anyone have experiences in Dubai/Abu Dhabi?

[Skiddex]

So work sent out an email to some of us System Engineers/Architects to see if anyone wanted to move to Abu Dhabi for a year as we have some new clients there. Has anyone here lived there for an extended period at all? I saw mixmastertang had been there for a couple weeks.

This is something that would be right up my alley and I know I would enjoy it.

 

[Skiddex]

anyone in the evening crowd?

 

[Descartes]

I have absolutely no idea, but I'd be all over it. That'll be the experience of a lifetime. It's one thing to visit a place, but it's another to actually live there and truly immerse yourself in the local culture.

 

[Fenixgoon]

dubai is incredible, from the pictures alone. i can't imagine actually being there.

 

[LS21]

abu dhabi is very very boring. any other ME destination? yes. ab no

 

[Svnla]

IIRC, if you live out of the US for a period of time, you don't have to pay income tax at all up to 80K.

If you don't have wife and kids, I think you should do it if the pay is right.

I was offered a good job in Iraq but turned it down because of the dangers.

 

[razor2025]

Depends on the pay, and more importantly, what living expenses are covered. It's incredibly expensive to live in Dubai. The place makes NYC and Tokyo look like the ghettos as far as prices go. Do some research in the area before you make the decision. It might also be a great career move. Experience working in foreign country should turn some heads when they read your resume.

 

[mrkun]

There are TONS of prostitutes in Dubai (and in Tel Aviv for that matter).

 

[iamwiz82]

IIRC, Dubai is full of ex-patriates, so I assume it is fairly 'american friendly'

 

[Shadow Conception]

I'd be scared to move there, even though I'm Bangladeshi myself. I'd feel insecure anywhere outside a Western country.

 

[Skiddex]

thanks for all the recommendations! i have a meeting setup on friday with a couple of the people over there, i am sure it is a meeting more about what i'd be doing there and what the clients are like. i have my list of things i would need to get in order to do that. this is what i have come up with:
2 extra round trip tickets
4 weeks per diem up front as bonus so i can buy stuff i'll need when i get there
work pays housing
3 weeks of vacation when i return
plus we would have to work out if i get per diem every day or if they just want to bump my salary. per diem is alright....$54 (200AED)/ day