Are the rumours true?
 

Hello there,

Dubai is my favourite choice for a 2 year placement with an international company, but I would like to hear first hand whether it really is safe for an unmarried blonde westerner? (I say blonde since this apparently attracts more attention). Research can only go so far as sites are not always routinely updated.

Also it may sound silly, but with the UAE's close proximity to Saudi Arabia (where laws on interaction between men and women are much less liberal than in the UAE), Iran and Iraq, and its 92% population of westerners, can you see Islamic extremism being a real threat in Dubai in the next year or so? I know it's a guessing game, but any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much for taking the time to read :) I hope you can reply with any thoughts you may have.

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

The UAE is not 92% Westerners.

It's safe and sound. You will attract looks but not everywhere and not from everyone.

Saudi is far enough away that it only appears on road signs when you get towards Abu Dhabi.

Iran and Iraq are close enough to cause trouble if they want, but they won't.

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

Thanks for the reply, Scamp! And oops, I meant that Dubai's population is 92% westerners. How long have you lived in Dubai for?

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

It's under 5%

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Really? That's odd. Most sites seem to say the majority of the population in Dubai are westerners! May have to check again...

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Where on earth did you read that? 75% of Dubai's population are from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. The rest are Egyptian, Lebanese, Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian, roughly in that order. Yes there are plenty of westerners but less than 10% I would estimate.

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Oh yeah that's true, I did read that! I suppose I was using the term westerner loosely, so 92% o the population in Dubai then would be non-Emirati?

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Unbelievably, 3.5 years now. My mrs isn't a blonde but she's never had any issues out and about on her own. Only time anyone has ever said anything about her appearance was at the mall in her work uniform (PE teacher, shorts and polo), someone asked her to be more respectful.

Just be prepared if you do come for some attention from non GCC Arab blokes. Sweeping generalisation I know, but they're all slimey pervs.

Yeah, that's right. It's something mental like 47% Indian alone.

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Oh wow quite a long time then! Are you both missing any home comforts or happy to still be there?

Yeah that's no problem, I am prepared to be covered up. I have another question, I know it isn't allowed for unmarried couples to cohabitate, but when my boyfriend comes to visit me, would we even be able to share a hotel room, if he isn't allowed to stay at my flat for the weekend? or could he? I've heard all sorts so just wanted to check!

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Not compared to a lot of people, you'd be surprised. It's so easy to live here, very few life-restricting rules.

I miss greenery, sensible driving, squash (the drink) being available consistently in Waitrose, cheap(er) beer, real ales. That's about it. I can get almost all of that here in one form or another so it's not the end of the world.

I miss my Dad and Mum, but they visit.

Being here and missing shit is 100% miles better than being in the UK.

Don't need to be covered up much really, only knees and shoulders in the mall etc, but be prepared to see people wearing very little and not giving a monkeys about it in the process.

As long as you don't piss off neighbours enough to make them ring the fuzz you're fine. We cohabit.

When we stay in hotels they call the person who didn't book 'Mr or Mrs other person's surname'. If that makes sense. They don't care, they just want the cash money.

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

My mum isn't too keen to be honest because of safety, but I think that's normal. Half of me agrees with her, but then I know we would be of top priority for the British government (or so I hope) if it all suddenly went terribly wrong with regards to extremism!

And thanks for the heads up. It's helpful to talk to someone who actually lives there, and insightful to know you both even prefer it to the UK! Any main tips, like on what to prepare before I come, or whilst I'm there?

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I reckon you're safer in Dubai than in any large city in UK. There are different dangers, but they're generally avoidable by taken sensible precautions, just as you would anywhere.

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ROFL! You're joking. The embassy here does diddly squat for expats. They used to have an online registration system so they knew who was here but that has fallen by the wayside now in the face of government cuts.
Take some time and read through the forum, there is unlikely to be anything which has not been asked and answered a zillion times previously. Except if your question is really esoteric (which we do get) like I'm a Canadian married to a Filipino and our baby was born in China, where can we get the babies birth certificate attested for travelling to the Yemen.

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

Nah, it's safer here than a lot of places. British Embassy here (apparently) doesn't give much help to anyone at all. Not had to use them (touch wood).

If anything went tits up, I'd be well on my way but I can't see anything happening.

Bring lots of passport photos.
Bring as much money as you can, it's not cheap.
See as much of the old part of town and the country as a whole as you can.
Don't just go to Barasti every night.

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Okay well let's just hope no radicals man the airport otherwise we would be doomed! That doesn't instil me with much confidence but if there's a big community of expats then I'm sure we'd know when the best time to leave would be...

Since you mentioned China, Shanghai's my 2nd choice, but am concerned over poor air quality. 2 years might be too long to put up with it! The language barrier is potentially a concern, I know it'll be difficult to pick up even the basics but am willing to do so and have an idea of what it entails since I got my degree in French and German.

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Be easy guys - most of the westerners she is referring to are from Karachi, West Pakistan. :lol:

Winnie - you need to visit. But, do be careful and make sure Cameron doesn't null your passport if you're confused with an ISIS extremist.

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Having worked here now for over 8 years, I am not ashamed to admit that I have never once been to Barasti.

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Cheers for the advice, I'll try and bring as much money as I can. And I definitely want to look around (being vigilant and not going alone of course). The reason I chose Dubai isn't so much for the lavish lifestyle, I don't want to live in a 'British bubble', but rather because it's so exotic, but still safer than other parts of the Middle East.

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Honestly, I think there's something to be said for being careful and not silly, but you really don't need to worry TOO much for personal safety as a woman over here.

I'd rather let my mrs walk through Satwa in a short skirt at 11pm than through Southampton or any other city at the same time.

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which bits have you been to Scamp? :blink:

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It's a pretty good bar (as long as avoided on Thursday and Friday evenings).

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Nice for sundowners. Not much beyond that. Even though I've stayed on / been late on Thur/Fri and had fun...the place is jam packed with knobheads normally.

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Shanghai's a whole different ballgame, believe me. I think its quite possible that the city was named after the term, rather than vice verca. French and German use essentially the same sounds as we do (French is virtually the same language as English). Mandarin has 5 different syllables that sound to you and me like zh. You need a different-shaped mouth and tongue. And then there are the tones...

Dubai's pretty different from anywhere else, but even more different from Shanghai than you could possibly imagine. Dubai's a paradise if you like a gazillion social experiences, endless shopping experiences, extreme superficiality and enough Britishness to make most people comfortable; Shanghai has culture, pollution and 14 million mainly-frantic Chinese people.

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Yeah you're definitely right about the language. Apparently there are some speakers of only basic English, but I don't know if I could live without feeling isolated if I either have no Mandarin at all, or only the very basics. Would you say it's possible? And I like culture, hence the degree. I only didn't do non-European languages as they are almost impossible to get from beginners to degree level in 4 years like I did with German for example! So that's ok. But yeah, pollution, hmm, not great either. Maybe sticking with my first choice, Dubai, would be the better option.....

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air pollution is the main reason I'll probably not move to east asia. I would love to be the tallest person in the room.

Given that you have been to neither, I would say stick to Dubai, it's a very soft entry into living away from home. China is an awesome place... but not sure it would be my first expat calling.

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That all depends what your goals are. Dubai is superficiality central, which suits many. Its also income-tax free (although expensive), clean, safe, not so far from home, and fairly British-centric. But as a country the UAE is only 60 years old, and is culturally barren. China is the antithesis in many respects. Whether those things are relevant to you goals only you know.

And obviously Mandarin is not impenetrable, but it certainly ain't easy. That's just the speaking--the writing's mental, and that's from someone who can read and write Japanese.

Dubai's not usually viewed as somewhere conducive to training in the early part of a career. What do you do?

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The Chinese and Koreans aren't notably short, you need to go a bit further south for that...

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Yeah, it's quite unusual but with this grad scheme, I can choose to train in quite a few locations, but after having lived in Austria, France and Germany, I want to branch out beyond Europe while I can. I'm going to train to be a Financial Advisor, and of course the financial industry I know is huge out there. But mainly what I'm looking for, is a chance to grow professionally (where I can easily establish good working relationships with clients), and to experience a very different style of living in terms of language exposure, food, customs etc. I was a little disappointed, though, that many Arabs (supposedly) don't like to mix with the Brits (but then I suppose most Brits don't want to integrate anyway!) and it's all quite separate. I'm at a bit of a loss here to be honest with deciding...

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

Gotta be Dubai in your profession. I can't imagine many Chinese wanting advice from a non-Mandarin-speaking round-eye, and the pool of rich expats in Shanghai wanting advice ain't going to be that big. There is a huge number of Brit expats in Dubai and AD, and many of those with money to invest / save. And I'm only guessing here, but I'd have thought that many Arabs would actually prefer a British advisor to an Arab one.

But just bear in mind that I'm not in your profession, so may be talking bollocks. Again. :D

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

I did read that building relationships with Chinese clients can be a lengthy process! They are reluctant in doing so, but I would mostly be working with expats anyway. Just seems to be much less of them there than in Dubai! There's a lot to consider, but cheers for the info., it's been v. helpful.

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

Financial advisor...

Working mostly with expats...

I wonder why this thread suddenly went quiet...

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haha all the questions were answered, but I can see why you would post such a comment GolfGardener ;)

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

Seriously Winnie12, you might want to say a bit more about the job/company/industry in question to get some more specific advice.

If you are talking about working for a financial consultancy in their M&A team advising overseas companies on transactions, you might get one type of response.

if you are talking about working for PRICK de V???? or GlobalIdiot selling fixed term investment products to expat suckers then you are likely get very different advice that is likely to revolve around moving to a different company, or maybe a different career...

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Everywhere apart from Fujairah, which is on the list...and the Western Region bits.

Go to a primary school, it's your only hope.

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I think it is more likely to go wrong in the UK with regards to extremism to be honest!

You are aware Dubai is one of the top 10 tourist destinations for Europeans (made up fact :lol:) or not? In other words your mum can relax - it's not like moving to Riyadh or Kabul. Behave yourself and you'll be okay. If you however like to regularly break the law things can go horribly wrong pretty quickly here...

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Can't those "financial advisors who work (cold call) mainly with expats" be offered to ISIL as hostages?
Along with however much cash it takes for them to keep them.

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Having been in the UAE for 6 weeks now, I agree with (and am somewhat comforted by) this post. I go through waves of frustration, homesickness and bloody loving it on what seems like an hourly basis.

When I start to wish I was back in London with its trees and autumn leaves and my parents down the road, I remind myself that here I have a view of the sea, a car that costs £12 to fill up, a pool/gym, living happily on my wife's income* with a six pack of Fuller's IPA in the fridge.

Oh and my wife wishes she'd packed all her knee-length dresses.

*Job hunting, not lazing about. She'd divorce me

Re: Are the rumours true?
 

The only time I feel homesick is literally in the last few hours before leaving the UK to come back here. The rest of the time it doesn't even enter my mind.

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That's the thing, I think 'homesickness' is just thinking the grass is greener and you forget what's in front of you.

I lived in Southampton and went to Bournemouth beach twice in my adult life. I go almost every weekend when the weather is nice here.

It's definitely made easier if you're here with someone (wife/partner etc) than if you're on your jack.

My Mrs is far more likely to get homesick than me, but we combat it by doing nice things, staying with friends in Abu Dhabi, going for weekends away, having visitors (too) regularly. But it all helps.

Lots of stuff is frustrating but it's the same for everyone so I find moaning about it is irrelevant because everyone else has had to do the same or put up with the same. Still, it helps to vent. Then look at the bank account. Then have a beer. Then think about all the shit things in the UK. Then repeat.

Yeah, I always get a bit down leaving or when I've just got back.