I agree that it's not exactly abandonment to all, but from the OPs perspective, who knows his wife best, it may have been as such. Not everyone takes to new and

I agree that it's not exactly abandonment to all, but from the OPs perspective, who knows his wife best, it may have been as such. Not everyone takes to new and foreign places as well. I sincerely salute your ability to, but I get the impression that OP knew that if he'd left his wife to just take care of herself, he'd be in the doghouse later. I'd know. I'm an expat, and while both my wife and I were eager to come to this assignment, we're not the same when it comes to unfamiliar surroundings. If it'd been me? Sure, I'll be at the nearest espresso bar I can find. Her? I would have done the same thing as OP. This is all anecdotal, I know. But my point being, its wrong to assume that everyone is capable of just seamlessly taking care of things when you're newly arrived in a foreign country. I'd agree that its frustrating when someone can't, or just feels too nervous or intimidated, but that's something we accept and work around when we select the partners we do. OP was right in choosing his partner first. I'd have done the same.