Ski Dubai

Living overseas poses a unique set of challenges for families with children. Some are to be expected: staying healthy, schooling, etc. Much has been written about the concept of “Third Culture Kids”—that is kids who are raised in a culture apart from their parents. For children who have lived their entire life overseas they sometimes find that the “home” culture really isn’t their own nor do they fully fit in to their host culture either. Thus, they belong to a third culture of their own. And like I said, this poses some unexpected challenges.

Take the example of Ben’s friend. He is a really nice kid. His parents are from Denmark, yet he has lived in Tanzania since he was a baby. Tanzania is the only home he has ever known. Soon his family will be returning to Denmark for good. He’s visited Denmark, but just for short visits and never in the winter. In other words, he’s a Scandinavian kid who’s never seen snow. His folks know that going “home” will be a huge adjustment for him—particularly the weather. So what’s a concerned parent to do when her Nordic child has never seen snow? Why the answer is simple, of course. Take him to Dubai.

Dubai, for those geographically challenged, is in the United Arab Emirates next to Saudi Arabia, where summer temperatures easily top 100 F. And Dubai, with all of its oil wealth has become quite the tourist destination for folks living in Africa and Asia. In fact, Dubai is the fastest growing city in the world. (I’ve read that 1/3 of all construction cranes are in Dubai). Dubai has tons of money, a desire to grow and seemingly endless creativity when it comes to outrageous construction projects. This is,after all, the city that built a gigantic palm-shaped island...

And in the center of it all is Ski Dubai, an indoor, downhill ski resort in the middle of the desert.

Thanks to good insulation, a 15 foot thick roof, and buckets of money, Ski Dubai offers real snow, 5 downhill runs, sledding, snow boarding, and any thing else a snow bunny might need—including a ski school. Included in the $73 ticket price are lift tickets, skis, boots, and of course warm clothes—since most folks here don’t own parkas.

And for someone off to live at "home" it’s more than worth the cost.

http://www.skidxb.com