lullabelle

Ha! Floundering suggests I am waving my arms about in distress when the reality is that I am making a very definitive hand gesture which would put me in the Bur Dubai Hilton for a few weeks. I'm not in despair, I'm livid.

The ****ing over was done by westerners, mostly Brits. Who would all have copyright cases slapped on them if I was at home. I've yet to be ****ed over by unfamiliar locals and their unfamiliar ways. I must try it sometime.

co durham boy

The love / hate relationship with an expat existence . The minute you start to except the things that make you explode with rage and disgust you is the minute you've been institutionalized by your surroundings.

When you're surrounded by so much bullshit and wrongdoing you do wonder whether it's yourself that is going mad .

The grass is always greener on the other side until someone pisses on it

Sandboy

I'm off to court again this morning - the 21st time for a case started in 2009

I know we'll win
I know they'll appeal
I know that'll delay it another 6 months
I know we probably won't get paid... ever

but I also know that the sun will shine tomorrow and I will be with good friends and unlimited cold beer and will feel ready to start again on Sunday morning provided Sunderland don't let me down on Saturday

co durham boy

Welcome to my world , we struggle to get paid and these chimps here are apparently the richest nation on earth..?

You'll definitely feel bad Sunday morning if we get turned over by the Baggies , the writings on the wall for Mrs Doubtfire..!!!!

weasel decentral

Floundering maybe a bad word here anyhow the point was the unfamiliar local working practices regardless of nationality and legality rather than the person who actually carried out the backstabbing.
Anyhow its something I have experienced that's why I made the comment about being angry with yourself, because its something we all have gone through.
Case in point, after meeting clients in my business and the post mortem that happens afterwards, there is a huge difference in opinion of how the meeting went (regardless of what the client actually said) and the chance of doing business with them. The shorter the period you have spent here the more likely you are to accept what they said at face value, the more experienced guys are much more aware of the realistic outcome.

anyhow getting side tracked here I hope things change for you (for the better of course)

Sandboy

very true, my new boss arrived from Canada, first meeting was with Masdar, he was excited I told him he was wasting his time, he told me I was a cynical prick. His 2nd meeting was with the people developing Jumeriah Village ( think that was it's name, where they would flatten Satwa and Safa and build a new city ) he got the hump because I asked them the chances of it going ahead and us getting paid.

He's now back in Canada and I'm even more of a cynical prick

Spugsy

Aye always the same story. you have to just rise above it and not let it get you down, which it can. and as you say, lots of sun and beers and sunderland letting you down, it's not a bad life eh?

Sandboy

not at all - just venturing out now to hose the redbacks away and dust down the BBQ ready for the neeet, loading the soundtrack before I head out with a cold one

NorthernLad

We've just gone through the '****** detesting this place' cycle. Being in Singapore/Thailand in the summer kicked this one off.

Bbq and cold beers on balcony watching sun go down fixed it...as well as chatting to friends back in the UK on Skype.

We're back to appreciating it here. Until we see Fenwicks windows at Christmas, that's going to be a tough one to deal with.

OleJanx

Just remember, if you come back late November/early December, It's bloody cold, windy and dark!

The joys of Christmas? One of the better Expat delusions....

norsk

I'm flying back to the UK in late November. Only consolation is I'm only staying for 1 day before hopping on a plane to Jamaica for 10 days all inclusive relaxation. On the way back we also stop in UK for 1 day before coming back to reasonable temperatures in Dubai.

Christmas is mostly overrated. Especially in Europe. As a kid I associated Christmas with arguing, everyone being stressed, people pretending to be happy and the disappointment of opening the shitty presents I used to get. Even though this means I am a bit of a 'bah humbug' man I must admit that Christmas has become a better experience for me after having kids...

Spugsy

Yeah it's hard, when home I think it's amazing, but after a week of shit weather and lots of people out of work I look forward to coming back to the sun and a good job and decent money - and try and forget about the idiot drivers and stupid laws.