I good friend of mine did a year in Dubai as an engineer. He had a lot of fun but did not mix with locals.
That's how my friend from Scotland does it. He is out there with his wife and his two little dogs, and he just keeps it all low key. Other countries are very different to ours. It's only when you actually live there that you realise just how different things are. Even in America pretty much everything was different. Does take some getting used to, that's for sure. Worth it though. I could "go" at any time but I am at peace with it because I feel I have done everything I set out to do when I was a kid. Still doing things on my bucket list of course, but even if I went now I would feel satisfied and fulfilled