Is this a good package for Dubai? Also advice re schools please.

[suebfg]

DH has been offered a job in Dubai, monthly salary is 55,000 Dirhams per month (to include housing) plus 20,000 Dirhams school allowance for DS, medical insurance plus 1 x flight home per year for the family.

Is this a good package?

Also DS goes to an excellent independent primary school in the UK. DH would be based in Internet city. Are there any excellent primaries near Internet city and what are the chances of getting into one? DS is in second year of primary.

Just to echo what a few others have said - do ask about a relocation package. Both DH and I were given help with shipping things out here and then setting up our new home and to be honest, it would have been tight without this. It all adds up - , estate agency fees, connecting your water and electricity, setting up TV/internet, paying to convert your UK driving licence, applying for your ID card....the first month or so that we were here, we felt like we were haemorrhaging money. Also, as someone else mentioned, rent is paid differently than in the UK in that you are expected to pay in larger and less frequent chunks. It varies from case to case and it has become more flexible, but for some places, you could be expected to pay the whole year up front. My employer gave me a housing loan - ie my housing allowance for the year was
paid upfront rather than in my salary each month.

Good luck - Dubai isn't for everyone but it is certainly an adventure.

Yes, it's been confirmed that a relocation package is on offer although I suspect the costs of shipping our 2 cats out to Dubai may swallow most of it up.

Repton school has advised they have places available Any thoughts re this school - please PM me if you'd rather not post in an open forum. On reading their website, it does seem more akin to a UK prep school- not sure if this is the case in reality.

Would also love to understand why Dubai isn't for everyone - can anyone enlighten me ... please ...

I have had no personal experience of Repton but know people who's children go there. I've heard mixed reviews some people love it some hated it. Its a huge school I think they have upwards of 10 classes per year! I recommend going on the website expatwoman and searching on the schools you are interested in to get some idea of opinions. The other thing to note is it is based in nab al Sheba which would be quite a trek from Internet city so you would definately need to drive.
I think like any country there are people who love or hate it. Dubai is accused of being quite soul less mainly due to the fact that only 15% of the population are emerati the rest are expat so difficult to experience the real Middle east. Its very racist and hierarchical with the local emeratis at the top followed by expats from Arabic states, European states then expats from the sub continent. It has shocking human rights issues. There are maids and construction workers there who are nothing more than slaves with little or no right to appeal.
There is a massive gulf between the haves and have nots
I think if you are socially minded you will find a lot of the practices there hard to stomach.

In saying that Dubai definately has a lot to offer the amenities like malls, water parks, beaches etc are amazing. And day to day living is very easy . I did really enjoy my time in Dubai. There was certain things I was uncomfortable with but i would definatley recommend you take this opportunity and see for yourself (you can always come back if you hate it)

Thanks KLdragon - really appreciate your feedback. I found Dubai quite soulless when I was there - I remember liking the gold souk and the spice souk because it felt more Middle Eastern but the rest of it was pretty bland.

Hi, I grew up in the Emirates (lived there from 1990-2000, then went back there for uni holidays until 2006). As a teenager I found it ridiculously image-obsessed, brand-obsessed and superficial. I also hated the way that the labourers (poor Indian/Pakistani/Banglasdeshi immigrants) were treated like the dregs of humanity.

IME it was all about your ethnic origin; American, British, Australian and other European people were generally treated respectfully, people from India/Pakistan/Philipines/Africa much less so. And you tended to find people from the same ethnic background in the same sort of jobs (British in white-collar, Indian in blue-collar etc). It was SO racist, very overtly so.

Anyway, those are the reasons that I would never live there again! Add in the traffic (although I'm told that the Emirates highway/metro have improved matters) and extortionate rents for emphasis.....

If you do go, never send your children to the International School of Choueifat, ever. It has a convoluted & ridiculous system which belittles any child who isn't good at science/maths/examinations and makes them feel like crap. I speak from personal experience here!

Dubai is a fun place for a holiday, don't get me wrong, but I'd never live there again.

Hope that's useful :)

Thanks - it's good to have a balanced views.

Unfortunately the company in question hasn't managed to put a firm offer to DS in the timescales he needs and he's now accepted another position. So regrettably I won't be going to Dubai any time soon :(

Yep that sounds like Dubai the wheels of commerce grind very slowly! Good luck with hubby's new job