Hi Galley Creeper!!
Well, just a little insight about the life in Emirates for you. I hope I'll do a good job at it.
Anyway, there is a bidding system here, opened from the 1st until the 10th on the computer. You can bid for one popular flight a month, two other layovers and whatever else. You can even bid for three days off wherever you want it. Most of the time, you will get lucky with your days off request.
Popular trips would normally be the long trips eg. SIN/SYD, HKG, three days KUL, MLA, three days JNB etc etc...
You will get 9 days off on a 31 days month and 8 days off on a 30 days month. There are also rest days on flights which depart early in the morning, and for those flights which lands at 2330hrs, they will be a rest day after that, which is almost like a day off.
Accommodation is great! They will place you in any apt available the moment you arrive and you can choose to move to another to your liking, probably with a new-found friend. The utilities are paid for, so your only worry is to watch that phonebill.
Groceries are pretty reasonable here. I would say, a complete grocrey shopping could come up to about 100quid a month. And you will buy bits here and there in between from time to time.
It's pretty safe here. You can walk around at night and chances are nothing will happen to you. But nevertheless, you will just never know.
Cars are so cheap here it's crazy! Even the 2nd hand cars are practically brand new, so it's superb. I personally do not own a car as I have friends to drive me around and I normally hibernate at home anyway.
I hope those were somewhat helpful. If you have anymore queries, please, feel free to ask.
quilfaitbeau