thanks all for your helpful and welcoming notes! yeh my post was a bit long wasn't it...I could have gone on as well! I will start looking for a christmas lunch booking .....and I am coming to Qatar with a very open mind, I know it's going to be v different to Europe / Aus / Asia, but I think it's going to be a great region to live in, and we're looking forward to doing some travelling from there. I am a bit worried about driving in Doha, but hey I'll deal with that when I get to it!!
hope to talk to you more, and meet some of you later in the year!