dlish

Im the other resident expat here, and i moved to DXB in february 2007. Like Charlatan, i too moved here alone for the first 10 months before my family came to be with me. I also did a lot of travel in those times, and got to know the city really well, so much so that i too give people directions to get to places. After a few years under your belt, you become an old dog in a city where there's always people coming and leaving.

I loved this place. I still do. It was quite difficult to get used to when i first arrived, because Sydney is starkly different in the way it is run, even though i am from a middle eastern and muslim background. I found it difficult to adjust. I know, it sounds ironic, but its true.

But after a while you fall in the pattern and you hit your stride. There's still much i dont like about this place, but there's a hell of a lot going for it to balance it out. you cant like everything about a place. It truely is a cosmopolitan city, with an emerging lifestyle, but it still needs some work, like most other countries.

It seems like i too will be on the next batch home this summer, after a 4.5 year stint, i have to say that i loved it. It gave me the opportunity to grow as a person, grow professionally, and discover things about myself and my interests that i had forgotten. I could say this place has wisened me up, by letting me become the individual ive become, and that is a good thing.

Sydney will always be home, but im afraid that i wont recognize it, or it wont recognize me. Either way, if we cant get along, ill most likely move out here again, or somewhere else exciting. Heck, maybe ill be charlatans neighbour one day. who knows

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