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[keepitmoving]

I just accepted a position at a University in Abu Dhabi and will be moving there in August.  Does anyone have any information to give about living in Abu Dhabi?  Does anyone work there or has worked there in the past?
Thanks

[prytania3]

My stepsister and her husband lived there for 5 years, and they absolutely loved it. They had a beautiful house and evidently domestic help is cheap as dirt. My stepsister (who is otherwise a b*tch) did not work her domestics over 40hours/week and gave them a decent wage.

I can't really give more detail than that except there's a golf course there that's pretty much all dirt, and you have to drag around a piece of grass carpet to hit your ball off of. I thought that was novel.

Good luck to you and have a great time!

[keepitmoving]

Thanks Prytania3, any information is helpful.  I wouldn't mind having a little help around the house.  Hopefully with all of the building that they are doing I won't have to bring along my own patch of grass to tee off from. :-)

keepitmoving

[prytania3]

Thanks Prytania3, any information is helpful.  I wouldn't mind having a little help around the house.  Hopefully with all of the building that they are doing I won't have to bring along my own patch of grass to tee off from. :-)

keepitmoving

Also, if you are female, I hear it is much easier, if not easy, to join a golf club because there is a shortage of women. If you are single, even if you don't play golf, you may want to join up to bolster your social life.

[gulfprof]

Hi,
I spent five or six years living in Abu Dhabi, then Dubai. I am now in Bahrain.
I know the head of English at Abu Dhabi Uni - if he is still there. Mohammed ..... -  A Brit who coverted many moons ago. He employed me from London to the UAE miltary college.
What do you need to know? We enjoyed it there. Quite a bit to do and a good place to live to enjoy the UAE, which is a lot of fun.  Young local males can be a touch arrogant. They are getting silly over checking for drugs at airports. 4 year sentences for certain banned substances, such a codeine based pain killers, oppy seeds from bread rolls on your clothing.. 'nuff said.
Wasta is strong there - don't pi.. off a local or a policeman - you certainly do not want to be imprisoned there for any reason. Don't flick the finger or use the F.. word in anger. Be careful and smile a lot and you will have a good time there.

I wouldn't live in Dubai, but would in Abu Dhabi. Rents are expensive, around 80,000dhs for a two bed apt. Make sure you get fully subsidised housing or on campus housing. I don't know anything about the uni - I remember it starting.
Higher Colleges of Technology may be a better contract. There are a couple of HCT campuses to avoid... personal emails for more details.....

Hope this is of some help.

[catherinjolivet]

Actually, rent for a decent two bedroom apartment in Abu Dhabi is more like AED120,000 nowadays. Abu Dhabi is a very nice place to live, but because of inflation and rent prices, you need to have money to have a really good time there. If your housing is provided by your employer, make sure that the allowance is high enough for your needs. Best package around as of lately is with the Petroleum Institute or Emirates College for Advanced Education.
CJ

[keepitmoving]

Thank you for all of the information.  Luckily the job is providing the housing so that is one thing off of my mind. 

Thanks Gulfprof and Catherinjolivet for the added information.  I am happy about going to Abu Dhabi and think that it will be a nice change (I am moving from Singapore).

How is the transportation in Abu Dhabi?  I am coming from a place that had fantastic public transportation but I have heard that it is lacking in Abu Dhabi.  Is it a necessity to have a car?

thanks
keepitmoving

[sultana2u]

Please note that the cost of living has excalated quickly here. I have lived in AUH for 5 years.  I would strongly recommend that find out if your employer is going to provide with a falt, or give an allowance; 120,00 for a 2-bedroom is likely to be insufficient these days. One bedroom flats are now in that range.

[catherinjolivet]

I agree that inflation is pretty crazy in the UAE in general. That has affected taxis aswell. They used to be very cheap. Now the AD government has put out a fleet of new silver taxis and they do cost more. I would recommend buying a used car (2-3 years old). However, since most apartment buildings in the city do not have parking lots, you may also have to struggle with finding a parking space... What to do?
CJ

[keepitmoving]

CJ and Sultana2

Thanks again for the insight.  Even though my Uni will cover the cost of the apartment, I have to cover the utilities, cable, phone costs.  How much will this run approx. a month? 

CJ I might have to look into a used car but it will be after about  two months there, do you think it would be cheaper to rent a car or take the taxi's around?  Probably a difficult question without knowing how far I would be traveling each way.

There is a lot of talk about inflation has it brought food costs up as well?  I am visiting family in the US and in Europe this summer and have noticed how much more In am spending on food here than in Singapore.

How is the social scene in Abu Dhabi I have heard mixed reactions?  I am a single female with no children, I like to go to cultural events as well as just out to the movies and out to eat with friends etc.

keepitmoving

[catherinjolivet]

Taxis or renting? That really depends on how much going out and about you will be doing. If you intend on going out a lot, I would suggest renting a car, as at peak hours, taxis are sometimes hard to come by. It will also allow you to be more independent and adventurous in terms of where you go.

About utilities, an electric unit is 15 fils (equivalent of cents); knowing that US$1.00 = AED3.67 and that there are 100 fils in one dirham, well, you do the math! It isn't that expensive really. Then again it also depends on personal consumption and size of your accommodation, doesn't it?

For cable/satellite TV hook ups, it depends on the package you choose. If you go with satellite TV, you may have to purchase the dish as well as the decoder + subscribe to a service (e.g. showtime, firstnet, etc.) If your building has a common dish or is cable ready, you will only have to pay a subscription, or settle for whatever free to air channels there are on the system. You can probably get something as cheap as AED35 all the way up to AED300, depending on what you like and want. Mine was e-vision, provided by Etisalat, the national phone company and I paid AED79/month to get stuff like CNN, BBC world, a couple of entertainment channels, and some free to air channels in English (mbc2 and mbc4 in particular are very good).

The social scene is not as varied as in Dubai, but it is reasonably satisfying and there are activities around. I would suggest getting info from your consulate about sponsored events and also picking up a copy of What's on Abu Dhabi at the supermarket. It lists all the events occurring in the city in categories such as restaurants, concerts, etc. The Emirates palace Hotel (on the Corniche) hosts exhibitions and concerts (hey, Justin Timberlake and Bon Jovi came to AD!)

All in all, I think Abu Dhabi is a great place to live and I hope you like it too!

Hope this helps.
CJ

[keepitmoving]

Thanks CJ,

The info is great. 

I take it from your use of the past tense that you are no longer in Abu Dhabi.  But while you were there how did you find working there?  I will be at a university that caters to arab students.  I have taught at an international school for the past two years, however there were many nationalities there and it was k-12 environment. 

The profs there seem diverse, very nice and welcoming. Just want to hear as many opinions about the area and teaching there. 

thanks Keepitmoving 

[catherinjolivet]

I enjoyed my time in the UAE very much, especially at the very beginning, when everything was still cheap : )
I think you will enjoy teaching with a very diverse group of teachers and you will learn to appreciate the students. They tend not to study very hard, but they are almost always really kind and respectful.
My favorite time of year was "winter" in the UAE. It is lovely: cool and sunny, beautiful. You can go out to the desert for picnics; go to the beach. Don't forget to visit Al Ain, about 1h30 away from Abu Dhabi. It is a great weekend destination!
Good luck and keep us posted!
CJ

[gulfprof]

Hi,
Sorry, I haven't visited in a while.
Car lease will cost around 1700AED per month. For a Honda City, or a Tida. May have gone up now.
Ensure that that includes fully comp insurance, and check the limit. Get hit by one of the local crazies and they get killed, you will be in prison till your insurance company or your family pay blood money - and that could run into the millions.
Buying is a bit of a ripp-off - but then so is most of living in the gulf. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are essentially creaming expats with rents and now property purchases. Best deal may be to buy from someone who is leaving - look at the boards in Spinney's supermarkets etc.

[globalme]

Keepitmoving, You are SADLY MISTAKEN if you think moving from Singapore to Abu Dhabi will be a nice change! I have lived in Kuala Lumpur and visited Singapore many times, and I spent 5 years in Dubai and 2 years in Abu Dhabi (at the Petroleum Institute). Every westerner there knows Abu Dhabi is an unpleasant, inconvenient, hot, dusty, humid hick town full of ugly Lego-land buildings and nothing much to do compared to a real city like Singapore. Oh my goodness, where didyou get the idea that A.D could possibly compare to Singapore? If you long for all the characteristics I just listed, plus highly unmotivated, lazy, spoiled, arrogant, woefully unprepared students...have at it. None of my colleagues at the Petroleum Institute took this place seriously, and those of us who had come from Dubai wished we were back in Dubai...and San Francisco or Singapore would have been heaven. Sorry to throw a wet blanket on your dreams, but take it form someone who tells it like it is, not from these people who hang on to their precious jobs like rabid dogs on a mailman's ankle, and who know that their managers patrol these threads and have a good idea who the AD-based posters are.