Dubai - work/ living - pros and cons ? also in C&E

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abina

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Does anyone have any experiance of living and working in Dubai ?

Have been offered a chance of a project to manage in Dubai and on the surface appears to be a dream chance. Although I have travelled to many different countries these have mainly been Europe based, USA and a few Islands in the Indian Ocean. I have never been to Dubai and would love to contact people that have lived and worked in this country to have an insight into what I have to consider. The project would be between one and two years long , so it's a fairly long term comitment.

I am a mature person nearer 45 than 35, single with no kids ( ha that sounds very sad !! but very happy at this !! ) and wondered if this would affect anything?

Any comments gratefully read !
 
I've visited Dubai not worked there, fantastic country but I didn't like the fact that women are second class citizens. I know it is there culture and I'm not against that but it did make me a little uncomfortable.
 
I'm an air stewardess, and go there quite a lot, but obviously never lived there.

I'm not a massive fan of the place. We call it the new Spain - full of British tourists, and the malls are full of Topshops, M&S etc. I also find it way too hot in summer - nice in winter, and a lot of it has a lingering oils smell!!

That said, I think working abroad is a fab thing to do. The standard of living is great, and its not that far to nip home - only a six hour flight...
 
Yes I'm aware of the clothing, drink, debt, driving and sex laws etc I have researched these points on various web sites and a books etc, Just wondered what 'real life' was like out there, the underlying tone from these web sites etc is all quite heavy and a little scary, but it is workable and can a British person work and live out there and have an enjoyable life without feeling like they are going to be clamped in chains any second !
 
I would think there would be a pretty big ex-pat community out there, and lots of people with second homes there.

Compared to other countries in that area it is very liberal imo. Doesn't feel very oppressed...
 
i lived there for 18 years and had two of my horses out there.
Pros:
- accomodation usually paid for
- company car often provided
- middle of the day free
- weather

Cons
- strict rules ie debt, drinking etc
- weather - can be extremely hot and humid
- conditions vary according to yard

I could go on..
feel free to pm me if you want more info
 
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My sister in law has lived over there for more than 25 years... She is in Umm Al Qwain which is about 40 miles from Dubai... I can ask her if she would be happy for me to pass on her email address if you want?
 
One of my sisters and my brother-in-law have lived out there for a few years. They moved back to England in April this year. Good lifestyle, but very artificial.
 
Holly Hocks said:
Good lifestyle, but very artificial.
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bubble comes to mind.. Mine well and truly burst when I moved to the uk..
Not that I minded when I lived there - Expats in dxb are spoilt :rolleyes:
Shame I can't afford to live there by myself otherwise I'd be back in a flash.

Sorry op - kinda hijacked your thread. Is it a horsey project? If you need somewhere to ride, I can recommend somewhere :)
 
I'm just back from Working in Dubai and can honestly say it was the best year of my life. I was a riding instructor and although the pay wasn't great it is a whole different ball game there... No dirty work!
If you are prepared to have a major lifestyle change I would definately go. I wish I had the opportunity to go back.
The only bad thing about my experience was how you are looked at if you are not a 'local' and the culture is very strict but when in the real expat areas it is no different from the uk I would say, although much more glamourous !
 
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I've been working in the middle east for 15 yrs. My Office is in Dubai (La La Land). It takes me 1.5 to 2hrs to get to the office from our company house in the morning. The traffic is ridiculous. I really don't like the place at all. It's completely fake. All the real work is done by Indian workers who are paid peanuts. You see bus load after bus load crammed into buses without AC on the way to the building projects. The bars are full of expat w**kers being loud in rugby shirts thinking they are something special. The Emerati's certainly don't give you the time of day. Like most gulf Arabs they see us as no different from any other foreign worker. Often the whole city is covered in a blanket of dust and car fumes. Most of the dust is cement dust from all the building work. It's too hot to go outside in the summer, I'm an outdoor type and find this the hardest part. I like to escape from the concrete (and glass) jungle. I'm lucky as I'm working there on an equal time rotation. I do try to make the most of it when I'm there; but for me the novelty has worn off.
TBH lots of my colleagues who live there Think it's great and think they've moved up a couple of social classes by being there and "hey we've got maid" . I think it's important to keep one foot in reality. 3 of my colleagues have had their fingers burnt buying property; Also a few years back all the landlords massively hiked their rates. lots of people had to move as the new rates exceeded many company housing allowances.


I think if you're only going for 2yrs make all you can when you're there and bring the money out.

Saying all that though, some people do love it :)
 
Thank-you so much for all your replies, all your comments are very much appreciated and interesting, and your time to reply.There are some common threads, heat, dust, mainly ! Has given food for thought as It would be a big career move for me as have a sound job here and buisness but this job was offered and I am tempted but don't want to throw away everything for a dream that isn't there.

Thanks Guys !
 
I grew up in Oman and Bahrain and my parents spent some time in Dubai and Qatar. It was fantastic. As many people are on fixed short term contracts (about 2 years) you make friends very quickly The social life is good and the standard of living is usually excellent. I spent most of my time in Bahrain riding or swimming. Many expats don't bother to meet and interact with the locals, which is a shame. Most are very respectful of women, it's just a different kind of respect to that we're used to here (although as a woman working in the UK construction industry, sometimes I wonder whether it really is that different). Grab the opportunity - dad moved out there in about 1980 for a 2 year contract and they moved back to Ireland about 10 years ago!
 
lazybee said:
The bars are full of expat w**kers being loud in rugby shirts thinking they are something special. The Emerati's certainly don't give you the time of day.
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:D:D:D This made me laugh a lot! I lived in Abu Dhabi for 6 months and agree with all lazybee's points (and don't forget the multitude of chinese/Russian hookers in the bars :eek:)

Some of the ex-pats are truly awful and have completely lost any sense of reality and of their actual status.

At my old company we generally agreed that it was a good experience but not a long-term prospect - or you risk ending up being one of the ex-pat w**nkers :D
 
paddy said:
I grew up in Oman and Bahrain and my parents spent some time in Dubai and Qatar. It was fantastic. As many people are on fixed short term contracts (about 2 years) you make friends very quickly The social life is good and the standard of living is usually excellent. I spent most of my time in Bahrain riding or swimming. Many expats don't bother to meet and interact with the locals, which is a shame. Most are very respectful of women, it's just a different kind of respect to that we're used to here (although as a woman working in the UK construction industry, sometimes I wonder whether it really is that different). Grab the opportunity - dad moved out there in about 1980 for a 2 year contract and they moved back to Ireland about 10 years ago!
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Hello Paddy,

I spent 5yrs in Oman. I found it much better and more down to earth than Dubai. At least Omani's work for a living. Muscat is smaller and friendlier and you soon get to know people. The country is nicer too. Jabal Akdar, Nizwa, Ibri, did you ever visit Sultan Qaboos' arabian horses at a'Seeb? Saying that though the last time I went to Muscat it's getting more like Dubai. It seems like all the Gulf capitals are taking the lead from Dubai. Dubai has the 'Palm' development, Muscat has the 'Wave', Doha has the 'Pearl'

Sorry to go off topic
 
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