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culture shock?

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70

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 08 April 2011 - 18:47

I don't think it is 'culture shock' either. It is not accepting that what we see hear is right. We have to accept that the is often little or nothing we can actually do about it but the day I start think it is normal I am leaving. And well said HAK. Having come out here, it now drives me nuts to hear people moaning back home as to how bad their lives are. Admittedly the recent change in govt has made life less comfy for many brits but in comparison to what I see here it is nothing really.

141

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 08 April 2011 - 16:00

I wouldn't actually call it 'culture shock', to be honest - for me, it's more like the absence of culture making the difference between encountering deprivation in Dubai and in some other places. I mean, I'm no stranger to extremes of poverty, but encountering extremely poor Keralans in Kerala, for instance - when they are surrounded by a vibrant social/cultural/religious fabric and their family and community - feels very different to encountering Keralan labourers in Dubai, where they are away from home for years at a time, working in brutal conditions and living in labour camps, with only the fact of more earnings as an advantage. In other places, immigrants have the possibility of assimilating to the culture of their new country, but the sheer numbers of foreign residents from all over in Dubai means there is no longer the possibility of assimilating to an accessible Emirati culture, so I think deprivation here is particularly stark, and the quality of life for the lowest level of immigrants correspondingly low, because there's no social fabric for them to be part of.

369

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 08 April 2011 - 14:40

Hiya :) I'd like to ask if anyone out there (besides me) has struggled with the vast discrepancies (status, wages etc) that are so prevalent here? I've been here 15 months and was calmly informed this morning by my partner that I'm still exhibiting all the classic signs of culture shock...hmmm...I have very little idea what to do with that information. I work, I study, we are for the most part happy, but there is something that I just can't reconcile myself with, and I have very little idea what it is or, therefore, how to address it. If only they'd hurry up and build that lawn bowls green :) Constantly, and frankly, I wouldn't want to be the kind of person that does not struggle with these things. I do what I can to make life easier for those who do have it so much harder than I do. Its the only way I can cope with what confronts me every day when I go out.

Hello.Again.Kitty

1861

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EW EXPERT

Latest post on 08 April 2011 - 14:16

I think it's sad that the meagre existence some people live here is still better than they have in their own country. Yup, and I think that part of the difficulty to adjust is often that it's the first sneak preview face-to-face that this - and worse - goes on in the world. I know it sounds rather naive explained like that, but you know, it's one thing to read about it or see it on the telly and another to come face-to-face with it... and we're not talking about rural African villages or the slums in Mexico, but just segments of population who accept and/or contribute to day-to-day inequality, exploitation and hardship without further consideration. For all the inequality/injustice/ poverty that goes on in Western countries, we're simply not exposed to it at quite this level. Makes me bloomin' grateful for what I have though... and angry at all the whingers and spongers back home, who I think would benefit enormously from coming out here for a reality check!

maxindubai18503

333

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 08 April 2011 - 13:53

I think it's sad that the meagre existence some people live here is still better than they have in their own country.

Hello.Again.Kitty

1861

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 08 April 2011 - 13:45

There are things here that are simply so alien to my personal morals that I can't accept them - I've been here 2.5 years and don't think I'd accept them if I'd been here 250 years! My method of coping is to remain myself and to compartmentalise by saying that accepting that there are differences is not the same as embracing it and falling into line.

5452

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 08 April 2011 - 13:39

I used to but then I got over it and now I never think about it. Life is unfair in all ways and to all people, rich or poor.

3220

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 08 April 2011 - 13:24

Not everybody adapts to Dubai.

1

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 08 April 2011 - 13:21

Hiya :) I'd like to ask if anyone out there (besides me) has struggled with the vast discrepancies (status, wages etc) that are so prevalent here? I've been here 15 months and was calmly informed this morning by my partner that I'm still exhibiting all the classic signs of culture shock...hmmm...I have very little idea what to do with that information. I work, I study, we are for the most part happy, but there is something that I just can't reconcile myself with, and I have very little idea what it is or, therefore, how to address it. If only they'd hurry up and build that lawn bowls green :)

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