I am not a teacher but saw your enquiry and thought I would throw my hat in the ring with a bit of info that might help! I live in Doha with my Safety Mgr husband and little Maltese dog Suzie. We are Aussies and have lived here now for 2 and a half years so guess we are pretty used to it now! But we love it!!! So different from home but once you accept that and get on with it, life is good. Hot but good!
At least if you are arriving at the end of August you might miss out on most of the really hot weather. I think today hit 50 as my husband said his car told him it was 46 at around 2pm when he was coming home.... yep it's really hot!!! LOL We hate the cold but love the heat but if you are coming from UK, it will be a bit of a shock I am thinking! But remember - you live in airconditioning, drive an aircon car, teach in an aircon school and shop in aircon, so what's the problem huh?
For you guys, the adventure is just beginning!
I have to say that Qatar Living is great with info about Doha + and Qatar in general - do some searches for anything that you want to know and you can be sure that someone has asked about it and there's answers too.
Hmmm.... 30,000 QR for your furnishing allowance. Sounds a lot but I guess it will depend on what you want in your living quarters my friends.
Before you do any rushing out and buying up furniture though.. please make sure that you look at the FOR SALE classifieds here in QL. Expats advertise their possessions when they are leaving and you can get some really good bargains, so keep an eye on it - even now so you can get an idea of prices!
Surprisingly, there are quite a few places you can buy everything you will need to set up house!
There are several "department-type" stores here that sell stuff... Homes R Us in the Hyatt Plaza, The One (expensive) in Landmark Plaza, and of course Carrefour stores in most of the shopping centres. Lulu is also big and has cheaper things. Ikea hasn't opened yet but I hear it's not far off so you have that to look forward to. The store will be humungous!!!! There are a couple of new shopping centres just opened too - Lagoona and there's a new one out your way but still within Doha territory.
Food is expensive cos it's all imported - you can get both New Zealand and Australian meat here as well as Pakistani and some local. Best steer clear of the last two though - you will see what I mean when you visit - not cut like normal meat IMHO and rather offputting from my point of view. Lots of halal chicken (which means it is killed a certain way according to Islamic law). Most veges and fruit are imported too and usually reasonable quality. Megamart stores are more expensive but the quality of fruit and veges is exceptional. You get what you pay for as usual!
All the little supermarkets dotted around Al Khor and Doha are AMAZING!!!! You might spend hours in them just trying to work out exactly what they stock as there is so much variety crammed into small spaces... they usually sell everything except furniture!
I am sure you will all love Al Khor and make friends easily seeing as you will be living amongst each other. We love the resort there and frequently venture out on a Friday for a good feed and some R&R.
There is also quite a bit to be explored in the surrounding countryside (like old ruins and forts, old style villages, turtles beaching to lay their eggs, different beach spots for bathing and picnicking) and you can drive around the whole of the country in a couple of hours so it is quite tiny - especially compared with what I am used to in Australia!
Anyway folks, I wish you all a very happy time here in Doha. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions and I will try to help.
Hello all you newbies to Doha and WELCOME!!!
I am not a teacher but saw your enquiry and thought I would throw my hat in the ring with a bit of info that might help! I live in Doha with my Safety Mgr husband and little Maltese dog Suzie. We are Aussies and have lived here now for 2 and a half years so guess we are pretty used to it now! But we love it!!! So different from home but once you accept that and get on with it, life is good. Hot but good!
At least if you are arriving at the end of August you might miss out on most of the really hot weather. I think today hit 50 as my husband said his car told him it was 46 at around 2pm when he was coming home.... yep it's really hot!!! LOL We hate the cold but love the heat but if you are coming from UK, it will be a bit of a shock I am thinking! But remember - you live in airconditioning, drive an aircon car, teach in an aircon school and shop in aircon, so what's the problem huh?
For you guys, the adventure is just beginning!
I have to say that Qatar Living is great with info about Doha + and Qatar in general - do some searches for anything that you want to know and you can be sure that someone has asked about it and there's answers too.
Hmmm.... 30,000 QR for your furnishing allowance. Sounds a lot but I guess it will depend on what you want in your living quarters my friends.
Before you do any rushing out and buying up furniture though.. please make sure that you look at the FOR SALE classifieds here in QL. Expats advertise their possessions when they are leaving and you can get some really good bargains, so keep an eye on it - even now so you can get an idea of prices!
Surprisingly, there are quite a few places you can buy everything you will need to set up house!
There are several "department-type" stores here that sell stuff... Homes R Us in the Hyatt Plaza, The One (expensive) in Landmark Plaza, and of course Carrefour stores in most of the shopping centres. Lulu is also big and has cheaper things. Ikea hasn't opened yet but I hear it's not far off so you have that to look forward to. The store will be humungous!!!! There are a couple of new shopping centres just opened too - Lagoona and there's a new one out your way but still within Doha territory.
Food is expensive cos it's all imported - you can get both New Zealand and Australian meat here as well as Pakistani and some local. Best steer clear of the last two though - you will see what I mean when you visit - not cut like normal meat IMHO and rather offputting from my point of view. Lots of halal chicken (which means it is killed a certain way according to Islamic law). Most veges and fruit are imported too and usually reasonable quality. Megamart stores are more expensive but the quality of fruit and veges is exceptional. You get what you pay for as usual!
All the little supermarkets dotted around Al Khor and Doha are AMAZING!!!! You might spend hours in them just trying to work out exactly what they stock as there is so much variety crammed into small spaces... they usually sell everything except furniture!
I am sure you will all love Al Khor and make friends easily seeing as you will be living amongst each other. We love the resort there and frequently venture out on a Friday for a good feed and some R&R.
There is also quite a bit to be explored in the surrounding countryside (like old ruins and forts, old style villages, turtles beaching to lay their eggs, different beach spots for bathing and picnicking) and you can drive around the whole of the country in a couple of hours so it is quite tiny - especially compared with what I am used to in Australia!
Anyway folks, I wish you all a very happy time here in Doha. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions and I will try to help.
Kindest regards and GOOD LUCK!
Helen