Tomorrow marks my two-month anniversary in Dubailand and all I can say is, “My my… It’s been a long journey thus far and to think this is only the beginning!”
Thinking back over my last two months, I am reminded of one of my favorite movies, L’Auberge Espagnole—the tale of a young Economics graduate from France (Xavier) who signs on to do a year long language exchange program in Barcelona as preparation for his first job out of university. When Xavier arrives in Barcelona to begin his program, the sights, smells and sounds of the city are completely foreign to him. Navigating the streets is like working his way through a labyrinth and engaging with locals and other expats is always an experience, or rather and experiment of sorts! Inevitably, as the year passes, Xavier loosens up, adjusting to the local sense of time, interaction etiquette and rules of love. Paris may be known as the City of Love, but Barcelona is most certainly not shabby in that department either!
While I can’t say that Dubai is internationally competitive when it comes to being a city of romance (there may be plenty of sun and beach here, but don’t even think about sex on the beach—see article here), it most certainly has an energy and pulse of its own that is quite distinct from any other major city I’ve lived in/near—New York, Osaka, Washington DC, London…Similar to Xavier’s experience in Barcelona, I too find myself loosening up the longer I stay in Dubai. Now, whether that is due to the intense heat, hours at the pool or countless misunderstandings that occur every time I go to the store, apply for a job, request a service, etc., I am not sure, but I have most certainly learned quickly that operating with a New York sense of time here is deadly. The last thing you want to do is be too direct, efficient or demanding. Displaying such behavior is like being a female lawyer at a round of speed dating, i.e. a total turn off … and YES, this last sentence was inspired by the episode you are all thinking of from Sex and the City.
A former Brooklynite and alumna of Osaka, I am used to having multiple options of everything I need and want a mere 15-minute walk or subway ride away. Dubai, on the other hand is a different story! When I want to do or get something, I first have to ask myself, “Does that service/product exist here? If so, is it close by or do I need to drive through 90 minutes of traffic to find it nestled in some random shop in little India or the Dragon Mart across town?” The reason for such questioning is that being a very young modern city, Dubai’s infrastructure is rather adolescent—immature, moody and on the verge of another growth spurt every other day. In that sense, this emirate is really an entrepreneur’s dreamland because there are so may products and services that have yet to come ashore!
To illustrate… Last Wednesday I finished a seminar series on doing business in Dubai. Over the course of a month, I chatted with dozens of aspiring business owners in the throws of starting their own companies. I met a mother that plans to start a doggy hotel, a former flight attendant that is now quite wealthy off of her high end personal shopping service for tourists, a masseuse that plans to open a massage school, a father that has made a good living recycling used electronics, a jetsetter that plans to open an art gallery with pieces from up-and-coming Hong Kong artists, a wife that makes and sells her own purse designs, etc… I loved coming to class each week because the group had so much energy and optimism—who wouldn’t when you’re entering a business environment that at the moment offers little direct competition and no taxes?! Although I am not planning on starting a business any time in the next year, while swimming laps in the pool, I constantly find myself going through various business plans to see if they would be viable in this desert oasis. What do you think? Would Dubai be all the better if there were:
- Netflix
- Mom and Pop City (i.e. a whole development devoted just to mom and pop shops and restaurants… no chains allowed, just places where the owners know your name, the cookin’ is distinctive and the ambiance is quirky)
- High-end car services where the drivers speak English perfectly and know their way around (I would definitely pay a premium for that service!)
- Better web design and development firms (web design and infrastructure here is stuck in the late ‘90s!)
- More schools for children of all nationalities. Since public schools are primarily for Emiratis, expat parents are forced to look elsewhere for their children’s education. Ultimately, this forces them to pay oligopoly prices to the few private for-profit education institutions in town or to just give up and leave their children overseas, “at home.”
- Branch campuses of all-girls universities such as Smith, Wellesley, Barnard, etc.
- Summer camps! What are children supposed to do in the 120 degree heat here when school is out?! Without many cul-de-sacs, parks or arcades to play in, at the moment video games seem to be the only somewhat appealing alternative!
- A large community music school for children and adults
- Frozen yogurt shops! It’s a million degrees here and diabetes is on the rise… How about a healthy alternative to Marble Slab? Pinkberry, please! Or, at least the mom and pop equivalent
!
Unlike being in NYC where I felt like a very small dot on Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, living in Dubai is like being an artist staring at a rather loosely defined canvas. So, two months down and now I’ve found the crayons… It’s time to start scribbling!
More soon.
A
P.S. Although this doesn’t fit into my thoughts above per say, at my last business seminar meeting, someone told me the following African fable that stuck with me and left me wanting to share:
Every morning the gazelle wakes up it knows it must outrun the lion or it will be killed. Every morning the lion wakes up it knows that it must catch a gazelle or it will starve. When the sun comes up, it doesn’t matter if you are a lion or a gazelle, you had better be running.
Between coloring and running, this is going to be a busy year!
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