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Pourtant, ce à quoi je m'attends est très différent.

Pourtant, ce à quoi je m'attends est très différent.
Yet, what I expect is very different.
From Lesson 251:Indefinite relative pronouns (ce à quoi, ce sur quoi)·French

Questions & Answers about Pourtant, ce à quoi je m'attends est très différent.

Why do we use ce à quoi here instead of just ce que for "what"?
The choice depends on the verb that follows. The verb here is s'attendre à (to expect). Because it requires the preposition à, you can't use a simple ce que. Instead, you have to use the structure ce + preposition + quoi, which gives us ce à quoi.
Doesn't attendre mean "to wait"? Why is it translated as "expect" here?
On its own, attendre does mean "to wait for". However, when you make it reflexive and add the preposition à, it becomes s'attendre à, which changes the meaning entirely to "to expect".
If I translate ce à quoi literally, what does it mean?
It literally translates to "that to which". In English, we simply say "what I expect", but in French, you cannot drop the preposition required by the verb. The à from s'attendre à has to move up and combine with ce and quoi.
Is there a difference between pourtant and cependant? Could I use cependant here?
Yes, you could absolutely use cependant here. Both mean "yet" or "however". Pourtant can sometimes feel a bit stronger, emphasizing a contradiction (closer to "even so" or "despite that"), but they are largely interchangeable in sentences like this.

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