How friendly are the locals?

I agree with auscharlie in that you will have positive and negative experiences just like anywhere else in the world. Some Qataris will be interested in helping you learn more about the local culture, others may not be so accepting. Generally speaking though there are plenty of friendly people around. Also, if your aim is to learn arabic and more about arab culture and not necessarily just Qatari culture, there will be plenty of opportunity for that. Qatar is full of expats from all over the arab world. You can improve your arabic speaking to lebanese, syrian, jordanian, north african, egyptian, omani, and bahraini people among many other arab nationalities. These will also offer a window into the diverse cultures of the arab world should we Qataris fail to please :)

I knew wxactly what you meant. My point was that you have the "advantage" of being recommended for a position and thus have a means of already having contacts in the country..

Good luck!

If you were moving to any country for work, then it would be to better yourself financially, or to gain experience in your field of work, I suppose. So you therefore would have taken into account that you will need to at least attempt to get on with the locals, be they French, Arab, South African, Brazilian or which ever country you intend moving to.

Are you more worried about your 'revert' status rather than your qualifications, I wonder?

thanks everyone for the advice,

fao britexpat, the sheikh is a religious teacher, not some rich guy from qatar so is more a character reference than anything else.

Oh thats why, you werent in those threads...

Think drac failed to notice the number of years youve spent here.,

Had to run an errand for the company today. Its an official nonworking one for us but....

Still, adjustin to the way of life here. Missed the the holiday celebrations bigtime.

_________________

call me ONE.

Oh thats why, you werent in those threads...

Think drac failed to notice the number of years youve spent here.,

Had to run an errand for the company today. Its an official nonworking one for us but....

Still, adjustin to the way of life here. Missed the the holiday celebrations bigtime.

_________________

call me ONE.

Hey, havent bumped you in awhile, hows new year?, anyway, thats just my opinion and it is with regards to my length of stay here, no. of locals i have met, my reference for social manners, which i found to be generally accepted having lived also in a number of countries.,, my experiences and interactions with them in various social arena. However, i respect your point of view. And, i hope you would also accept mine, that may or may not change over a period of time. I put many things into consideration before i arrive to any conclusions.

________________

call me ONE.

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/314490

As what have been said above, qatar is no exception, it is a mixed of good and bad people. Language barrier seems to be the reason behind i find them rude when approached. I have met a few good ones though. Mostly, those who have been educated outside qatar- they are able to carry themselves and level-headed enough. But to say that they are generally well-mannered --that i doubt, honestly.

_________________

call me ONE.

There is no comparing Qataris to Saudis! You will not see the sheer arrogance of Saudis here. The Qataris I've met are only few in number compared to the Saudis I've met, but I see them as very pleasant, polite, and generally well mannered, except behind the wheel of their cars!

Did you Google it first?

salam bro!

locals here are of mixed attitude. some are good, better and some are worst tothe extent that they dont respect other people.

it really hurts, but thats the sad reality. i am muslim too but some of them are just muslims by name. they dont practice what the qur'an and the hadith are teaching.

nonetheless,every one has their own characteristics and they entitled to it, hehehe...

In your other posting you say that a "Sheikh" is helping you get the job. so, you are lucky, you know someone already.

Since you already are keen to learn about and mix with the local culture, you should not have a problem.

well i want to save, yes that is part of the reason of choosing qatar, but i also want to learn arabic and get to know more about the local culture, to mix and learn more about the culture than is normal for an outsider.

generally muslims are very friendly towards reverts so i am hopeful if like this it will make my families stay much more pleasant.

as well as this the job i am going for could be on pretty much until i retire in 30 years so yes i want to get to know the locals as much as possible.

like with all nations, there is a mix of people, Qatar is no different.

the reality as you will find will be based on your relationship or interaction...is the local your Manager or vice-versa, shopping at the mall, driving in your car, buying & selling, administration (Visas,Qtel, Kahramaa etc) undoubtedly you will have negative and positive experiences.

-----------------------------------------------------

Don't get angry with me! I'm only typing what you are thinking!

they r very nice ppl

just to second your thoughts..

you most of the time speak my mind.

____________________________________________________

Have Courage To Live.

Anyone Can Die.

I am sorry, but i always find these types of questions very strange. You are coming to Qatar for a specific reason - probably to save money or as a career move. So what does the demeanor of the locals hav eto do with it ?

Having said that, I have found the "locals" very friendly. However, I only have the chance to meet them at work, not socialy.

I don't know what you are looking for , but most people are "friendly" if you, yourself are reasonable with them.