Whats it like living in Qatar
By Louise OKane •
I am moving to Qatar soon from the UK with my husbands job and our 3 year old girl, i have never lived abroad before and need some convincing that Qatar is the right place for us - please can you tell me what it is like living there and what family life especially with a 3 year old would be like for us!!
Amyl's answer is the most spot on of the lot! The others must be Qataris ? :) I have lived in Venezuela,Indonesia, America, Japan and England. Now I find myself in Qatar, and it is the most difficult place to live of those. It is hot, dirty, and there are arrogant and rude locals to deal with, (they do not know the meaning of the word "queue" and refuse to allow anyone to go in front of them). Driving is a nightmare, Qataris drive their huge Land Cruisers and do not care about safety at all you will see. The roundabouts are a free for all and if there is an accident you will most likely be the one at fault. If it was clearly not your fault you might just claim it is anyway to do away with all the headaches involved if you dispute a local. There is basically nothing for a family to do, (unless you like freezing to death in a crowded shopping mall and paying double for things you can buy elsewhere in the world.) We thought it would be fun to live in this part of the world and travel, but it is very expensive to even get out of Doha via planeband you cannot drive anywhere! We live in a brand new compound and never in our lives has seen such shoddy workmanship. Everything breaks and basically no one has any pride in their work. It seems that westerners are not very welcomed here except to try to pull this country out of third world stature (the only reason it is not is because they have money to spend, otherwise it is a third world country in the beliefs and surroundings except for the Corniche and City Centre which are simply a mirage. Were it me, i would ask if there is an assignment elsewhere. Good luck!
qatar is nice place but dont compare with UK. If you are going to earn twice here then do come. I love UK
I am from the US, but I have lived in Venezuela with 3 school age children, in Singapore with a 9 yr old son and now I am living in Qatar with my 10 year old son. the weather is very very hot, there is no rain (not in the 7 months I have lived here), there is not much for families to do (unless shopping around one million people, sounds appealing to you) the driving is very dangerous and people dont have much consideration for others while behind the wheel of the car. There are too many traffic accidents! I must say it is a safe place to live as far as your personal safety is concerned. I am told it will get cold here come November-December. I am waiting for that to happen. There are some really nice places to live, but the compound where we were placed with QatarGas always has problems with the washing machings, dishwashers catching on fire, the ac is always not working properly and there is no place for the older children to play out of the streets. Most all compounds have a great clubhouse and more green plants and grass than ours also.
My best advice on this situation is this- it is not a horrible place to live. It has good and bad just like everywhere else. In the situation you are in, with hubby and young child- you probably find life managable. You will learn when the best time and place to shop is very quickly. I actually have gotten a job since my arrivial and I am very happy here because of that.
I hope that was helpful.
It is the safest place ever, and very good place for family life. All people respect each other, UK people are very nice here. You will enjoy it, and it will be a peace of mind for you and your child. You will be able to live a very good and relaxing life.
Good luck and welcome to Doha !
It is the safest place ever, and very good place for family life. All people respect each other, UK people are very nice here. You will enjoy it, and it will be a peace of mind for you and your child. You will be able to live a very good and relaxing life.
Good luck and welcome to Doha !
Qatar is a cool place.
better than KSA and UAE is better.
very very very safe
good british schools.
it is good for peaple who like fun or peace of mind.
lots of shopping malls.
if u have a good job with good salary u can live in a nice villa
peaple r friendly.
i am sure ur kid will be happy as you will have time for her.
good enough?
Qatar is a nice and peaceful country.One can easily live here.as there are good number of shopping malls.and entertainment centers.including water sports..in my case i loved it.u can also come here without any fear