Meow

The UK with sunshine etc - that's The Springs for you!

You can have fun and a good life without being a w****r

The_Citizen

I will be living in Tecom and commuting to Abu Dhabi 3-4 days a week.

Kix

PMSL, been there, done that!

commander

Really poor people who are genuinely touched when you do something 'normal' towards them, like say please and thank you, or open a door for them.

Somethings most locals and Jumeriah Jane's no nothing about.

auzdafluff

On the way back from a business trip to the UK in 2011 (about 10 months into my time here), I was in the airport duty free at Manchester buying some Raybans. When the girl went to check my boarding pass, she said oooh, you're going to Dubai! Is it for a holiday?

When I said no, I live there, she asked if I could only describe Dubai in one word, what would it be?

You could tell from her reactions she wasn't expecting me to say 'racist' but I stand by that assertion to this day.

Patsy Stoned

I have been here for almost 10 years, I train about 60 people a week from all nationalities .... men and women including Emirati, Lebanese, Palestinian, American, British, Indian blah,blah and all of them are living normal lives working, playing, bringing up families etc. None of them are w**kers, none of them are rude or arrogant, they all seem to be very genuine and caring people.
I live in a local area, I have friends of different nationalities, my life here is not that much different from the other countries that I have lived in,(except the brunches are better ).
Dubai is better than some cities, worse than others.
I really get fed up with people who think that the UAE is full of false people.
There are false people everywhere. I love living in Dubai, I love my job and I love and respect the culturally differences of the people that I meet.

shiva

Thx meow. In terms of visual images the August umbrella and suicidal gardners are ones that will stick with me for life I think, along now I come to think of it with people hiding in the shadow of lamp posts. Regarding defending Dubai the longer I'm here the more I realise that the wankers are actually the smallest part of the population and that most just lead normal lives. I think that's what gets me is that the Dubai ill remember is completely different from the one that gets talked about.

The Dean

If I say that I hate Dubai with a passion, but I still enjoy living here, does that make sense?

shiva

Completely

Jammy_Dodgers

Having spent the last 2 years in Singapore I can see a distinct similarity with dubai.

In both places it would seem the worst kind of people are the Middle/Senior management that arrive on a transfer or secondment...they treat the posting as a holiday.

Like most people that go on holiday, these people push the limits of drinking, partying and generally being w*****rs.

I have seen many decent people poisoned by the Dubai lifestyle.For example, because they get their pictures in Ahlan or Hello they suddenly think they are the next best thing, and because they can afford a nice car and champagne brunches...that they are suddenly a class above the rest.

So how would I define Dubai ? I would say "Morally Toxic" ... on sooo many levels




Dont get me wrong, I love the place...cant wait to come back!

Autonomy

Been thinking about it for while and I hate to say it, but it's unavoidable.

Money is what defines Dubai.

At every level, more than other cities.

A city that will forever be trying to find its own identity and on the whole failing to do so.

And yes, I am currently in a decent situation and still like it here, so...

littlejimmy

+1

auzdafluff

It always makes my day when I hold open doors for Filipinos and Subbies. They're almost always pleasantly shocked that a white person is holding the door open for them.

It shouldn't be like that though.

Desert Shaikh

A place with people who have it all and those who have f**k all

NorthernLad

I get a similar reaction when holding a lift door for cleaners, maids, maintenance men etc... When you ask them which floor and press the button, judging by the look in their face you'd think you landed from another planet.

To define Dubai....not sure why I think this (I don't got to a lot of them), but 5 star hotels.