Reverse Culture Shock (Dubai, UAE)
As my arrival date back in the US comes ever closer my friend advised me that reverse culture shock might be more difficult than the shock of varying degrees encountered on the road. For various reasons - I disagreed, until today. The only difference is I'm not on US soil yet - I'm in Arabia. It happened when I walked into a very large supermarket / general goods store here - Lulu supermarket chain. It was then I realized I was overwhelmed with choice. The selection here rivals any supermarket in the US. Lots of familiar brands and regional brands.
In fact - Dubai is pretty much an Arabian version of where I used to live in California - Orange County. Completely car dependent (Though a vastly superior bus system in Dubai), manicured roadways, late model cars with plenty of SUVs, palm trees and colorful flowers in medians, a desert climate (Although much harsher, drier, hotter, and more of a "desert"), and by the ocean. Oh yes...and air conditioned malls everywhere. Though there are alot more here. Also a good mix of ethnicities and nationalities. To the casual eye the major differences would be seemingly more money here, and of course Islam is predominant instead of Christianity, both Arabic and English on signs, and a lot of roundabouts instead of traffic lights - oh yeah...and very flat in Dubai - though there are mountainous areas a short couple hour drive away. Of course more human history too.
It's interesting how Dubai is such a stark contrast to what most people who haven't been in the UAE might think of any area in the "Middle East." Totally modern here. No bodies hanging on bridges, no fighting, no rock throwing, etc... No trash either. Clean...almost spotless. The word Dubai no longer conjures up for me an area of the world that might be even remotely dangerous...or in some ways that exotic either. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy it here - I do. Dubai reminds me of Singapore in some ways. It is a cakewalk to travel here. For any Western expatriate on an expatriate salary (As opposed to a migrant worker from the Philippines or India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka) it's a cakewalk too...in fact probably easier than life back in the US in many respects. Though this is me talking only from a few days of observation and not a business standpoint of course. I could probably live here for awhile on the right salary - though I would leave during the summer.
I even understand that once war torn Lebanon - next to Israel is a good place to visit now.
Ignorance is easy.
....I hear Qatar is a nice contrast to UAE though....I'll find out soon enough.
In fact - Dubai is pretty much an Arabian version of where I used to live in California - Orange County. Completely car dependent (Though a vastly superior bus system in Dubai), manicured roadways, late model cars with plenty of SUVs, palm trees and colorful flowers in medians, a desert climate (Although much harsher, drier, hotter, and more of a "desert"), and by the ocean. Oh yes...and air conditioned malls everywhere. Though there are alot more here. Also a good mix of ethnicities and nationalities. To the casual eye the major differences would be seemingly more money here, and of course Islam is predominant instead of Christianity, both Arabic and English on signs, and a lot of roundabouts instead of traffic lights - oh yeah...and very flat in Dubai - though there are mountainous areas a short couple hour drive away. Of course more human history too.
It's interesting how Dubai is such a stark contrast to what most people who haven't been in the UAE might think of any area in the "Middle East." Totally modern here. No bodies hanging on bridges, no fighting, no rock throwing, etc... No trash either. Clean...almost spotless. The word Dubai no longer conjures up for me an area of the world that might be even remotely dangerous...or in some ways that exotic either. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy it here - I do. Dubai reminds me of Singapore in some ways. It is a cakewalk to travel here. For any Western expatriate on an expatriate salary (As opposed to a migrant worker from the Philippines or India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka) it's a cakewalk too...in fact probably easier than life back in the US in many respects. Though this is me talking only from a few days of observation and not a business standpoint of course. I could probably live here for awhile on the right salary - though I would leave during the summer.
I even understand that once war torn Lebanon - next to Israel is a good place to visit now.
Ignorance is easy.
....I hear Qatar is a nice contrast to UAE though....I'll find out soon enough.
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