Great work and a good result for a nice guy.
7.5 hours to Amsterdam, five hours in Amsterdam, 7.5 hours from Amsterdam. Add in incidentals and we’re looking at a full day shot in the head. I leave Sunday.
If I neglect the SDMB for the next few days, I hope you all understand.
Congrats, Paul!
Toke one up for me in Amsterdam.
Paul in a Sandy Place 
Congrats Paul, good things!
Hey I lost track of how you were doing in your course after it looked not so good. I guess you turned it around, good job!
Hey one thing I always wondered about places like Saudi, dubai, Qatar where good jobs are available for foreigners- are there, err, religious restrictions on them, and if not, how tolerant is the overall society?
Just curious, I have no plans of going. but I have noticed such recruiting in some industries throughout my entire career.
Very glad to hear it, Paul!
Varies from country to country. Saudi is the strictest, Dubai is the least strict, and Qatar is somewhere in between. In Qatar you can buy alcohol (but not pork), although there is only one state-run liquor store and the only bars are in the big hotels. Women can dress more or less how they want, although modest clothing is preferred. I have seen short skirts, etc., and while you won’t get punished or anything, the locals don’t really like it much. As for religious restrictions on employment, we actually had a discussion of that in another thread a couple of weeks ago. They don’t seem to care much in Dubai. I doubt if they care much in Qatar. I don’t know about Saudi.
You’ve got TCBY in Doha too. Nothing like frozen yogurt when it’s 48°C outside.
This. I hope you have continued Dope Access abroad.
(What sort of outlets do they have in Doha? You would think that would be easy to find. These people need a welcome packet.)
OK. That is all good information but I guess in being intentionally vague, I was also overly vague.
Let me be very frank.
Can Jews get jobs and visas there, whether religious or secular and if yes, what is the attitude of the people towards them? How variable is that with the political mood of the day?
If this was covered in another recent thread, can someone provide a link please?
No, I figured that’s what you were talking about. The other thread was this one:
Is it possible/safe for a Jew to visit Dubai? That thread will probably answer most of your questions. I’ve only lived in Doha for around 8 months, so am less familiar with the mores here, but I know a least a couple of Jews who work here. Actually, the university I work for sent a contingent of students to Israel and the Palestinian territories last year, and is doing so again this year. It was controversial, but doable.
Well, that thread was mostly about tourists, not highly educated and qualified professionals that I was thinking of.
Zillions of the same have done precisely that in the US, specifically Silicon Valley with which I am most familiar, in the last 15 years or so, and many of them are on a steady march to the top of their professions. Many of those are already there.
Could a Jew do the same, and participate fully ans without discrimination, along with his or her family, in the social context of these countries? If yes, are there any examples I can be pointed to?
I honestly don’t know. Maybe yes; maybe no. I haven’t been here long enough to know. But also, I’m in a field (academia) that is somewhat isolated from some of the larger cultural trends in Qatar; we make it more or less a condition of our continued cooperation here that we conduct business on a Western model as regards academic freedom, etc… So while I have Jewish colleagues, I don’t know if their experiences can generalize to other professions in this country or in the region.
Great news Paul!
Keep the sand out of your boxers
Congratulations!
(NOt to reanimate a zombie thread, but I have arrived here safely.)