Hi Hippo

Even though we left Qatar more than five years ago, many teachers still contact me through the TES and ask me what it is like to teach there.

Hi Hippo

I hope you don't mind me pre-emptively sending you a conversation about my job offer.

GEMS Wellington Qatar have offered 13.5k which I think is reasonable for three years' experience qualified (five including unqualified experience).
However, they are not offering medical insurance for my family nor are they covering flights for them. At the interview, the Director intimated that my family might even have to stay here in the UK while stuff like permits got sorted out. My gut instinct tells me not to accept the offer as a result.

Also, I've heard Qataris can be quite racist towards non-white people. How true is this? I've always fought against this sort of thing in the UK as an Asian man and don't want any trouble when I go out to work.

Is the cost of living higher than Dubai or London? Obviously, I'd not have to worry about housing costs, but what about day-to-day costs?

Sorry if that's all a bit much. Appreciate any advice you could offer.

    

And here is my reply.

First of all, the medical services in Qatar are excellent. My wife and I both had some surgery while we were in Doha. Very good - probably a lot better than the NHS. (Does the NHS still exist in the UK?) And so you do not need any sort of medical insurance in Doha.

Secondly, I knew a lady who worked at GEMS Wellington in Dubai and she was very impressed with it. Yes, they do work you hard, it is rather corporate-minded and controlled, but there is good accommodation and benefits.

I think that the Director was being honest with you, as sometimes the Qatari government officials can be a bit slow and there are delays that are not the school's fault. So in a way it was a positive sign!

YES, Doha is indeed a deeply racist city and culture. If your skin is the wrong colour, then things can be tough. Your school might be able to shield you from some of that, but maybe not all of it. The expats that you will meet are a friendly, liberal bunch, from all over the world, but alas the Qataris can be pretty awful. The good news is that there are not many Qataris (thank goodness!) and most of them will want to avoid you anyway, so maybe things will not be too bad.

Living costs? Well, Mrs Hippo and I were in the UAE for a year (not Dubai) and in Qatar for five years, so I would say that living costs were roughly the same. Your accommodation and utilities should be covered, so really food and entertainment will be your only real expenses.
It is now March, so we are getting a bit late in the day to be job hunting for the next academic year. My instinct says that you should take the job. There are some definite advantages to belonging to an outfit like GEMS.

Perhaps you would like to read about my experiences in China by going to bulgariawithnnodles.blogspot.com and there are also a couple of posts about Qatar as well, retrospectively. You can also email me and you might even catch me on SKYPE.