Rakess and general info on RAK

Hello aliwise.

Welcome to Expat.com!

Do not hesitate to go through the other threads on the Ras al Khaimah forum.

Thnak you,
Aurélie

Thank you!

I have looked but there doesn't seem to be much info on what Im looking for?

Hello Aliwise ,

I am also moving to RAK in August  to work in Rakess. I will be going with my husband and a four year old. What year/ subject will you be teaching ? Also struggling to find information other than that provided by the school or on forums from years ago.
Donna x

Hi Donna

My husband will be teaching primary at Rakess I have a 10 month old daughter. Will you be teaching or your husband? It's all very exciting but a bit nerve wracking because of the lack of online info.

Sure we meet in September.
I will pm you my email address.

Alison

Hello Ladies, how exciting for you both to be moving to the lovely RAK Emirate. Do you know where you'll be accommodated? A good information site although not a forum, is https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgr … rak-expats
also have a look at RAK Tourism facebook page.
There's a weekly expat Thursday coffee morning at Tower Links and also a fortnightly one at Cafe Nero in Al Hamra Mall.
Regards to cost of living this depends on where you are coming from. We have a plenty of large international and local supermarkets including, Carrefour, Lulu and Spinneys. There's going to be an M&S opening in the summer. Sorry, but can't help with regards infant queries. RAK is a lovely friendly community which is what many of us expats love.

Thank you Sushifee,

Getting very excited for the move. We are coming from UK although originally from South Africa. Thanks for the info. Will check out those sites!

Regards

Alison

Thanks sushifee,

Will have a look at the information sites you provided. I am also excited about the move . Haven't a clue yet where we will be accommodated . Are there some nicer areas than others ? Do you also work at Rakess?
Regards
Donna

Hello Donna,
Not a Rakess teacher but a fitness instructor at Fitness First. I live in Al Hamra which is located about 20mins outside of RAK city and a large expat community or villas and apartments. Too far out for RAKess commute I would guess. 
Not sure about the 'nicer' areas, am sure you'll be accommodated somewhere decent Please message me if you need any other info as I had many questions before moving here last year from Dubai.

The good thing about RAK is rents are much cheaper compared to Dubai or Abudhabi.  There is a great golf course and a few clubs.  A nice beach too and a few interesting places.  It is about 90 mins drive from Dubai on the highway (approx 120 km).  There are a couple of malls.  It is still a relatively traditional kind of emirate compared to Dubai.  No idea about the school.

mjrv wrote:

There is a great golf course and a few clubs.  A nice beach too and a few interesting places.    There are a couple of malls.

Correction There are 2 great golf courses, both 18holes. At Tower Links and Al Hamra.
There are 4 decent sized malls. Al Hamra (Spinneys supermarket), RAK Mall (with the large Lulu supermarket), Manar Mall (with the large Carrefour supermarket) and Safeer Mall. Well known stores include NEXT,H&M,Esprit.
Socially there is the Tower Links bar and restaurant, Hilton resort restaurants and bars, Rotana Hotel restaurant and bars and at AL Hamra the Marina bar and restaurant and golf club bar/restaurants.
Sounds a great place to be? YES!

Thanks guys for all the information. It does sound a great place to live . Really cannot wait.
I'm sure myself and Aliwise have got lots of questions to ask before we both arrive in August .
Regards
Donna

Hi everybody,

My husband and I move to RAK in August to. We are both teachers and my Hubbie will be working at RAKESS as while. We are excited for another new adventure. I'm originally from South Africa and my husband is from UK. Your questions and threads have been helpful and making me feel a little less anxious.......I think.

Hi greenandblack ,
It's lovely to hear from somebody else who is going to Rakess in the summer.  Have you any children ? What subjects will you/ hubby be teaching ?
Look forward to hearing from you
Regards
Donna

We work at RAKESS which is actually now called RAK Aacademy...so I am puzzled why you are calling it RAKESS, just another typical mistake by the admin I guess. Ras Al Khaimah is a great place to live and cost of living is slightly cheaper than the UK, accomodation is adequate and generally near to the school, most people tend to buy a car, my advice is to wait if you can as teachers leaving are generally selling things off from April onwards so if you can manage for the 1st 9 months without things such as microwave, car, etc then do so......you may also want to buy your own furniture as what you are given is not very good quality, having said that it is adequate. BE prepared to pay out for essential items when you get here as little is provided. Also prepare yourselves to be very frustrated with the way things happen out here, nothing runs smoothly logic and common sense see to be on vacation here....but once you come to terms with that then you will have a great time. There are some great beaches to take your children and all the malls have kids play areas also Saqr Park is fabulous for a day out and a picnic, Dubai also has loads of entertainment for the children and is only an hour and a bit away.....you will love it I am sure.

Hi Donna,

I'm not actually going to be working. My husband will be in Y3 in the BC Primary. We don't have any kids at the moment, but hopefully soon. Hence why I'm not going to be working I hope :-).

We are so looking forward to moving there, we have been teaching abroad for a while now and it is really a wonderful experience.

Ate you and your husband both teaching? Which years?

Thanks,

Lauren

Thanks for the info! Will now refer to it as RAK.

Hi Greenandblack,

I'm going to be teaching Secondary PE . My husband is not a teacher and will be looking for a job once we arrive ( or not) .

I too will refer to is as RAK from now on! Once again thanks for info sunnee.

Hopefully , you will not have to work if the pitter patter of tiny feet arrive. Good luck !

We are looking forward to moving too . We've never worked abroad before so its a new experience for us. But I'm sure we shall settle pretty quickly.

Thanks
Donna

Sunee
Thanks for all that info. Really helpful! I was a bit confused about RAK academy vs RAKESS so thanks for clearing that up.

Lauren ...sounds like you have lots of exciting things happening at the moment. I won't be working initially either so sure we'll hang out! Where about in SA are you from? We're durbanites.

Donna hope the planning is coming along nicely. We are chipping away at everything.

All this rubbish weather and snow in the UK is making me very excited to move

Hi Alison,

Lovely to hear from you . Hope all your preparations are coming along smoothly! We are in the process of sorting out the house and finding a removals company. I did not realise how much junk you accumulate over the years!!!

Have you any info on when you will be arriving in RAK yet?

Yes this weather certainly is making the move ever more exciting.
Take care
Donna

Hi Donna,

We have been told that we should be there the weekend of the 23rd of August. Im assuming
it will be the same for you?

It's so hard trying to be realistic with what to take over. We are mainly concerned about taking things for our daughter to try and make it a relatively smooth transition.

Chat soon

Alison

Hi Guys,

I would guess you will probably be here around the 20th August as School starts on 25th August and I would assume you will get orientation we arrived here 10 days before school started and were given several days of orientation tours....mainly to Carrefour...once you've been, you've been...LOL We were also taken to Ikea in Dubai and to Dubai mall and Mirdiff City Centre for shopping trips, we have just been sitting outside having drinks...it is lovely and warm here around 30 degrees today, I am sure you will love it here. The weather just makes everything seems so much nicer . Hope your moves go well and see you in August.

Adjusting to a new life in the Middle East isn't easy for everyone and there's no guarantee that you'll 'love it', as we're all so different at adapting to new cultures/surroundings. What can help is having a network of other newbies and arranging your own get together maybe at the Costa coffee in Manar Mall or at Second Cup in RAK Mall? There is also a weekly expat group meet up every Thursday 11am (various venues) and lots of info about what's happening in RAK on their website:  https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgr … rak-expats
However, there may not be much happening mid August but when the schools start there's plenty going on here in RAK, just a case of finding out about it!
Fee

Thanks Sushifee,

Great advice! Im sure it won't be plain sailing at first but hoping to meet other expats to make the transition easier. So hopefully chatting on here is a good start!

Hope everyone is well

Hi,

So sorry been away in the UK. We are so looking forward to moving to RAS. I grew up all over South Africa, lost stop was Knysna and CapeTown. Glad I'm not the only one not working straight away. Lots of costa coffee. We haven't heard much from the school, but that's ok, we used to the international circuit.

When do you guys fly out?

Lauren

Hi guys,
         Just seeing how you are all getting on with your move. Has anyone had confirmation of flights from the school yet?
We've found a removals company . Other than that no other news to tell.
Hope to hear from you soon
Donna xx

Hi Donna,
Hope you are well!
We have our two  dogs flying to my inlaws in south Africa in 2 weeks time, its going to break my heart but they will love the weather large garden and swimming pool!A bit jealous. also have a shipping co to collect end of June as we off to south Africa for a months holiday before heading to RAK. no flights confirmed only been told they want us there on the weekend of the 23rd September.

Chat soon
Alison

Hi Alison,
               My dog is going to his new home tomorrow   I'm lucky like you that he is also going to a relative . I've not had any correspondence from the school for a few weeks. Hopefully should get some news on flights soon so I can give a definate date to the removals company.  Wow a lovely holiday for you . I think we shall be going to Wales for a few weeks to see my mum but that's about it.
Take care
Donna x

Ali
I think you mean 23rd August not September, School starts on 25th August.

Don't worry if you've not had your flights confirmed yet you should get them in the next couple of weeks.

As for getting a removals company, this I imagine will be expensive and the accomodation you get may not accomodate your things, the school provide furnished accomodation, furniture is very basic and can be somewhat shabby. In comparison to other countries and accomodation provided by schools RAKA provide very low standard accomodatuion, and new staff last year all reported having to go out and spend 100 - 200 pounds on cleaning products and having to spend days cleaning their apartments some even have cracks in the wall that you could see daylight through and bare wires hanging from the ceiling......don't let this put you off coming RAK is a great place to live...just be prepared for a lower standard of accomodation to what you currently have. Enjoy your month in S. Africa

Hi Sunnee
Yes sorry I did mean August not September! Thanks for the heads up about accommodation, definitely a bit concerning. I did get photos sent to us of an example of accommodation and it looked lovely so really hoping we're not disappointed! with  regards to shipping  it is very expensive but luckily we're only bringing basics to make an easier transition for our baby.

Thanks for your interest and input. its really helpful!

Chat soon
Alison

Hi Ali,

The pictures are most likely not what you will get hence my message. Would rather you be pleasantly surprised than exceptionally disappointed. Hopefully they will eventually have listened to staff and will update/ improve accomodation to the standard of the pictures you have recieved.
Sunnee

Hi Everyone,

We haven't heard anything about flights yet either.....we have just had the first email for paperwork. So I'm sure that greats the ball rolling.We are off to UK & SA for the 'summer hols' hectic break, but good to see family.

Hope you are all well?

Lauren

It sounds like we are all heading to the same school; I've got 2 boys in tow (17 & 13).  We've lived in S.E. Asia, but this will be really different! 

Does anyone know if Arabic classes are easy to come  by?  Are they expensive? 

What about animal rescue centers? Are there any?

Hi, the school have Arabic classes which the children will attend. If you Google RAK Animal Welfare, the rescue Centre will come up.

Regards

summerfields71

Hi Ladies and Gents, new teachers in RAK! Good news for us

My grandson was just now accepted in Rak BC Academy in Year 3 starting next coming September. I'm so glad as I have been quite disappointed by his Year 2 in RAK PYP Academy.
Kids got so much homework (sometimes over 20 pages homework to do over 4 days + imposed 3 books to read, record on a website) that he even has no time for any leisure activities
Also the teaching methods are so much different from what we Europeans know!
So I sincerely hope that it will be a nice change for him!
Hope to get acquainted very soon with you and wish you very much success in RAK.

I hope for you guys that the restructuration will go for the better!

8500 AED, wow that is amper 1000 Euros, which is less than in Europe, no?

I hope that they offer accommodation and utilities!

If not, I think it will be very difficult for you!
Life is not really cheap in RAK.

Hiya
I've also been offered a position teaching in RAKA. The salary offered was slightly more than you but I have a couple of years more experience. It works out about the same as what I get in the UK. The free accommodation isn't really a big thing for me as I live at home anyway so don't pay rent or bills but for people who do pay rent or own a home I'm guessing the free accommodation is a big plus. Main reasons I want to go are for the nicer climate, new experience and hopefully to meet some interesting people. I also like the idea of living away from the hustle and bustle of Dubai and just going there maybe once a month for shopping etc. Looking forward to meeting you if you decide to take the job.

Hi Everyone,

Just went to gp yesterday and was advised to get Hepatitis A vaccination for my husband and I and Hepatitis A and B vaccinations for our daughter. Kind of a heads up but also checking if anyone else is having this done.

Thanks
Alison

Hi Alison,

Of course you can get those vaccinations if you'd want but I can tell you that we don't have them and live since 2010 in UAE.