I’m very pumped. My wife and I have spent most of our post-collegiate adult lives overseas, and really have the expat blood in our veins. We have spent the last year in the States, but have had that itch to go back overseas, so I threw my hat in the ring for a couple of jobs. I was offered one that paid me a lot more than I currently earn; they flew my entire family to Doha to check out the city, our living accomodations, the schools, etc. It’s awesome. A bit quiet, but we like quiet; and if we need excitement, Dubai is apparently less than 1 hour by plane. Woo hoo!
Wow! Congratulations!
Are you going to live in a foreigners’ compound? Is Qatar culturally ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’? Will they fly you home every year? What’s the schooling like (if you have kids)? Can you see the Burj Dubai on the horizon? 
I work with a girl who lived all her life in Doha until last year.
Yet, she’s English - English accent and everything. Expatriatism can raise interesting paradoxes; if she had been living in an English-speaking country or a culturally similar country, like the US, Ireland or Australia, she’d be indistinguishable from a native, but because she was educated and lived in expatriate circles, she’s (almost) as English as I am.
If you have any specific questions, I can ask on your behalf. She says the most popular activity is wadi-bashing.
Yes, my employer owns a couple of compounds, and will provide us with a villa in one of them (free of cost, happily–housing in Doha is outrageous). They will give us money to fly home every year, but we don’t have to use it to fly home. It’s not like I really want to see my relatives. As for the schooling, it’s da bomb. While on our ‘pre-employment visit’, we managed to get our daughter enrolled in a French Lycee. It looks good–it’s run by the French government, who apparently think it is a big enough deal that Nicolas Sarkozy himself came to Doha for the opening of the school. :eek: There’s a commemorative plaque at the entrance marking the occasion. Our daughter was in a French nursery school when we lived in Beirut, so those connections are in her brain somewhere waiting to be reactivated.
I would say Qatar is pretty conservative by US standards, but not necessarily by Gulf standards. The sheikha has been instrumental in getting lots of women’s rights implemented. They have a lot of freedom of the press–Al Jazeera broadcasts from Qatar (much to the chagrin of Saudi Arabia, for example, who thinks that AJ is a little free with their criticism of the House of Saud). Women can walk around uncovered with no consequences whatsoever. While there, I saw every combination from total burqa-like coverage to women with bare arms and uncovered hair.
I might ask her. Indeed, I was thinking about starting a thread asking for pointers from so-called “third culture kids”–kids who are raised outside of the nation in which they and their parents hold citizenship. I know we’ve got several of them on this board. Our daughter will be joining their ranks, and I’m curious to see what advice they might have. (Actually, it’s doubly strange in our daughter’s case, because as I’ve posted before, our daughter is dual nationality. She is Lebanese–we adopted her while living in Beirut–but a naturalized US citizen. So I want to know how to keep her from having serious identity issues.)
I liked how in the malls, the burqa stores were right next to bikini and lingerie stores.
I was just in Qatar in December for the 4-day R&R pass program the Army offers to soldiers stationed in the middle east. I had a great time. I was only in Doha for about a day and a half, but I was quite impressed. My favorite part was Turkish coffee and a hookah in a cafe, watching a camel race on local tv and Dhow boats on the gulf right outside.
Congratulations, indeed. I don’t think I could ever be an expatriate, but if I ever decide to, Qatar is going to be on my short list of places I’d want to go.
One of my favorite moments was sitting on the roof of a restaurant in the souk at sunset, smelling the shisha smoke, and hearing the haunting call to prayer. It was a beautiful moment; it actually made me tear up, in part because I associate the call to prayer with what I consider to be home (Beirut) and it was the first time in two years I had heard it.
Welcome to the region! I am in Bahrain and have lived here on and off since 1998.
Doha is a nice place and has relaxed a lot in the last 13 years since the old Emir was deposed. I haven’t spent a whole lot of time in Qatar (been there a few days at a time on several occasions over the last 10 years), but if you have any questions about the Gulf generally, feel free to PM me.
Who are the other Gulf dopers? We might have to have a Gulf DopeFest!
I for one.
Welcome to the GUlf, when you get over Jeddah, have the pilot honk the horn, I’ll wave.
I lived in Bahrain from ages 4-6, in Oman for six months of the year from 8-13, and I spent a rather delightful week in the Doha Gulf Hotel when I was about 9 (free of charge, courtesy of Emirates Air who’d lost some rather important luggage).
Couple things- don’t fly on Gulf Air. Take Emirates (or BA, who have almost as many flights to/from the area as the local flag carriers). The flight to Dubai is only 40 minutes, incidentally.
It’s about a 6 hour drive to Abu Dhabi and another hour or so to Dubai. Don’t bother. There is absolutely nothing in between, and the border crossing can be unpleasant. Think of it as driving across Nebraska: pointless.
If you’re planning on shipping your car there, I wouldn’t. Gulf-spec vehicles are cheap.
ETA: If you have a choice of accomodations, make absolutely sure you’re there during the prayer call before you choose. The muezzins are really, really loud, and in some places they’re loud enough to wake you or the kids.