# Most expats in the UAE don’t know about local customs and culture



## Editor (Aug 20, 2009)

Some seven out of 10 expats in the United Arab Emirates have a poor knowledge of the area’s culture and don’t know about local customs and traditions, a poll shows. Despite an abundance of learning resources and materials available 72% didn’t bother to find out more about the country they live, the survey by 999 [...]

Click to read the full news article: Most expats in the UAE don’t know about local customs and culture...
Please come back to discuss the story here in this thread.


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## INFAMOUS (Apr 19, 2011)

Must be all the Canadians... they are used to letting people into their country who don't adopt the culture


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

Many expats don't meet a lot of locals so how does one really learn about local culture and traditions. Also, the interaction that most people have with locals is usually negative and therefore the desire to learn is lost.


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

The media regularly bleat on about this, I'm guessing to fill up column inches. The bottom line is that over time, everyone knows or gets the gist of what goes and what local culture is all about.


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## ibkiss (Feb 1, 2012)

What I have experienced with locals is that if spoken in English to them ,it agigates them & they feel much more comfortable if I speak in the Asian language I know !


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

Mr Rossi said:


> The media regularly bleat on about this, I'm guessing to fill up column inches. The bottom line is that over time, everyone knows or gets the gist of what goes and what local culture is all about.


+1.

But seriously.... what is the Emirati culture? Is it not the same as Arab and Bedouin culture which is witnessed in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi, etc.? We know what they eat, how they dress, they speak, etc. What else is there to know? I don't know if I believe that article when they say that most expats don't know about local culture...


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

In order to learn about the culture, we need to be immersed in the culture. All I see around me when I get out of my house is Starbucks, Burker King, MacDonalds and other international brands. I have yet to come across a restaurant that serves local Emirati food and as far as I'm aware, food makes up a major part of any country's culture.

The way I see it, places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi do not really have any culture and this is where all the expats live so you can't really blame us!


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

ibkiss said:


> What I have experienced with locals is that if spoken in English to them ,it agigates them & they feel much more comfortable if I speak in the Asian language I know !


Maybe it's you....the Emirati people that I've met, I have spoken with all of them very comfortably in English and a little bit of Hindi (I'm assuming that's the "Asian" language that you know).


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## Dastardly (Feb 12, 2012)

indoMLA said:


> +1.
> 
> But seriously.... what is the Emirati culture? Is it not the same as Arab and Bedouin culture which is witnessed in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi, etc.? We know what they eat, how they dress, they speak, etc. What else is there to know? I don't know if I believe that article when they say that most expats don't know about local culture...


There is a lot more to know, Dubai however might not be the best Emirati place for that due to the overwhelming number of expats compared to locals and adoption of western style. 
Funny thing i read in a blog that even some Emirati nationals find it difficult to learn about their own culture!


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

pamela0810 said:


> In order to learn about the culture, we need to be immersed in the culture. All I see around me when I get out of my house is Starbucks, Burker King, MacDonalds and other international brands. I have yet to come across a restaurant that serves local Emirati food and as far as I'm aware, food makes up a major part of any country's culture.
> !



I was about to mention the food part but you beat me to it!

A refular restaurant serving Emirati cuisine could have been a great addition to Dubai, after all Dubai is a city that has even a North Korean restaurant complete with waiters loyal to the Great Leader. 

There are restaurants at The InterCon or Emirates Palace in AUH, but while i can have food from most cuisines in Dubai, i know its very hard to find a place serving Balaleet and other Emirati food.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

In the first place, there isn't much 'local' tangible culture. This was a very poor, very primitive place completely ignored by the rest of the world until very recently. I think I first heard of Dubai in the late 1990s, which is not that long ago! 

Because of the recent poverty and isolation of the region, there's preciously little in the way of an artistic, linguistic and culinary heritage that's readily observable. What culture that did exist is mostly performing arts on a limited scale - mostly unremarkable music and dancing, which were performed at family gatherings. Since as a tribal people the Emiratis are exceedingly private people, expats have limited opportunity to see these performances. As the Emiratis keep expats, who have grown to become the overwhelming majority of the population, at firm arms lengths, we really can't be blamed for not knowing what constitutes local culture. When Emiratis talk of their culture, I get the distinct impression it's more about the social rules of conduct and behavior within themselves as well as the understanding of the pecking order among the families and tribes, and why/how certain Emiratis deserve more respect than others and the whole wasta concept based on families and family allegiances, all of which are mysterious and unknown to outsiders, who are left seeing all Emiratis as one and same.

As a result, our understanding of the Emiratis is limited to what we do see of them, and it's not particularly positive. Rude, arrogant, boorish, maniac drivers, fond of fast food, bad employers, touchy and overly sensitive to all criticism. It's unfair, but the Emiratis have done little to dispel the myths and stereotypes surrounding them.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

The only emiratis most expats come in contact with are at work where every expat seems to thinks every emirati is a rich lazy no good waste of space who does nothing or the young emirati boys who are rebelling against their life and culture who cant handle a few drinks without being a beligerent arab kid. Those expats who experience that really arn't seeing the 'native' culture. 

The two worlds do not mesh together well anyhow. I dont see how this is going to change any.


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## ibkiss (Feb 1, 2012)

pamela0810 said:


> In order to learn about the culture, we need to be immersed in the culture. All I see around me when I get out of my house is Starbucks, Burker King, MacDonalds and other international brands. I have yet to come across a restaurant that serves local Emirati food and as far as I'm aware, food makes up a major part of any country's culture.
> 
> The way I see it, places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi do not really have any culture and this is where all the expats live so you can't really blame us!


Maybe it's you ... I have countless names of places serving Emarati food .
Even lebanese restos serve Arabic food ,some of which are emarati dishes . Several mandi restaurants are also available & there are many other examples!


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

What is local Emirati food...there are loads of Arabic restaurants, name one restaurant serving ONLY Emirati cuisine.


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## ibkiss (Feb 1, 2012)

Try one of the Mandi restaurants !


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

Mandi is Yemeni. You still haven't answered my question...one Emirati cuisine only restaurant.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

They have emirati food 

When I am at my emirati friends home (and they didnt order out  ), they have just meats and rice, and little veggies bowls of stuff. My sharjah/ajman emirati friends always have fresh fish as well that they go out and and fish everday themselves STILL. The hill country/mountain RAK people tend to have chicken and goat more. It isnt that different then lebanese or other arabic foods but then I never had arabic food before coming here so to my untrained taste buds it all tastes the same. Supposedly certain seasonings are used the others gcc countries dont use or blend together the way they do. But regardless, the dishes are 'arabic' by nature as this area was a trading post that people from all over the area stopped in. Everyone dips their hands in everything and I am disgusted by it  There is also quite horrible teas and coffees always drank and they put mint in your lemonade. The deserts that are the emirati ones are like bread with what is suppose to be 'sweet' stuff on them, but isnt sweet at all. And no, they dont all have maids (or drivers) that make this stuff  A good deal of emiratis cant afford that. 

I agree with Tallyho. Overall their 'culture' is their internal workings of how their society maintains the status quo and doesnt want to see it evolve too far from how things are. There are emirati citizen 'kids' who have a non local mother who will never be accepted by an emirati and probly never going to be picked to be married to an emirati or be able to pick to marry an emirati women. The family name and lineage is very important, even though seems a few emirati boys dont think too much about this rule  but in the end, the kids that are a result 'suffer' for this, imo. 

After having moped around the last few months and not doing much, I think I am going to go to Ajman this week to get some good ol'fashion country emirati ******* style living      Thanks thread


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

It's not that I don't know about it, it's that I don't care about it. I'm not welcome here, if I don't like anything, I'm told I can go home, I could be deported at any moment for the most minor of offences that I don't even need to commit in the first place, where's the incentive for me to integrate?

Anyway, the only exposure I have to local culture is people pushing in front of me in the queue in Starbucks or trying to murder me on the roads, I can do without that in my life to be honest.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

ibkiss said:


> Maybe it's you ... I have countless names of places serving Emarati food .
> Even lebanese restos serve Arabic food ,some of which are emarati dishes . Several mandi restaurants are also available & there are many other examples!



Mandi is Yemeni as Pamela said. Lebanese restaurants serve mostly Levant food and that is quite different from Emarati food. Balaleet, Gashid, kanfarosh, these are some Emarati dishes and hardly any Lebanese restaurant serve them.


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## motojet (Mar 11, 2008)

pamela0810 said:


> Mandi is Yemeni. You still haven't answered my question...one Emirati cuisine only restaurant.


Here ya go!


http://www.alfanarrestaurant.com/


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

motojet said:


> Here ya go!
> 
> 
> Al Fanar Restaurant & Cafe


Thanks Motojet! I bet very few people have been to this restaurant....I'm definitely visiting when I'm back next week.  Jynxy hope you're reading this!


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

Dastardly said:


> There is a lot more to know, Dubai however might not be the best Emirati place for that due to the overwhelming number of expats compared to locals and adoption of western style.
> Funny thing i read in a blog that even some Emirati nationals find it difficult to learn about their own culture!


I agree. 

So.... what is Emirati culture then? Is it....
buying expensive cars and driving them like you own the road or are in a race, treating people poorly because you are 'better' than them, not having to wait in lines since you are 'local,' shopping all day/night with money that was not earned but given, obtaining a job at a high level without knowing how to do that job, wearing way to much cologne/perfume and makeup so you can be seen in public, taking food that is indigenous to Indian/Pakistani or Mediterranean and passing it off as your own? 

Someone, please explain what is local culture..... I have been to some of the museums here and tried to learn about the culture, but like others have said there is just not a lot to learn about the UAE. There is more to learn in other Middle Eastern countries like Saudi, Egypt, Syria, etc. 



Gavtek said:


> *It's not that I don't know about it, it's that I don't care about it. *I'm not welcome here, if I don't like anything, I'm told I can go home, I could be deported at any moment for the most minor of offences that I don't even need to commit in the first place, where's the incentive for me to integrate?
> 
> Anyway, the only exposure I have to local culture is people pushing in front of me in the queue in Starbucks or trying to murder me on the roads, I can do without that in my life to be honest.


+1.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

Interesting how the comments here are 180 degrees apart from most of the comments in the actual article


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

Tropicana said:


> Interesting how the comments here are 180 degrees apart from most of the comments in the actual article


As stated before, I disagree with the article... and believe (as someone put it before), this was just used as a 'filler' piece. Journalism here sucks like mad and whatever can be said to make the expat community feel like crap/small/etc. will be said. 

If the article is real, then whoever did the asking, asked the wrong people about the culture, etc.


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## motojet (Mar 11, 2008)

The article was referring to a survey done by English 999, a magazine put out by the UAE Ministry of the Interior. There was no mention of the methodology of the survey nor any links to the survey online.


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## Dastardly (Feb 12, 2012)

indoMLA said:


> I agree.
> 
> So.... what is Emirati culture then? Is it....
> buying expensive cars and driving them like you own the road or are in a race, treating people poorly because you are 'better' than them, not having to wait in lines since you are 'local,' shopping all day/night with money that was not earned but given, obtaining a job at a high level without knowing how to do that job, wearing way to much cologne/perfume and makeup so you can be seen in public, taking food that is indigenous to Indian/Pakistani or Mediterranean and passing it off as your own?
> ...


That reminds me of a funny thing "money is evil therefore i'm evil" 
Emirati traditions are the opposite of those negative stuff you have mentioned & its sad to see few % of them misrepresent their culture, i think that emiraties are one of the best GCC nations regardless of how much cologne/perfume and makeup they "might" use  the majority are generous, friendly & love to socialize / help other people.


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

Dastardly said:


> That reminds me of a funny thing "money is evil therefore i'm evil"
> Emirati traditions are the opposite of those negative stuff you have mentioned & its sad to see few % of them misrepresent their culture, i think that emiraties are one of the best GCC nations regardless of how much cologne/perfume and makeup they "might" use  the majority are generous, friendly & love to socialize / help other people.


Usually when you encounter people from another country/culture, it is that first impression that is the lasting one. Sadly, that is the impression most expats have of the local population. It is like if you went to New York, if you encounter a nice New Yorker (a rarity), then that is the impression you have of all of them (regardless if it is true or not).


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Most people here think every guy in a white suv with dark tint is an emirati, and every women in an abaya is a local woman. 

Far from the truth.


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

Most people that start these threads don't even live in Dubai and after the initial post make absolutely no contribution. I'm sure there is a more diplomatic word than Trolling but I'm not gonna waste any time thinking of one. 
For the record I'm with Gavtek, why should I care when I have virtually no rights in this country and the word of a local will be taken as Gospel regardless of the circumstances.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

What difference does it make if they're Emirati, Saudi, Omani, Bahraini, Qatari, etc? Culturally, the UAE means nothing in the grand scheme of things, all that seperates them is lines drawn on a map by a British person who'd had more than his fair share of gin 50 years ago.

Emiratis aren't "better" or "purer" than other Arabs despite what they want to make you think.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Well... then we might as well say your scottish culture is no different then a brits


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## zin (Oct 28, 2010)

Al Fanar in Dubai Festival City only just recently opened, I think they advertise as the first and only Emirati restaurant in Dubai, which is quite amazing really. Been meaning to give it a go but everytime I walk past I only see people in dish dashes and abayas which sort of says to me you better know arabic if you plan to eat here.


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

Gavtek said:


> What difference does it make if they're Emirati, Saudi, Omani, Bahraini, Qatari, etc? Culturally, the UAE means nothing in the grand scheme of things, all that seperates them is lines drawn on a map by a British person who'd had more than his fair share of gin 50 years ago.
> 
> Emiratis aren't "better" or "purer" than other Arabs despite what they want to make you think.


+1. Especially since many will trace their roots back to Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi.


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## cami (Aug 11, 2010)

Dastardly said:


> ... its sad to see few % of them misrepresent their culture, i think that emiraties are one of the best GCC nations regardless of how much cologne/perfume and makeup they "might" use  the majority are generous, friendly & love to socialize / help other people.


i was amazed to see how much "socializing" goes on between the 12 - 18 yo males and females dubbed as "locals" on a friday night at the global village. the girls' make up would have shamed a well-seasoned practitioner of the oldest profession while the low-worn jeans on the boys left almost nothing to the imagination as to what undies they were wearing... say nothing of the smooching going on in the booths of the big wheels, the exchange of countless cell numbers and emails, and the "private parties" going on in those fancy, carefully 50%-100% glass-tinted cars. 

i watched and wondered what they righteous parents would say about all that "friendly" display of emotions... the only well-behaved ones were those out with their families, the married women surrounded by their female relatives or friends, and possibly children between 0-10 yo...

... so lets just say that the older white candoras drinking themselves stupid in barasti and other infidel places ripe with fornication are the exception rather than the rule here. what about the next generation...


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

To be fair the Emiratis that drink in my local come across as a decent sort, just having a few beers with their mates and taking in the game. Likewise, the ones I meet at the gym seem down to earth, open and happy to chat.

The "westernised" ones do seem to have a lot less hang ups or maybe I can just relate to them better.


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