I wonder if we're not focusing on the wrong things. Certainly Qatar is a pleasant place to live but the work ethos is very different from the US. There's no EEOC, no disability act, no real recourse for labor disputes. Most expats live with the understanding that we could be on the midnight flight with only broken dreams at essentially any point (not common, mind you, just possible, and we all know someone to whom this happened.) US expats are known to say that it takes three times more effort to run an errand thatn we're used to and I think we all have forgotten/become acclimatized to the constant low-level feeling of tension/anxiety that we live with. Not that it isn't a wonderful adventure - it is - but it's not all wine and roses - ooops, I forgot, no wine!
I wonder if we're not focusing on the wrong things. Certainly Qatar is a pleasant place to live but the work ethos is very different from the US. There's no EEOC, no disability act, no real recourse for labor disputes. Most expats live with the understanding that we could be on the midnight flight with only broken dreams at essentially any point (not common, mind you, just possible, and we all know someone to whom this happened.) US expats are known to say that it takes three times more effort to run an errand thatn we're used to and I think we all have forgotten/become acclimatized to the constant low-level feeling of tension/anxiety that we live with. Not that it isn't a wonderful adventure - it is - but it's not all wine and roses - ooops, I forgot, no wine!
Mandi