First Impressions!

 We're not in Kansas Any More...

 Err - what now? The tallest TV screen in the world..?

Well we're here - the Middle East as opposed to the Far East. 

A good friend from Malaysia who had worked in the Middle East asked me what my first impressions of Dubai are.

This is the 'back road' just behind our development... it's a four lane motorway. Thomas was fascinated to see a mirage on the tarmac!

First impressions - it's hot, it's big, it's confusing!

The arrival's hall is the biggest I've ever seen anywhere (okay, I'm not that well travelled, but I've been to some big airports).

Second impressions - it's interesting, it's mostly just normal, it's not as expensive as everyone says.

The scale is ridiculous mind. There is so much space that everything is built on a scale that I've never experienced. The roads are intimidatingly big - we've been on seven and eight lane highways already (that's in each direction!). 

The area we are in is very flat, very sandy, very spread out and whilst there are tall buildings, most sprawl horizontally not vertically. This is the opposite of our experience in Malaysia, which was hilly, green and vertical. It's a different kind of impressive, but impressive nonetheless.

The big expenses everyone talks about in the UAE are those of accommodation (given by the school) and schooling (also given by the school) so these don't impact us directly. The next big expense is in the form of domestic bills - these seem no higher than we were paying in Penang - food is actually cheaper in the shops, but more expensive in the restaurants, electricity is about the same, water more expensive, internet more expensive, but faster, clothes are cheaper. It all balances out.

There are probably lot of things to see and do that we know nothing about yet, but we're looking forward to exploring. So far it has been mostly the malls - which are more like very large indoor towns, complete with parks and gardens!

I'll reserve judgement on the whole settling in experience until I've done a few weeks at school - it seems well organised, but very high paced. We'll see how it pans out.

The accommodation is good, the area good, we'll see how both Thomas and I settle in and how Nicola progresses on the job front.

Until next time - take care all and look out for more updates soon!