Oooh I like your questions too! Especially the last one.

I can't answer most of them, but I bought the 2008 Dubai Resident Guide from Amazon and have found it immensely helpful! It will also answer your question about things to do in your free time, every time I open the book I find something new I want to sign up for.

Also a friend out there said that you have all the same European shops but that a lot of their clothes make you look like a curtain. She has advised to stock up on H&M vest tops and bikinis