Job Discussion Forums

adorabilly · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 430 Location: Ras Al Khaimah

well my wife and I are definately moving to the UAE, and as such I have more questions.

Remember I have been in central china, and now tokyo. In central china when I walked into a shop the price went up a least 2x as soon as I walked in the door, and I would have to negotiate it back down. I have had to do some of that in Tokyo. And with employer in china I had to realllllly read the contracts.

Now I asked about getting lowballed on contracts and the reply was, NO it doesn't happen here. and if your employer is offering you lowball, then don't play. So we went with a more reputable employer, offering a slightly lower salary, but higher housing allowances, and education allowances.

But now come different questions.

For example, when I go into a shop in the UAE, do I need to bargain? Do I have to worry that the price will double when I walk in? (in some places in china they had 2 menu's one for the locals, and one for the foreigners... same food, but prices would double or triple...)

The contract specifies that it is for unfurnished housing... does this include the kitchen burners and air conditioners? Or will those come in the housing?

How hard is it to get a vehicle?

We will be in the RAK. so how accessable are the mountains? How large of an expat community is there?

The contract offer says they pay for airfare... ok will we fly straight there, or will they try to be cheap and make us catch multiple connections? (ther are flights from tokyo to dubai, but according to kayak.com it is like $2500 Us per ticket, but if going cheap, 3 connections and it is $1400)

Do we need to start looking for housing now? or will the school take care of that? (HCT) Do we mention housing prefrences now, or wait until we get there?

kiefer · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 268

Hi A.B.,

I can answer some of your questions.

Bargaining.
Most items in the UAE such as food, appliances, msc. household items, etc are purchased in modern grocery stores or mega-stores like Carrefour and cater to a wide variety of taste buds and basic needs. They have set prices.

If you go to souks, outdoor markets for produce or other items, sure, hone up on your bargaining skills, perhaps learn how to say in Urdu "best price?" "Last price?" "Too expensive." and "I'll think about it." And yes, blue eyes pay more.

Most housing throughout this region is bare--walls, roof, often (but not always) a/c. HCT offers an adequate furniture allowance/ quasi loan which
zeroes out after your third year.

Purchasing a vehicle is easy. Validating that purchase with the traffic ministry might take weeks or months, depending on your driver's license status. If you have a US or UK license, you can acquire a UAE license in one day--for now. Most nationalities now and nearly all in the future will have to pay about 700 dhs to attend driving school in order to become eligible to drive. This is also true for UAE nationals although they do not pay the high fee.

RAK is accessible to some very big barren rocks, which are called mountains.

The expat community is small but growing. RAK, according to UAE growth indicators, has supposedly replaced Sharjah as the third fastest growing Emirate.

Check out
http://www.rakinvest.ae/settling_down.htm
http://www.rakpat.com/

My guess is that you'll fly the most direct route. Emirates Air flies from Tokyo. Nagoya and Osaka.

As for looking for housing now, I suggest you do not waste your time. Anything you might see available on the web is bait and switch, i.e. you might find what seems like a great place to make a nest for a reasonable price, within your budget, but 99.99% of the time, if you contact the realtor, that place has just been rented. However, they have something similar for about 20,000 more dhs per annum.

I am pretty sure HCT has blocks of flats in most Emirates and they'll assign you one or they'll put you up in temporary housing until you find your own place.

If HCT houses you, your preference has no bearing on where you will live. Housing is authorised according to marital and family status (the number of children you have). Married, no kids or one kid is usually the same as single housing--a modest but decent two bedroom flat which, when compared to housing in Tokyo, will seem like the Chateau of Versailles. Smile

adorabilly · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 430 Location: Ras Al Khaimah

Thanks Kiefer

We seem to be lucky... when we were in china, we were given the largest flat (3 bedrooms) among all the teachers (there are 5 of us), so we had a huge place in china.

In tokyo we have a decent sized place (smaller than china, but still has 3 bedrooms)

We have heard we can get 4 ot 5 bedroom villa maybe with a pool... and so we are hoping for it.

I am used to negotiating prices in local street markets, even using a pencil and paper before I learn the language... I still can negotiate in chinese, so it is nice to know that some things don't change... just need to learn how to say too much in arabic, adn how much, and learn my numbers before I get there to be on the ground running...

Thanks.

As for barren rocks, I grew up in Phoenix, and those were like our mountains there... so not too bad.

Anyone with more information?

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

RAK will remind you of Phoenix with Superstition Mts off in the distance. Don't expect to ever see any snow on the mountains of Musandum though. Cool

Your expectations as to villa size and pool are probably a bit overblown, but housing should be nice. In the past, RAK housing came with more things provided, but I expect that has changed.

If this is HCT, they probably provide the housing, but even if you have to hunt it up yourself, you will need to wait until you get there. Anything that shows up on the net would be overpriced and you have no idea what areas to avoid. You need to be there so that you can consult with the other staff about this.

VS

like2answer · Joined: 21 Sep 2006 Posts: 154

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

redcliff · Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 46

welcome to rak.
you can pm me if you have any specific questions about bringing the young uns.

like most of the uae, rak is 80% expat, but assuming you mean western expat, yeah, we have a decent crowd.

and to start a dirty rumour, dubai hct teachers are starting to look wistfully at the wild west town up the road (rak) as they deal with their 45 minute commutes, and ever shrinking accomodations.