12 August, 2009

Feelings towards the UAE...

My fellow expats... is it normal to miss the UAE so badly after being away for just 2 months even though I clearly remember how much I was looking foward to going home before I left for vacation? 2 months on I am looking for a reason to reschedule my flight to a couple of days earlier to spend the last week of my vacation back in Al Ain...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its normal. So many people cant wait to leave, but when they do they cant wait to come back. But thats true of any place you have lived for a few years. You're homesick for Al Ain I guess.

Brn said...

I know that it took a good year for me to get over being "homesick" for Al Ain when I left.

Anonymous said...

@ Anonymous 20:27

Thanks for the assurance of normality, that helps ... somewhat. It is much stronger though than with any of the other places I spent a few years in. Today, I realized I even miss the things I truly detest when I am there like the bureaucracy at the land borders. I crossed a border in Europe today and I missed the weird experiences and unpredictabilities involved, it was just boring. Crossing a UAE land border somehow even has touristic value in a way. One guy giving you a paper, the next one stamping it, the last one throwing it in the bin. It is funny in it's own way. Queuing at the EU citizens queue and being waved through is comparably boring.

Anonymous said...

i usually miss the permission to drive like a madman while abroad. they are much stricter where i go for vacation...

Anonymous said...

I have been gone for 8 months, thank goodness. I miss NOTHING!

Para Glider said...

Come to Qatar - then you'll miss UAE for its freedom and efficiency! Everything is relative.

Dubai Entrepreneur said...

There are places you miss and places you don't. It depends on your personal experience and not necessarily the place itself.

I've lived in Qatar. I can't spend 24 hours in there. When I have business in Doha, I fly in and fly out the same day. I can't stand it. Nothing personal, just my personal experience when I lived there for a year.

I've lived in Bahrain. I love it like I love my own country. I miss it and often visit. I miss its people's kindness and generosity.

I have developed these feelings while I lived in these two places. I lived in many other places, but I just give these two as examples (Cause they're so close to the UAE, as opposed to the other places I've lived in). I felt that I didn't like Qatar while I was there. I felt that I loved Bahrain while I was there. It wasn't a case of you don't know what you got till you lose it.

I've lived in Dubai for over 5 years now. So far, I have no feelings. I feel cold. Like a friend often says, "Dubai.. I'm just not feeling the love man.. no love from this city".

But like I said.. it's all personal experiences and hardly a one size fits all situation.

Al-ain Rose said...

Ha! Only 7 replies. :)
If it was something against the UAE, it would be like hundred or so replies, but it was not a topic that's much preferred by the anonymous cyber warriors.

samuraisam said...

al ain rose:
It's just a topic; there is no collective group of cyber warriors as you claim. The topics posted on this blog are unmoderated and unorganized (at least from my side). People read stuff and write about it. That's all that happens. If people want to read the papers etc and only focus on negative stories then that's what they do. It's impossible to just guide the content of the site to one specific way--if it is negative, it is negative; just as if it was positive it would be positive. Just because people don't post about 'positive' topics it doesn't mean they don't read them or don't appreciate them--but if they were to post them what would you even say about them? "Wow, that's great"?

Anonymous said...

I don't miss anything, if I was able not to come back I would have done it. Fortunatly next year me and my family will leave for good. I know many will reply if u don't like it leave, I don't care means nothin

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