Ok, thanks for all the input.
My girlfriend is a nurse and apparently there are very highly paid jobs available in Dubai for nurses that trained in the UK, US, etc. Work there for a year tax-free with accomodation paid for, get a juicy bonus after a year, then move back home and buy a house... She is white, from the UK and hopefully would not cop too much disrespect when working in a hospital environment. We are also planning on getting married before we go which may offer some protection?
But if it really sucks, then we will leave
But from what some of you have written above, it could be an AMAZING experience. And my girl and I have done a fair bit of travelling before so we have fairly thick skin when it comes to other cultures.
The biggest problem I can see is finding a job for myself - I will have to do some research.
Cool bananas.