Donosa
It was nice of you to write about how you felt.
Some will say its delusional as this was a short trip abroad. we all feel nostalgic about places we leave behind because we forget the bad things about it. I know I did when I once returned to Uk after a 2 year gap.
So I would say carry on with the positive thoughts you have, so long as you do not lose sight of the reality. That way you will have a balanced viewpoint here and will not receive any shocks
There will always be some expats who are never happy wherever they go and I make a point to avoid such people where ever I live.
gregturnbull
The idea that somehow Qatar is so safe for western expats families (why just the west) is delusional. Qatar is not as safe as people would like to think ( the fatalities rate on the roads is higher than some countries with more cars), read novitas articles on the recent pedestrian accident.
I have to say to qatarita that not every expat western or otherwise is on some cushy salary. My standard of living is lower here than my former homes and I did not come here for the money( its piss poor compared to other places) but rather for my wife careers( and she knows a damm sight more than the western expats).But for now I make Qatar another one of my homes and make the best of it and see it for the reality it is. I always believe that when you move countries you trade one set of problems / benefits for another.
Kindly do not label all English as being racist or even hint at Aryan supremists (that is extremely offensive) and as you said “You do have the option to simply go home.”
Qatar is not considered as some godforsaken backward country but rather as a developing country, sometimes measured in the number of years needed to catch up ( 10 years etc). I do feel that perhaps the rate of progress for Qatar is too much because it is easy to use wealth to build cities and facilities to modernise, but society takes rather longer to catch up especially when you feel overwhelmed by 3 or 4 times the number of “guests” here
I do feel that I have the right to criticise about certain aspects of this country especially when a local runs me off the road in his glorified tank of an SUV whilst he is on the mobile phone , all because i could not get out of the way fast enough for him in the right hand most lane. I have even heard Qataris criticise aspects of Qatar such as the labour laws and even the driving skills ( lack of). This may be due more to their exposure to the rest of the world and therefore a more rounded view of the world( something that most expats will eventually find)
Qatar is far from perfect and criticism has to be raised in order to make changes. The way criticism is raised may be challenged, but not the fact it’s raised. I really don’t want to hear the excuse “if you don’t like my country then get out” because the expats were brought here by Qatar. For now Qatar needs us far more that we need you. You only have 62,000 qataris in the labour force and even if they were all highly skilled, that would only fill less than 1/3 of the jobs . This labour force increases at the rate of 3000-3,500 annually. So you have a long wait to say goodbye to us. BTW these figures were quoted in the media from the ( I think it was the labour ministry). Most of us have no issue with imparting our knowledge and experience to Qataris provided we don’t get abuse back (otherwise yes we do leave and Qatar is the poorer for it). This relationship of course works both way.
Donasa
When you come back, please follow up with your impressions on coming back and how it all compares with Madrid (pros and cons) and at the end of the day just be yourself.
Donosa
It was nice of you to write about how you felt.
Some will say its delusional as this was a short trip abroad. we all feel nostalgic about places we leave behind because we forget the bad things about it. I know I did when I once returned to Uk after a 2 year gap.
So I would say carry on with the positive thoughts you have, so long as you do not lose sight of the reality. That way you will have a balanced viewpoint here and will not receive any shocks
There will always be some expats who are never happy wherever they go and I make a point to avoid such people where ever I live.
gregturnbull
The idea that somehow Qatar is so safe for western expats families (why just the west) is delusional. Qatar is not as safe as people would like to think ( the fatalities rate on the roads is higher than some countries with more cars), read novitas articles on the recent pedestrian accident.
I have to say to qatarita that not every expat western or otherwise is on some cushy salary. My standard of living is lower here than my former homes and I did not come here for the money( its piss poor compared to other places) but rather for my wife careers( and she knows a damm sight more than the western expats).But for now I make Qatar another one of my homes and make the best of it and see it for the reality it is. I always believe that when you move countries you trade one set of problems / benefits for another.
Kindly do not label all English as being racist or even hint at Aryan supremists (that is extremely offensive) and as you said “You do have the option to simply go home.”
Qatar is not considered as some godforsaken backward country but rather as a developing country, sometimes measured in the number of years needed to catch up ( 10 years etc). I do feel that perhaps the rate of progress for Qatar is too much because it is easy to use wealth to build cities and facilities to modernise, but society takes rather longer to catch up especially when you feel overwhelmed by 3 or 4 times the number of “guests” here
I do feel that I have the right to criticise about certain aspects of this country especially when a local runs me off the road in his glorified tank of an SUV whilst he is on the mobile phone , all because i could not get out of the way fast enough for him in the right hand most lane. I have even heard Qataris criticise aspects of Qatar such as the labour laws and even the driving skills ( lack of). This may be due more to their exposure to the rest of the world and therefore a more rounded view of the world( something that most expats will eventually find)
Qatar is far from perfect and criticism has to be raised in order to make changes. The way criticism is raised may be challenged, but not the fact it’s raised. I really don’t want to hear the excuse “if you don’t like my country then get out” because the expats were brought here by Qatar. For now Qatar needs us far more that we need you. You only have 62,000 qataris in the labour force and even if they were all highly skilled, that would only fill less than 1/3 of the jobs . This labour force increases at the rate of 3000-3,500 annually. So you have a long wait to say goodbye to us. BTW these figures were quoted in the media from the ( I think it was the labour ministry). Most of us have no issue with imparting our knowledge and experience to Qataris provided we don’t get abuse back (otherwise yes we do leave and Qatar is the poorer for it). This relationship of course works both way.
Donasa
When you come back, please follow up with your impressions on coming back and how it all compares with Madrid (pros and cons) and at the end of the day just be yourself.
aplogies for the long comment :)
Regards