Making friends in Qatar

22 Jan, 2010  Help & Guide

Making friends in Qatar can be difficult. Most people only make friends with people at work because it’s that hard. I just thought I’d share some quick pointers when it comes to making friends with Qataris.

Some people may not realize this, but the reason why Qataris don’t just chit chat with strangers usually, is because it’s out of respect. We believe in respecting personal boundaries (some are just shy despite the occasional serious look). However, many will find that once you kick start a conversation, it’ll be as if you’ve been friends for ages! I’d be surprised you didn’t end up BEING friends for ages.

Some people are naturally cautious though. In all honesty, there are many people who want to get to know you… for a short while… As I read from a post about a young boy who told a girl in his class [from one of my favourite blogs (Gaijin Smash)] ”I’ll love you only for today”.

You’ll want to stay away from those types of people.

As for places to go to meet people. That’s a tough one that even I haven’t been able to answer. However if you’re looking for online communities, of course there’s ILQ’s forums as a start, then there’s QFriends. I’d recommend QFriends for people who want to participate in Language Exchanges, find PenPals, or just make friends from all over!

That’s the beauty of Qatar. It’s a melting pot of nationalities!

Tags: Making friends in Qatar. Making friends with Qataris. Finding friends. How to get to know people.

2 Comments so far »

  1. BigBird said,

    Wrote on January 24, 2010 @ 10:48 am

    Salam, I love Gaijin Smash (used to be on outpostnine). I actually got introduced to it in an odd sort of way but then started really enjoying it, in a horrific sort of way.

    As for the chit chat, you’re totally on the ball, we are not blowing people off, we are respecting their privacy. the concept of “personal space” to us extends way beyond 1 foot from your skin, to us it can extend to sometimes the entire room someone is in (eg. bachelors unilaterally moving tables once a family sits nearby).

    I do think it would be nice to meet up with some expats for some coffee, so I’ll leave it to you to arrange it! ( ^.^)/~/

  2. Mr. Q said,

    Wrote on January 24, 2010 @ 11:40 pm

    It’s fun isn’t it??

    It’s awesome to see another fan of the blog. (Although I prefer the old design over the new ‘boring’ style).

    Inshallah we’ll arrange some other social days and we’ll see you come out with us.

    We have two, Souq Seekers and Pearl Divers. Although with work, I need to find a dedicated team of ILQers to help manage the social outings :D

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Freedom of Expression

    Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the Qatari Government is a signatory of states: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any medias and regardless of any frontiers.

    The Emiri Decision Number 86 of the year 2007 on the establishment of the Doha Free Information Centre marked yet another step towards establishing a State of rights and freedom of speech. The decision stipulated that the Centre be a non-profit organization, headquartered in Doha City, and have the authority to establish other affiliated centres inside and outside Qatar. It is worth mentioning that His Highness the Emir issued a decision in 1998 annulling the ministry of information, giving birth to a new era of freedom of speech where censorship was removed from local media.