates, we bought a book on it and read it cover to cover. It terrified us. Amongst warnings of limited amenities, possible negative social attitudes and restricted public behaviour, it mentioned Culture Shock, which sounded rather severe.

Thankfully, the book was written in the 1990s and most of it is now obsolete. What we found is an environment racing to keep up with all the changes taking place. Even postcards are quickly outdated as the landscape and landmarks are fast replaced by bigger, brighter and newer ones…

So we arrived here expecting to have to conform to strict dress and social standards and having very little freedom. We also expected to be exposed to one new culture only – we were in for a few surprises…

There are more cultures, languages and religions here that we have to interact with daily, than we could ever have imagined! In Terry’s office alone, his manager is Slovenian and his colleagues are Sri Lankan, Indian, Jordanian, Egyptian, Lebanese, British-Iraqi and American-Syrian. Religions include Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian.

Treasures at a souk

Along with the expanding cities filling up with expatriate workers (the UAE population is made up of over 80 percent expatriates and 100 different nationalities) and the ever increasing tourist market, a more tolerant attitude to foreign social behaviour is being cultivate.

The dress code is rather more relaxed than one would expect. Shorts and t-shirts are appropriate in most places but keep in mind, that by 'shorts' I don’t mean 'hot pants', and by 't-shirts' I don’t mean 'tank tops'. Generally, a watch-and-learn attitude will bring you up to speed on what is acceptable for public behaviour.

Public displays of affection, however, are inadvisable. In May an article appeared in the local newspaper about a couple that were arrested for 'French-kissing' in public late one night. And in July a couple was fined Dirhams (Dhs) 3000 each after being caught kissing at 3.30am in a public space – both cases were in Dubai.

The UAE may be a flourishing modern society equipped with every technological advance available, but it is a society based on solid moral and cultural values. Cultural heritage and tradition receive as much limelight and encouragement as scientific developments and cutting-edge technology.

But what exactly is culture shock? Is it seeing people dressed differently to you? Being more exposed to other religions? Seeing 'Lamb’s Brain' on a take-away menu?

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, culture shock is 'a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment...'

According to Renay Pattinson, 'it’s another word for homesickness...' And it's what happens when you try stopping being the hyperactive tourist and attempt to become part of the scenery – a local – and discover that there are more differences than what had first met the eye.

Culture shock is when it becomes depressing trying out new restaurants, as you have to read through the whole menu and all the ingredients because you can’t recognise anything; when blowing dragon smoke through your nostrils with a hookah pipe stops being a laugh and the apple-scented wisps of smoke starts giving you a headache; and asking people about their different upbringings and countries feel like too much hard work for a friendship.

Hookah pipes

Trying to do any normal day-to-day activity is wrought with the influences of the many different cultures. Ever played that game as a kid, where you hold your hand in front of your victim’s face, yelling: "I’m not touching you! I’m not touching…"? That pretty much describes what the different religions, languages and cultures here felt like at first. Frustrating.

All you want is something familiar! The ‘You-Know-You’re-in SA-When...' jokes are suddenly amazingly insightful and you don’t feel like deleting them from your Inbox. Every article or snippet of news about South Africa gets reread twice. And you start searching out the 'Made in South Africa' products and seeing a bumper sticker of the South African flag brings on a fresh wave of homesickness.

Amidst the cravings for Nik-Naks, Liquorice All Sorts and Biltong, your South African expatriate starts becoming a staunch South African patriot! You turn into a walking promotion for South African tourism and start rambling on about a Utopia with remarkable similarities to scenes from Out of Africa...

Inside a shisha tent

Of course, the culture shock does wear off during the usual adjustment period that everyone goes through at some stage of their lives – even if you just moved from the coast to Johannesburg. You need to give yourself time to get used to a new environment and develop a new modus operandi to carry out life the way you always have.

We are slowly discovering more to the different nationalities than just their geography, language and national dishes. We are picking up how to avoid unintentional offence by not referring to a group made up of Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans all together as 'Indians'. And that the old man who delivers our water from 'the hovel' downstairs, is Iranian, which means he is not an Arab, but rather a Persian.

We know that we are, however, just licking the iceberg – there are more cultural experiences, social differences and alien conditions than we can imagine, just waiting to be encountered...