I'm picturing you getting back from Berlin with a suitcase full of weiners, wurst and pork knuckles and maybe even a new low-rider glass-top table, only to find the house vacant, a/c off, temp 59C inside (no idea what that is in degF), the dog dead of heat exhaustion and a note saying "F*** YOU!!"
I have to admit, more or less the same thought crossed my mind when I read
thehulk's post.
thehulk, coming to the Sandpit from Florida, you probably think you're prepared for the heat of a Dubai August. Simply put, you're not. Add to that the undebatable point that your wife won't be able to do anything towards setting herself and the family up without your being here.
This ain't the USA - your wife is no longer an equal in the eyes of 'the system' - she'll be here under your sponsorship, which means the husband's signature (along with his passport) will be required in half a dozen cases for what at first glance would seem to be the most simple transactions; opening a bank account; buying a car; getting a driver's licence;
(note: it's a driver's licence over here, not a license); possibly even organising getting the kids into a school if you haven't got that arranged already; opening an account at the local supermarket.
And until she and the kids have their resident's visas - almost impossible to arrange in the very short time you'll be here before winging it off to Berlin - she won't be able to do most of those things listed above.
If you have
very close friends here already, people she'll be able to rely upon and call upon on an almost daily basis, and if she's got a platinum bar for a spine, she may cope. If she's going to be on her own without some such support system, plan to be spending
a lot of money on phone calls between Dubai and Berlin - and plan equally to not be giving all your concentration to the course. You'll be dealing daily with one very frustrated and possibly very unhappy wife.
As for bringing your container over: your wife will almost certainly not be able to get it through Customs, (especially if she doesn't have a resident's visa). It will have to be you. Even if she is allowed to receive the container, (and I very much doubt she will), in 99% of cases, the temporary accommodation you'll be put into will leave you with nowhere to put your furniture.
...and if you have to leave it in the container.... did I mention the heat? Look on the bright side - no bugs will be eating your woodwork. They'll be fried - on the 'well done' side of fried, along with all your goodies.
There are some self-storage places in the Sandpit now, but on an FO's salary, you'll gasp at what the monthly charges will be, and your goods will be as heat affected in said storage facilities as they would be left in the container. No such places are air conditioned.
In short, I don't believe your wife and kids will thank you if you drop them off here and disappear to Berlin.
My advice? If you've got them organised into a school here already, contact the school, pay yer money up front to have them hold the kids' places, (you always have to do that in the Sandpit), and either home school them or let them start their school year back in Florida and bring them here after you've completed your training, or at least, after you get back from Berlin.
From where you're standing now, this might seem very poor advice. I think it would be a safe bet that six months from now, if you follow your 'Plan A', you'll agree with me.