I am a glass half full kind of person. Usually I try to see the bright side of things, or at least make the best of my situation. Sure, I have my days when I am kind of grumpy and want to shut the world out and hide in bed, but most days I try to face it with a smile. This applies too, to my life in the UAE.
The UAE has some serious problems like wild disorganization, a slave labour class, classism in general, discrimination...the list goes on. You hear really sad stories of people being mistreated or you witness this mistreatment first hand and it can be hard to keep smiling. It also has it's positives. It is basically one of the most open societies to immigrants (they do need us here), they have excellent social welfare services for their own people, the have amazing attractions for tourism and the beauty of the desert. A lot of expats come to the UAE with dreams of something different and/or dreams to make some money and pay off debts at home. In a variety of ways the UAE does not disappoint in these areas. The only ones disappointed are the expats who believe they can come to a young country, impose all of their own views and criticisms unto that country and (try to) demand that things be done in their own way. It can be easy to criticize and not see any of the good. Being in a circle of teachers from around the world, this is often much of all I ever hear, actually.
I think we must first consider how "young" the UAE is. For arguments sake, let us consider the United States to be 236 years old (I know we could certainly debate over the date of "birth" of the US as a nation..but that's not what my blog is about) and Canada to be 145 years old. The UAE will be celebrating it's 41st anniversary this year (the seven Emirates were joined in this year under Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan- Oil was discovered in the UAE in the late 1950's). So, umm, have you SEEN the development Dubai?! They've made their own islands for goodness sake! Have you seen the lavishness that is parts of Abu Dhabi? Have you seen the beauty that is Fujairah? Have you seen the green and the natural oases in Al Ain? Well if you haven't, you will have to take my word for it (or get your butt over here to visit...or look at the internet). For an extremely young country, the UAE has done a lot-so much in fact, that when compared to other countries at this stage in their development, those other countries seem quite pathetic!
If United States and Canada are "well-developed" nations, we may compare them to a mature, responsible, adult. The UAE is less than half of either of their ages. The UAE is a teenager on a world scale. Do you remember what you were like when you were 14?
The fact is, any of the problems you find here in the UAE, you can find examples of almost anywhere else in the world.
Slave labour?--China (where everything you have ever owned was made by slaves), Korea (where everything they use is made by their own slaves), United States (migrant workers from Mexico), Canada (migrant workers from the Caribbean)!
Classism?-- How much does my Dad make who has worked in the steel industry for 30 years? How much did your high school teacher make? How much do nurses make based on their hours of work? How much does a baseball player make who hits a ball with a bat a few times a week?
Discrimination?-- Have you been to a Native American or Native Canadian reservation anywhere in North America?
You may wonder why I am defending the UAE here when it clearly has so many problems (and when we see so many of those problems in our home countries but choose to ignore them or classify them in some other way). The truth is I am not really even trying to defend the UAE. It is what it is. That's my point actually. For many teacher expats (of which there are a lot of us in UAE) life in the UAE is at least 10 times better than at home. We were bought plane tickets to come over here. We stayed in 5 star hotels for a month upon arrival. We were put into nice apartments (or if not nice..a free apartment in the least) and many of us work in state-of-the-art school buildings. We are given plenty of holidays, we get extra pay bonuses and pay no tax. There is perpetual sun, always somewhere to party or experience something new and we can even bring our spouses and children on our companies dime! Sounds pretty amazing doesn't it?
I have heard many people declare how they could have "never lived like this at home" or how they "struggled every day to eat" at home and here they simply do not. Yet, we sit around and complain all day long. Yet, we sometimes regard the local people with a certain sarcasm or level of superiority because we think what they do is cruel or wrong or unjust. Yet, we are here. Reaping the benefits of the society that they brought to realization, in only forty years. Yet, we are here, participating in the economy of the society that we sometimes so boldly criticize. I think a lot of us are not used to being the "immigrant." Think about it, how are immigrants regarded or treated in your own country? I think it is time for a little bit of a wake up call for some people that are hating or complaining while sitting in an air-conditioned building, making a tax free salary and having the experience of a lifetime. It isn't really so bad after all. I'm sure there is a literal line up of people at home who would trade places if they'd like.
The UAE has some serious problems like wild disorganization, a slave labour class, classism in general, discrimination...the list goes on. You hear really sad stories of people being mistreated or you witness this mistreatment first hand and it can be hard to keep smiling. It also has it's positives. It is basically one of the most open societies to immigrants (they do need us here), they have excellent social welfare services for their own people, the have amazing attractions for tourism and the beauty of the desert. A lot of expats come to the UAE with dreams of something different and/or dreams to make some money and pay off debts at home. In a variety of ways the UAE does not disappoint in these areas. The only ones disappointed are the expats who believe they can come to a young country, impose all of their own views and criticisms unto that country and (try to) demand that things be done in their own way. It can be easy to criticize and not see any of the good. Being in a circle of teachers from around the world, this is often much of all I ever hear, actually.
I think we must first consider how "young" the UAE is. For arguments sake, let us consider the United States to be 236 years old (I know we could certainly debate over the date of "birth" of the US as a nation..but that's not what my blog is about) and Canada to be 145 years old. The UAE will be celebrating it's 41st anniversary this year (the seven Emirates were joined in this year under Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan- Oil was discovered in the UAE in the late 1950's). So, umm, have you SEEN the development Dubai?! They've made their own islands for goodness sake! Have you seen the lavishness that is parts of Abu Dhabi? Have you seen the beauty that is Fujairah? Have you seen the green and the natural oases in Al Ain? Well if you haven't, you will have to take my word for it (or get your butt over here to visit...or look at the internet). For an extremely young country, the UAE has done a lot-so much in fact, that when compared to other countries at this stage in their development, those other countries seem quite pathetic!
If United States and Canada are "well-developed" nations, we may compare them to a mature, responsible, adult. The UAE is less than half of either of their ages. The UAE is a teenager on a world scale. Do you remember what you were like when you were 14?
The fact is, any of the problems you find here in the UAE, you can find examples of almost anywhere else in the world.
Slave labour?--China (where everything you have ever owned was made by slaves), Korea (where everything they use is made by their own slaves), United States (migrant workers from Mexico), Canada (migrant workers from the Caribbean)!
Classism?-- How much does my Dad make who has worked in the steel industry for 30 years? How much did your high school teacher make? How much do nurses make based on their hours of work? How much does a baseball player make who hits a ball with a bat a few times a week?
Discrimination?-- Have you been to a Native American or Native Canadian reservation anywhere in North America?
You may wonder why I am defending the UAE here when it clearly has so many problems (and when we see so many of those problems in our home countries but choose to ignore them or classify them in some other way). The truth is I am not really even trying to defend the UAE. It is what it is. That's my point actually. For many teacher expats (of which there are a lot of us in UAE) life in the UAE is at least 10 times better than at home. We were bought plane tickets to come over here. We stayed in 5 star hotels for a month upon arrival. We were put into nice apartments (or if not nice..a free apartment in the least) and many of us work in state-of-the-art school buildings. We are given plenty of holidays, we get extra pay bonuses and pay no tax. There is perpetual sun, always somewhere to party or experience something new and we can even bring our spouses and children on our companies dime! Sounds pretty amazing doesn't it?
I have heard many people declare how they could have "never lived like this at home" or how they "struggled every day to eat" at home and here they simply do not. Yet, we sit around and complain all day long. Yet, we sometimes regard the local people with a certain sarcasm or level of superiority because we think what they do is cruel or wrong or unjust. Yet, we are here. Reaping the benefits of the society that they brought to realization, in only forty years. Yet, we are here, participating in the economy of the society that we sometimes so boldly criticize. I think a lot of us are not used to being the "immigrant." Think about it, how are immigrants regarded or treated in your own country? I think it is time for a little bit of a wake up call for some people that are hating or complaining while sitting in an air-conditioned building, making a tax free salary and having the experience of a lifetime. It isn't really so bad after all. I'm sure there is a literal line up of people at home who would trade places if they'd like.
Well said, my amazing, open-minded daughter!
ReplyDelete