If you are an American would you work in the Middle East?

The answer is yes, provided, the pay is good.
Probably there are thousands of them, spread all over the Arabian Gulf, now called the GCC.
GCC stands for Gulf Cooperative Council.

An American worker costs more internationally, and even here, he is expensive. So Americans are not found here in the Middle East, the way you find Indians, Pakistanis, Bangaladeshis, and Filipinos.

Beware, as, America is known as pro-Israeli, Arabs, generally hate Americans. So, if you are working in Arab countries, never mind how friendly  your employer, or the Government is, well, laddie, you are walking on quick sand, don't venture out alone.

I remember , Mohammed al Toki, British educated Arab, employed in an Oil Company, reading a book called, how to survive in Nigeria. That was a thick book, probably, 500 pages.

Wonder, if any one has written a book called How to survive in the middle East.

Well, you did not opt for a job, but there is a window opening, your employer has a branch in the Middle East, and voluntleers are offered a premium to work there. You are tempted. This hard ship allowance, is tempting, besides, the salary is tax free. That would mean you are getting real 30 percent extra on that count.

One oil service company offers 10 percent hard ship, 35days leave, for 35 days work, are you surely tempted? You are. You are surely tempted.

First things first.

Learn the language.  Learn culture, and moods of people.
If you speak the language, you will be respected, admired and very often you can get out of trouble.  If you speak the language, you are one of them.

Start with Assalam alaikum, That is what you say when you meet an Arab. Means, Peace on you.
Shalom for hebrews may be. The Arab will respond with aliakum assalam. Means, the same.

A typical Arab will not jump into business talk, even while speaking on long distance phone.  He would ask about your family and welfare. Learn this as part of your language and culture induction.

Shell has a joint venture in Oman, in which the Oman Government has 60 percent stake, and shell and friends 40 percent. The Managing Director is always a Shell nominee, and there are few  other senior officers as well. They , who come as Shell nonimees, mostly from Britain, and Holland, are given lessons, on how to deal with Omani Arabs. How to dress modestly, how not to drink and eat in public, during the month of Ramadhan etc.

In Saudi Arabia, there is a dress code, as soon as they are out of the immigration check, women cover themselves in Abaya, or the black cloak to cover them selves, bascially, if you are going to any country, find some one who had been there, talk to them, and get full instruction.

Learning Arabic not be difficult. Just 28 letters,   Why not spend one month to read the alphabets and 150 words. Load something in your ipod, listen while you are not doing any thing special.

Ahlan wa sahalan,    means welcome, even hello. Ah ha, that is good for starters.
Kaifa halauk, or how are you?

il hum dulil lah. (Thanks be to allah, ) is equal to I am fine.

When  you are speaking English or for that matter American, watch your words, or mind your language. Carelessly, if you happen to use the F*** word, you might be reported to police, and you  might spend few hours in the cooler.

Rene G ( an American )  was employed in a Arab country by an American Oil Service firm in one of the GCC countries. One day, he was discussing something with his Arab colleagues, guess there was something annoying.  He used the F word, not intentionally, but, police was called, he spent several hours in the police station.

That hurt him so so much, he never recovered from that shock. He asked for a transfer, end of his assignment.

Back to communication skills, speaking the language, is like an extra degree. So, like Herman Gundert, start learning the language of your desitnation.

Who is Herman Gundert, you might ask, he was a German missionery, learnt Tamil language, while sailing in a ship to India, Landed in another part of India, where the language was Malayalam.

God knows when and where this padre Gundert learnt English, be it known, he, Herman (Hermann ?) Gundert wrote the first ever Malayalam - English dictionery.

Which place is better,??  Difficult to say. However, general opinion is Oman is better than Dubai for bringing in families. In Oman there is a British American school where British as well as Syllubus are follows.

What do you get, and what do you wont.  Shops are full of things, in these countires, and they are much cheaper than elsewhere in Europe. May be even cheaper than, they are in America. That is because of the lower tax rates, and cheap labour from Asian countries.

So cost of living is much less than Europe / US, tax is almost nil, and that is why many Americans and Europeans come to work in the Arab countries.

If you have Indian and Filipino friends, and do not know any Americans, these Asians might be able to answer questions on Arab countires, ..

Oman has 1.5 million expats, and 600,000 are Indians. Of which 200,000 are from the state of Kerala. Every one from Kerala has a friend or relation employed in Oman, ( same applies to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar)