There are certain life skills that expats need to learn when they arrive in Dubai. The ability to mind-read when driving would be a good example. How to arrive at a meeting in July without sweat patches showing through your clothes. How you need to turn on the hot tap to get cold water in summer. When you’ve lived here some time, these things become normal – that’s life in Dubai.
I was reminded of a key “Dubai life skill” that I’ve learned since moving here when my mum was visiting last week. As we drove to the behemoth that is Dubai Mall, I quizzed Mum about where she’d like to have lunch. Why, she wanted to know: why did I need to know? Couldn’t she just enter the mall and then decide?
Of course she could, I explained, but, like the Pan-Arabian Enquirer’s fictitious tourist who was “lost in Dubai Mall for 13 months” we may not emerge for some time. Oh no: what I like to do on an efficient visit to the shops in Dubai is to practice tactical parking.
Continue Reading in The Expat Weekly Telegraph