This is an excellent website to share experiences of becoming an expat. Well a bit about me:
I have lived in London all my life and summer 2009 I had to setup the IT infrastructure and configure a new office based in Spain for our lawfirm. I absolutely loved being in Madrid as the people are so friendly and people drink to socialise and very rarely see fights (unlike I use to see in London). I was made to feel really welcome and when it came to the end of my secondment I decided to stay here permanently. It has been a good life change, as much as I miss my family and friends I hope to achieve this again in Spain.
The main reason that I came to this site was to find out if anyone else has struggled to make friends. The biggest problem I have experienced is the language barrier which I am trying to overcome by learning spanish. But wanted to find out if there were social events and how others have overcome this. And it is good to see that there are many more people in my situation.
Well that is a bit about me and wish everyone the best is settling in their new country of residence.