friendly bear

hi....possibly on our way to abu dhabi.....new to this but have some questions.....how do kids get to school,is there a bus system like the yellow buses here in canada..........what is the traffic like in the morning rush when kids off to school and husband off to work.......our kids are sports mad and belong to competitive swim clubs,they sail,kayak,windsurf,play rugby....are there competitive clubs for all theses sports in ab...kids are 8&11........with regard to schools,how large are the class sizes,are there restrictions on class size/number of students.......do kids of differing nationalities go to schools from their own background i.e. english kids to schools with english curriculum or do kids go to all manner of schools english kids to say canadian schools......any advice would be fantastic........thankyou.

Squirty Cream

The schools are international and there is a Canadian syllabus school. School buses are used.

There is an ice hockey club and then the schools organise stuff as does the British Club and there is horse riding at the equestrian club. Dubai has skiiing and snowboarding, sailing.
You could try googling Time Out Abu Dhabi.

The joy of living here is the mixing of nationalities which kids accept well and they don't tend to differentiate the way adults do, particularly at your children's ages.

Good luck. the Canadian Embassy here might be helpful.

busybee2

sorry sq not called british club any more just referred to as the club, rugby on thursday nites at al ghazal golf club for mini rugby good social get to gether as well. i think you need to look at cis in kca as a lot of schools waiting lists, especially the british curriculum ones.

friendly bear

hi,thank you for the info.................i should say that we are english but have lived in canada for a few years..........we are very keen on competitive swimming and sailing for our kids as they currently swim 4/5 times a week and would be great to keep this up...........also still wondering what the traffic is like first thing when kids and OH are on their way out....when at school are the class sizes controlled and how large are they..........many thanks.

weescot

Abu Dhabi doesn't have such bad traffic in the morning - the island's roads were planned and built on a grid system. Although it gets hot in the summer, it is a good place to persue sports. I lived in Canada briefly and know how well loved sports are! The British Club - rebranded the Club to attract multi national membership - has an active sailing club and there is a brand new public beach in Khaladiya for simming practice. This is the 5th placeI have lived in ouside the UK. I didn't like it to begin with, but now I think Abu Dhabi is the best kept secret in the Middle East.

Squirty Cream

The Club is still referred to as The British Club by non-expats and non-members though - we always seem to argue BB - does this mean we could be friends in real life? Perhaps I'm just not a good enough expat anymore, I've been here too long (more than 20 years)

Grace O Malley

Not any more it isnt

Grace O Malley

gosh Squirty you must have some tales to tell?

What do you think about the changes in the last 2 years?

weescot

Nooo - you're a good expat Squirty! Do continue to share your wisdom and experience! And spill the beans on your thoughts about the changes and pace of change here... Annacarna has asked a good question.

Grace O Malley

we will have to get her out one night and get her pissed. Bet she used to go to all those crazy parties at the ahem big house

Squirty Cream

Don't forget my early stamping ground was Dubai, Sharjah and everywhere in between before it got sodded up and invaded.

I'm up for a night of drinking and telling tales..........when do you fancy - be quite nice to reminisce.

weescot

Next weekend? It is about time we had another little gathering. I'll start a thread to see the level of interest.

Grace O Malley

Looks like weescott on the job!

You changed your pic, what is ?? Where are your FMN shoes gone????

Squirty Cream

They'll be back, I 'm doing the beautiful feet thing at the moment, need to find some red toenails though. FMN shoes returning shortly.

tdd

Hi
I am coming to AD soon, my son is booked into Year 2 at Al Yasmina (we wanted BSAK but no way to get a place) so I hope it is OK and not too big (he is at a small village school at mo and this one is massive!)
It does not look like it will be finished on time, does anyone have any info? I am out here at the mo (we have a serviced apartment til we find somewhere ) but really not sure where to look, Al Raha or town! Any ideas gratefully received.
I am giving up busy job but want to do some work, are part time jobs normal? (want to work it around school).
I had thought of joining The Club just for meeting people and my son to play but some funny reports on it on another forum on here, stuffy etc, is that the case? I am not stuffy at all but want somewhere to go after school so he can swim, meet friends and we can just relax!