Job Discussion Forums

[menace2society32]

I will be starting a teaching position in the UAE at the beginning of September. I am curious to know what I can expect in terms of customs (at the airport upon arrival when they check my baggage), the atmosphere in the classroom, life outside of teaching, and general UAE citizens' feelings toward Westerners. I hear that there is a huge foreign population in the UAE, is this true? I recently finished a year of teaching in South Korea so being in another country outside of America in itself is not a concern at all. Even dealing with any anti-American sentiment won't be a problem. So I am not paranoid or scared at what I will encounter. Just curious. Any tips or recommendations on how to make my stay more enjoyable would be greatly appreciated. Also, I know the weight limits of luggage vary depending on the airline you are on, but if possible could you give me a general idea of how much weight I can bring on the plane (both checked and unchecked baggage) (and in pounds please, as we have to remember that I am from America, one of the few if not the only remaining country that still utilizes pounds in weight). Also if you are American can you please tell me the cheapest way to send a few boxes of my personal belongings to the UAE (length of time that it takes to arrive in UAE is not a concern, cost is my only concern). Thank you very much for your feedback.

[scot47]

Come on, even Americans can understand kilos ! 20kg is 44 pounds. That's not so hard is it ?

[manonatrain]

whats in the bags SKI gear ?

Dude. leave most of it at home.
put it this way, you are allowed two bags which are
not so heavy you strain to carry them.

this works out to 30 kilos about...more or less...use
your home scale to do conversion..

It is hot...bring a few things, buy new shit there.
Bring one or two pairs of work shoes only.
Bring trainers, if you run or gym..
bring a couple of tshirts
a few dress shirts.
a few slacks.
books..will wiegh you down, carry them on. and don�t mention
at check in that you carry on wieghs more than your checked baggage.
keep it discreet on your shoulder...

laptop...

music...must must must.

shampoo and toiletthings forget it..you can buy EVERYTHING in UAE.

Getting custom made shirts will set you back 5 or 6 us dollars...that
is custom made mens cotton dress shirts !!! Tailor made, include
slacks etc...

Dont bring alot. It will cost you.

cheapest shipping is the SHIP..call your local overseas shipping
companies if you must.

dont bring furniture..they have IKEA dude...

check out www.godubai.com

buy liquor at the duty free it will be half the price in America.

[menace2society32]

To scot: Well the information you provided still does not help me to know how much weight I can bring on the plane. I still wonder why people write when they have nothing to do but criticize. Waste of everyone's time, including yours. No help at all. Have a nice day.

To Manonatrain: I appreciate your info very much. You have helped a lot. Thanks again. Any other info from anyone else is gladly welcomed.

I am still curious to know what is it like as you go through customs at the airport.

[Cleopatra]

I think scot was giving you some useful info if you read between the lines.

Insisting that everything be in pounds might not help if you are going to live abroad. As you say yourslef, the US is now probably the only country which insists on this outmoded unit of measurement. You don't have to have a PHD in rocket science in order to make the simple conversion between pounds and kilos - you might as well start now, you're going to have to learn in the UAE.

[scot47]

Most airlines allow Economy Class passengers 20 kg in checked-in beggage, plus one bag of carry-on luggage.

If you plan to spend any time away from the USA you really should learn about kilos and meters. Is that so hard ?

Or are you detremined to force the rest of the world to use pounds and gallons because you are incapable of getting your head around the metric system ?

Perhaps you should also be warned that in the UAE you will not be surrounded by Southern Baptists and Methodists.

I somehow think you will not last long in this game, unless you learn to take a more "international" look at things.

[manonatrain]

ha ha..welcome to the teachers of the ME...

gang up on the North Americans...well get used
to it cause this is how it starts.

Ya Scots correct, 20 kilos, two bags...they always allow an extra
5 to 10 plus like I said put the HEAVY stuff in your carry on
and ACT LIKE IT IS Lite.

Cleo and Scot belong to the bitchy teacher club. you can
find them swallowing litres of GIN every weekend in the
loniness of their �flats�....

You two are *beep*.

[menace2society32]

First of all, your original message simply stated a cnversion. How was I to know that that was also the max allowed on a plane. Second of all, why do you imply that I am Christian or even religious for that matter. Thirdly you don't know where I have been in my life so to tell me I need to be more global is very ignorant on your part. And most important, I just may be Muslim. America does have a Muslim population. And I won't go into detail about myself, but if you could see me and my skin color your ignorant opinion of me struglling outside of America would change. I guarantee I will have a much easier time in the U.A.E. than you. From this point on, I will not waste my time replying to your immature attacks on people whom you do not know.

[scot47]

You will not be surrounded by the followers of Elijah Muhammed either !

But you will be dealing with people on a daily basis who use kilos and talk in Celsius.

If you are too bigotted to make the transition from pounds to kilos or from Fahrenheit to Celsius, I do not think you will last long.

Unless you choose to live in the ghetto of fellow-Americans.

[menace2society32]

You are a total idiot. Who said anything about the Nation of Islam??? WHo even said anything about being black?You have displayed enough ignorancy and prejudice in these messages alone. DOn't waste time on this thread anymore. Bigot.

[grand fromage]

Hi menace..., I see you've met Scot and Manonatrain. I wouldn't waste my energy replying to their insults. But let's just feel sorry for them, that's the human thing to do, whether you're Muslim Christian or whatever. I can't believe Scot who made such a racket about illegal jobs just exposed himself as the intolerant, judgemental and ................ that I guess he is. Halas, Big Cheese has spoken

[veiledsentiments]

My goodness boys - things are certainly getting our of hand here. I am going to ignore the sniping in the middle and go back to the original question. (Scot darlin' - no more kinder gentler you? I think you misread the original message. I know that you lose patience with most of us Amuricans, as do I. It took me over a year to get used to kilos, but I'm likely much older than the original poster )

Menace: The weight that you are allowed to bring on the plane depends on where you are coming from. If you are coming from the US, we are still under the good old 2 checked bags of something like 70 pounds. If you are coming from Korea is it? check with your airline there as to how many kilos. (and multiply by 2.2 if you need to) About the only good thing I usually have to say about American airlines is the baggage allowance. Check with your airline to find out the cost of excess baggage per piece and/or pound. It is expensive.

The cheapest way to send excess is by ship, but if you are not on the coast, that might be difficult. I always went directly to an airline - usually British Air - and sent it by air freight. It is significantly cheaper than as excess accompanied baggage.

Not sure about customs these days, but I don't expect that it is too difficult. They tend to be most concerned about videos and porn. Leave it at home unless you want to chance losing it. As one person said on this thread, most everything you need is available there, so I wouldn't take much with you. The only thing that I suggest is any unusual medications that you take - or favorite over the counter medications. OTC stuff tends to be European or Sub-continental brands. Know the scientific names though - and you can often find it.

Don't worry too much about anti-Americanism. There is probably more of it on this board than in most of the Emirates. Leave your little flag pin at home and I wouldn't spout off support for the Bush-ites. Get advice on this from the long term expats where you are teaching. They will be able to help you know what or where to avoid. My advice is to try to avoid rising to the bait of things like the messages above.

Good Luck

VS

[scot47]

It seems that some people have incredibly thin skins !

Do you think you are tough enough to survive in the UAE ? You will not be surrounded by touchy-feely types from the USA. Some of your co-workers might not even like Americans !

Can you handle that ?

[mli_vet]

Americans are tougher than Scot thinks. Of course menace can handle it in the UAE. You didn't see the French volunteering to come and take care of business in the ME, didja? No, it was the Americans! Where were the Canuckistani's? (in Europe's front pocket) Where were the Brits? (OK, they're tougher than the frogs) Where was "Ignorance is Blix" Hans? (Head in the sand).

And BTW, have you ever taught in UAE, Mr. self-proclaimed ME guru, AKA "Scot 47"? You're in Saudi, now in any case, right? So stop acting like you know it all about everywhere else. Although a neighboring country, UAE is a totally different place man! Reality check here!

This Scot47 dude's another classic example of what can happen after too many years in the Saudi Wahhabi Kingdom. TEFLers take note! He presumes to condescend to a UAE info-seeker, who for all Scot47 knows, may be more experienced and global than he is---Gasp ! ! !

Americans are doing just fine in the ME. We love a challenge! We love adventure! And we're very nice people in general BTW. If folks don't like us, so what? We can live w/ that. There are folks we don't like either!

Why don't you stay on your Saudi board Scot47 and keep your rude guru spoutings between you and your co-workers over there. And keep the UAE space here for those who can post current, relevant UAE info.

Feel free to email me Mr. Menace w/ any questions @ [email protected].

MLI Vet
Over and Out

[scot47]

My, I have hit a raw nerve. Some people ARE touchy !