Me 2.0

Gavtek

Good: Better lifestyle (pool/private beach in close vicinity that we can use without getting hypothermia), wider gene pool to choose a partner from, opportunity to tick off some bucket list cars, not surrounded by moaning pricks.

Bad: Sanity tax, air quality, bureaucracy (the stress, hassle and expense I had to go through just to get a cracked windscreen replaced almost had me packing my suitcase), lack of community (i.e. every man for himself), quality of fresh produce compared to what I can get back home, the smell of that incense stuff they burn outside every perfume shop. censorship.

scrubbedexpat141

Good: money, holidays, weather, 'lifestyle', better car, less pikeys / scumbags, cleanliness of surroundings.

Bad: distance from family, certain freedoms, hassle of dealing with morons, driving.

Former definitely outweighs the latter.

TheShed

Good : was a brilliant place to bring up my kids, V8 cars, cheap taxis which leads to decent social life, disposable income, closeness to Asia

Bad : as others have said, bureaucracy, newbies and their imported political correctness, beer prices, stale overpriced ingredients for cooking, closeness to Asia.

Like others, overall the money/happiness bucket is still filling faster than the 54iT bucket.

scrubbedexpat141

That tickled me

pupdawg82

Interesting and timely thread. Good to see comparison from people who have been living in UAE for long time.

al dente

The good:
Massively improved our financial prospects
Successfully changed career path and have benefited from a lack of local skills and competition n the market which has pushed me up the ladder very quickly
More of a global outlook Re politics and social issues than friends back home
Hugely grateful for our place in the lottery of birthplace
Easy access to sports and meeting the world's best as they come through
Concerts
Live music
Easy, easy life.

Bad points:
Realisation that most of the world is ****ed by power imbalance
Watching cavalier environmental destruction
Hatred of the fact that the approach to law enforcement is so race dependent
Too easy to smoke so I still do
Too easy to go out and my liver hates me for that too

Millhouse

All but one of your bad points are actually good points.

DXBtoDOH

My expat stint is coming to an end this December and this will be the second one, both in the Gulf and both lasting four years with a two year stint back in the UK in between. My list below is based mainly on Dubai, the past two years in Qatar don't count.

The good:
Money
Travel
More rapid promotions for those who work for it, greater responsibilities and challenges at younger age on bigger projects
Ease of life (nicer/bigger flats, nicer cars, greater disposable income)
Great outdoor activities year round
Never having to check the weather forecast before planning a camping trip
Dune bashing / desert and wadi explorations
Never having to clean or iron
Great diversity, people from all over the world, meet a huge range of people
Expats tend to be friendly and sociable
Expat circles tend to be active, always partying, always playing, always out and about and doing stuff. Very positive attitudes and "go get 'em" approach to life. Nothing is impossible. Anything can be accomplished if you put your mind to it. The attitudes and mindsets reflects Dubai quite well, being able to build an entire metro system in a handful of years is a perfect example.
A lot closer to NZ

The bad:
It's not the real world.
Lots of knobheads around.
It's all about money and nothing else. Materialism abounds. Self-absorbed, narcissistic people abound.
Diverse but heavily stratified society more akin to Victorian Britain than the modern West
Dating/relationships are ephemeral
Friends come and go too quickly. Entire circles of friends can too easily up and leave within a year, leaving you alone
Racism/sexism prevalent
Lack of equality
Everything is overpriced
Surface is all bling bling, underneath it quality tends to be shit (and this applies to everything from construction to people)
Still 14 hours from NZ

Both the list of pros and cons are exaggerated to a degree but I think they still provide a realistic overview of what can be expected.

scot47

Morons and stupidity are found everywhere. Remember that 50% of the population everywhere are below average intelligence !

Retiring to Scotland I was reminded that many people on this island of Britannia are insular. Well it is an "insula" I suppose.

al dente

Must be my sunny personality..... or because of your more cynical one?

scrubbedexpat141

You're just a ray of sunshine, although I do think Millhouse had a point that things you think are bad could be good in some eyes

TheShed

Today!! First day since summer that I drove to work with the top down :-) Start of Autumn.

scrubbedexpat141

You drove topless? I imagine there was a queue of women in cars behind vying for a peek?

pupdawg82

or men from Afghanistan