DH wants to move to middle east........

[npg1]

I dont know what to do. DH very driven, work orinentated etc.
He has taken a year off to study and has said there might be a career opportunity in Qatar. This is such a big move for me and our 2 dd's. DH loves travelling, im not to keen.

I have research it tonight, they have some nice schools etc but most schools are full and it does look a lovely place. Im scared about moving so far away, scared the kids wont get into a good school, scared about making new friends and settling in.

There is also a place in london but DH doesnt think it will be very good and also temping until a job comes up

He is telling me I am being negative about it and need to look at the positive side of moving out there. Am I being unreasonable? (from a man's point of view?!)

I just mean if you wanted to buy a bottle of wine to have a glass in the evening at home, is this not the done thing?

My parents are in Dubai at the moment. You can get alcohol freely in hotels (of which there are plenty, lots of restaurants and bars etc). You can also apply for a liquor license which allows you to buy alcohol, I think from a special shop, for drinking at home. You have a monthly allowance but it seems to be plenty for my parents and various guests and they are by no means absteinous...

I dont know. I never lived in those countries, only visited. And as a visitor, alcohol is easy to get.

However, the wine I had in Bangalore was locally produced, and not great.

The wine I had in Jordan, was from Israel, the label said "Wine from the Holy Land".

But I am sure the others will be back soon and put your mind at rest!

iirc, you can drink in Qatar. Can check with SIL if you like. I'd have thought Dubai is a better option though than Qatar. You need to have a big say in this.

But you know.

You can always come back if you dont like it.

I can only tell you about Dubai, I'm afraid, but particularly on the married front, I think Qatar will be similar.

Basically, if you are not married, you can't do this. He will not be able to sponsor you unless you are married; and even if you got a job and therefore your own sponsorship, it would be illegal for you to live together. So if you were to come, you'd need to do the deed first.

Dubai has been seriously hit by the credit crunch and it would be very very difficult to find a job here at the moment; there are hundreds of redundancies so a lot of people on the ground looking for work - as well as people who are offered jobs, uproot themselves and their families, to come over here and find that they are redundant within months (and at that point unless you have a very cooperative employer you have one month to leave the country). I think Qatar is slightly less affected, there are lots of redundant Dubai people looking at Qatar (and Abu Dhabi) at the moment.

You can get alcohol (from all over the world!) you need a license to buy it in Dubai, (technically to have it in the house at all but some people do take the risk and eg buy in duty free, or in one of the other Emirates where no license is needed - I have only come across this being a problem where someone then gets drunk and disorderly, or a noisy party is happening, and the police are called). It is very freely available in restaurants and bars, provided they are in a hotel or private club; this just means that most are, rather than being stand alone (and some of the definitions of hotel/private club are pretty stretched).

Good luck with the decision.

npgl, ref the alcohol in Qatar (get your priorities right ) you can get it. Our friend who moved there from Saudi got an alchol licence when he first arrived there and regularly stocks up although you will probably find it is a bit more expensive than in the UK.

ref being married, I think that they do tolerate it for the expats as our friend who moved there has a new 'lady friend' and is left alone whereas in Saudi he'd have been slung in jail if caught. I'll try and mail him and get some definite answers for you on this and any other questions you may have.

Please don't be put off by the Saudi bullshit. Just trying to illustrate that Saudi is probably the most extreme Middle Eastern country and my DH often says that if we can live here we can live anywhere.
One of my best friends moved to Dubai around the time I moved to Saudi and she has so much more freedom than me, ie being able to drive, buy alcohol (in hotels etc)go to the cinema (no cinemas in Saudi, we have to drive to Bahrain) and not having to wear the abaya although she does dress sensibly out of respect for the culture.
It sounds as if Qatar is somewhere between Dubai and Saudi.

As others have said, you should consider going for a visit and seeing what you think of it before you commit if you can.