# Out of the blue Newbie, leaving family behind?



## smileyd (Nov 8, 2012)

Hi,
Newbie on here so hi everyone.

Had a phone call out of the blue last week with very tempting offer to work in Dubai (Sharjah), whilst i think i could cope with most things OK, finding accomodation, banking etc, and the money seems v good i do have a couple of questions.

Has anyone on here gone out to Dubai and left family behind?
What type of arrangements are normal that i should negotiate in terms of flights home?
My thought would be to return home at least once a month, is this normal and accepted?

Where would a 40yr old man with love of watersports live?

Any advice welcome, and lastly is there a Rugby Union Club for expats out there??


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Please have a look at the sticky that says read this before posting. It might answer lots of questions. 

Course there is lots who tend to do this, but I cant imagine they do it for very long. It does make it harder and will mean maybe you are not going to have quite the same life here as someone who relocates with their family. Are you going to move your family over here in the future? or is this just a year or two and then back home? 

Usually they will give you one flight home a year. 

I know someone who flies home at least once a month, but his home is egypt. England is quite a bit further away and that traveling would maybe wear you down if you only are going for a three day or something. I cant say that would be idea situation. 

If you are working in sharjah, and your reason to be here is to save money or to pay off bills back home, and not to set up life here, then I wuold suggest you live in sharjah and be a hermit. If though you are setting up life here for your wife/kids to join you soon, then mirdiff might be a good area that will allow you to commute back and forth easier as going against the flow of traffic. The love of watersports meaning ? you like to scuba or boating or ?? You can pretty much do that stuff anywhere in the uae. 

Not sure about the Rugby clubs but I know they are around. Have a friend who lives in mirdiff who plays rugby three times a week with different groups.


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

First off Sharjah is definitely NOT Dubai! They are different Emirates (In UK terms think of them as different counties) and have completely different things to offer - Sharjah is quite conservative compared to Dubai.

You do have the Sharjah Wanderers (Rugby) Club. You can live in Dubai very close to Sharjah though and commute, many people do.

I'd do a bit of research on the difference first.

Yes, there are plenty of watersports places to go to across the UAE, so don't worry about that.


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## smileyd (Nov 8, 2012)

Many thanks for the quick responses, very helpful

initially it would be just me, then depending on how things go maybe the family as well, trouble is kids at key years at school, so would stay here to begin with.

What is the commute in time from Sharjah? AM used to 1hr ish in the UK, so anything around that is fine

Al lot of what i can see on here highlight the positives of becoming an expat, but am interested in peoples view of the downside?........On the face of it the weather, the money, the lifestyle all seem great reasons to go. And i think i can cope with the local customs....

But there must be some common downsides?


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

smileyd said:


> But there must be some common downsides?


Look up a thread called DDR.. you'll get more than you bargained for on there lol..


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## smileyd (Nov 8, 2012)

saraswat said:


> Look up a thread called DDR.. you'll get more than you bargained for on there lol..


Can't find DDR from search engine on here..... returning a blank:confused2:


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

smileyd said:


> Can't find DDR from search engine on here..... returning a blank:confused2:


http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sandpit/111661-dubai-daily-rant-aka-ddr.html


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

smileyd said:


> Al lot of what i can see on here highlight the positives of becoming an expat, but am interested in peoples view of the downside?........*On the face of it the weather, the money, the lifestyle all seem great reasons to go*. And i think i can cope with the local customs....
> 
> *But there must be some common downsides?*


Yes. The weather 

A chunk of the year is hot. Think eyeballs melting hot. Think hot oven and open it with your face next to it hot. In some ways the summer here can be far worse than anything in the winter the UK can throw at you. The rest of the year the weather is not bad here.

You mentioned an hours commute. Aim lower here. An hours driving on the roads here can feel like driving on the M25 at rush hour...for several hours. Here they all think they are Schumacher but have the driving skills of a 3 year old without stabilisers, mixed with zero road sense and no regard for anyone else.

Leave common sense at the airport, bring acres of patience and you'll be fine


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

Depends what part of Sharjah, many people live in Mirdiff - which is near Dubai Airport or Al Waqa - commute time can be around 30 mins to over an hour depending where you need to go.


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## Peterf (Jan 9, 2012)

m1key said:


> Here they all think they are Schumacher but have the driving skills of a 3 year old without stabilisers, mixed with zero road sense and no regard for anyone else.


And that's on a GOOD day


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## LONGGOOD BYE (Dec 26, 2011)

I have lived in Sharjah for almost 8 years and its just not that bad[hermit,really] we get into all sorts of things and yes there are traffice jams but they have gotten better since the Economy went down. I was talking to a guy the other night that lives close to the sharjah wonders[British] and he loves it .


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## Homeless (Jul 31, 2012)

smileyd said:


> But there must be some common downsides?


Well I've never been to Dubai or anywhere near there and though I personally know people who love or would love living there, I decided that I would rather kill myself than go there let alone live there  I have been living in Egypt for a little over a year and a half and learned that what matters most to me is how people treat each other. It is that simple. After doing much research I arrived to the conclusion that Dubai, as the rest of UAE and probably gulf countries, is a backward society with gold teeth. Morally corrupt and does everything it could to show otherwise.
And most of all I just don't think I can handle more living amongst people who will keep talking about god said this and god will do that. So it's home soon till the next adventure.


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