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Hi Verdaque, welcome to EW.. we've been here just over a year and have a 4 bed villa which we are very happy with. Our boys are 16 and 7 - eldest got into our first choice school because older children are easier to place. Our youngest got our 3 rd choice and we've been very happy with both schools. I can't speak for american prices but we find most things around the same or cheaper as UK. Eating out varies widely from £70 a head brunches to Burger king for less than £3 lol.. Last summer was our first and yes we did go home for all 9 weeks but plenty of families stay here... and yes, we love it here !!
Hi Sue
70 quid for brunch! I'll be skipping those! Sounds pretty much like the range in London, then, which is fine. What school is your youngest in? What areas near internet city would you recommend?
Thanks in advance!
Elizabeth
I will do my best to help....
I am from USA and also moved here with 3 kids for the very same reasons you mentioned....plus my husband is a Arab, so even better....He also works in Internet City....:)
We are happy but...
yes its super expensive to live here- you sure you want a 5 bed? We bought cars here cause your cars will be fried from the USA...different AC systems and paint....cause of climate....yes you can bring them here but...TONS of shopping that very few afford, even when you make plenty..Rent will be at least 200++ its hard to uproot any way you look at it....HOWEVER
We live in Jumeriah 3. 10 min to tons of things AT THE MOST....including the schools...and no they were not our first choice, so its the one we TOOK. We are happy with it, wish we could change some things, but overall its ok. My kids have friends from every corner of the globe. Really.
I can be at the beach in 5 min....
& a big plus with 3 little ones...I have a maid, cannot get that in the USA....I feel like Im dating my husband again....yes corny but its nice. We have time to grab a coffee when they sleep...go to a movie...etc....
Another big plus, people are nice, friendly and for the most part want to meet others....
The locals are very nice. You may not know many but give them a chance...very nice people. they have opened the country to so many...Saw Diwali, Eid and Christmas decorations so far....and nobody is making a fuss about anything.
Dubai is clean clean clean. Its safe - very little violent crime here like in the USA. No gun violence.
Also, the people of Dubai are happy with Dubai...makes living here easier.
Yes Im not sugar coating everything but its nice....and you can get spoiled a little, if only for a few years.
Yes alot of people leave here for the summers....I plan to also....
Thanks for this! What schools are in Jumeirah, then? I need to start reaching out to some soon. Is it far for your husband to get to work in the mornings? We just would love him home at a reasonable hour in the eves.
We will have about 240/yr for housing, and about 16k/kid for school (which I know isn't enough), plus car allowance, so we'll be pretty spoiled on many fronts.
Oh and we're not the shopping types so I'm ok with that, phew! I'm a total bargain hunter & would probably buy good quality furnishings second hand. I hate going to the mall, even here, so I'm not too worried about that.
Is Meadows, nice, too? Or is Jumeirah just best in terms of proximity to everything?
Will keep you posted re our decision & thanks again!
Elizabeth
<em>edited by verdeque on 01/12/2011</em>
You will get many varied opinions!
There are some housing compounds close to Internet/media city. Do you have a housing budget or does it all come out of the package?
School places could be your biggest headache? Primary school places, particularly for 4 year olds, are quite hard to come by at present.
Yes, I would say grocery prices probably fairly similar to waitrose in UK (we have waitrose in Dubai too). You can keep grocery costs down by buying more local products and less imported products.
People can probably give you more info on other costs like utilities etc. buymeapony put together a great spreadsheet when she was looking to move here. Put a thread up
asking for her, she could probably send it to you.
HTH
edited by plum2 on 01/12/2011
Hi
Thanks for this! We have a housing budget of around 220-240 per year. What compounds would you recommend with any greenery, not too isolated, people that are friendly and down to earth, and lots of kids? (Am I asking too much?)
As our kids have dual citizenship, we're open about English or American schools. We just want them to get a good education while there, and make some good friends along the way.
Re groceries, that's not so bad.
Lots to ponder.
You had better put your kids' names down for school now, and expect that you won't get into your first, second or third choice school - and that your commute is likely to be 30 minutes each way ...
Lol. I did say we weren't sure! I guess we were thinking it would be one of those 'once in a lifetime' oppties for our kids to experience new cultures & travel in parts of the world that are so far from us now. We are on the fence, and the thought of saving money while doing 2 years in the UAE sounded a bit adventurous. But, it sounds like that might not be realistic?
Let's say we DID lose our minds and decided to come (you could wag your finger at us once we hit that 'oh f***k, what have we done mode?), are there neighborhoods/schools near Internet City we should be looking at now? I'm happy to reach out to schools, but am aware that they need be very close to home/work or we'll be stuck in traffic all the time.
Thanks!!!!!!
<em>edited by verdeque on 01/12/2011</em>
