Move to Oman / Dubai....very nervous Mum!!!

[Gem1978]

My husband came home tonight to tell me that he has been offered a job, which would mean us living in Oman or Dubai for 2 years (our choice where). We have a 1 and 2 y.o. Half of me wants to grab the opportunity with both hands, and that other half is very nervous. Has anyone out there got experience of living in either location? My husband would be away travelling in the week, so I would be on my own. I am outgoing and make friends easily, but a little worried about whether I could cope with this much change! I have seen posts about living on compounds / gated developments - which I think would suit us better. How do we find out where these places are. Lots of questions! Hope someone out there can help! Thanks :)

Well, for a start, they are very different prospects. Dubai is far far more developed than Oman (assume you mean Muscat). I have no direct experience of living in Oman (just used to drive over there at weekends), so will leave that to one side and hopefully someone else can help. I used to live in Dubai (3 yrs ago). I'm a little out of date, but hopefully I can help, and then current residents can correct me where I'm out of date

• Dubai doesnt really have expat-specific compounds/ gated developments like (eg) Saudi, but it does have big residential apartment and villa complexes which have been built as semi-self contained areas, which I think is what you basically mean. Popular expat residential areas are Springs/ Meadows/Arabian Ranches/ Lakes/JBR/ The Greens/Marina/ Old Town. Where you want to live often depends on schools, and as your children arent at the age yet, and your DH doesnt need to do a daily commute,you have a bit more flexibility. Some of these are villa developments, some are apartments, so that's another thing to consider. Dont assume the apartments will be smaller- some are larger than the smaller villas. Areas which are more mixed (Emiratis and expats) are Jumeriah, Um Sequim and Al Safa- older, larger villas, but dont have the "compound" vibe that the previous places I mentioned have.
• Dubai has a very large expat population- the Emirati's only make up around 15% of the population. The population is stratified and the various groups huddle together, so it's easy to meet other people (my personal experience is that the Emiratis keep themselves to themselves)
• There's quite a lot going on for pre-schoolers so that's a way to meet people.
• The weather for most of the year is really nice, but in the summer it's a PITA as you are basically confined inside for 3 months- most expat families go back to country of origin for this time.
• You can get help with the children/ house very easily and relatively cheaply (mainly Filipinos/ Indonesians on domestic worker contracts). However, this has to be on a live in basis to be legal so depends on how you feel about that.

Other good resources

www.expatwoman.com (very lively forum - nest of vipers but helpful on practical matters :-))
The Explorer Series Residents Guide to Dubai

HTH

I have lived in both and had a wonderful time in both. With such little children, Oman would win out for me. Beautiful country, open beaches, friendly locals and more relaxed feel to it. It is more traditional than Dubai but welcoming to westerners. Dubai is far busier and more westernised and glitzier.

Please don't worry about 'gated communities' - both are very safe and mixed communities. obviously some areas are more expat and others more local, but they are mixed societies. You will meet and deal with locals far more in Oman. A compound is nice in that you will have lots of other families sharing communal facilities which makes for easy making of friends. The downside is occasionally a slight lack of privacy, but it is perfect for young families.

Any area in these countries where expats live will be mixed in terms of nationalities living there, so you won't find yourself the only British family in the vicinity. Your employer will assign you an estate agent who will in all liklihood be European who will guide you through this. Ask to change if you are not happy with yours. Take your time and stay in temporary accommodation until you have talked to a few people there. Expats are very willing to help. It is easy to make friends at toddler group and then school. go to www.expatwoman.com. It is a forum like this with sections for Dubai and one for Oman if you scroll down to the bootom of the page. You can then ask lots of questions there. Good luck.

I have only gone to oman on visa runs so dont really know it, but parents have lived in Dubai for 8 years and i have spent huge chuncks (3-4 months) a time out there since my dd was born (shes 7 now) They used to Live on the Meadows complex and had large villa (4 beds, 6 baths, large garden and pool, maids room - although we have never had a maid i may add) i lovved it here, lots of memories as brother had his wedding reception here, every xmas spent here, big family annoucments and happy times.
They have just moved to new villas about 3 mins away on Emirates Golf course and they are literally right on gold course which is lovely, this is 3 beds, pool and garden very nice and brand new, i would say the meadows, lakes etc where they are older they have become shabby and some not done to great standards finishing wise.

My brother has 2 children both born in dubai (we are all from essex originally) and they are nearly 3 and 7 months, they dont ever come to uk so stay through the schorching summer so it can be done. They live in large 3 bed apartment at Jumeriah Beach Residence, so have a mountain of resturants on 'the walk' all around them (this is an area full of hotels and resturants and nice for walking along, very very busy in evenings) they do have a maid, you most certainly do not have to have a live in maid, you can hire a maid for set hours a week or when needed from agency.

My neice goes to local nursery as you have to enrol extremeley early to get into a good school and fees very expensive so you would need your husbands company to agree to pay for this!
As an example both my brother and dad both get housing allowance of 260,000dhs per year, a car allowance, 4 x business flights per year to be used anywhere, some utility bills paid for, all schooling covered by my brothers company, full BUPA care, then there wage and comission, so a good package is detrimental!

We have friends over at Arabian Ranches which if near your husbands work its ok but i find it too far out and away from the main hub of dubai. (my brother commutes from dubai to abu dhabi everyday!

Good luck

Thanks so much - brilliant advice! You've all made me feel much better! :) I had picked up that schools were hard to get into and DS is due to start Sept 2013 - which is already full! That was the British school in Dubai - but I am sure there must be other british schools?!
Every blog / article on Oman says brilliant things - could be a great adventure!

Well that's another thing to ask your husband's employer- if they can help you in accessing school places (via debentures or similar). There are lots of schools in Dubai- some teach country specific curriculums, others teach an "internatonal" curriculum.

On the package, I would say, push for housing/ school allowances, but be realistic. The global economy has changed a lot, and there are fewer "whistle and bells" expat packages flying around (true of everywhere, not just the middle east). Just because someone who's been there for 5 years gets X doesn't mean that you necessarily will. You need to assess whether it works for you.

We lived in Muscat for three years. DD was born there. It is a fabulous country with great people and brilliant weather. We saw rain twice in the whole three years.
We left there nine years ago, so my information is probably out of date. I do know that there is definitely one MNer who lives in Bawsher (I think), possibly Qurum. Hopefully she'll pop along and give you the heads up.

I live in Muscat, and work in a school that offers the IB (an International Curriculum).

We have two youngish kids and have worked here for 3 years, we really like it.

Muscat has a charm and tranquility that you just do not find in UAE, and villas with gardens are very common.

As I stated, I am a teacher her, and I hope to be staying for a number of years in the future.