This is a video for anybody who's moving to the Middle East
and wants to get an idea about what to expect there
now people are different in their attitudes
when they move somewhere new, they start start a new life, they start a new job
some people like to go with a totally open mind
no preconceptions, and I get that
but most people want to learn a bit
and do a little research about where they're going and what it's going to be like
and I've lived in the Middle East for a long time
I've lived in Kuwait, I've lived in the UAE, right now I'm now I'm in Doha, Qatar
or aka Qatar
now there's a few things which stand out for me as things to be aware of
before you come here and the first one, I'm going to go straight into it is...
the heat, this cannot be overstated
the heat here is unreal
and if you think, oh, well that's fine I've been to Spain on holiday, I've been to Portugal, I've been to Florida...
I've been to, I don't know... northern Australia
on holiday
forget it, you haven't experienced heat like this
I mean I'm in winter right now, and it's hot
it's really hot
in the summer, in the summer I'm talking like anything after April is summer
the heat is pretty much unbearable
it's so hot
you can't go outdoors and if you do, you kind of feel a bit sick
you feel a bit ill, I personally enjoy the heat and I'm definitely more of a hot person than a cold person
in that, that is to say that I'd choose heat over cold, but I cannot stress enough
how hot it's going to be when you get here
so that's the first thing to kind be aware of
it will be 40 ... 50 degrees Celsius
which is well over 100 Fahrenheit
I think it's about 120°F
okay, the next thing is money
now if you're coming to the Middle East and by the way, I should point out when I say Middle East
I'm talking about countries like The Gulf, I'm talking about Kuwait, UAE
Oman, all the Emirates, so
Sharjah, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi, Qatar... all of these countries I'm kind of putting into one category
cause that's where I have my experience in
and what draws people here tends to be salaries... the money
people come here, they see the salary, their like, oh, I'm going to save lots of money
and a lot of people do
but it doesn't happen by accident
it doesn't happen automatically
and in actual fact, the number of people I know who've been here for 5 - 10, maybe even 15 years
and have barely saved anything
is actually quite high
now you've got to be really careful because there are several worlds which exist in countries like Kuwait
like Qatar... there's the kind of expat world
there's the... and when I say expat, obviously you've got Asian expats
you've got Western expats, you've got South Asian expats, you've got East Asian expats
you've got Western expats, you've got expats from all over the world
now depending on how you live, how frugal you are, or how... what's the opposite of frugal...
like this you are basically
then you might come back and have very little saved
so it's not a given that you're going to save a lot of money, you've got to be really careful
to not just live the high life because if you'e coming here
and you're working for a bank, then yeah, you'll get loads of money
you'll save a lot
and of course you'll go home a happy wealthy person
man or woman
but if you're a teacher, which is what I've been doing
you'll be earning good money, but it's not exactly enough to retire off after 5 - 10 years
put it that way
unless, well actually having said that, you could if you're really, really careful
but that's I guess a different video
the third is traffic, now...
traffic rules here are probably quite different to where you come from
the traffic here is mental
it's crazy
there are no rules
in that you kind of just try not to hit the car in front
if there's a give way, you don't really give way
Americans would say yield, if there's a yield, you don't really yield
you just drive
and you just pull out in front of people
and you're constantly looking out for people whom are going to cut you up
and it's quite an experience
just even ride in a taxi
a taxi from the airport to your hotel or whatever
because you'll notice it straight away
driving... unfortunately the number of deaths per 100 thousand people
in places like Kuwait, in Qatar, UAE, are pretty high
relative to most of the world
so driving here, you can do it, and most people who come and live here do get a car
but beware that it's quite dangerous
and the rules here are quite different
I should just point out by the way, midway through the video that if you do have any specific questions
you send me a message on there, I'll get back to you within 24 hours
I'll give you advice, I can talk to you about Arabic language learning
about life in the Middle East
any of your questions I hope I can answer, so check that out and hope to see you on Patreon
very soon
now talking about rules, I think we're on number 4 now already
rules are flexible here
and you'll understand what I mean when you come but...
depending on which company you work for
and how important you appear because of your job
then you will have... you will get treated differently
and there is a definite hierarchy of how...talking about traffic, there's just... a lot of people beep as well
it happens all the time, there's always beeping which you don't get in England so much
going back to the hierarchy thing
you know there is a heirarchy
and you will find yourself
skipping queues for apparently no reason, and you will find yourself being treated very differently
now that can work for you
or it can work against you, like I've just gone to get breakfast
literally half an hour ago
and I ordered some Indian food from an Indian restaurant because I happen just to love Indian food
and the prices were all there, and I had 2 samosas, one was chicken and egg
one was banana
and then I had a smoothie, like a juice
and a cup of tea
the menu was there, and I looked at it, it was 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, it should have been 9 or 10 riyals right?
and I'm paying on card, I give him my card and he says
looks at me, he goes, 22 all together, I said, sorry?
he says 22 all together
sorry 22?
let's be honest
it's a pretty cheap breakfast either way but
why have you just doubled the price
when that guy just paid 8
for the same thing or probably more
so they will try and stitch you up, in the end I just had a laugh with him
and I was like look, how can it be 5 for him
and it's 20 for me, that's not fair is it and I point to the menu
and I was like, smoothies 5, this blah, blah, blah
I was like, it's 9 or 10
he was like, oh have you only got 10?
I was like, yeah, I'll pay what it is, it's 10
and he was like, okay 10 then
so he has literally just doubled the price because I'm white
and because I'm from the UK
so you do get those kinds of things
just something to be aware of
I'm not saying that's going to happen to you
and to be honest, that's a rare thing
but it can happen and there is a definite hierarchy
in that depending on where you are, whether you dress in a suit or not
the way you look, and the company you work for
you will get treated slightly differently
so that's something to look out for
okay number 5
there are really lots of different worlds here
and just.. not really a..this is more of a general point about expat life
and how a lot of people just live in their own boxes
and when I say boxes, I mean literally like a square box
between for example
their apartment, their work, the nearest carrefour supermarket
and then health club, and you'll find people who've been here for many years and have never ventured outside
of that box
they've never ventured outside of that box
now if you come here and you're coming here for the sun, the weather
the money, and the food and the malls
great, you're going to have a great time
if you'd like to see a bit more, then I would encourage you to venture out a bit more and
just walk down some streets you'd never normally go down
and check it out for yourself
I made a video called living in Kuwait
which you can see up there, I also teach Arabic, so if you want to learn some Arabic
you can do that as well
I've got loads of Arabic phrases over there
so you can check that out. Thanks for watching this video, I hope you found it interesting
leave a comment because I do read them
and until next time...
I hope that was helpful, and bye bye!