Predicting an Expatriate's Level of Happiness Over Time

Ashok, in his fascinating, informative, and occasionally hilarious blog about life in India, has charted the average level of contentment of freshly arrived expatriates in India. I think his findings are applicable to Panama as well:

"There has been enough expatriate evidence acquired to actually predict and plot an expatriate's happiness or contentment over time.

Because of the excitement of the adventure, you start at a 10. The first month is culture shock. Drop to 7. The second month is honeymoon. Jump to 9. Then real life starts to smother you and you lose your elasticity to novel situations. By the end of the sixth month you are at a 3,but then you begin to understand the situation and what you need to do to succeed. A plateau occurs at the 12th month when you’re at 6.

Three. Today is three..."