# Moving to Dubai



## JJohns7 (Sep 8, 2014)

Hi,
Am planning to move to Dubai. Currently in Texas.How is the life in Dubai compared to US.


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## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

JJohns7 said:


> Hi,
> Am planning to move to Dubai. Currently in Texas.How is the life in Dubai compared to US.


It's life Jim, but not as we know it.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Your profile says you're in California?



JJohns7 said:


> Hi,
> Am planning to move to Dubai. Currently in Texas.How is the life in Dubai compared to US.


If you're asking this question you may be in for a bit of a shock when you get here. But not necessarily in the ways you might expect.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Hmmm..... somewhat of an open question.

Its not full of Americans.
Practically no guns around, hence you are a lot less likely to be shot by someone (counter intuitive to a lot of Americans but surprisingly what the rest of civilisation know).
You have to be polite here, as rudeness and obscenity can, and will, get you thrown in jail.
Here, we are the temporary immigrants so one needs to remember that we are not the top of the social scales.

Its quite nice actually - I would rather live here than Houston any day.


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## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

twowheelsgood said:


> Practically no guns around, hence you are a lot less likely to be shot by someone (counter intuitive to a lot of Americans but surprisingly what the rest of civilisation know).


Guns are very widely and quite legally owned in the UAE - just not by expats. 

I get very tired of sometimes loudly-proclaimed stereotypes about the US. :yawn: To keep it on topic, that's something that the OP will have to deal with (or ignore).


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

Do you have a job offer or are you just planning to move to Dubai to look for a job?

I have met many Americans who have struggled to adjust to life here because not everything is as efficient as you are used to. On the other hand, there are also many Americans who are living the dream that they could not achieve back home. So it all depends on the kind of job you have, the money you make, the lifestyle you live and the annoyances that you choose to ignore.


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## jgw99 (May 26, 2014)

JJohns7 said:


> Hi,
> Am planning to move to Dubai. Currently in Texas.How is the life in Dubai compared to US.


A little over 1 week in. Lived most of my US life(17 yrs+) in NYC/NJ area but I've also lived a good portion of my adult life in the Philippines(this helps me a lot in terms of some aspects of life here). Tell us what part of life you cling to most and most of the others can talk about how different (or not) they are here.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

So far no one has told you what life is like here in the UAE but that's probably because the lifestyle widely varies depending who you are or where you come from.

If you've never been to the UAE before and your only exposure to the Middle East is what you see on television, the first thing you need to know is that Dubai isn't a deeply religious theocracy like Saudi Arabia or Iran. Nor is it a chaotic, decaying and messy place like Egypt. 

On the surface it's a very modern and developed city. Your lifestyle here can be almost identical to what you might have in the US. Live in a nice apartment or in a nice house in a master planned suburb. Work in an office complex. Shop at western style supermarkets. Go to the movies. Hang out at large and fancy shopping malls. Almost all the major US restaurant chains now have branches in Dubai and there's probably more fast food outlets and restaurants per square mile in Dubai than anywhere in the US. 

But beneath the shimmering surface is a more complex and very diverse city where people come from all over the world and occupy different socioeconomic strata that may puzzle and even mind boggle you. It's a city where expat families complain about struggling on 40,000 a month, and other families happily survive on 10,000 a month. It's a city where two people working side by side can have widely different packages because of their nationalities. It's a city where you see local women completely covered up in black abayas and Russian women wearing strip club outfits, and everything in between. There's supposedly 140 different nationalities living in Dubai, multiply that by both class and religious divides for each of those nationalities and you will have to encounter and juggle all those different mindsets and attitudes. Some people find that a challenge and can't cope. Others embrace it and enjoy it.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

TallyHo said:


> Your profile says you're in California?
> 
> 
> 
> If you're asking this question you may be in for a bit of a shock when you get here. But not necessarily in the ways you might expect.


I believe it says Cali-hone:-ia


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

TallyHo said:


> So far no one has told you what life is like here in the UAE but that's probably because the lifestyle widely varies depending who you are or where you come from.
> 
> If you've never been to the UAE before and your only exposure to the Middle East is what you see on television, the first thing you need to know is that Dubai isn't a deeply religious theocracy like Saudi Arabia or Iran. Nor is it a chaotic, decaying and messy place like Egypt.
> 
> ...


tl;dr 

First world veneer over a third world country. 

i.e. not that much different to the US.


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## Beamrider (May 18, 2012)

twowheelsgood said:


> Its not full of Americans.


Given the lack of question marks in his post, I bet he isn't either.


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## aech (Sep 4, 2014)

Dubai is pretty well organized country. Developing country and a land of opportunity for most expats. I can say it safe, you can walk around carrying your things or leave your valuable things anywhere and it will be always safe. Its not allowed to use or carry a weapon, drink alcohol anywhere, wear reveling clothes (for woman). In terms of social life, there is a lot of groups here who organize coffee meetings, drink, bar hopping, safari adventures, diving and etc.

Overall its good to be here except the weather during summer


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