In an expat discussion group on Facebook, foreigners living in Georgia came up with a list of situations that foreigners often find themselves in after spending some time in Georgia. The list is dubbed "You know you've been in Georgia too long if..." Timothy Blauvelt, Country Director for the American Councils for International Education -Georgia, and Professor at Ilia State University, initially put the list together in 2006. You can find the list below, with a few additions from more recent years:
"You know you've been in Georgia too long if...
• You actually believe that Borjomi water has curative properties.
• You can distinguish between Kazbegi and Argo in a blind taste test (or between Borjomi and Nabeglavi).
• You recoil in horror if somebody punctures a khinkali.
• You hand taxi drivers the proper fare for any ride without any negotiation or asking the price.
• You find nothing romantic in candle lighting.
• You’re disposed to sit in a taxicab for 45 minutes at your destination without budging if the driver is unwilling to give you the proper change.
• You think you can get a cheaper fare if the taxi driver doesn’t notice your accent.
• You can’t drink a glass of wine without a toast even when dining alone.
• You are not taken aback when a complete stranger at a supra kisses you and professes eternal love.
• You appoint someone tamada even when dining with foreigners.
• You find sit-down toilets uncomfortable.
• You aren't aware that one is supposed to pay for software.
• A PhD in Nuclear Physics fluent in 7 languages irons your socks for a pittance.
• When you go to the toilet you bring your own toilet paper.
• It is no longer surprising that the only decision made at a meeting is the time and venue for the next meeting.
• You find that it saves time to stand and retrieve your hand luggage while the plane is on final approach.
• You ask how much people are making and expect to hear an answer.
• Your first group of friends in Georgia has already left and come back again three times.
• Georgian fashion starts looking hip.
• You think Kobuleti is a nice place for a holiday.
• You start to enjoy the taste of chacha.
• Your family stops asking when you'll be coming back.
• Smoking is one of the dinner courses.
• You drink the brine from empty pickle jars.
• You know more than 20 Tamunas, 30 Ninos and 60 Giorgis.
• You are no longer surprised when your taxi driver tells you that in Soviet times he worked as a rocket scientist.
• You think Pele coffee tastes good.
• You start speculating that Georgia might join the EU before the millennium is out.
• You finally understand that it's culturally insensitive to come to the office before 11 AM.
• Your oldest foreign friends stop bothering to pretend that they're not working for the CIA.
• You start learning Georgian because you're anxious that God might not understand your prayers if they're in a foreign language.
• You remember the days when the traffic police took bribes.
• You can order food at most restaurants in Tbilisi without looking at the menu.
• You think Nivas are the all time best SUVs.
• You tell others your phone number in two-digit sequences: i.e. ninety-nine, seventeen, forty-three.
• You’re no longer surprised when a building that looks like a Beirut crackhouse gives way to a sumptuous apartment inside.
• You know that Ajaran khachapuri isn’t necessarily better in Ajara.
• You express skepticism by involuntarily muttering “kargi, ra” even when there is no Georgian-speaker around to hear you (and express surprise by shouting “vaimay!”).
• You blame the Russian FSB for unfavorable weather changes.
• You seriously consider founding an NGO yourself because you are fed up with having to work.
• You are unable to explain to your mother what your job actually is.
• The lady in your local corner shop stops asking when you are going to get married.
• You don’t double up with laughter while reading (or writing) 'good governance' proposals.
• The two hardcore communist Peace Corps volunteers you met in your first year here are now heading the World Bank and the IMF".