Anyone know anything?
The COLA and retirement with housing (not an allowance) seem like good financial deal. I know, though, that Dubai is expensive. Can a person save money?
How is the school?
Any info is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
American School of Dubai Brent Mutsch
If you got an offer from ASD you should take it. Might be the best school in the ME. Top 3 for sure.
If you housing is paid for and you get COLA then you can save there as long as you don't get caught up in trying to compete with the high rollers. You could save $10-20k per year depending on your lifestyle.
If you housing is paid for and you get COLA then you can save there as long as you don't get caught up in trying to compete with the high rollers. You could save $10-20k per year depending on your lifestyle.
Comment
Why does it matter who runs the school or how great the school is, its still in the ME. If GOD were running the school, it would still have to be in the ME with all the issues and headaches that brings with it. Being in the best school in the ME is like being in the nicest part of hades, its still all fire and brimstone.
Got to disagree with PG on this one, I hated the ME but I would go back for a couple of schools and this is one of them.
Dubai is not a nice place for many, but it is probably one of the best spots in the ME. If you want to live the ex-pat life and can blinker the darkside of life here. Also you will need to be less of a yes man for this head.
M only worry would be how long will a great head last?
Dubai is not a nice place for many, but it is probably one of the best spots in the ME. If you want to live the ex-pat life and can blinker the darkside of life here. Also you will need to be less of a yes man for this head.
M only worry would be how long will a great head last?
Re: Comment
[quote="PsyGuy"]Why does it matter who runs the school or how great the school is, its still in the ME. If GOD were running the school, it would still have to be in the ME with all the issues and headaches that brings with it. Being in the best school in the ME is like being in the nicest part of hades, its still all fire and brimstone.[/quote]
Good point. I've defended being in the ME before because I like my school so much and I let that blind me to how bad living in the ME sucks.
Good point. I've defended being in the ME before because I like my school so much and I let that blind me to how bad living in the ME sucks.
Depending on where you go in the ME the level of control over what you do and what you say differs. But there is alwas control.
The local students tend to be better than inner-city Uk students most of the time. But the students and the parents run the schools.
Outside of school the local population are rude and treat everybody with disdain. You will see the way that they treat "lesser races" and cringe.
You can earn a lot of money and that is what keeps most people here.
The local students tend to be better than inner-city Uk students most of the time. But the students and the parents run the schools.
Outside of school the local population are rude and treat everybody with disdain. You will see the way that they treat "lesser races" and cringe.
You can earn a lot of money and that is what keeps most people here.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
I was making 300 an hour tutoring upper class students from good schools. Would not go less than 250 an hour.
That would be in dirham, so about 75 - 90 dollars an hour.
However, you will be travelling, often one hour each way, to tutor for one or two hours, so you have to ask yourself if it is worth it...
That would be in dirham, so about 75 - 90 dollars an hour.
However, you will be travelling, often one hour each way, to tutor for one or two hours, so you have to ask yourself if it is worth it...
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Cheery Littlebottom
- Posts: 207
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2013 8:32 am
@Senator
Why does working in the ME suck? Well, actually living and working there can be fine on a day to day level. Certainly the money is great and in the right school the kids are great too.
However, you live on the surface. It's easy to simply say "Oh Arabic culture is SO different!" and leave it at that. But Gulf Arabs are unique, the systems are utterly corrupt and the vast majority believe completely that you are worth less than them - even the nice ones.
If you were to read The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arab World by David Pryce-Jones, you would start to scratch the skin of answering your question.
If you go to Abu Dhabi, or Doha or Dubai you will see a gleaming city, cafe culture, pretensions to intellectualism or even westernisation. Won't you won't see is the underbelly. The case of Dorje Gurung hit the headlines, but in the same week in Doha a 17 year old western boy was arrested (then released) for making some remark, and another teacher in a different school was arrested for accidentally knocking the hijab from the hair of a female student. Two weeks later, someone I know was physically threatened by three men INSIDE A POLICE STATION and made to sign a document that he caused a minor fender bender that was entirely the fault of the wife of one of the three men. A month or two before that, someone else close to me was literally run off the road by a local because he did not like the way he didn't melt off the road when the local wanted to drive on it. In the "accident" report the arabic translated to "In his ignorance, Mr A Westerner swerved to the right and hit Mr Gulf Arab." I was told by a parent at a conference once that I should not holiday in Sri Lanka as they were one of the "dirty races."
Look at all the changes of power in the Arab world: There is not change of doctrine or belief, it is all about being in power. The deposed are accused of corruption, which is then how the new guy continues to do business. There is no cultural or political sense of the greater good, simply getting your own family or tribe to the top and keeping them there.
When the hydrocarbons run out, the sensible, intelligent Gulf Arabs will quietly up sticks and move permanently to their homes in Canada, London and Germany to enjoy their widely secreted away wealth, the rest will quickly fall into a slough of failed systems and societies, as the ex-pats of all types go home.
The entire region is a carefully constructed sham. You can partake of it, and even do well from it, but eventually you won't be able to stand it any longer and you will take your accumulated wealth and go an live somewhere else.
However, you live on the surface. It's easy to simply say "Oh Arabic culture is SO different!" and leave it at that. But Gulf Arabs are unique, the systems are utterly corrupt and the vast majority believe completely that you are worth less than them - even the nice ones.
If you were to read The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arab World by David Pryce-Jones, you would start to scratch the skin of answering your question.
If you go to Abu Dhabi, or Doha or Dubai you will see a gleaming city, cafe culture, pretensions to intellectualism or even westernisation. Won't you won't see is the underbelly. The case of Dorje Gurung hit the headlines, but in the same week in Doha a 17 year old western boy was arrested (then released) for making some remark, and another teacher in a different school was arrested for accidentally knocking the hijab from the hair of a female student. Two weeks later, someone I know was physically threatened by three men INSIDE A POLICE STATION and made to sign a document that he caused a minor fender bender that was entirely the fault of the wife of one of the three men. A month or two before that, someone else close to me was literally run off the road by a local because he did not like the way he didn't melt off the road when the local wanted to drive on it. In the "accident" report the arabic translated to "In his ignorance, Mr A Westerner swerved to the right and hit Mr Gulf Arab." I was told by a parent at a conference once that I should not holiday in Sri Lanka as they were one of the "dirty races."
Look at all the changes of power in the Arab world: There is not change of doctrine or belief, it is all about being in power. The deposed are accused of corruption, which is then how the new guy continues to do business. There is no cultural or political sense of the greater good, simply getting your own family or tribe to the top and keeping them there.
When the hydrocarbons run out, the sensible, intelligent Gulf Arabs will quietly up sticks and move permanently to their homes in Canada, London and Germany to enjoy their widely secreted away wealth, the rest will quickly fall into a slough of failed systems and societies, as the ex-pats of all types go home.
The entire region is a carefully constructed sham. You can partake of it, and even do well from it, but eventually you won't be able to stand it any longer and you will take your accumulated wealth and go an live somewhere else.
Comment
I share many of the same feelings and reasons as previous posters, and will add with my own list:
1) There are too many rules and not enough fun. Sure you can get a drink but having to go to undnerground clubs/bars and back alley liquor stops is not how i want to live.
2) Burrkas are not sexy. Woman have a LOT of limitations, for many woman the only choice they really get to exercise in their lives is when and who they marry. That means the type and quality of woman im interested in arent really available. I could never afford to impress a family sufficiently enough to get her families permission to marry. You cant even look because again Burkas, are not sexy.
This is a region that prosecutes woman for adultery or even perceived adultery, being in a room with another man who isnt family is grounds for arrest. Woman have no rights and without rights there are no freedoms. This is a society and culture that doesnt let woman drive, doesnt let them go out without an escort. Why live in that type of environment. If you have kids, and a daughter is that what your want your daughter to grow up in?
3) As an IT you will be teaching students and parents with various degrees of wealth and privilege. They have influence, and as weve seen recently you can find yourself not only terminated but arrested for illusionary infractions.
4) There are real safety concerns, Americans are not on the regions bff list. The dont like westerners, and they have a distinct caste system where dirty and undesirables are treated like slaves. This region treats its livestock better then some groups and classes of people.
5) The food is "uninspired" and culinarily consists of flat bread and grilled skewers of meat. Thats pretty much it.
6) Everything is broken, this is not Singapore, or Japan, where everything works, and works on time and efficiently. You never know when something is going to break down, and half the things are broken half the time.
7) If there is ever an accident or problem or issue, that offends or damages someone else, you will be at fault. It doesnt matter what happened it will be assumed that at best you were ignorant or lacked understanding, and that caused the problem. This is still a region where offending means someone has to die.
8) School management is seldom collaborative, admins rule like lords of a kingdom. They dont get questioned, and there is no discussion. It is very draconian. Your coworkers especially local/native teachers are likely to be very under qualified. Pedagogy and methodology are very primitive by western standards. Instructional methods amount to "direct teach" (lecturing) and classroom management amounts to yelling.
9) In places like "the Kingdom" you need a visa to LEAVE, and this is largely at the discretion of your employer. Some teachers are fined all kinds of things from furniture and apartment damage, to school supplies they used from the school.
10) You dont have choices and freedoms yourself. You cant say whats on your mind, you cant practice your religion (assuming its not islam) openly. Its one thing to have to be a bobble head at school, its another to have to keep your head down everywhere and all the time.
1) There are too many rules and not enough fun. Sure you can get a drink but having to go to undnerground clubs/bars and back alley liquor stops is not how i want to live.
2) Burrkas are not sexy. Woman have a LOT of limitations, for many woman the only choice they really get to exercise in their lives is when and who they marry. That means the type and quality of woman im interested in arent really available. I could never afford to impress a family sufficiently enough to get her families permission to marry. You cant even look because again Burkas, are not sexy.
This is a region that prosecutes woman for adultery or even perceived adultery, being in a room with another man who isnt family is grounds for arrest. Woman have no rights and without rights there are no freedoms. This is a society and culture that doesnt let woman drive, doesnt let them go out without an escort. Why live in that type of environment. If you have kids, and a daughter is that what your want your daughter to grow up in?
3) As an IT you will be teaching students and parents with various degrees of wealth and privilege. They have influence, and as weve seen recently you can find yourself not only terminated but arrested for illusionary infractions.
4) There are real safety concerns, Americans are not on the regions bff list. The dont like westerners, and they have a distinct caste system where dirty and undesirables are treated like slaves. This region treats its livestock better then some groups and classes of people.
5) The food is "uninspired" and culinarily consists of flat bread and grilled skewers of meat. Thats pretty much it.
6) Everything is broken, this is not Singapore, or Japan, where everything works, and works on time and efficiently. You never know when something is going to break down, and half the things are broken half the time.
7) If there is ever an accident or problem or issue, that offends or damages someone else, you will be at fault. It doesnt matter what happened it will be assumed that at best you were ignorant or lacked understanding, and that caused the problem. This is still a region where offending means someone has to die.
8) School management is seldom collaborative, admins rule like lords of a kingdom. They dont get questioned, and there is no discussion. It is very draconian. Your coworkers especially local/native teachers are likely to be very under qualified. Pedagogy and methodology are very primitive by western standards. Instructional methods amount to "direct teach" (lecturing) and classroom management amounts to yelling.
9) In places like "the Kingdom" you need a visa to LEAVE, and this is largely at the discretion of your employer. Some teachers are fined all kinds of things from furniture and apartment damage, to school supplies they used from the school.
10) You dont have choices and freedoms yourself. You cant say whats on your mind, you cant practice your religion (assuming its not islam) openly. Its one thing to have to be a bobble head at school, its another to have to keep your head down everywhere and all the time.
Thanks to everyone for your help.
Last question: Understanding all the negatives of the ME, what if I look at this as a post where all I want is to teach kids, save money, learn some Arabic, work with a good head and maybe benefit career-wise from his many connections.
I don't plan to get a car and I will just absorb what parts of the culture I can. This will not be a career school but one more school in my pretty good resume.
Any replies will be greatly appreciated.
Last question: Understanding all the negatives of the ME, what if I look at this as a post where all I want is to teach kids, save money, learn some Arabic, work with a good head and maybe benefit career-wise from his many connections.
I don't plan to get a car and I will just absorb what parts of the culture I can. This will not be a career school but one more school in my pretty good resume.
Any replies will be greatly appreciated.
Comment
The money and learning arabic is certainly reasonable and doable, not a lot of complications. The ME pays well, and there isnt a huge pull or outlet to spend money. Learninga language is a lot easier when your immersed in the language.
What do you expect by "teaching kids"? If you dont care about grades, or standards or power struggles and politics and you just care about doing the presentations and working with the kids sure, thats reasonable. If you expect your grades to be written in stone, or your lessons to be respected and taken seriously, thats not very realistic. Most ISs in the ME are for profit schools and wealthy parents wield a tremendous amount of influence.
Working with a good head in the ME, thats a bit of an oxymoron. The best intentioned and reputed heads have to deal with the same struggle of ownership and affluence. The compromises start small but over time they compound, and those environments either produce the monsters weve come to associate with ME admins, or else they leave, and your next head is an evil monster to begin with.
What do you expect by "teaching kids"? If you dont care about grades, or standards or power struggles and politics and you just care about doing the presentations and working with the kids sure, thats reasonable. If you expect your grades to be written in stone, or your lessons to be respected and taken seriously, thats not very realistic. Most ISs in the ME are for profit schools and wealthy parents wield a tremendous amount of influence.
Working with a good head in the ME, thats a bit of an oxymoron. The best intentioned and reputed heads have to deal with the same struggle of ownership and affluence. The compromises start small but over time they compound, and those environments either produce the monsters weve come to associate with ME admins, or else they leave, and your next head is an evil monster to begin with.