Discussion
It is starting to look vaguely possible that I might be offered a job in Bahrain, in financial services. It is reasonably decent, and apparently there is no legal issue with my girlfriend coming along with me and us living together. She is a teacher and my prospective employer is already giving me lots of info on schools she might want to try. I understand the income tax is pretty low. I also understand the country is going through some political strife at the moment. Please give me some balanced views! thanks
Try reading some of the stories about why F1 should and should not go there then google some of the names & groups etc to get deeper background - you could start with these http://joesaward.wordpress.com/?s=bahrain going back as far as February 14 this year
My folks moved out there about 5 years ago, my Dad works, my Mum's retired early and my much younger sister is at School there. In the first year or so they seemed very happy, Mum liked all the shopping malls and stuff, but they soon got bored.
Mum spends more time here than there now, after 3-4 years of Shopping and eating out she was bored to death. She's T-Total so her perspective might be out, but she claims that most ex-pats seem to only have one hobby "drinking too much and too often" in the Yacht club.
Dad's also pretty bored, he likes the silly money they pay him and the tax system, plus his company pays for my sister’s very expensive education.
The political situation might have quietened down on the news, but not much has changed I'm told, people are still being shot on the street, there's curfews and roadblocks, Saudi Tanks dotted around the place and the Saudi Army are still in country. The legal system is crooked as hell and there's a huge underclass of non-Arabs who live there which are treated no better than cattle really.
I've thought about it a few times myself, I've also got a background in financial services, but I'd have to be ruthless, go for 2 or 3 years, grab as much money as I can and leave. It’s not somewhere I'd consider moving to for a long period.
Mum spends more time here than there now, after 3-4 years of Shopping and eating out she was bored to death. She's T-Total so her perspective might be out, but she claims that most ex-pats seem to only have one hobby "drinking too much and too often" in the Yacht club.
Dad's also pretty bored, he likes the silly money they pay him and the tax system, plus his company pays for my sister’s very expensive education.
The political situation might have quietened down on the news, but not much has changed I'm told, people are still being shot on the street, there's curfews and roadblocks, Saudi Tanks dotted around the place and the Saudi Army are still in country. The legal system is crooked as hell and there's a huge underclass of non-Arabs who live there which are treated no better than cattle really.
I've thought about it a few times myself, I've also got a background in financial services, but I'd have to be ruthless, go for 2 or 3 years, grab as much money as I can and leave. It’s not somewhere I'd consider moving to for a long period.
johnnyreggae said:
Try reading some of the stories about why F1 should and should not go there then google some of the names & groups etc to get deeper background - you could start with these http://joesaward.wordpress.com/?s=bahrain going back as far as February 14 this year
Saward's blog is just a soapbox for a moron. Its not really a decent source of information for what it's like to live as an expat in Bahrain.P-Jay said:
My folks moved out there about 5 years ago, my Dad works, my Mum's retired early and my much younger sister is at School there. In the first year or so they seemed very happy, Mum liked all the shopping malls and stuff, but they soon got bored.
Mum spends more time here than there now, after 3-4 years of Shopping and eating out she was bored to death. She's T-Total so her perspective might be out, but she claims that most ex-pats seem to only have one hobby "drinking too much and too often" in the Yacht club.
Dad's also pretty bored, he likes the silly money they pay him and the tax system, plus his company pays for my sister’s very expensive education.
The political situation might have quietened down on the news, but not much has changed I'm told, people are still being shot on the street, there's curfews and roadblocks, Saudi Tanks dotted around the place and the Saudi Army are still in country. The legal system is crooked as hell and there's a huge underclass of non-Arabs who live there which are treated no better than cattle really.
I've thought about it a few times myself, I've also got a background in financial services, but I'd have to be ruthless, go for 2 or 3 years, grab as much money as I can and leave. It’s not somewhere I'd consider moving to for a long period.
I think there is lots to miss about the UK when you are the type of person I am (and that my girlfriend is). It does seem a recreationally limited place, and the unrest situation does concern me. I am probably thinking like you, 2 years max, coin it in. It feels like selling out rather than making a genuine quality of life move.Mum spends more time here than there now, after 3-4 years of Shopping and eating out she was bored to death. She's T-Total so her perspective might be out, but she claims that most ex-pats seem to only have one hobby "drinking too much and too often" in the Yacht club.
Dad's also pretty bored, he likes the silly money they pay him and the tax system, plus his company pays for my sister’s very expensive education.
The political situation might have quietened down on the news, but not much has changed I'm told, people are still being shot on the street, there's curfews and roadblocks, Saudi Tanks dotted around the place and the Saudi Army are still in country. The legal system is crooked as hell and there's a huge underclass of non-Arabs who live there which are treated no better than cattle really.
I've thought about it a few times myself, I've also got a background in financial services, but I'd have to be ruthless, go for 2 or 3 years, grab as much money as I can and leave. It’s not somewhere I'd consider moving to for a long period.
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