From all accounts from what we've heard and in books we've read, if you're the spouse of an expat who has their work provided work visa, don't expect to work and get lots of hobbies. My plan originally, was to find a place where I could work part time, not really for the extra income, but mostly for human interaction. Moving to another city, let alone another country where you know no one can get a bit isolating. As much as I like to keep to myself, I can see the benefits of getting out of the house for work. This had been looking like a promising idea. I had talked to someone a the local enormous garden center, who explained how desperate they were for people in the afternoons. Most of the weekday employees are mums, who leave when the kids get out of school. "Perfect!" I had thought, I was only looking for a few hours and afternoons would have worked out just right. A few days after submitting an application I received a letter stating plainly, "We have no available open positions at this time." Am I being boycotted because I am an American? I've also looked into "bar birding" aka being a bar tender and waitress at local pubs. Most places are looking for folks to work evenings and weekends only. No thank you. I would like to be home during the same hours Mark, my favorite person to spend time with and coincidentally one of the few people we know here, when he isn't working. I also have the plan in mind to volunteer at the British Museum of Natural History. In theory, working in a department where I could utilize my training, knowledge and skills (i.e. entomology, botany or the scientific library). I'm now struggling with the fact that I shouldn't even expect to work part time nor volunteer as regularly as I had hoped. You see. I have a hard time selling myself when I want to be forthright with the knowledge that I may be out of the country for unknown periods of time with generally short notice. In other words, how can employer or volunteer coordinator expect to rely on me, I am admittedly making myself highly unreliable. It is a bit of a pickle.