Job Discussion Forums

Mr Gavoni · Joined: 10 Sep 2011 Posts: 22

The UAE is as phony as it gets. Plush, snobby country with delusions of grandeur. Oman is much nicer and if you are happy with a drink at a hotel by the pool with some friends every now and then, you get to save easily 70% of your monthly salary.

Regarding cohabitation of unmarried couples, it is much easier if both parties are regularly employed, otherwise one has to stay on a tourist visa. This being said, the Omanis are rather good at minding their own business - especially in Muscat, but also in the minor centers.

Van Gogh · Joined: 12 Oct 2008 Posts: 71

Oman - Your granny's milk pudding
UAE - mango sorbet, with chocolate chips spinkled on top

Oman - a pint of lagar
UAE - Theakstons Old Peculiar

Oman - the wife
UAE - a horny emirati girl who old man is out with the shabab all night.

IMHO MJ

pret a porter · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:26 am Post subject:

Oman is to the UAE what Korea is to Japan.

All the dregs who've failed to get a job in the better one have to resort to lesser. I've worked in both, and I met far more drunks, crazies, and incompetent teachers in Oman than I did in the UAE.

Although to be fair, I found Omanis far more pleasant to teach than Emiratis. It's just the western teachers in Oman that I didn't like.

Noelle · Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 361 Location: USA

"Oman is to the UAE what Korea is to Japan".

Umm... yes and no.
If this is meant to be a negative comment on Oman and Korea, I humbly beg to differ. Anyone who has lived and worked in both Asian countries will most likely tell you that it is much easier to save money in Korea while it is next to impossible in Japan.

I believe an earlier poster commented on this same comparison regarding saving and cost of living in Oman vs. UAE. That said, I have suspected for quite some time since leaving Asia that those who really enjoyed Korea might prefer Oman, while those who can really only deal with Japan, belong more in the UAE.

I am part of the former, as are many other teachers I've met... (from Korea!)

madrileno · Joined: 19 Aug 2010 Posts: 270 Location: Salalah, Oman

rainbowprof · Joined: 18 Feb 2012 Posts: 133 Location: Penang

moonpie · Joined: 30 May 2003 Posts: 71

Urbanvision hadn't spent much time in Oman. Sohar is clean. The sheiks of Sohar do a pretty good job of keeping the place clean for us. He ought to go to Saham which is a bit further down the road. That place is nasty and the person sitting in the high seat of power ought to have his feet beat with a broomstick. There are other places in Arabia that are even worse. I was knee deep in plastic trash and bottles while walking in an industrial area in Sharja. Cleanliness depends on management where ever you find yourself. If you have good management, the place will be fairly tidy.

Moon

eha · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 355 Location: ME

I've worked in both, and I met far more drunks, crazies, and incompetent teachers in Oman than I did in the UAE.

Funny; my experience was exactly the opposite. Not too many drunks (at least not that I was aware of), but LOTS of crazy in the UAE. I don't think I've ever worked in a more vicious, backstabbing, threatened work environment anywhere.... and I've worked in England!!
Incompetent? Well, it depends how you define it and who's doing the defining...... as the best teachers know.
Oman was a paradise in comparison. ( Mind you....)