quickbird3

Hi, I have just moved to Dubai (day 4 to be exact) from the UK and it's different. It's something I will get used to - I suppose. My wife wanted to moved to warmer climes so here we are. Well here I am for the time being until she joins me in July. My wife is Danish and I suspect she will want to live in area which has many European Expats. I have been told that Mirdif may be just the place. My offices are in Hor Al Anz East (Not far from the airport) so I don't particularly want to live in The Springs or The Greens area as it will take me too long to drive to work. Any advice on location would be very much appreciated. Are there any Europeans either living or working in the areas near the airport?

A little about myself. Born and bred in the UK. Two children (toby and seth) who will stay with my ex-wife. Got re-married to a lovely Danish woman with a great Golden Retriever (by the way have'nt seen any dogs around). It would break her heart if we had to leave the dog behind. He is called Prenton (after Prenton Park - the home of Tranmere Rover. Don't ask; the wife is a huge fan). Lived most of my life in London then moved out to the Windsor area. Most of my working life has been in Defence and Security.

Please let me know about the areas to live in and how easy it would be to have a dog here. If any one lives close by the airport area then I would welcome a coffee and a chat.

All the best,
Naz

Millhouse

Hey - welcome to Dubai. My HR guy told me the cycle is generally:

- 0-3 mths : frustrating but you are giving it a go and you like it
- 3-6 mths : starting to like it
- 6-9 mths : starts to piss you off
- 9-12 mths : you hate it
12-24 mths : starts to feel normal and you don't want to go home

for me that cycle was pretty much spot on. I've been here about 30mths now and don't fancy going back now. Quite like the place, millions of faults but so has the UK. it's different. Do remember you can be hoofed out at anytime though.

As for the dogs... You are right there are not may dogs here - locals and many of the asian expats hate them. I also think it's too hot for dogs here although others will disagree.

Jim Smith

[QUOTE

Welcome to Dubai!

Next week marks 25 years since I arrived on good old British Caledonian!!

I have found that time flies in Dubai, and to be honest it has been good to me and my family. We planned to return to UK in 1998, but sadly my wife died in 1997.

Although I think it is not quite the place it once was, get stuck in and enjoy it, and you will be fine!

quickbird3

Guy's thanks for the replies and the welcome. I have just finished talking to the wife and kids on Skype. It's going to be hard for the next couple of months as I am already missing England and the family. But as you have so rightly said - I'll get used to it and just need to get on with my new life and enjoy it.

Millhouse

the next few months will be awful. just dig in and get it all ready for her when she comes out.

like Jim says... time flys here. No idea why but it does.

Roadking

Likewise, came out on a 12 month contract...almost 9 years later still here. Miss RK loves the place, Mrs RK tolerates but silently likes it. I'm good with it, have a good circle of friends and colleagues and that is important, at least to me.

Forget the comparisons to the UK, ease into the life and go for it. it ain't a bad life.

brand new

lol!

The Dean

A Danish woman who supports Tranmere Rovers? She might just be strange enough to like Dubai.............

The reason time flies is that it feels like you are always on holiday (weather, near to beaches, etc).......... I reckon.

Hello.Kitty

I love the "wanted to move to warmer climes" and "will be moving out here in July" - yup, that'll do it! Like living in a great big huge outdoor sauna.

I'd say though that the Dubai Appreciation Model that EM put forward is for those working out here - for those who stay at home it's more like:

- 0-3 months: dislike it quite a bit, but still have an nagging "surely it can't be this bad?" going on in the back of your mind, so are optimistic (hahahahaha... [cough] ). Subject to mood swings. "I Hate Dubai Days": 4/7

- 3-6 months: just hate the place. Rue the day you ever listened to your husband's Grand Plan. Have the occasional day where you quite like it, but invariably a moron steps up to the mark and ruins it. I Hate Dubai Days: 5/7

- 6-12 months: start to learn how to control your own blood pressure and tolerate the place. Still yearn for the "normality" of your home country. I Hate Dubai Days: 2/7

- 12+ months: wake up thinking "yeah, it's ok" with a non-committal shrug. Your mind has adjusted to not expecting anything to be done any time soon and for no-one to really understand you. I hate Dubai days: 1/14

Roadking

I think this is more realistic:

April 30th:
Just got transferred to work and live in beautiful Dubai, UAE! WOW!!! Now this is a city that knows how to live!!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. It’s like New York City minus all the crocks, murderers, and drunks. What a place! I watched the sunset from a deck chair on my beautiful bedroom verandah. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my home. I love it here.

May 13th:
Really heating up. Got to 95 degrees today. Not a problem. Live in an air- conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car, and everything is fully air-conditioned. What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I’m turning into a sun worshiper.

May 30th:
Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today around our lovely pool. Lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here. Heat is no problem at all.

June 10th:
The temperature hasn’t been below 95 all week even during the night. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.

July 15th:
Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 90% of my body. Missed 5 days of work. What a dumb thing to do in this lovely city. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol’ sun in a climate like this.

July 20th:
Kitty (our cat) sneaked into the car when I left for the office. By the time I got to the hot car for my lunch break, Kitty had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up the $60,000 Audi. I told the kids that she ran away. The car now smells like Wiskettes and cat shit. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat.

July 25th:
The wind sucks. It feels like a giant ******* hair dryer in here!!! And it’s hot as hell. The home air-conditioner died. The ******* AC repairman charged 500 Dirhams just to drive over and tell me it was broken in ******* Hindu English or some language that I couldn’t understand.

July 30th:
Air conditioner still broken. Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now because it is 7000 ******* degrees inside. Bloody 2,000,000 Dirhams house and we can’t even go inside. Why did I ever come here? **** the sun. **** the wind. **** the freakin’ ocean. And ******* locals walk around dressed in white tablecloths followed by little black female ninjas. ******* crazy town.

August 4th:
It’s 114 ******* degrees today. Finally got the ol’ air-conditioner fixed. It cost 2,000 ******* Dirhams and got the temperature down to 25, but the ******* humidity makes the house feel 30 ******* Dubai degrees. Stupid terrorist repairman. I hate this stupid ******* place.

August 8th:
If another local wiseass cracks, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to ******* whack him all the way back to his goddamn desert. ******* Dubai; by the time I get to work with all that ******* traffic and heat, the car’s radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like a baked cat!!!

August 9th:
Tried to run some errands today because it is ******* Friday. Wore shorts and sat on the black leather seats in my Audi. The seat was so ******* hot I thought my ass was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and my ******* ass. Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried ass, and a baked cat.

August 10th:
The weather report might as well be a ******* recording. Hot, humid and ******* sunny. Hot, humid and ******* sunny. Hot, humid and ******* sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 damn months and the weatherman dude wearing the ******* white tablecloth on TV says it might really warm up next week. Does it ever rain in this damn ******* place? What is next, a ******* hell freezing over wave?

August 14th:
WELCOME TO HELL!!! Temperature got to 120 today. Now the air-conditioner’s gone in my ******* Audi. The ******* Audi serviceman said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ **** him and **** Audi. My wife had to spend the 7,000 Dirham to bail my ass out of jail for assaulting that stupid ******* Indian bastard wiseass. **** Dubai ! What kind of a sick demented ******* idiot would want to live in this shit hole?

August 15th:
**** this place. I’m off back to New York

MataHari

my experience is completely different so here goes...

the first 6 weeks were the hardest, as we were living in temporary accomodation waiting for our stuff to arrive, but once we were settled in our house it was easy. For me being in a home that I like with things around me that I like is the most important thing.
The first 2 years flew by, I was out and about all the time, discovering Dubai and the other Emirates, and we had a lot of visitors which takes up a lot of time. After that it just became home...life here for me isn't much different than it would be anywhere else, there's the kids to look after, the school runs, the playdates, the after school activities etc...the shopping, running the house etc...only thing that was different was not working as I don't think I would have been a 'stay at home mum' in Europe, but that has now changed as I've started work recently.
I don't really see the point in comparing things all the time with your home country, there are pros and cons to both, but I am here now and I take advantage of what's on offer, rather than waste my time thinking about things I would have done if I had not been here.
The fact that things are different here can also be seen as an advantage, you learn new things and you find you can cope with the unexpected, you have to be openminded and flexible here and surely that is never a bad thing.

quickbird3

Hmmm. I have never lived an Expat life so this will be an adventure. The wife has lived the expat life in many countries and said it wasn't too bad. After this winter in England she had enough and wanted a year round tan. So as the dutiful husband I landed this job to deliver the sunshine to her. The first day on the job I was told to forget the rules, regulations, structure and procedures I was used to; having spent many years with the UK Defence sector and the UK MoD. I learnt pretty quickly things were done differently here the moment I walked passed a restaurant with a no smoking sign and yet half the people in there were smoking. Not that I have anything against smoking but it just made me laugh. I thought I would go and have a drink in the local international hotel but was quite surprised to see that the people in the bars weren't the type of people I would expect. I wasn't too happy about handing over my passport to the company but apparently it's the norm here even though the ministry had declared it illegal. There are a few Europeans in the company and apparently they have handed over there passport too so I'd guess it would be OK. I've kept a photocopy of it and if anything goes wrong - I guess I can always ask the British Embassy to help - perhaps?

MataHari

We've never been asked to hand over our passports other than for a short period to get the visa arranged. Like you say, it's not allowed so I personally would not accept not keeping my passport. Let them have a copy (or 25, lol).

Millhouse

get your passport back.

The Dean

I guess I can always ask the British Embassy to help

Rearrange these words to form a well-known phrase or saying:

WELL AS MIGHT POPE BLOW ASK JOB THE YOU A FOR

All British Embassies are useless. Fact. End of. The staff regard their tenure as a three-year paid holiday, and since they may have to conduct business with the appropriate local government department for the next two years and nine months, they won't want to rock the boat.