most helpful response ever?

am interested...

on another note, i hear that it has the WORST road fatalities out there... great... lucky i'm a shit hot driver!

Little_Encourage.

I've gotta hit the hay... nighto night x

I cant really see any redeeming features about it. it must have one of the biggest rich-poor divides in the world

a relocation package, the opportunity for immense career progression (ie, fast track a few years in 12 mths) and so on... come back to a hopefully somewhat recovered bouyant UK markek (there's a bumpy ride ahead in my sector, that's fo' sure)... what's there not to like? Sunshine every day of the year.. beaches... a thriving expat scene (not so sure about that bit - that COULD be tricky for me.. but know of people out there - hey, Grinner from DiS lives out there!)...

I'm weighing it all up. I need a change of scenery.

but it is not a million miles from Dubai (literally, but you know what I mean). I came out here to work for a company I always wanted to work for, but quickly found it very difficult to live here.

Qatar is tough - the bureaucracy is stifling, the weather is sickening and there is ZIP in terms of culture - and that includes 'Arab' culture. The Gulf region of Arabia is nothing like Egypt, Jordan, Syria or Lebanon, for example.

But Dubai, from my experience, is a lot easier to deal with than Doha. The infrastructure is more developed and there is just a lot more to do. It is extremely fake, mind - more like a theme park than a 'city'.

If you come over here for the money - and that alone - you will have to make the necessary allowances. Check with your potential employer about the housing allowance on offer, as rents are extremely high. My place, for example, costs my company £2500 a month and it is nothing special. If you get an attractive offer on paper, check on the hidden costs for housing.

It helps massively if you can drive, too. I don't drive and consequently spend most of my time slogging around in 45C heat. Not fun.

To live in Dubai without going postal, travel to other places in the region regularly. Syria, Lebanon and Jordan - countries with a real sense of their history - are not far away.

It is a big step... without being patronising, fully examine your motives for coming out here. If it is money, you will not regret it. If, however, you want a life, you need to make allowances.

feeling brave about considering the act of upping sticks and wandering to Manchester from London

Reading this thread has reminded me how feeble I am!

yay - hotel bars, i'd imagine? trying to work out how licensing stuff is worked out re boozes.

also, has arnaud rebotini played out there ;-) (ha ha)

;-)

i remember reading about that. didn't someone get four years for a miniscule amount of cannabis on the bottom of their shoes that could only be seen by microscope? I think that was Dubai.

a job in oman today, got to admit the weather, tax free pay and relocation bonus are very tempting, but what the hell would i do when i'm there!

you visit a country, you respect their customs. It's simple.

I'd never behave like that anyway (sex on the beach = rubbish)...

On a serious note, I do have respect for other cultures.**

**Barcelona kinda different to Dubai, me thinketh.

I wonder what the penalty for mortgage fruad is in Dubai.

I didn't put my life on hold to come to Doha for no reason, for example. I did it for my career.

I wouldn't move to Dubai. The Middle East is fascinating but Dubai is like the Last Vegas Blackpool of that region.
I think Rose-Kitten likes to talk about doing exciting things though, without actually following them through.

....

seriously, sex on the beach is massively overrated... sandflies, and sand in places you don't want sand. HA HA HA HA HA.

I think one of the best things Dubai has going for it is it's accessibility to some really wonderful places to visit.

But that's only really going to be relevant if you have lots of cash to splash and aren't trying to save up your pennies.