Bigfrank28

Cheers. Thats helpful.

What dyou work at yourself?

co durham boy

I'm an Operations manager for a Gulf based concrete company

Bigfrank28

Ideally I would be looking for a temporary contract of sorts. Do they exist or do you just need to relocate?

guuuude

I guess we are positive. Qatar cuisine? Tradition? way of life?

Mc donald, Landcruiser, landcruiser are the answers.

Qatar is dirty dusty hot, people are xxxxxxxx boring. Isnt it positive? I mean until today i didnt punch somebody, still i consider this as quite positive

Oyibopeppeh

I visit Doha on business 2-3 times a month...and OK, it's a bit of a sleepy dusty village, but it's not half bad compared with a lot of other places I've worked:

- Tripoli (Libya): The worst driving standards of anywhere I've been. Dry. Nothing at all to do. Post Gadaffi there are guns everywhere.

- Soyo (Angola): A totally bush place. Open season on the white man. Locals would shoot at the camp from sundown to sunrise.

- Warri (Nigeria, Delta): Like Soyo but with attitude. The kidnap capital of Africa.

- Doba (Chad): 28 days on a dry ExxonMobil oilcamp with nothing to do except work, eat, sleep & wank. At least in jail you get visitors.

- Malabo (Equatorial Guinea): Furked up in every imaginable way. The worst police anywhere for asking dash.

miniman

I actually lived just outside Venice for 12 years, taught English in Japan for 2, and finished my masters in, yes, paris.

Been here in Qatar for 9 months.

Naive is not my case.. Just gave my opinion.

MrBAH

Thanks County Durham Boy, most helpful!

OleJanx

Realistically, Doha is what you make of it. Yes, it's odd, but it isn't Saudi, and depending on how you are prepared to face it, it can be a good place to be, so long as you are prepared to make an effort and put your self about to gather a social circuit.

co durham boy

Cool mate , i've no problems with that . Ive worked in worse places than this such as Yemen and P.N.G .

My opinion is formed over many many years in The Gulf and after being here for 2 years i can honestly say that Qatar is boring , dull and mundane .
I live a decent life here and i'm well compensated for my efforts but that doesn't mean Qatar is a great place , it's not it's rubbish.

It offers me nothing as a lifestyle experience and is just another job on another project in another country , when it's finishes i'll either carry on here or move to the next project.

To say that we take the money then moan is correct . The day i don't moan about something in the Gulf and drop my standards to compensate that is the day that i should pack my bags and leave.

miniman

fair point

gottheTshirt

Agreed Qatar is bliss compared to 90% of the alternatives. To your list I would add Benghazi, Tripoli is bliss compared to Benghazi, Sanaa and Aden are great for scenery and culture, but you tend to get shot and have to eat off newspaper. And all the drivers are drugged on Ghat. Sudan is dry and has no food which is a pain after a while. Nigeria; spend half your time bribing police men to get your car back. Pakistan has power sharing with electricity one hour on one hour off and you tend to get blown up. Afghanistan - great scenery, but the only liquor store is in Kabul, the food is crap, also get blown up, pay is good though. KSA is Qatar divided by 3, you will spend half your life trying to get out of shops and restaurants which have closed without warning for prayer time. It is all relative and in the stakes Qatar is very near the top for an easy risk free life. suites me fine - no complaints.

Tony8310

have to agree if you can handle the treats of Malabo Doha must be a breeze!

Jim Smith

Sounds just like it was in 81-84. Get into it and it's not that bad?

OleJanx

That's about the size of it. The buildings may change, but really Doha is much as it was back then, for the most part.

mrblast

Ok, just wanted to give my point of view about Doha seeing as everyone is complaining about it.

I'm originally from Manchester, UK and I have been in Doha for six months. Prior to moving here, I worked in Kazakhstan for four years. I've really enjoyed my time here so far so I find it slightly odd when people claim it's a 'shit hole' and that it's 'boring'. Can people honestly claim that they have exhausted all of the various things there are to do in Doha to the extent that they are tired of them? What is it that people expect? Do people expect to have exactly the same facilities that we have in the UK? In the UK my free time was filled with going to the gym, going for meals, going to bars, going shopping, and going to the cinema. There are masses of options to do all of that here.

The weather is generally great here, I live in a fantastic apartment on the pearl that has it's own gym and pool, I've met some brilliant people (Expat and Qatari), I'm not quite sure what people expect really. Yes there are bad sides to living here, the weather does get very hot, there is a lot of construction taking place, but then there are bad sides to living everywhere. The fact is that we are all paid well to live here and it is a good lifestyle overall. If you can obtain a good packaged to come here, I'd recommend you do so.