This may not be the most popular post you'll read on QatarLiving.com, but it might be the most honest....
I've spent nearly 4 yrs in the Gulf between Doha and Bahrain. I have yet to meet ONE ex-pat that is here for anything other than money No one truly likes this place, but it's the best alternative to whatever their bad situation was at home. If the locals weren't.....well, let's just say, "the locals" ....then it might actually be a somewhat enjoyable experience. The ex-pats put up with the locals until they just can't stand it anymore and go back home.
Further insight......
There are other countries in which to make decent money as an ex-pat. More money can be made in some less desirable places in the world (hazardous zones), but you can't bring your family with you in most cases. You could go to Europe or Australia, for example, where the people are 5000x more friendly, outgoing, courteous, etc., but you're not going to make big money. Qatar is just lousy enough to pay good money to ex-pats (being a somewhat less desirable place to live, relatively speaking) and the low crime rate is suitable enough to bring your family to live with you.
So when the locals say "If you don't like it, leave", believe me, 99% of us would LOVE to get out of here on the next flight out and we're all saving up as frantically as possible to do so, but this is where we are "paying our dues" so we can go back to our own country and actually enjoy our lives and the people we live amongst again. Sorry, but this is how the vast majority of ex-pats feel.
This may not be the most popular post you'll read on QatarLiving.com, but it might be the most honest....
I've spent nearly 4 yrs in the Gulf between Doha and Bahrain. I have yet to meet ONE ex-pat that is here for anything other than money No one truly likes this place, but it's the best alternative to whatever their bad situation was at home. If the locals weren't.....well, let's just say, "the locals" ....then it might actually be a somewhat enjoyable experience. The ex-pats put up with the locals until they just can't stand it anymore and go back home.
Further insight......
There are other countries in which to make decent money as an ex-pat. More money can be made in some less desirable places in the world (hazardous zones), but you can't bring your family with you in most cases. You could go to Europe or Australia, for example, where the people are 5000x more friendly, outgoing, courteous, etc., but you're not going to make big money. Qatar is just lousy enough to pay good money to ex-pats (being a somewhat less desirable place to live, relatively speaking) and the low crime rate is suitable enough to bring your family to live with you.
So when the locals say "If you don't like it, leave", believe me, 99% of us would LOVE to get out of here on the next flight out and we're all saving up as frantically as possible to do so, but this is where we are "paying our dues" so we can go back to our own country and actually enjoy our lives and the people we live amongst again. Sorry, but this is how the vast majority of ex-pats feel.