 There's just, because it's really amazing, it's about empowering women as well. Here in Dubai you have to know that there are a lot of mom printers, a lot of moms who started their own business and a lot of moms were just, yeah, really, really good at what they are doing. Hi guys, Oxy here and welcome to my channel. I receive so many questions about family life in Dubai. How to move to Dubai with kids? What are the school fees? How to find a nanny in this city? So today I'm going to meet with a friend of mine, Tani, she's a Dubai blogger. She has two amazing kids and let's ask you a couple of questions about what it is like to be a mom in this city. So let's go. Hi Tani, how are you today? Hi Oxy, hi guys, I'm fine. Can you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your story? How did you move to Dubai and why you decided to move here? Okay, sure, I'll try my best. So hi, good morning. My name is Tani. I'm a blogger here in Dubai. My blog is called Our Big Dubai Adventure and yeah, I'm writing about our life in Dubai, about motherhood and things to do with kids in this city. So I think we moved to Dubai about three and a half years ago when my husband accepted a job offer here and yeah, back then I was nine months pregnant with our first child. It was a big surprise for us that we got this job offer and since then we are here and we are very happy. And what were the procedures you had to follow as an expert in terms of visas, health insurance and other formalities? So I think we were very lucky because my husband was working for a big company, Basin Switzerland and they organized basically everything for us. I think it took us about six weeks roughly to get everything organized and sorted out exactly. But it was very easy in our case. Okay, and when you moved here, did you stay in the hotel, you said? Yes, so when we arrived, so for us it's a little bit different maybe as well because normally you would, before you would visit the place where you're going to move but for us it was not possible because I was pregnant and then we had the baby. So we actually, before moving to Dubai we had never been here. So we came to the hotel when we arrived and we stayed there for about six weeks and we had a look at the different neighborhoods. What is something that is essential, family friendly and close to the Amitra station because I'm not driving here. Yeah, so we opted for the marina after the six months. Yeah, it's a great area. I live there as well. And I know you have an amazing blog which is called Our Big Dubai Adventure. Thank you. So can you tell us a little about your blogging journey and what motivated you to start blogging? Yeah, sure. So before we moved here to Dubai, before I became a mom, I was working in PR and communication in several big companies. And so writing has always been my passion. And when we moved here I became a stay-at-home mom. I gave up on my career for a little while. But I still wanted to stay in the field to do some writing. Basically at the beginning I started with a blog for my friends and family back home in Switzerland and Germany. And I suddenly realized that a lot of people started following me and yeah, that's how I started the blog. Was it easy to gain followers and readers? So let's say, I don't want to go too much into that. But I know that it's very challenging actually. Yeah, so it's not easy at all. So I personally chose not to buy any followers. So it's all organic growth and it takes a long time. Then for me it's not so much about the numbers. It's more about the interactions with the followers. I really like it when people are asking me some questions or tell me their engagement. Exactly, there's some engagement. And when people tell me that I inspire them to do something. Okay, great. And I know you started your new project which is called Five to Connect. So what is it about? So Five to Connect is a very new project. I started it at the beginning of this year. It's basically a speed networking concept between bloggers because there are many bloggers in Dubai and brands, so small family oriented brands. And Five to Connect is about bringing them together, trying to work together to help each other out. It's about empowering women as well. Because here in Dubai you have to know that there are a lot of mom printers, a lot of moms who started their own business and a lot of moms were just really, really good at what they are doing. But they need some connection. Great. And what does your everyday life in Dubai look like? Oh wow. So I think a mom's everyday life looks a little bit everywhere the same. So I have two small kids there. Now nearly two and three year old, so still very small. But since only very recently I've started taking the mornings off and working on the blog, working on some projects. And in the afternoon I'm with the kids so we're trying to go out to do something together. So your older son goes to school now, right? Yes, he started school. And what are the schools like in Dubai? Is it different from the ones in Europe? Well for us what is really different already is that Luca is now three and a half years old and he's already going to school. Back in Switzerland or Germany he would not be at school at this age, at this very early age. But it's great actually, he loves it. Here in Dubai all schools are private, which is a big difference as well cost-wise. So it does make a difference if you go to public school or private school. What is also different I would say is that you have to choose here between the British system and the American system. For us this was a big decision because we actually being experts we don't know where we will move next. So we have opted for the British system but we don't know if it actually was the right decision. And I think even the system is different in terms of education. I heard they use a lot of laptops and computers here. Not at that early age, maybe later. But Luca is still very, very small. So about games and play games. Exactly. And what about Nanny, do you have a Nanny? We do have a Nanny, we have a live in Nanny. When we moved to Dubai I talked to my husband I never ever ever wanted Nanny. I think it's the same. So I was very clear about that. Then actually I realized with two kids it's not that easy and a travelling husband. Some husband is a lot on the road because he's flying to different countries. And I'm alone with the two kids and I had a C-section in both cases so I needed some help actually at home. So we started the process of looking for Nanny. And it was not easy at all. But I think we are now very lucky to have found the one. And what are the requirements to have Nanny in Dubai? I think you need to cover her visa and some other stuff. I think you even need to have a minimum salary. I think you mentioned before when we were talking you also need to have a minimum apartment space. Yeah, like two bedroom apartment I think. Exactly. So in our case she's having obviously her own room on bus. Main room, yeah. Main room, exactly. And then you need to sponsor her. So you will need to take care of her visa, of the medical check, insurance, health insurance. Food as well, yeah. Food, I mean it depends on what you agree on. What is agreed on the contract. I mean she can either be live-in or live-out as well which makes a difference. In our case our Nanny is live-in so she's living with us. Exactly. And she's just eating whatever we are eating as well. Then what is also normally required is that you pay her one flight back home. Per year. Per year. And do you have any idea the average salary of Nanny in Dubai? Well I would say for living at around 2500-3000 and live out 3500 or more or less. I mean then you have obviously a range of places. And does she have a vacation right every year? Yeah, of course she has one month's vacation. 22 days. Yeah, I mean she has one month's vacation and then whenever we go to Europe or then she's off as well. And also in our case you have agreed that she will get the public holidays here off. Okay. And what do you think about Dubai lifestyle? Have you been able to adapt to the city easily and what about your kids? Very easily actually. I was very surprised because when my husband got the job offer I did not want to move to Dubai at all at that time. So I had the impression that Dubai was very superficial, not very family friendly, not culturally, not very rich. Very close. Yeah, exactly. And actually when we moved here I was surprised and in such a good way. I mean I absolutely love the city. I don't want to move away. It's perfect, especially for new moms. It's perfect because you have a lot of state or moms, a lot of moms who quit their job for a little while. So especially when you're a new mom and when you have family to start, yeah, starting to settle somewhere, it's perfect. So you are from Germany and your husband is from where? Well, he's Portuguese and Italian but he has grown up and lived always in Switzerland. In Switzerland. And what language do your kids speak? Well, so at home we speak French, German and English. So my husband speaks French to the kids. I speak German with the kids and I want any English. So they speak all three languages. Oh, that's amazing. So I think that's the case for a lot of Dubai kids because culturally it's a very rich place. And it's easy to learn different languages for them as well. And even it's amazing because... They connect with different people. Exactly. So my son, our son, he is three and a half years now and he knows about Ramadan. He knows about all Indian holidays as well. Exactly. So this is really amazing about Dubai. They interact with so many different nationalities, cultures, religion. Yeah, I agree. What are your favorite family destinations in Dubai? Where do you like to go with kids? Usually whenever we can, we love to be outside obviously because it's a great place. We love to go to the beach. Yeah, just because it's really amazing. There's something called Privilege, which gives you actually access to different five-star hotels, which is great for the kids. So we go usually every weekend we go at least once to the beach. Then we like to go to Kite Beach as well. Dubai Design District is great just for them to go into different parks. And during the Hotter Summer months, there are a lot of inside play areas in Dubai. Like Kidzania is one, Matto Playtown, Oli Oli. And there, I mean, nothing to do with what we know from Europe. I mean, this is amazing. These play areas are really great. Yeah guys, I will leave the links in the description below so you can check them out. And what do you think about motherhood in Dubai? Is it easy to connect with other moms? So at the beginning when we arrived in Dubai, I felt a little bit lost, especially because my husband had to travel immediately. But here are a lot of Facebook groups, mom groups, which are really, I mean, very active first of all and very useful as well. So I started following some bloggers as well. Here are a lot of mom bloggers, but bloggers in general. That was very useful as well. So I tried to connect and get some information via these groups, bloggers, etc. And then I started meeting people, meeting moms at the play area. I went to different coffee mornings because here are a lot of coffee mornings organized for moms. And this is a great way to connect and to make some friends. And the last question. What advice would you give to soon-to-be expatriates in Dubai, especially families? Wow, good question. I think, first of all, come open-minded because Dubai is, in many cases, I think Dubai is not what you expect it to be. And also, be prepared to stay much longer than you thought it would. And what else? I think, yeah, if you can visit the city before, obviously that's always good. Yeah, just have a look. Exactly, just have a look at the different neighborhoods. And I think to find accommodation before you move. If you can. It's easier, yeah. If you can, obviously it's easier. Yeah, but otherwise just come and enjoy because it's an amazing city. And it's much better than you would expect. Yeah, but you have to be ready that there will be a lot of challenges and difficulties you will face. It's not easy. You need to adapt to the culture, community, and... Yeah, maybe I could just say that as well, that we are people that move every two years. So we love to adapt to new cultures. We have lived in a lot of different places. So it all depends, obviously, where you're coming from as well. But for us, I mean the experience is very positive and no, I'm very happy. Okay, thank you Tanya for coming. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. I hope, guys, you find this information useful. I will leave the link to Tanya's blog in the description below. So check it out and probably you can connect with her. And thank you for watching. I will see you in the next video. Bye-bye.