Why making living in Qatar sounds horrible?!
Well, I've been visiting this website from time to time .. but everytime I see posts have all this negative opinion about Qatar and Qataris!!!
Well, let's start with this, yes I am Qatari and I don't necessarily like what every Qatari in the world does!
Now, the problem we face now is being brainwashed .. when I see the amount of negative posts about Qatar and Qataris of course who doesn't know Qatar will take it as granted and everybody in Qatar is like that .. so people here will fill their brains with all the negative things forgetting the rest of the positive things which are the majority ...
The result, you guys and every person visit this forum frequently will always look suspiciously to the Qataris in the street ... like, yea he did this coz he's Qatari, he did that coz he is Qatari ... but u'll never say he did this coz he didn't learn to behave or he doesn't have manners ...!
I've lived in the UK and now in Canada .. I saw all sorts of bad people, some were white Canadians and Englishmen, still I always say they don't represent their countries .. It's their individual acts ..
The other day I was in Cheltenham, UK heading to the restaurant to break my fast (it was in Ramadan 2005) I locked my bike in this bikes place and went to the restaurant .. after having my meal I went to my bike finding it vandalized by bunch of chav's .. they started saying these racist words after knowing that i'm not British ...
Is this the UK?
NO
In the same town I was sitting in the park enjoying the sun, out of the blue I heard this loud voice with racist statement by an old women to a black guy coz he didn't want to give her a cigarette!!
Is this how British people behave?
NO
Another day, in the lunch break, me and my Qatari friend were going to have our lunch in the subway .. the restaurant is just few steps away from the school, out of a sudden this chav came up to us and start shouting like "you f)%@&#! b%@t!^d go back to you f*^#!@$ country" and all sort of bad racist words, you can imagine ..
is this the UK? is this how British people behave?
NO
Homosexuality issue ---
Well, in Montreal, Canada where I live, there is a village called "Gay Village" they are big community .. plus every year there is "GAYS PRIDE PARADE" in Montreal, Toronto, and a lot of the big cities in North America and the UK (I can name Birmingham)
Now, Are British people Gay? Are Canadians gays?
NO
But they have villages, and parades ..?!!!
STILL WE CANNOT GENERALIZE
Even though you can go out with girls, and lay down as many as girls you want in the western culture .. but still homosexuality exists there.
can we say coz they don't have women!!!!?
NO, THEY HAVE ENOUGH NAKED WOMEN, MORE THAN ENOUGH IN FACT.
OK, but they have gay marriages (i.e. Canada), does that make everybody there gay?
NO
So why people generalize Qataris of being homosexual when:
1- Any sorts of gay activities are banned in Qatar
2- It's against the culture, and not accepted by the community
3- who is involved in this kind of relationships does it in secret
4- We have no gay villages
5- We have no gay pride parades
Still, some people here in this forum talk about Qataris as they are all gays or they're gays coz of ...
whatever reason you put on, compare it to the west, they don't have those reasons still they have gays!
People here have different interests and life style than the west ..
they enjoy their lives the way they like and see more respectful to their culture .. so do not expect you'll live your life the way you used to do back home .. that explains why westerners don't find a lot of fun spots here in Qatar, not because Qataris don't like to have fun, but they have fun in their own cultural way .. which westerners don't see it so much fun ..
these are some of that I wanted to share with you and I have goals in mind I hope I achieved them. Some of them are:
1- I hope all people here don't generalize statements and know they are in a totally different country that doesn't share culture, language, and religion with their own.
2- The people here(in Qatar) mainly practice their culture, they don't like anyone to offense it.
3- People here have different life style, when you come here do not expect yourself going to Vegas.
that the negative comments about Qatar and the Qataris has made me think twice about accepting the job in Qatar. I have already rejected the offer twice. A third is on the table and still I am not sure.
The plural of Qatari is Qataris and not Qatari's and when you write the word too (in the context of as well) the too has two o's. Are we clear on this or do we need to go over it again?
Don't get mad and beat me up when we next see each other. Just take this as friendly instruction (for about the 14th time).
Just call me Tigasin. That's what I'm talking about
The plural of Qatari is Qataris and not Qatari's and when you write the word too (in the context of as well) the too has two o's. Are we clear on this or do we need to go over it again?
Don't get mad and beat me up when we next see each other. Just take this as friendly instruction (for about the 14th time).
Just call me Tigasin. That's what I'm talking about
diamond, like I said before, ur cool girl!
LOL! Oh no! I'll never do it again :P
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
Watch it Gyps, or I may have to be arrogant...and that would most certainly be ignorant ;)
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**Twiddles her thumbs and wonders if she should cause problems by claiming diamond is the most ignorant and arrogant, then decides NAH, she's really to nice*** ;)
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
Well, stress_in_babel, you can retract you statement that us Qatarias are arrogant and ignorant. Plenty on this website will vouch for the fact that I am neither.
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despite what my profile says...I am not...and I dont agree with that either...
so I dont trust a word you say.
how would you know if you have had such little contact?
Stress I really have to agree with Oryx, I've never had any problems with Qatari women, with the exception of the odd one (usually much older) who'll push her way to the front of a line-up. But I look at these as isolated since it rarely happens and the women are obviously older and used to pushing ahead in lines because they are women.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
Oryx, they just behave better with guys, trust me!
Oh as for expatriates being racist, I really don't see that as the case. I think many of us feel shunned by the locals and respond to that by shunning in return.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
Since my non-retraction post I have been handed a lot of chocolates from a Qatari lady...
I told her yesterday that I always lose weight during Ramadan - so she brought them in to fatten me up a bit!
Lovely....
Shame you have that view.... I see loads every day!
I do think that happens in other countries....
but I have heard plenty of tales of Qataris being treated badly in Qatar... for sure...and witnessed a few incidences myself...
Quite outrageous! Stunned me a few times.
Oryx, I will not retract my statement either. At least not until I will meet one nice, cool, down to earth qatari lady! I will let u now if I ever do!
That too MD.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
it's "how" you deal with them in the run of a day, gypsy.
I've never had a problem with Qatari's speaking English to me...hmmm, guess it's all who you deal with in the run of a day eh? :D
BTW amnesia, it's Sheikh Tamim. :P
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
my wife and i have lived in many countries, and this is not the first muslim one either.
the nicest qataris we have met are older men, probably over 50, who spent some years living and working abroad. these gentlemen were down to earth, nice, and clearly had to work for a living, as opposed to many of the younger ones.
there are many qataris who won't give us the time of day (which has never happened in any other place we have lived in), so for them to sit back and claim that expats are racist, or whatever, does not wash with me.
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"Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day." Withnail & I
Some of the offices are like 1950s UK... lots of very efficient secretaries and some really useless clueless manager holding up the system
But believe me these ladies are shattering the glass ceiling and are taking over...
The boys are funny and charming but not always very useful...they dont inspire a lot of confidence...
and babel if you call Qatari ladies arrogant and ignorant then I have the right to respond so I will not retract my statement.
Qatar is the only country where the expats discriminate and act racist towards the nationals.
Wrong is wrong no matter how you try to justify it.
Oh and I like pink :)
@Gypsy, funny though, you say that not enough people speak Arabic to you and others complain that Qatari's don't speak English enough.
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Mr. Q's Blog - A Qatari's view on Qatar.
LOL Gypsy you always make me laugh....don't you ever leave QL...
Tig, I think that's what they want. The gals can go off and run the country and they can kill themselves in their landcruisers all day.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
LOL Tigasin believe it or not, this is what Qataris are saying at the moment....that one day Qatar will be run by Qatari women....i hope so
because Qatari women are on the move. Women make up by far the majority of University graduates here and are making great strides in business circles and government administration. I have worked with several Qatari women and they have all been very friendly with great senses of humor. Besides that, they seem to more motivated and reliable than their male counterparts.
Better wake up Qatari guys or the country will be run by women and the businesses owned by women in 10 years or so and you guys will be left out in the heat.
Just call me Tigasin. That's what I'm talking about
I can vouch for Gypsy/Sh. T. She's very convincing ;)
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I knew you'd have a good sense of humor, gypsy.
Yes MD, I'm actually Sheikh Tamim in disguise as a loud mouthed Western woman of 27 years old.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
Oryx, my friend, I'm soooooo far from being critical and closed minded. U don't know me at all and u have no right to say that about me based one just one statement I've made. My experiences with qatari girls were few, I must admit since they are so rare, but desastrous. Now if u would get to know me you would know that I'm not at all closed minded, in fact I'm open to anything and I never hate anybody. Back in my home country, studying in an university with so many foreign students I came to know people of different nationalities and always had great fun with them. One of my best friends is actually an emirate, I have great friends in Greece, Israel, Kuwait, Cyprus, Egypt, England, Hungaria oh and so may more, I keep in touch still with so many of them. I'm from Europe and I married and came here to Doha, my husband was born here but he's jordanian. I didn't come here to work like most of the people in QL. In fact, in my country I could have the best salary and position, while here I'm still unemployed, just because I'm a new graduate, and chances are very few here for us. Now don't call me close minded, ok? Just my experience with qatari ladies was very bad, and like I said before I truly want my opinion to be wrong.
Diamond, no ofence, I always read ur posts and I find them interesting, u seem like a great girl! Keep it on!
What did Zarathustra say, qatartico?
minyme language and interests could be a problem but it takes a little effort to break barriers..
when i went to australia, many years ago, i learned english and found a way to connect with what the locals like.... so now i like beer and rugby although i still prefer wine and soccer!
ha, and i used to watch cricket before going to bed: it would just put me to sleep in no time LOL
**Sic dixit Zarathustra**
Janey is a good friend of mine, nothing wrong with helping her. If u want I can teach u arabic too lol.
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(Lebanon A piece of Heaven on Earth)
yer wont make a pass at ?
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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM
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(Lebanon A piece of Heaven on Earth)
Ha ha Mini...got you!
Sorry we dont try to learn arabic...mmmmm
a) the standard of course books is dreadful and it is a long time gripe of mine that somewhere like Qatar doesn't produce some top quality books and super website to make the language accessible...
and if you have any wasta I want to be a co-author
b) going about our daily shopping etc... there aren't that many arabs speakers to interact with
c) classes expensive
d) classes old fashioned by western standards
e) teachers rarely Qatari and want to teach us the 'proper way' ie their way.
I spent 1500 on classes at the British Council when i first arrived and they were dreadful... and in a two hour class sometimes the teacher was only present for one hour...
DG...yes it is colour..deal done
I was just wondering, gypsy, if you ever attended one of those "internal" meetings, so to say to us what you say to us. Or is it what you think it is like?
Hmmm Oryx, OK, but only if it's a colour picture of him.
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I always hear Qatari's say that we don't make the effort to learn Arabic, I argue it's because we are spoken to in Arabic enough to learn it. I don't learn languages very well in a school setting, I learn by being forced to speak it, so far I've learned nothing.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
Oooo, Gypsy, you do flatter...right back at ya sista...
Yes, I've always thought of myself as awesome. Now it's independently confirmed.
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MD, read between the lines and talk to Qatari's and you'll get a pretty quick idea about the Emir's problems with dealing with some of the main families. Everyone has to tow lines, even absolute monarchs.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
Mr. P.. I'm learning arabic online. LOL
You might want to try it. www.languagedirect.net
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╬ Somebody's Heine' is crowdin' my icebox ╬
Qatari women are awesome, flat out. Never met one I didn't find to be a barrel of laughs, incredibly nice and ridiculously ambitious (really their business savvy scares me), not to mention fashionably dressed :P
Many of the men are also super nice but a lot of them are...um....hard to deal with.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
Whoops... I will let you drink tea from my favourite Cristiano Ronaldo mug... and get you a kit kat
do not generalize, minyme. I have Qatari friends who speak English, French, Italian, German ...
And I noticed that my guys have the same interests that I have, cars, girls, horses, hunting, desert, fun, business, fun, .... fun...... fun
He has done stuff that alot of other leaders failed to do.
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(Lebanon A piece of Heaven on Earth)
cant read the whole thread
whts happeneing everyone
I want to learn arabic, but its BD3000 here for a course...Who can afford that, cos i cant !
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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM
Maybe that would help, as these families have the country by the gonads.
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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM
Wow, minyme, you and I have sometimes vastly differing opinions about our country bro.
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Qataris are open, but there are two obstacles I can think of
1- The language (not all Qataris speak or understand English) and the visitors don't take the effort of learning Arabic language coz it's not really useful for them ...
2- Qataris and non-Qataris don't share the same interests most of the time .. so it becomes boring for the both to hangout ..
What exactly do you know about how the Emir makes decisions, gypsy?
I'm hesitant to blame the Emir for the problems in Qatar, although it's technically an absolute monarchy he does have a lot of factions to make happy or risk the consequences. Personally I think more power should be given to the Emir so that he doesn't have to tow the conservative line.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
Aaaw Magic, that's so sweet. I'm so glad that you've had this experience.
Da, shut up or I'll have to get arrogant with you.
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Minymime, dude lets put it this way, everyone in Qatar minds their own business in public but whatever happens in the hiding, stays in hiding. Qatar doesnt have gay pride parades (which still doesnt make any sense to me).
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(Lebanon A piece of Heaven on Earth)
Oryx, I insist on a full afternoon tea served on bone china upon entering one's house ;) Tea and plain biccies just won't cut it.
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thanks for the hospitality, diamond. I enjoy it since 1993 and it is "second to none".
C'mon what Qatari chick is going to want to hang out with someone so critical and closed minded???
True I can't visit homes very often or I would get too fat... choclates and perfumes and tea and juices and lots and lots of tasty food.
My house : 1 large cup of tea and 2 Digestives if you are very lucky and didnt eat them before you came round
Moi...arrogant and ignorant...lol...hope I am none of these things stress-in-babel and hope you have a chance to befriend some of 'us' and meet some families in their homes. Our hospitality is second to none.
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How on earth can you sayyyyyyyyyy that??
OMG!
NO way... I have a hilarious time with the chicks and they are savvy and sassy ....blimey NO WAY
Honestly my draw is dropping in disbelief at that statement....
you are absolutely right,
not just me, I can assure you that 99.999% of the locals are not happy, and no one in this country can do anything, except the Emir ...
He makes some fair points. It must be galling to be a Qatari and to always have to read crap criticizing your country. As an American, I understand that more than most.
Just call me Tigasin. That's what I'm talking about
I don't say that this gentleman said it, just read the first few lines
I quote "I have spent some time on this website just to get a feel, based on your postings, on what living in Qatar could/might/is like. So tell me if my understanding is correct"
I'm talking about many people like this gentlemen who are not registered and see exactly what this gentlemen saw ..
I never met any qatari men but qatari women....I find them very ignorant and arogant. Now don't get me wrong, I don't say this is true for all of them, in fact I hope not. I really wish to meet one day a qatari girl that I would like.
About Qatar, I think it's a very safe country and a nice place to visit. :-) But it's quite boring to live here, I don't blame it on the culture or on the people, it must be the nature and the weather. IMO
guys, accept that Minyme is "not happy" with the way the government deals with the problems. Also accept that he understands that they cannot elect another government. And then accept that you live in an absolutistic monarchy where the "King" can do what he wants whenever he wants, and do nothing whenever he wants to do nothing.
yes janeyjaney... unfortunately when one fails to communicate and reach out he/she becomes considerably more exposed to criticism, which is sometimes unwarrented, this is a fact...
why aren't qataris more open? i haven't made up my mind but i think its due mainly to cultural reasons although it's difficult to rule out a certain dose of wealth-inspired arrogance..
**Sic dixit Zarathustra**
Minyme... that's a question. How can you base it on that?
The person who wrote that is asking if it were true..
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╬ Somebody's Heine' is crowdin' my icebox ╬
You said "I may have to add that I have never read anything saying that Qataris are gay. Where did that come from? Are you actually trying to stir up something here?"
I read it here in "Qatari Culture" section under the topic "Is my understanding of Qatar correct?"
I quote: "4. Men outnumber women to the extent that men make sexual advances on other men"
peace
Minimy, there's a difference between isolated instances that you may witness every once and awhile and something that you see from different Qataris every single day.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
"...locals are not particularly keen on meeting foreigners and probably this is contributing to some of the misconceptions..."
It does lead to a whole lot of misconceptions.
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╬ Somebody's Heine' is crowdin' my icebox ╬
first of all, I raised and educated in Qatar most of my life .. and I have the same values when I left Qatar to study at the UK and now Canada ...
second, all the examples you mentioned occurs in western countries, European countries .. so what!!
Guys, the problem is not whether it occurs here in Qatar or not, the problem is everything bad happens here people take it as all Qataris are guilty coz of it!
Raping, murdering, abusing, mistreating, .....etc are all occur in the west too, and that doesn't mean they are all like that!!
Just do not generalize everything you see and we are good ..
do you guys remember the Austrian old man who raped his daughter for 24 yrs I guess and locked her up in the basement all that period !!
Can I say, oh yea all Austrian is like that? of course not
so this is the problem I talk about, generalizing everything you see is not good ..
and btw, I know bad things are going on here in Qatar and hope they change soon .. If I believe a single country in this world had no bad side, I would worship it.
minyme i agree when you say one should get to know qataris in person before judging them, but my sense is that locals are not particularly keen on meeting foreigners and probably this is contributing to some of the misconceptions...
however i must say i haven't lived here long enough to draw conclusions and would like to be proven wrong on this by anyone who knows more..
anyway, so far i have a positive opinion of qatar and i do like living here.. yes, i would happily do with some more "naked women" around, but i know i'm culturally biased ;)
**Sic dixit Zarathustra**
"The company mistreat the workers, why on earth I am as a Qatari guilty? we all should blame, criticize those companies and the government who did nothing about it .. but why the citizens !?!!"
Because the citizens are the one's who own the companies.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
If you want to read country bashing visit www.daveseslcafe.com Basically there's a forum for English Teachers in every part of the world and ALL they do is bitch about the countries their in.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
I'm in Qatar now for the summer .. and i'm going back soon to Montreal (in about a week) .. now as I said I agree with you guys on that but I disagree on who is the guilty ..
The company mistreat the workers, why on earth I am as a Qatari guilty? we all should blame, criticize those companies and the government who did nothing about it .. but why the citizens !?!!
Qataris are not happy about the government .. they can do nothing, we don't have election to change things ..
I didn't say the west is bad .. I just gave some example of some bad experience I had and how I view them ... I still love the UK no doubt ..
no the government isnt that guilty... the people who committ the crimes are guilty....
it is very hard to bring legislation against crimes which cross borders.... as in Qatar
A lot of labourers in Qatar are getting ripped off in their home country before they get here....
Serdal and janeyjaney, I totally agree with you about the condition of those workers, and it must change sooner not later .. BUT
we should blame the government, coz its the one who should regulate the whole thing and punish those companies who mislead their workers ... I 100% agree with you on that .. and that doesn't mean I and every Qatari are guilty! simply coz I and many Qataris didn't mistreat their housemaids .. I always consider them as employees
secondly, take a look at the sex slavery in the UK
(Sex slavery widespread in England)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6459369.stm
(Baltic girls forced into sex slavery)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4287432.stm
(5,000 child sex slaves in UK)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/5000-child-sex-slaves-in-uk-437800.html
and the news goes on and on .. just google "Sex Slavery in the UK"
Now, i'm not saying British people is this and that, but I say this is a crime and whoever does it should be stopped by the government, and if they didn't .. the government is guilty not the British citizens ..
In conclusion I agree with you about the conditions of the workers here in Qatar, but I disagree with who about who is the guilty .. I say the government who allowed the companies to do that.
Perhaps the bottom line here is... we all choose to be here. No one gave us job offers and held a gun to our heads and said "Right, now off to Qatar you go".
Everyone has bad experiences everywhere with all sorts of people. I have been told off in at least 5 different countries in my lifetime for numerous different reasons... and most of them very insubstantial I may add. Sometimes you just get the wrong person at the wrong time and you are lucky enough to be the one who broke the proverbial "straw"
Stuff happens... suck it up.... get on with it
I totally agree with u... Some people on this site are just bored and moody and just sit behind their laptops bashing Qatar and Qatari's but then again there really are some nice people on this site who speak really positive about Qatar... I know it looks bad because usually people wanting to visit Qatar will google search and QL mainly comes up and if the first thing they see is, im so depressed living here, im so bored, Qatari people treat us bad then they will get a bad picture, but its in human nature for people who socialize to complain about everything in their life... Cheer up :)
Janeyjaney.. Lol thts one SERIOUS reason.
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It Takes 72 Muscles to Frown...And Only 14 To Smile.
: ) Keep Smiling : )
"Well, in Montreal, Canada where I live".
Come back home, and see for yourself.
but my really honest opinion is that you can't have too many naked women, let alone enough.
Personally, I like living in Qatar and I find Qataris friendly and fun people. But I am American and therefore very stupid so my opinion probably doesn't count for much.
Just call me Tigasin. That's what I'm talking about
Mr. P... maybe too many naked women.
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╬ Somebody's Heine' is crowdin' my icebox ╬
If the "west" is so bad....
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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM
Minyme , I dont think anyone is making living in Qatar sound horrible just for the heck of it. All people are writing is their experiences. How come u are seeing only the negative experiences, i guess ur eyes r closed to all the nice things people write abt Qatar and Qataris.
Minyme.. well you haven't been here in Qatar for a long time so, you probably don't have a clear view of what expats have to say about Qatar.. well, only through the help of this forum of course.
Expats share their experiences which doesn't mean that it's all bad.. if you have been keeping yourself updated on this site you will prove yourself wrong. Or at least the points that you have already concluded.
I may have to add that I have never read anything saying that Qataris are gay. Where did that come from? Are you actually trying to stir up something here?
I fully understand that you're just a proud citizen defending your country. You have to open your eyes also to some of the people that come here for work only to find out that they're being treated like sh*t.
It's not that they are making it sound horrible by the way.. they have actually E-X-P-E-R-I-E-N-C-E-D it hence the rants.
Oh and get used to QL.. we all bash each other. ;)
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╬ Somebody's Heine' is crowdin' my icebox ╬
Serdal - You said it.
We all respect the culture and tradition of Qatar.
MOST of the traffic violations , rash drivers are Qataris.. no doubt.. MOST of them are rude too.so learn defensive driving and get used to live with it cause we expats cant afford the huge fines..
Solution ; Increase the traffic violation fines by 300% to Qataris , existing ones are peanuts for them . But its few months savings for an expat so they cares.
Cannot generalise..Cause there are many Qataris who are very nice and gentle too.
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It Takes 72 Muscles to Frown...And Only 14 To Smile.
: ) Keep Smiling : )
In response to the original heading: "Why does making a living in Qatar sound horrible" I regret to say that for most people it probably IS horrible.
Not for you and not for me, and not for those who have time to visit and write on this website, but its horrible for the thousands and thousand of immigrant workers in the construction industry.
Construction workers in the UK dont live like these guys here. In UK a construction worker can afford a house and car and live with his family, ...and shop anywhere he likes on his time off. Here the construction workers are like SLAVES.
Please dont say "they chose to come." They have often been misled about pay and conditions here, and anyway, the choice is slavery here or slavery in Dubai or Kuwait. Thats not a real choice.
Lets pay and treat these people properly. It might take 2% of this year's GDP growth, but you can afford it and you have the opportunity to be a world leader in this area.
Gay Village in Manchester is great - some of the best bars in town :o)
BTW, the reason you won't see a Landcruiser in Manchester is no one can afford to run one there ;o)
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"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
i dont agree at all with your points....it isnt Qataris who mainly violate traffic rules.... it would be easy if it were.
and a lot of people get shafted here by poor middle management and middle men who certainly are not Qatari
as far as harassment goes in 5 years I have never been pestered by a Qatari..
"whenever they hear Qatar, they recall all the bad things .. simply coz they didn't have the chance to know Qataris .."
So, lets swap "Qatar" for "USA" or "Britain". See, there are people on here who know nothing about these countries, BUT only remeber the bad things that these countries do.
They NEVER remember the Aid given in times of need, or charity work done by ordinary people.
So for yer to say that Qatar is only portrayed in a bad light is wrong.
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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM
Is not Canada, is you the one, that it is very boring.
:) J/K
I don't care what others said about you, but you still Boring...LOL
I hear St. Patrick was an Englishman!"
ORYYYYXXX!!!!! CANADA is NOT BORING!!! :):)
as a matter of fact i am really fighting with myself, trying to find a good reason (at least ONE!) to go back to Doha.. sorry eh?
..weather is great! sky is high and blue.. sun is warm and gentle..nature and landscape..oh God, don't even mention that one! ocean, lakes, rivers, mountains, woods, valley...parks, trees, flowers...
variety of places, styles, choices.. wow... not enough time for anything!! shopping is great. driving is amazing. pubs and bars are fabulous. live music in bars is incredible.
not boring at all....
sorry guys for a little hijacking.. just wanted to express my feelings,couldn't help it.. eh?
cheers! :)
second, you may find posts such as:
1. residents been forced out from building...
2. house rents raised up to 50% increase by scrupulous landlords
3. traffic laws been violated, mostly by locals
4. bachelors were banned in some public areas
5. couples/housemaid been raped
6. work contracts not followed
and so on& so forth....
third, the fact that they've been discussed because they're in the newspapers!
fourth, they are happening!
The only good news here for me though, I can fill-up my car full tank with only QR50!
Good for you, you live & were educated outside Qatar. I supposed you have a different perspective of your country than your fellowmen here.
Relax minyme,tackling the issues about Qatar whether good or bad is normal here in QL. It just shows that we are real people,voicing our opinions.
If we go too far with the topic, we know we have mr.qatari to shut down the thread. And I for one, respect him for being open-minded with the QLers (granting we all came from diff.nationalities/cultures).
We all have negative and positive side. is up to us to decide which one to believe more.
Everybody is right everybody is wrong, it depend where you stand
I could write and go on and on .. but I wrote it in a rush, coz I had to dash to pickup my American friend who just arrived from the states ..
and thanks for the comment..
I mentioned them coz I and everybody see the UK as a great country .. I love it and love British people, they're great people .. and I missed the fish&chips! :P
yea, this is the problem, people here read all those bad stuff and they don't get to know Qataris in person .. so they live in the country in fear and leave it with all these stories in their subconscious mind .. whenever they hear Qatar, they recall all the bad things .. simply coz they didn't have the chance to know Qataris ..
why would they want to know Qataris in person after all the horror stories that read! it makes a big gap between Qataris and non-Qataris
lol my bad thanks for the correction, I didn't know that :)
and thanks for the comment
dude, everybody travels to other foreign country considered as a foreigner and expat .. otherwise why peoples need visas to live or work in this country or that!!
When I go to Canada I have to have 2 documents with me besides my passport, I need to have my Visa and my Study permit .. and when I renew my stud permit I have to provide the university with 2 documents, CAQ and Study permit ..
Plus I cannot work here as I don't have work permit ..
why?
coz I am an expat ..
it's not an offense, unless it has other bad meaning that i'm not aware of ..
Regarding why it affects me on how horrible it sounds ..
It's my country dude, I must care, if I didn't who would!!
and NO that doesn't mean I am one of those if I cared for my country!
Well, I meant, you find a lot of girls wearing clothes barely cover their bodies .. so guys can see almost everything, like bikinis .. that's what I meant by naked women
and by more than naked, the girls in strip clubs, nude beaches, and escorts (I hope I spilled it right) ..
if that offended you, please accept my apologies ..
When I talked about the UK it's because it is the only country (after Qatar) I lived in for so long .. I've start going there when I was 4 or 5 years old, and in the past couple of years I was studying there (at Warwick University) .. and before it I lived in Cheltenham, Birmingham and London ..
So the example I recalled from my experience is not to criticize the UK! NOT AT ALL, It's just to show my some bad experience and how I looked at it .. I didn't generalized it ..
and BTW, you can't imagine how I love the UK and British people .. despite of what I come across, sometimes, they are great people and would love to go back and spend sometime of my life there .. the UK is like me second home .. in many places I defend it like I defend Qatar .. so please don't get me wrong :)
did you not read Novita's recent thread on Arrogant Brits! It's typical of them!
"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
Well Said minyme, after a long time this is one of those long articles that took my full attention and made me go through the whole post.
I have been leaving in Qatar from last 5 years and I can proudly say I am more than happy to be part of local culture and if time demands willing to die to defend the country and would be glad to stay here for rest of my life.
No matter how much one country can give to their citizens or residents, you will always find one or the other unhappy person who makes more noise than any empty vessel.
This is so very common, when some one is happy he would not make his happiness public but at same time smallest unhappy situation, he wants to shout out as loud as possible. This is human nature...
No matter what one says, Qatar will remain Qatar and its pride will never be influenced. It's truly the most precious pearl of middle east.
The wise person has long ears and a short tongue.
And of course there is a certain Yorkshire man from Bahrain.......who keeps complaining about UK....lol
Actually for those of you who complain about Qataris being racist... then you should hear what they can say about another family...
ooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh
cutting....LOL
dont I know it.... blimey
I had a proper fight in class the other day.. proper punches
and students frequently sit in groups according to their surname... and it can be a bit of a Mexican standoff
but I just act like a dumb foreigner and pretend not to know.
I should have written veiwpointS - plural of course
I love qatar ...i was thinking I must be qatari in my other life .....he..,he...he....
And Oryx, within the Qatari viewpoint there are many different opinions too.
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Supernurse is right we are very fair here....we all bash each other......
Problem is many people live here and work for a non-Qatari company, live on a non-Qatari compound and thus only meet non-Qataris....so they dont get to hear the Qatari opinion and point of view
My story is different...
So come back from that boring country called Canada...and have some fun in Qatar
minyme ....lol
There is not only Qatar - Bashing going on ...also
US-bashing, Indians-bashing, Pakistan-bashing, Pinoy-bashing, Lebenon-bashing,China-bashing, Somalia-basing, Egypt-bashing,Saudi-bashing, Kuwaiti-bashing
So relax...there are problems everywhere....but different kind of problems...and everything is getting Highlighted through QL.....Fair enough!!!
Now....Tig.....can we have "enough naked men" around...lol.
Omigod, Minyme, chillax. BTW, 3 years ago is not generally referred to as 'the other day'.
Dude, there are some great people on this website. Like all things you find the good, the bad and the ugly.
Welcome to Qatar Living...it's a great place to be.
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the impression of people being an expat in your country. Not all agreed though, but why it affects you on how horrible it sounds if you're not one of those they meant?
mmmmm maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing if all British were gay, so no one could breed chavs.......
you know, I can see where you are coming from and you defend your country well and the post was very well written and dignified.
As it happens, I love Qatar and have nothing negative to say about Qataris per se, but there are those that don't and thats ok.
Nicely put, although I completely disagree with the diplomatic way you describe the UK, lets face it the place is a seething dump! Better off here anyday!
I agree with everything else you said but I am sorry I was offended when you said "they have enough naked women, more than enough naked women".
I mean at what point can you determine that there are enough naked women or more than enough naked women? Personally, I don't think you can ever have enough naked women but that's just me I guess.
Just call me Tigasin. That's what I'm talking about
Classy Nerd what's with all your "RACISM" comments? I just read another comment you wrote about Racism on another thread
don't you have something else to talk about
It's a bit naive and narrow minded to consider all Qataris racist based on a few posts on a internet forum. It's true that people are being ill treated in Qatar, and sometimes by Qataris, but by no means is the ill treatment all carried out by Qataris, and by no means are all Qataris racist.
I seriously dont generalise Qataris as homo's
BUT...
In most cases, I do consider them as RACIST. There many topics posted here by asian members, about their ordeal of being ill-treated by Qatari's around.
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I express myself through hyperactivity and disruption. I wanted to play rather than study.
People talk positively on here as well, but as with all things in life people are far more likely to bring up negative experiences.
In the UK people moan about living there, in Canada people moan about living there. It's human nature to moan.
the positive comments about the locals and Qatar are written MOSTLY by Qataris
Minyme is right, if i were to be offered a job in Qatar and i read this forum i wouldn't accept the job offer based on the comments in this forum.....
nor bright pink T-shirts? :P
btw: Canada is a beautiful country like all other countries .. but you need to adopt the life style eh! ;)
Read carefully and you will see a lot of people talking very positively about Qatar...
you need to come home from boring Canada its effecting your brain..
anyway isn't it cold wearing a thobe in Canada?
OH and a bright pink landcruiser is very gay...and I didn't see that in the gay village in Manchester!!