Spugsy

If you are from brixton then expect a pretty big culture shock - this place offers a lot but its not as much fun, chilled or as mad as back home but lots to do and see.

And plenty of publishing work over here, not brilliant money but look into it and see whats out there.

Expect only to see utter shit bands though, hardly anyone good ever comes.

dubai_curious

Publishing is not brilliant money anywhere in the world. If I were in it for the money I certainly wouldn't have chosen this career, haha. As long as I can make rent and have enough money left over for food I'm happy

What are your favourite things about Dubai, y'all?

Millhouse

Oi. That's me.

dubai_curious

Welp, assuming you're not being sarcastic, each to their own, but it's fairly unlikely I'd hang out with you then, which I'm sure you'd be devastated about.

kittycat1

Hi Curious,

I moved here straight from Clapham (the dodgy end) had been working as a freelance stylist and design consultant, was offered the job here and thought why not. It took me a lonnnnnng time to stop hating it (about 9 months and \i mean I hated it) it is a really big culture shock and takes a lot of getting used to. Having said that I have now been here for 14 months which has flown by and I hate to say it but I actually feel quite settled here now, however whenever I go back to london I feel a real tug. It is hard being away from such a great city. Also the media industry here is frustrating, theres a real lack of creativity and you may find it rather erm how do I say challenging at times. There are a lot of people here in jobs they just wouldn't be in the UK and it can be very political within companies. But you have to think why you're here to get through the bad days.

I would recommend you come out for a couple of weeks before you make any decisions you may regret, I would advise not making the decision without a visit.

Good luck

Kittycat
x

commander

ive been here for 6 years, 3 in Dubai and 3 in Abu Dhabi.

I completely agree with what Meow has said. There are arseholes here who go full on into the expat lifestyle (maids/drivers/fake tits/penis extensions) and think they are completely a cut above everyone else.

Loads of these people have been fired when the construction industry collapsed, (it was really upsetting to see all the tosser real estate owners abandon their BMW's) and say a final farewell to Barasti's.

We love it here, like most places it has its bad points, but overall it offers us income, safety and a chance to bank 90% of my salary.

I have no love for the locals, we are a necessary evil to them..make no mistake of that. They are as a whole a bunch of idle lazy fat diabetic arswipes.

There are loads of lovely people here though. (in general its the people who have been here a while)

Anyway gotta go and unlock my maid from the cupboard. She is due her weekly beating before the driver collects Tarquin from School and fetches my groceries for the week. Best hurry though as my Porsche is getting cleaned by my gardener who has just cleaned my pool.

Bahtatboy

Cheapskate.

commander

i know, but i have a Chevloret Epica for weekends

Norm_uk

Can't really add much to that as it sums it very well indeed - Meow you really should write a guide to Dubai.

N.

lionheart

How dare you! Didn't you know that Sister Sledge and East 17 are both appearing in Dubai this weekend?

Ethos83

If you're looking for an indie scene, Aussie Legends in Satwa is right up your alley. Pretty frightful people in there at times.

Most western expats will be boring to you. They're either bland middle Englanders living in the desert version of Barratt "executive" housing estates, working class chavs with acres of faded tattoos and gold chains from the Toon made it good with their Filipino girlfriends, and public school poseurs largely in banking and consulting. To each we're the norm whilst everyone else is a bit exotic. So the provincial-within-expat mindset is real.

But as others have mentioned Dubai is what you make of it. It is a diverse city with a wide range of nationalities from all over the world. There are creative type people everywhere and in all industries, there's an arts scene taking off somewhere in the Al Quoz area and I know a few people in the arts/publishing world who are fairly happy living and working in Dubai. Despite the real estate collapse Dubai still has loads of architects and designers floating around which helps to keep an edge on the bling bling of the city. It helps to be open minded and not judge by first appearance as the dude in the boring business suit waiting for coffee at Costa could turn out to be a pretty eclectic guy.

lionheart

Are you serious about your savings? We could save nearly 50% of our salary in the Magic Kingdom but rarely get to save more than 25% here. What about the rest of you?

Ethos83

My savings rate used to be a lot more. For the first two years I saved on average 3/5ths of my income by living in villa shares and being frugal on just about everything. Part of that had to do with that the job security level at my original company collapsed around December 2008.

But now that I'm in a much better position I save maybe 2/5ths if I'm lucky. I've got my own place and upgraded from Emarat to Costa coffee for the daily jolt and spend more on travel and entertainment.

Millhouse

Year one & year 2: 60%
Year 3: 50%
Year 4 (est.) = 20%

gone are the glory days for me.

MacScot

Huh? Shouldn't that read "the opposite sex"