Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Go East Young Man

Living abroad sounds so tempting right now. I am the type to avoid unpleasant realities, and given the current state of the economy I just want to run away and come back when everything is better. While the economic downturn has not personally affected us, I grew rather accustomed to a certain lifestyle while Joe was working overseas, so we're having to cut back.

The opportunity to live and work abroad presented itself this week. A former colleague of Joe's offered him a job working in the UAE. The Middle East isn't the first place I'd like to live, but this particular country is thriving and is westernized enough (meaning I wouldn't have to wear a burqua and walk 5 paces behind my husband). I began researching expatriate life in Dubai and came across a couple of articles that makes it sound pretty darn peachy. Young Americans, fresh out of college, building their wealth in this boom town of a port, living the good life while their friends in the motherland struggle. I did read some commentary from American expats that complained that the conveniences were there, but Dubai lacked culture (fine arts etc). Considering that is one of the main reasons I want to live abroad, it took a bit of the shine off the idea of pulling up the stakes. Of course I wondered what I would do with the house, the dogs?

The idea of making good money, and getting ahead is so tempting...but Joe and I agreed that now is probably not the best time. He's got 2 or 3 semesters of school left and dammit, I'm going to get him graduated if it kills me! Maybe in a year or two we can seriously make a big move like that. There's always the fear that if we put it off, it won't happen.

1 comment:

Kiki said...

Don't know if you have ever met Sherlyn who used to work here, but her sis and family live in Dubai. I bet they would be glad to visit with you about it sometime.