I thought that living in a new country would be a big adjustment. 

But what I have found is that really it is just a long series of small adjustments. 

We have been living in Ab Dabs (residents’ pet name for Abu Dhabi) for eight months now and I am no longer feeling like a newbie. At the bar the other night (yes, there are bars here), I met a lovely woman from Alberta who had been here only 10 days.  She had many questions about living here and I was shocked to find that I knew the answers. I am meeting her for lunch today and I have decided to make a list of things to help her adjust.

Language is a strange thing here—an Arabic country where the main language of communication is English. The reason is that 80 percent of those who work here are expats — from England, India, Pakistan, USA, Canada, Germany and more.

English allows us all to communicate but it has a lot of idiosyncrasies because each country has its own version. The British version is dominant because they have been here longest, so I live in a flat, not an apartment. I take the lift, not the elevator. I cook my meals on a cooker, not on a stove.

If I want to tell the taxi driver to turn left at the intersection, I have to say “Turn left next signal”, not “Turn left at the lights.” And if I want him to drop me off behind a certain landmark building, I have to say “backside,” not behind, though I am not sure this is a British expression.

Money is another example. The currency here is the dirham. It comes in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 note bills. The official exchange rate is 3.67 dirhams for every American dollar. But the trick is to hoard small bills like a squirrel hoarding nuts for the winter. For some odd reason, while the bank machines like to spit out 500 and 1000 notes, none of the stores or taxis can make change for these large bills. The other day I tried to buy my daughter an ice cream cone and no one could sell me one as they could not make change for my 1000 dirham note.  It’s like a game: the person with the most amount of small bills at the end of the day wins.

Others things to know if you live here are:

Light switches flip down to turn on and up to turn off.

Every electrical outlet has an on/off switch.

The electrical is 110v and the outlets all have three prongs but most small appliances have two prongs and you cannot plug these into the outlet unless you have an adaptor. So you need lots of adaptors .

The garbage is picked up several times a day. Large bins are located near all buildings and you just throw out your garbage as you need to.

There is no official recycling, but guys drive around on bicycles and pick recyclables out of the garbage bins, so it is nice if you just separate and leave these items beside the garbage bins.

All taxi drivers will want to know if you are married and how may “babies” you have (the more the better).

Never assume the taxi driver will know where you want to go, even if you know the nearest landmark building. You need to become your own tour guide.

You cannot call for a taxi to pick you up at your flat. To get a taxi, you must flag one down. And there is no, I repeat, no queue etiquette. It’s a dog-eat-dog world when trying to get a taxi and if you wait your turn, you will melt into a puddle like the wicked witch of the west when Dorothy threw the water on her before you get a taxi.

Finally, don’t be shy to ask if you need help. People here are very kind and love to be helpful. If you are lost, ask directions. If you can’t find something, ask the person next to you. And if you are in a hurry and there are a lot of people waiting for a taxi, ask where those around you where they are going. While it is true there is absolutely no queue etiquette, most people are more than willing to share a cab.

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