It's all a process.

Take thirty seconds- close your eyes, breathe deeply, imagine a place where you feel calm, maybe even count to ten or twenty slowly.

This is a vital skill in Qatar- patience and staying calm.  I remind myself of this every single day.

Patience is key in a soceity where multiple language barriers exist and cultures and customs meet in one giant pot that hasn't yet been stirred.  There are about 1.6 million people living in Qatar and only about 260,000 of actual natives.  The rest of us join together in the country from all over the world to partake in the workforce of a rapidly growing economy.  It is the result of so many different types of people living in one small peninsula that makes some of the simplest things so difficult.

From ordering an appetizer at dinner to making a large business transaction- everything takes time and sometimes even multiple attempts before it is ever done right.  Life here is a process.  It is only after you learn that, that you can really acheive your goals.
Perhaps you would like an example. you sit down at a restaurant and you order a diet coke with lime.  When your waitress bring you the beverage, you receive a coke with lemon. Breathe. Ok that was just a small example.  Your driving in your car, listening to your favorite music, you see a car approaching the road you're on from a side road on your right, surely he will stop before entering the main road. Wrong.  He will pull out in front of you leaving less than a second between the side of his vehicle and your front bumper. Breathe. You are in the grocery store, reaching for the eggs on the top shelf.  You are standing on the tips of your toes and almost have the foam carton in your hand when- BAM.  You are knocked over. Some lady needed the labneh on the shelf below the eggs, so instead of waiting on you to get your eggs she runs her cart into the side of yours and knocks you out of the way. Breathe.  You order hot tea at a restaurant, the moment you tear open the paper tea pouch that holds the tea bag, tea grounds go everywhere.  The tea bag has a rip in it.  You ask the waiter for another tea ba, he brings it, you open it, and it does the exact same thing.  After about the fifth tea bag, the manager comes to the table and explains that it is the new trend in Lipton tea bags- all of them are ripped. New trend, seriously?  Breathe.   These 'examples' happen every single day.  I have only listed the minor ones, but when you add up fifteen minors in one day, the breathing execise becomes more than necessary.  It becomes the way you live.  So instead of asking how a dish is made at a restaurant or tweaking the toppings on your pizza- accept things the way they are.  This makes things much easier for everyone.  Dont complain to your waiter when he does something that you thing is ridiculous, instead just breathe. 

Living in a new place, expecially one that gathers so many different cultures, is difficult.  The best thing that you can do is understand that it is all a process.  Change isn't easy.