Soon my project will end over here in Qatar. As we bought a car over here and want to take it with us back to Germany, I am currently figuring out what steps to proceed to export it properly.

First thing to do is to pay off the bank loan. Depending on the bank you will have to pay a penalty for early settlement. Our bank calculated it with 1 percent of the remaining debts up to that day. The money had to be paid into the current account, a letter of no obligation from the account owner had to be issued that the bank can take the money and settle the loan. It took then two days to receive two letters. One is a letter from the bank stating that the loan has been paid, the other one is an Arabic letter for the traffic department for changing the entry of the owner in the registration card of the car. For non-Arabic readers: the bank is mentioned there as partial owner of the car as long as there is a loan running.

Then, in preparation, there's more paperwork to be done.
You will need a letter for German Customs from the German Embassy here. That letter will cost Euro 20 and is a "Bescheinigung zur Vorlage bei der zustaendigen Zollbehoerde". It contains the names of all family members, including their passport numbers, and stating the proposed date of leave as well as that the personal effects transported are owned by the family and will not be used for retail back in Germany.

Then you will need your local contract over here in Qatar (or a statement of your company that you've been working here from date a to date b), including scans of your passport as well as your latest Qatari visa.

Additionally you will have to present the original invoice for the car including attached the list of signatories of the respective car dealer you bought the car from. I got it without cost and without any problems from my car dealer even one and a half years after we bought the car. Just present the registration and the passport of the person in whose name the car is being registered in.

Of course the export vehicle certificate issued by the traffic department. As I did not apply for export plates yet, I don't know how long it will take, but I was told that the registration of an export plate is around QAR 520. And you will have to get a 10 day valid insurance for around QAR 80. The export plates are then valid for those 10 days only!

The usual no-objection-letter from your employer that you can export the car is mandatory as well.

Let's see how it goes.

Is it an order or a recommendation? And what exactly is it I should drink?

Sometimes you have to spell how you pronounce it, right?

In this case the accident most likely happened when the designer of this board went to school.

If.

"But I already used the "c" in "chicken"

Sometimes it happens that I have to turn around an drive the same way again. And if it is only because of someone trying to sell his house.

Maybe a house boat in the middle of the desert?

No, in this case it has been spelled correctly. But even if done so, sometimes the shop owner should step back, look at his sign and think if also the meaning is correct.

Otherwise she might be in trouble.

This nice shop around the corner took quite a while for my brain to figure out what exactly they are doing. But eventually I found out by checking the windows.
Anyway, the owner must have thought that he'd rather put a little "french" touch to it to make his goods looking more exclusively. Or he just failed in spelling.

But only a bit

Oft sieht man es hier in Qatar, am nächsten Morgen, die Spuren, die hinterlassen wurden. Eigentlich sollte es das ja nicht geben in diesem Land, aber trotzdem wird man ihm immer wieder gewahr: dem Straßenstrich. Immer wieder passiert es, dass junge Burschen es wissen wollen, protzen mit ihren Stärken, Schwanzvergleiche anstellen. Und wo kann man das am Besten? Auf dem Straßenstrich. Da wird kräftig rumgekurvt, da kommen aber auch bei jedem grundsätzlich Gummis zum Einsatz. Und dann, wie gesagt, am Morgen danach, sieht man die Gummis überall:



Nein, Sie haben jetzt nicht wirklich an Damen vom Anatomieverleih gedacht, oder? Obwohl auch diese manchmal aussehen, wie die Straße: mittels Bauernmalerei verhunzt.

Doch es gibt auch noch den anderen Straßenstrich, außerhalb, im Industrieviertel. Da stehen sie dann aufgereiht am Straßenrand und zeigen, was sie haben. Protzen mit ihren Vorzügen, strecken die Ausleger weit raus und verstecken die Hänger hinter sich. Wer große Schaufeln hat, kommt weiter. Und alle tragen Sie ein Schild mit ihrer Mobilnummer. Weil sie wollen, dass du sie anrufst. Sie wollen dein Geld, bieten dir dafuer stundenweise eine Gegenleistung. Und du fährst an ihnen vorbei und suchst dir das aus, was dir gefällt. Für jeden Geschmack gibt es was: dicke Walzen und grazile Kranartige, dann wieder welche, die dich abschleppen wollen, andere, die dich an den Haken nehmen möchten. Oder einfach nur anbaggern.

I am really annoyed today.

Not even two months ago I went and bought a karaoke game in one named shop here in Qatar as a gift for my daughter. Either to give her for Christmas or for her birthday. Christmas turned out to be quite successful and rich for her (especially in presents) so we kept the present until last week.
Last week we then gave her. She was so excited when opening, but as we tried to get it running, it did not work. Luckily I still had the receipt and went back to the shop. But what to hear?

"Sorry, Sir, but you bought this item in December. And we cannot exchange or refund it. It says that we have a 7 days (!) refund garantee." Although they tested it and could reproduce the fault easily, there was neither an offer to repair the kit, nor any offer of price reduction or exchange.

At least I know that I will never again buy something at SAQR, Doha, as their way to keep customers happy exceeds after one week.

So if you buy something there and it turns out to be broken after 8 days - bin it. Regardless how much money you spent and what the normal warranty time (usually 6 months minimum) is.