I love you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os_HSgERhE8
(Sorry, it wouldn't embed....)
Long live the new flesh
8 years ago
Monday, December 1, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
I Hear the World Singing
Singing: The Key To A Long Life : NPRThis is an interesting essay that I just stumbled upon. I was looking for something for my students, and I ended up with something for myself. It may still be for my students, as well.
If you’re not familiar with it, NPR is the National Public Radio (USA). "This I Believe" is an on-going series of essays written by a wide variety of people. You can listen to them, or read the text. (I haven't had a chance to listen to this one yet.)
Now, I haven’t checked out the NPR website since I left the US (although I do listen to some of their shows via podcasts), and today, the first thing I saw was the article linked above, written by Brian Eno. Eno! Wow! I listen to his music almost every day! So do you if you use Windows, as he wrote the start-up music for Windows 95, which I presume is still in use in the later incarnations of Windows. (I wonder how much money he gets for that?) I listen to some of his other music, as well, most notably his work with Roxy Music, the Berlin trilogy with David Bowie, and some solo songs I've encountered in various movies.
It’s an interesting essay, and it gave me a little justification for my current habit of singing and playing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” several times a day: It’s good for me!
So, I encourage everybody to 1) read Eno’s essay, and 2) sing something!
Enjoy.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Election
I am very proud of my country for having finally done the right thing in electing Barack Obama. I sincerely hope that the change we so desperately need is coming.
At the same time, I am sorely disappointed in my former home state of California. The passage of Proposition 8 goes against everything I believe in. A lot of what I believe in was inculcated in me during the time I lived in California. Maybe that's what so disappointing and shocking about Prop 8.
Someone sent me this video of Keith Olbermann. He says it all.
At the same time, I am sorely disappointed in my former home state of California. The passage of Proposition 8 goes against everything I believe in. A lot of what I believe in was inculcated in me during the time I lived in California. Maybe that's what so disappointing and shocking about Prop 8.
Someone sent me this video of Keith Olbermann. He says it all.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Happy Birthday to Me!
Thank you everyone who called, emailed, messaged, brought cake, brought wine (!), and did anything else to make my birthday wonderful. I thought I would be sad and lonely, but my students and friends all came through with cake and songs, and I got to chat with my family.
And extra big thanks to my husband, son, and cat, who gave me my super-cool iPod Touch. I love you guys!
And extra big thanks to my husband, son, and cat, who gave me my super-cool iPod Touch. I love you guys!
FAIL Blog
This blog is hysterical. Be careful with the kiddies, though. You can choose to have a G/PG-rated version only. http://failblog.org/
Here is a classic example; although the entries are usually photographs, this was too good to not share.
see more pwn and owned pictures
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
It's Getting Better All the Time
My son's going on a field trip to the National Zoo, and neither my husband nor I (obviously) are going, and we're nervous. Here's what my son told his father:
"Dad, it's a field trip, not the Apocalypse."
Don't know where he learned that...
In other good news, see my friend's blog, CRABBYANNE, for the best political ad ever.
"Dad, it's a field trip, not the Apocalypse."
Don't know where he learned that...
In other good news, see my friend's blog, CRABBYANNE, for the best political ad ever.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Wild Dogs and Internet, Part 2
The continuing saga of Julie’s search for an Internet connection in Abu Dhabi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m taking deep, cleansing breaths as I try to write this. Yoga classes are paying off.
Let me begin…
Damn, I just can’t do this. I can’t be sane and reasonable because there is nothing sane or reasonable in my life right now.
Today, my friend Lola and I spent AT LEAST eight hours – hours – trying to get our Internet working. Mind you, this is pre-paid wireless broadband. We shelled out over 1000 dirhams on Friday for the modems and sim cards, only to have them not work. We spent hours with our resident tech guy, Ptolemy, and more hours on the phone with Etisalat on Saturday, and just missed getting into their offices. Lola was told that the sales clerk who signed us up made a mistake and signed us up for two accounts each, and thus our first month’s connection, which was supposed to be free as a sales promotion, was over-due (before we had ever even used it, mind you), and that was why we couldn’t connect. Well, first the “customer service” representative said it was our fault, but finally came around to admitting, that, yes, perhaps someone else had made a mistake. The “customer service” rep said that we could go to any Etisalat business center, tell them that one account needed to be removed, and we would be fine. What fools we were to believe those sweet, sweet lies.
Today, Sunday, we went to Etisalat’s main office at noon. I was finished with classes for the day, but Lola had to get back for a 2 o’clock class. Yeah, right. After we waited for almost an hour, we got a “customer service” representative who had no idea what was going on. Luckily, he wasn’t shy about admitting that and handing us off to apparently the only person in the place who did know what he was doing. Except he only thought he knew what he was doing, because he didn’t. He took my laptop, installed something on it (!), and pronounced both our sim cards faulty. He said he would give us new sim cards, and wouldn’t even charge us the 25 dirham replacement fee. Quite decent of him. We told him AT LEAST three times what the “customer service” rep had told us the day before about having two accounts on one number. No, no, no, he insisted. That was wrong. The sim cards were bad. By now, Lola had had to call and cancel her class. The “customer service” rep then told us to wait a half an hour, or maybe an hour (he said both), and the new sim cards would be activated. But, we would need to call “customer service” and tell them that we had replacement sim cards, and needed new data package settings.
We decided to go get something to eat, and set out for a nearby mall. We had sent our driver away long before, as he had another pick-up at 2:00, and we were still waiting on the “customer service” rep to give us unnecessary new sim cards. Anyway, we finally got a taxi, got to the mall, and ate before calling to get the new data package settings. Of course, no settings were forthcoming. I called….yes, “customer service.” I almost felt sorry for the 5 or 6 morons I had to talk to. Almost. And 5 or 6 because I got 1) “disconnected,” 2) transferred, 3) given wrong information (!), etc...
Meanwhile, Lola’s blood pressure is skyrocketing, and I am having palpitations. Seriously. We’re sitting in a food court in a mall with a laptop, a wireless modem, router, sim cards, gut-spilling mobile phones, and cables of every description scattered across the tables. And french fries. Stress? What stress?
Finally, Lola gets the idea to go and get a 500-dirham Etisalat card and load it onto the sim card for her wireless modem. She does. I do not. I go get a freaking espresso frappucino, because I want my heart to race just a little bit faster. We get home, and Lola has Internet! Yay. So I go buy 5, 100-dirham cards, because Spinney’s doesn’t sell 500-dirham cards. Big whoop, you might say. What’s the difference between 5, 100-dirham cards, and 1, 500-dirham cards? Here’s the difference: every card has a 15-digit number that you have to dial into your mobile phone to add the money to your account. So I had to dial 5, 15-digit numbers. To do this, I had to pull the sim card out of the modem (for about the 15th time), pull the sim card out of my phone, and put the modem card in the phone, and dial the numbers. Then, I had to reverse the process.
But, at last, I connected to the Internet! I almost didn’t believe it! I was cautiously ecstatic. Yeah. And then, after ½ hour, no more Internet. Yeah. I think I saw that coming.
Long, long story just a few words short, I pulled the sim card back into my phone and found that my 500 dirhams had disappeared, and I had a negative 3 dirham balance on my card, which was what had been on it when this whole sorry story started. Remember kids, the monthly cost of this service is 460 dirhams.
So, I’m out well over 1500 dirhams (that’s $410), and I still have no Internet. And I don’t know what to do.
Here’s what I think should happen, although nobody cares, I’m sure: I think I should get ALL MY MONEY BACK, and the “service” I signed up for should be CANCELLED, and then, I can sign up for the “service” ALL OVER AGAIN, and have it done CORRECTLY this time by a COMPETENT PERSON, if there is one at Etisalat, which I seriously question.
So, we’ll see what happens tomorrow (Monday)!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m taking deep, cleansing breaths as I try to write this. Yoga classes are paying off.
Let me begin…
Damn, I just can’t do this. I can’t be sane and reasonable because there is nothing sane or reasonable in my life right now.
Today, my friend Lola and I spent AT LEAST eight hours – hours – trying to get our Internet working. Mind you, this is pre-paid wireless broadband. We shelled out over 1000 dirhams on Friday for the modems and sim cards, only to have them not work. We spent hours with our resident tech guy, Ptolemy, and more hours on the phone with Etisalat on Saturday, and just missed getting into their offices. Lola was told that the sales clerk who signed us up made a mistake and signed us up for two accounts each, and thus our first month’s connection, which was supposed to be free as a sales promotion, was over-due (before we had ever even used it, mind you), and that was why we couldn’t connect. Well, first the “customer service” representative said it was our fault, but finally came around to admitting, that, yes, perhaps someone else had made a mistake. The “customer service” rep said that we could go to any Etisalat business center, tell them that one account needed to be removed, and we would be fine. What fools we were to believe those sweet, sweet lies.
Today, Sunday, we went to Etisalat’s main office at noon. I was finished with classes for the day, but Lola had to get back for a 2 o’clock class. Yeah, right. After we waited for almost an hour, we got a “customer service” representative who had no idea what was going on. Luckily, he wasn’t shy about admitting that and handing us off to apparently the only person in the place who did know what he was doing. Except he only thought he knew what he was doing, because he didn’t. He took my laptop, installed something on it (!), and pronounced both our sim cards faulty. He said he would give us new sim cards, and wouldn’t even charge us the 25 dirham replacement fee. Quite decent of him. We told him AT LEAST three times what the “customer service” rep had told us the day before about having two accounts on one number. No, no, no, he insisted. That was wrong. The sim cards were bad. By now, Lola had had to call and cancel her class. The “customer service” rep then told us to wait a half an hour, or maybe an hour (he said both), and the new sim cards would be activated. But, we would need to call “customer service” and tell them that we had replacement sim cards, and needed new data package settings.
We decided to go get something to eat, and set out for a nearby mall. We had sent our driver away long before, as he had another pick-up at 2:00, and we were still waiting on the “customer service” rep to give us unnecessary new sim cards. Anyway, we finally got a taxi, got to the mall, and ate before calling to get the new data package settings. Of course, no settings were forthcoming. I called….yes, “customer service.” I almost felt sorry for the 5 or 6 morons I had to talk to. Almost. And 5 or 6 because I got 1) “disconnected,” 2) transferred, 3) given wrong information (!), etc...
Meanwhile, Lola’s blood pressure is skyrocketing, and I am having palpitations. Seriously. We’re sitting in a food court in a mall with a laptop, a wireless modem, router, sim cards, gut-spilling mobile phones, and cables of every description scattered across the tables. And french fries. Stress? What stress?
Finally, Lola gets the idea to go and get a 500-dirham Etisalat card and load it onto the sim card for her wireless modem. She does. I do not. I go get a freaking espresso frappucino, because I want my heart to race just a little bit faster. We get home, and Lola has Internet! Yay. So I go buy 5, 100-dirham cards, because Spinney’s doesn’t sell 500-dirham cards. Big whoop, you might say. What’s the difference between 5, 100-dirham cards, and 1, 500-dirham cards? Here’s the difference: every card has a 15-digit number that you have to dial into your mobile phone to add the money to your account. So I had to dial 5, 15-digit numbers. To do this, I had to pull the sim card out of the modem (for about the 15th time), pull the sim card out of my phone, and put the modem card in the phone, and dial the numbers. Then, I had to reverse the process.
But, at last, I connected to the Internet! I almost didn’t believe it! I was cautiously ecstatic. Yeah. And then, after ½ hour, no more Internet. Yeah. I think I saw that coming.
Long, long story just a few words short, I pulled the sim card back into my phone and found that my 500 dirhams had disappeared, and I had a negative 3 dirham balance on my card, which was what had been on it when this whole sorry story started. Remember kids, the monthly cost of this service is 460 dirhams.
So, I’m out well over 1500 dirhams (that’s $410), and I still have no Internet. And I don’t know what to do.
Here’s what I think should happen, although nobody cares, I’m sure: I think I should get ALL MY MONEY BACK, and the “service” I signed up for should be CANCELLED, and then, I can sign up for the “service” ALL OVER AGAIN, and have it done CORRECTLY this time by a COMPETENT PERSON, if there is one at Etisalat, which I seriously question.
So, we’ll see what happens tomorrow (Monday)!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Wild Dogs and Internet
After getting no real response to my queries about when we could expect to have the building properly wired for landline telephone service and DSL Internet, my friend Lola (most definitely NOT her real name) and I decided to go spend a ridiculous sum of money for pre-paid wireless broadband. We set off in Lola’s new Jeep for the Virgin Record store at Abu Dhabi Mall, me holding her GPS because she hasn’t figured out how to mount it to the dashboard yet. After parking woes and being sorely distracted by shiny computer gear in various stores, we left Virgin, wireless router for me, wireless USB for her, in hand. We were so happy. It was bound to end badly.
Lola hadn’t quite gotten our home address programmed into the GPS properly. Plus, detours confused the machine, and we got a bit…side tracked. In fact, we overshot Musaffah, and headed out into the dark desert, otherwise known as The Road to Bani Yas. Or possibly Al Ain. Or maybe Dubai. Anyway, somewhere we Didn’t Want To Go. I asked once how much gas Lola had in her tank, but I may not have believed that a half a tank would get us home.
Eventually, we got turned around and headed back toward “civilization,” using Al Safeer “Mall” as our landmark. As we drove past this “mall,” something ran across the road in front of us. “What was that?” we both screamed. I looked to the side of the road where it had gone, and saw a pack of four or five wild dogs. Yes. Wild dogs. Dogs that were wild, in a pack. About two blocks from our building. (I must remember to warn folks not to let their kids wander more than, oh, a foot from their sides.)
So after all that excitement, including both of us shouting “Wild dogs!?!” at random intervals for several hours, our expensive new equipment didn’t work. Even though we stayed up until 2:00 am trying to make it work. This morning, we called on our resident tech guru and all-around good guy, Ptolemy (also, not his real name), for help. After three hours, we determined that the problem was that Etisalat, the state telephone and Internet provider, had made a mistake when setting up both of our accounts, and that we would need to go to an Etisalat business center. By the time we found some semi-addresses for some ostensible business centers, it was 12:30. The ones that were even open on Saturday all closed at 1:00. Not good. Armed with laptops, cables, routers, USB ports, and other techie accoutrements, me holding the GPS again and lighting Lola's cigarettes for her, and yeah, maybe taking a couple of drags because, my god, wild dogs! and no internet!, we set off into, you guessed it, the desert. Again. When we finally by some unverified miracle found the business office, it was 1:05 pm. It had been open. Until 1:00 pm.
We are still without Internet.
Oh, and I still don’t have Torchwood DVDs I ordered from Barnes and Noble on September 16.
I’m not really very happy right now. On the good side, though, no wild dogs today, so, hey!
To be continued…
Lola hadn’t quite gotten our home address programmed into the GPS properly. Plus, detours confused the machine, and we got a bit…side tracked. In fact, we overshot Musaffah, and headed out into the dark desert, otherwise known as The Road to Bani Yas. Or possibly Al Ain. Or maybe Dubai. Anyway, somewhere we Didn’t Want To Go. I asked once how much gas Lola had in her tank, but I may not have believed that a half a tank would get us home.
Eventually, we got turned around and headed back toward “civilization,” using Al Safeer “Mall” as our landmark. As we drove past this “mall,” something ran across the road in front of us. “What was that?” we both screamed. I looked to the side of the road where it had gone, and saw a pack of four or five wild dogs. Yes. Wild dogs. Dogs that were wild, in a pack. About two blocks from our building. (I must remember to warn folks not to let their kids wander more than, oh, a foot from their sides.)
So after all that excitement, including both of us shouting “Wild dogs!?!” at random intervals for several hours, our expensive new equipment didn’t work. Even though we stayed up until 2:00 am trying to make it work. This morning, we called on our resident tech guru and all-around good guy, Ptolemy (also, not his real name), for help. After three hours, we determined that the problem was that Etisalat, the state telephone and Internet provider, had made a mistake when setting up both of our accounts, and that we would need to go to an Etisalat business center. By the time we found some semi-addresses for some ostensible business centers, it was 12:30. The ones that were even open on Saturday all closed at 1:00. Not good. Armed with laptops, cables, routers, USB ports, and other techie accoutrements, me holding the GPS again and lighting Lola's cigarettes for her, and yeah, maybe taking a couple of drags because, my god, wild dogs! and no internet!, we set off into, you guessed it, the desert. Again. When we finally by some unverified miracle found the business office, it was 1:05 pm. It had been open. Until 1:00 pm.
We are still without Internet.
Oh, and I still don’t have Torchwood DVDs I ordered from Barnes and Noble on September 16.
I’m not really very happy right now. On the good side, though, no wild dogs today, so, hey!
To be continued…
Friday, October 10, 2008
October 10, 2008
First, things in general are settling down here in Abu Dhabi now that Ramadan and the holiday week for Eid al Fitr have passed. People are working normal hours; and shops and restaurants are open during the day again. The weather has cooled considerably, with a high yesterday of 97° Fahrenheit. My calling 97° cool should give you an indication of how hot it was over the last two months.
Our (new faculty) living situation is not very good right now, and we have asked the school to find us more suitable accommodations. I will miss the large and very bright flat I’m in now, but not the neighborhood. No moving date (or place) has been announced yet.
Back home, Charles is frantically packing and repairing and driving things from place to place, and…and…everything, (Charles is also working on his master's degree in education, something we are very proud of him for) because we’ve sold our house, which is rather miraculous in these times. It’s not over, yet, either. After closing, I will heave a big sigh of relief and celebrate with a nice…cup of coffee, because I don’t have my liquor permit yet.
I don’t have a driving license yet, either, due to some “misplaced” paperwork, but now all is in order and I should be able to drive again next week. As soon as I get the license, I’ll start shopping for a car. I was planning to buck the trend of buying giant SUVs and Jeeps, but I’m being heavily influenced by the forces of gas-guzzling evil. I haven’t seen a single hybrid car here, by the way…
In other news, I was planning to volunteer for the Middle East International Film Festival - Abu Dhabi 2008, but got my information in late (what else is new?), so they didn’t need me. This, however, gives me more time to actually see some films. There’s one documentary about the making of A Chorus Line that I really want to see: Every Little Step.
Many of the films are from the area and are in Arabic, but it is a truly international festival, and filmmakers are participating from all over the world. Sir Ben Kingsley will be here to attend the first Arabic-dubbed screening of Gandhi. The festival closes with Ridley Scott's latest film, Body of Lies, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. I don’t know if any of them will be in attendance. Apparently, Antonio Banderas has been in Abu Dhabi for a few days now, teaching a master class, and will be at the festival's opening night.
Check out the MEIFF on the web; Abu Dhabi should also be getting international press for this event. The main venue is the incredible Emirates Palace Hotel.
First, things in general are settling down here in Abu Dhabi now that Ramadan and the holiday week for Eid al Fitr have passed. People are working normal hours; and shops and restaurants are open during the day again. The weather has cooled considerably, with a high yesterday of 97° Fahrenheit. My calling 97° cool should give you an indication of how hot it was over the last two months.
Our (new faculty) living situation is not very good right now, and we have asked the school to find us more suitable accommodations. I will miss the large and very bright flat I’m in now, but not the neighborhood. No moving date (or place) has been announced yet.
Back home, Charles is frantically packing and repairing and driving things from place to place, and…and…everything, (Charles is also working on his master's degree in education, something we are very proud of him for) because we’ve sold our house, which is rather miraculous in these times. It’s not over, yet, either. After closing, I will heave a big sigh of relief and celebrate with a nice…cup of coffee, because I don’t have my liquor permit yet.
I don’t have a driving license yet, either, due to some “misplaced” paperwork, but now all is in order and I should be able to drive again next week. As soon as I get the license, I’ll start shopping for a car. I was planning to buck the trend of buying giant SUVs and Jeeps, but I’m being heavily influenced by the forces of gas-guzzling evil. I haven’t seen a single hybrid car here, by the way…
In other news, I was planning to volunteer for the Middle East International Film Festival - Abu Dhabi 2008, but got my information in late (what else is new?), so they didn’t need me. This, however, gives me more time to actually see some films. There’s one documentary about the making of A Chorus Line that I really want to see: Every Little Step.
Many of the films are from the area and are in Arabic, but it is a truly international festival, and filmmakers are participating from all over the world. Sir Ben Kingsley will be here to attend the first Arabic-dubbed screening of Gandhi. The festival closes with Ridley Scott's latest film, Body of Lies, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. I don’t know if any of them will be in attendance. Apparently, Antonio Banderas has been in Abu Dhabi for a few days now, teaching a master class, and will be at the festival's opening night.
Check out the MEIFF on the web; Abu Dhabi should also be getting international press for this event. The main venue is the incredible Emirates Palace Hotel.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Visual Post
Visuals...
Here is my living room. I have no furniture so that I can enjoy the beauty of the carpet. (No, I just haven't bought furniture yet...)
There are curtains now, to block the harsh sun and the lovely views, one of which is below.
The very nice view from my kitchen and lounge. You can see why the curtains are always closed.
My rather bare desk. Computers are coming....
Here is my living room. I have no furniture so that I can enjoy the beauty of the carpet. (No, I just haven't bought furniture yet...)
There are curtains now, to block the harsh sun and the lovely views, one of which is below.
The very nice view from my kitchen and lounge. You can see why the curtains are always closed.
My rather bare desk. Computers are coming....
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Linguistic Awareness…and Musaffah
An Aussie, a Kiwi, and two Americans were in a meeting. One of the Americans (that would be me) said, “I’m knackered,” and immediately cringed. “That sounds just horrible in an American accent, doesn’t it?” she said. The Kiwi and Aussie were momentarily polite enough to not agree with the linguistically introspective American. (The other American was keeping well out of it; besides, she was Italian by birth.) Finally taking pity on the American, the Aussie commented that it wasn’t quite as bad as saying “I’m buggered” in an Aussie accent to an English person (English meaning from the country, not English the language). The phrase has distinctly different meanings in the two different countries.
If you don’t know, I’m not telling. Look it up. That’s what the Internet is for.
And now for something completely different…
We have finally moved into our permanent accommodations, in the heart of the lovely town (that’s sarcasm there) of Musaffah (alternate spellings: Mussafah, Musafa, Mussafa, etc…). Shockingly, we all now have gas for cooking, and most of us have hot water. None of us have landlines or Internet connections, except our resident techie who got wireless broadband a month ago. He’s going to get really sick of us all knocking on his door wanting to borrow his Internet… With any luck (a commodity which, admittedly, has been in short supply around here), we will have Internet in a couple of weeks. It’s doubtful that anything will happen this week, as Ramadan draws to a close, or next week, which is the Eid al Fitr holiday. So, best case scenario is Internet early in October. (“Oh, pretty please?” she prayed to the gods of Internet.)
If my technologically-challenged brain can handle it, I’ll post some pictures of beautiful downtown Mussafah, or what I assume is downtown, as one block looks very much like the rest here. There is water somewhere nearby, but we have not been able to find it…
If you don’t know, I’m not telling. Look it up. That’s what the Internet is for.
And now for something completely different…
We have finally moved into our permanent accommodations, in the heart of the lovely town (that’s sarcasm there) of Musaffah (alternate spellings: Mussafah, Musafa, Mussafa, etc…). Shockingly, we all now have gas for cooking, and most of us have hot water. None of us have landlines or Internet connections, except our resident techie who got wireless broadband a month ago. He’s going to get really sick of us all knocking on his door wanting to borrow his Internet… With any luck (a commodity which, admittedly, has been in short supply around here), we will have Internet in a couple of weeks. It’s doubtful that anything will happen this week, as Ramadan draws to a close, or next week, which is the Eid al Fitr holiday. So, best case scenario is Internet early in October. (“Oh, pretty please?” she prayed to the gods of Internet.)
If my technologically-challenged brain can handle it, I’ll post some pictures of beautiful downtown Mussafah, or what I assume is downtown, as one block looks very much like the rest here. There is water somewhere nearby, but we have not been able to find it…
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Ramadan Kareem
*Ramadan Kareem!
Sorry I’ve been remiss in updating here. It’s been busy busy busy lately. Classes started on Sunday, and today ended my first week of teaching in Abu Dhabi. Here are a few of the many things I’ve learned this week, in no apparent order.
My students are wonderful.
I'm always nervous before the first day of school, especially before the very first day at a new school. And since it had been a very long time since I last started at a new school, and had never taught outside the US, I was extremely nervous. Would my students like me? Would they even understand me? Would I understand them? Could I remember their names? I had so many things to be nervous about. Today I can honestly say that I am not nervous any more.
Rather than feeling nervous, I feel incredibly lucky. I have a fantastic class of sixteen students. They are bright, beautiful young women, whose names I can (mostly) remember. (Give me a few more days and I’ll have them all.) And they all have a great sense of humor, as evidenced by their laughing at all my jokes. Most of my jokes.
People are people.
It doesn’t matter where you live, what language you speak, what clothes you wear – everybody everywhere has joy and despair, good days and bad, honor and respect. Of course, I knew this already. I’ve just had it reinforced.
Ramadan in a Muslim country is interesting, and sometimes difficult.
Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, began September 1st. In Ramada, Muslims fast during the daylight hours, abstaining from food, drink, tobacco, and other things. The dates for Ramadan shift in the Gregorian calendar because it is calculated in a lunar calendar. This year, it fell quite early in the year, so it is still very hot now. For example, the high temperature today in Abu Dhabi was 102° Fahrenheit; I think it was hotter than that yesterday. Imagine how hard it must be to work in this weather without eating or drinking!
During the month of Ramadan, people get up early to have a meal before sunrise. Shops and businesses open in the morning, then close for a few hours; most shops re-open around 7:00 or 8:00 pm, after sunset. For example, my school day is shortened; normally the school is open from 8:00 to 4:00; this month the hours are 9:00 to 2:30. After sunset, the fast is broken with a celebratory meal called an iftar.
Of course, non-Muslims are not required to fast; however, everyone is required to refrain from eating, drinking, or smoking in public during the daytime, and most restaurants are closed. Some Western hotels have a secluded, screened-off dining room for people who are not fasting. Similarly, in our school there are rooms set aside and screened from view for people to eat and drink if they want.
You might think that Ramadan is a nice break, and wish you could work from 9:00 to 2:30 every day. Let me assure that it’s not that great! I am still teaching the same number of hours that I will teach during the rest of the year; I simply have less time at work to prepare, mark papers, etc… Also, when I get home in the afternoon, I am very hungry and sometimes have a headache from dehydration. This is because, although I’m not fasting, there isn’t much time during the day to go to the special room for a drink or a snack.
Then, once I’m home and have had something to drink and eat (and sometimes a nap), there is nothing to do! Everything is closed, remember? Finally, when things do re-open, if you are without a car, you are out of luck. Last night around 7:00, a friend and I tried to go to a mall to do a bit of shopping and have a meal. We ended up back at our hotel because we couldn’t get a cab! All the drivers were at home having their iftar. I’m sure we could have found a taxi if we’d waited an hour or so, but we didn’t want to be at the mall until 10:00 or 11:00 pm because we have to get up and go to school in the morning.
I’m going to try again tonight.
*Ramadan Mubarek!
If you are interested in learning about Ramadan in the UAE, this is a good site: Ramadan Planner 2008. For more about Ramadan around the world, try this blog: Ramadan Kareem.
*Ramadan Kareem and Ramadan Mubarek loosely translate to Generous Ramadan and Blessed Ramadan, respectively.
Sorry I’ve been remiss in updating here. It’s been busy busy busy lately. Classes started on Sunday, and today ended my first week of teaching in Abu Dhabi. Here are a few of the many things I’ve learned this week, in no apparent order.
My students are wonderful.
I'm always nervous before the first day of school, especially before the very first day at a new school. And since it had been a very long time since I last started at a new school, and had never taught outside the US, I was extremely nervous. Would my students like me? Would they even understand me? Would I understand them? Could I remember their names? I had so many things to be nervous about. Today I can honestly say that I am not nervous any more.
Rather than feeling nervous, I feel incredibly lucky. I have a fantastic class of sixteen students. They are bright, beautiful young women, whose names I can (mostly) remember. (Give me a few more days and I’ll have them all.) And they all have a great sense of humor, as evidenced by their laughing at all my jokes. Most of my jokes.
People are people.
It doesn’t matter where you live, what language you speak, what clothes you wear – everybody everywhere has joy and despair, good days and bad, honor and respect. Of course, I knew this already. I’ve just had it reinforced.
Ramadan in a Muslim country is interesting, and sometimes difficult.
Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, began September 1st. In Ramada, Muslims fast during the daylight hours, abstaining from food, drink, tobacco, and other things. The dates for Ramadan shift in the Gregorian calendar because it is calculated in a lunar calendar. This year, it fell quite early in the year, so it is still very hot now. For example, the high temperature today in Abu Dhabi was 102° Fahrenheit; I think it was hotter than that yesterday. Imagine how hard it must be to work in this weather without eating or drinking!
During the month of Ramadan, people get up early to have a meal before sunrise. Shops and businesses open in the morning, then close for a few hours; most shops re-open around 7:00 or 8:00 pm, after sunset. For example, my school day is shortened; normally the school is open from 8:00 to 4:00; this month the hours are 9:00 to 2:30. After sunset, the fast is broken with a celebratory meal called an iftar.
Of course, non-Muslims are not required to fast; however, everyone is required to refrain from eating, drinking, or smoking in public during the daytime, and most restaurants are closed. Some Western hotels have a secluded, screened-off dining room for people who are not fasting. Similarly, in our school there are rooms set aside and screened from view for people to eat and drink if they want.
You might think that Ramadan is a nice break, and wish you could work from 9:00 to 2:30 every day. Let me assure that it’s not that great! I am still teaching the same number of hours that I will teach during the rest of the year; I simply have less time at work to prepare, mark papers, etc… Also, when I get home in the afternoon, I am very hungry and sometimes have a headache from dehydration. This is because, although I’m not fasting, there isn’t much time during the day to go to the special room for a drink or a snack.
Then, once I’m home and have had something to drink and eat (and sometimes a nap), there is nothing to do! Everything is closed, remember? Finally, when things do re-open, if you are without a car, you are out of luck. Last night around 7:00, a friend and I tried to go to a mall to do a bit of shopping and have a meal. We ended up back at our hotel because we couldn’t get a cab! All the drivers were at home having their iftar. I’m sure we could have found a taxi if we’d waited an hour or so, but we didn’t want to be at the mall until 10:00 or 11:00 pm because we have to get up and go to school in the morning.
I’m going to try again tonight.
*Ramadan Mubarek!
If you are interested in learning about Ramadan in the UAE, this is a good site: Ramadan Planner 2008. For more about Ramadan around the world, try this blog: Ramadan Kareem.
*Ramadan Kareem and Ramadan Mubarek loosely translate to Generous Ramadan and Blessed Ramadan, respectively.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Five Malls in Seven Days
Those of you who know me well will be surprised, perhaps even shocked, by this revelation: I’ve been shopping almost every day since I got here. Wow. Even I can’t quite believe it! Over the weekend (which is Friday and Saturday here), I bought a computer and some furniture. We now own a matched "suite" of bedroom furniture. I feel so grown up! No mattress yet; when I have to move in, I may be sleeping on the marble floor. At least it’s cool.
That’s something else that’s a bit surprising: me and the weather. It’s not that bad. Don’t get me wrong – it’s hot. Really hot. I never see the temperature displayed anywhere, but I heard a rumor of 43 or 44 Celsius last week. And the humidity in the evening is horrific. Even on the least humid days, when I walk outside, my sunglasses fog up completely; I really can’t wear them for a few minutes. A friend found out that camera lenses do the same…
Inside, however, some places are freezing! Even I was chilly last week at my school. The malls are lovely and cool, and even the simplest little shop is air conditioned, so it’s not that bad. Of course, my clothes are always damp, but I think I can handle it. And I’ve been told that the winter weather is really quite nice, so I’m looking forward to being able to sit outside at one of the hotel restaurants when it gets cool enough.
That still seems backwards to me, though…
What else have I learned? A partial list might include the following:
- I really like Lebanese food, which is a good thing because there’s lots of it here.
- Doritos in the UAE do not taste the same as Doritos in the USA. I will not be doing that again.
- Snickers are Snickers, though. And Kentucky Fried Chicken french fries are different, but nice. (Please note that I visited KFC at the request of a friend who fears the Filipino restaurant across the street because she is afraid that her food poisoning good karma is about to run out, although I was happy to do it!)
- Not being able to read Arabic bothers me a lot, much more than not being able to understand the spoken language. I need to learn to read very soon. My school will offer Arabic lessons for instructors after Ramadan, so I’m looking forward to that.
- One last thing – there are pianos in Abu Dhabi!
Today after work, a friend and I walked around for while, looking for an ATM. (They’re not in every other shop here as they are in the US. You usually need to find a bank or a big store or mall, especially if you’re using a foreign card.) In our wandering, we stumbled across a music shop! With pianos! Lots and lots of beautiful Yamaha pianos! I was so excited. I asked about delivery and tuning, and dehumidifiers. And I learned something else: These pianos don’t need dehumidifiers because they have been “tropicalized.” What a great idea. What a great word!
Now my brain is full of piano music….
That’s something else that’s a bit surprising: me and the weather. It’s not that bad. Don’t get me wrong – it’s hot. Really hot. I never see the temperature displayed anywhere, but I heard a rumor of 43 or 44 Celsius last week. And the humidity in the evening is horrific. Even on the least humid days, when I walk outside, my sunglasses fog up completely; I really can’t wear them for a few minutes. A friend found out that camera lenses do the same…
Inside, however, some places are freezing! Even I was chilly last week at my school. The malls are lovely and cool, and even the simplest little shop is air conditioned, so it’s not that bad. Of course, my clothes are always damp, but I think I can handle it. And I’ve been told that the winter weather is really quite nice, so I’m looking forward to being able to sit outside at one of the hotel restaurants when it gets cool enough.
That still seems backwards to me, though…
What else have I learned? A partial list might include the following:
- I really like Lebanese food, which is a good thing because there’s lots of it here.
- Doritos in the UAE do not taste the same as Doritos in the USA. I will not be doing that again.
- Snickers are Snickers, though. And Kentucky Fried Chicken french fries are different, but nice. (Please note that I visited KFC at the request of a friend who fears the Filipino restaurant across the street because she is afraid that her food poisoning good karma is about to run out, although I was happy to do it!)
- Not being able to read Arabic bothers me a lot, much more than not being able to understand the spoken language. I need to learn to read very soon. My school will offer Arabic lessons for instructors after Ramadan, so I’m looking forward to that.
- One last thing – there are pianos in Abu Dhabi!
Today after work, a friend and I walked around for while, looking for an ATM. (They’re not in every other shop here as they are in the US. You usually need to find a bank or a big store or mall, especially if you’re using a foreign card.) In our wandering, we stumbled across a music shop! With pianos! Lots and lots of beautiful Yamaha pianos! I was so excited. I asked about delivery and tuning, and dehumidifiers. And I learned something else: These pianos don’t need dehumidifiers because they have been “tropicalized.” What a great idea. What a great word!
Now my brain is full of piano music….
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Welcome to Abu Dhabi – My First Few Days
Welcome to Abu Dhabi – My First Few Days
9:30 pm, August 7, 2008
I’ve been here for 25 hours, now. I’ve found Ikea and Carrefours. And I’m tired. It took me hours yesterday to get a call through to Charles because I didn’t know that, for international calls, the city code is the area code. Of course, Etilisat’s (the phone company) computers were down, so their international operator couldn’t help me. Now I know…
It was extremely nice to have a service meet me at the airport and escort me through immigration and customs. I would have been an exhausted, confused mess by myself. My escort, Irene, was waiting around the corner when I got off the plane, with my name on a sign! How cool is that? LOL She led me right to my very first retina scan, too. (Yep, my eyes are on file.)
Getting off the plane and seeing armed military personnel (men) was a bit disconcerting; it’s not what I’m used to.
Backing up a bit (yes, very disorganized writing – I would mark my students down for this), the flights. All three of them were very good, fairly comfortable, but crowded. And making the connection at Heathrow was an absolute hell. First, I had to walk a long distance (at least 10 minutes brisk walking), then take a shuttle bus to a different terminal, followed by a security checkpoint. Allow me to interject with a bit of advice: do NOT fly with liquid hand sanitizer in your carry-on bags. Apparently, it causes some kind of test strip to turn an ominous color, indicating SOMETHING VERY BAD. All of my liquids were then checked (the rest were okay), and after my name, passport number, and where I was going were marked in a log book, I was allowed to proceed, sans sanitizer. After that, another hike (at least 10 minutes again) led to the 3rd from the farthest gate in the whole of Heathrow. Mine. Sigh. (Note: The family MUST NOT come this way.)
The flight from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi was a British Airways flight. It was good, with lots of good food. They fed us dinner (I passed on the lamb and went with chicken) and a snack, with sandwiches. And here I am, back in a world where ice in drinks is not a given; at least the flight attendant asked most of the time. Here, I’m not sure about. The soda fountain in Ikea didn’t have an ice dispenser, so…
I’ve also learned that not every cab driver in Abu Dhabi knows where my hotel (the Abu Dhabi Plaza) is. My first ride back from Ikea was quite an adventure, with my driver stopping at every light to ask other Pakistani cab drivers where it was. I tried really hard not to panic, and mostly succeeded.
As for the Abu Dhabi Plaza, it’s not really a hotel; it’s a short-term apartment rental place. Oops, flats, not apartments. Anyway, I have a one-bedroom flat, with a nice little kitchen. In the living room is a lovely flat-screen tv that I was unable to operate; finally, I called for help, and the “electrician” came up and turned it and the satellite on for me. Now I’m afraid to turn it off. I asked him for an adaptor for the iron (provided by them) plug, which didn’t fit the one socket in the bedroom. I’m still waiting for it. (NOTE: Bought my own on my second trip to Ikea.)
Let’s see (very informal writing style), food. I’m eating in the hotel restaurant, and the food was good, but I have no idea how much I’m spending. There’s no menu (the restaurant is just getting up and running), so the chef just came out and told me what he had, after the waiter and I failed to communicate. (NOTE: It was much too expensive – won’t be doing that again.)
I’m still figuring out the money; when I was at Carrefour’s (grocery store), I was getting a little sticker-shocked by the cost of things, but in retrospect (and with calculator in hand), I see that it wasn’t that bad. For example, one can of Pepsi was 0.90 UAD (dirham), which is about $0.30, so…I can buy another can. LOL
I’ve figured out the numbers by the dirhams, which have English on one side and Arabic on the other. I’d rather be able to read both sides, in a money-paying or change-receiving situation. Although the money is color-coded, so I guess I can handle it no matter which side is up. Maybe.
Prices. I’d heard that books and magazines were expensive here. They are. A People magazine was over $7, which is fairly expensive and rather irrelevant as I don’t read People, but it was familiar. I didn’t look at anything else.
~~~
Everyone keeps asking me where I’m from. I don’t know if it’s just me, of if that is typical here, as most people in the UAE are from somewhere else (about 80% ex-pats). One gentleman in the hotel lift (elevator to you Americans, haha) just looked at me and said, “Italian?” When I said, “American,” he got flustered and said, “Oh, sorry!” I’m not sure what for…
~~~
9:30 pm, Saturday, August 9, 2008
After I wrote the above, I met another American – the first one so far. I was writing in the hotel restaurant, and heard a familiar accent, so I turned around and invited her to join me. She will be teaching with me at ECAE. We sat and chatted for a while, then met yesterday and went to Ikea and Carrefour’s. Yes, again. I’m the expert now! LOL
She brought her computer, and that’s what I’m using to type this up. It’s a Mac, so I’m confused and hitting all the wrong function keys. I just hope I can cut and paste without deleting this whole thing! Please note, too, that I don’t know how to run the spell-check. (I’ve just figured out that it’s “command+S,” ect., rather than “control+S.” My friend’s just bought this thing, so she didn’t know either!)
I’ve now had Philippine food and Indian food, but no Arabic food. Well, I bought my own flatbread and hummus (terrible – do NOT buy canned hummus), and had that and cucumbers and tomatoes for lunch today; that may count. Oh, cucumbers! I couldn’t believe the price; they came to abour 24 cents a pound! I’ll be eating lots of those! I imagine that, if I’m going to get sick (knock on wood), tonight will be it. I ate tomatoes, which are mostly water, and drank a Pepsi with ice at dinner, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
I’ve actually been eating in a lot. I bought some kind of cheese spread the other day, and it’s good on flatbread. Of course I bought a pitcher, tea, and sugar, and made iced tea. I have instant coffee (bleh), and yesterday I bought some “puck cream” to put in it, rather than the milk I’ve been using. This morning, I opened said “puck cream” (which comes in a small can, with a pull-top), to discover a semi-solid, quivering mass of whatever puck cream is. Yes, I put some in my coffee. No, it did not work. I poured it out, made another cup with milk again, and wrapped up the puck cream until such time as I can figure out what the hell it is and what to do with it.
Thursday night, I could NOT sleep. I went to bed around 11:00, and lay there until 5:30, when I gave up. Periodically I got up, looked out the window, drank some water, tried to read, watched tv, tried to write, but mostly I just lay there. Bleh. Then last night (Friday), I was so tired, but I made myself stay up until around 10:00, and went to bed, setting my alarm for 6:00. When it went off, I got up, turned it off, went back to bed, and slept until 10:00! So I guess I was tired. Now I feel fine; I think I’ve acclimated to the time.
Tomorrow (Sunday, which, remember, is like Monday here), we go to the school for the first time and meet everyone. I’m very excited, but don’t feel comfortable with the clothes I have to wear. I forgot my suit back in the States, and when I went out looking this afternoon, admittedly only in a couple of shops in the immediate vicinity, I was unable to find anything that was not shiny. I may have to start wearing shiny stuff. The horror…
9:30 pm, August 7, 2008
I’ve been here for 25 hours, now. I’ve found Ikea and Carrefours. And I’m tired. It took me hours yesterday to get a call through to Charles because I didn’t know that, for international calls, the city code is the area code. Of course, Etilisat’s (the phone company) computers were down, so their international operator couldn’t help me. Now I know…
It was extremely nice to have a service meet me at the airport and escort me through immigration and customs. I would have been an exhausted, confused mess by myself. My escort, Irene, was waiting around the corner when I got off the plane, with my name on a sign! How cool is that? LOL She led me right to my very first retina scan, too. (Yep, my eyes are on file.)
Getting off the plane and seeing armed military personnel (men) was a bit disconcerting; it’s not what I’m used to.
Backing up a bit (yes, very disorganized writing – I would mark my students down for this), the flights. All three of them were very good, fairly comfortable, but crowded. And making the connection at Heathrow was an absolute hell. First, I had to walk a long distance (at least 10 minutes brisk walking), then take a shuttle bus to a different terminal, followed by a security checkpoint. Allow me to interject with a bit of advice: do NOT fly with liquid hand sanitizer in your carry-on bags. Apparently, it causes some kind of test strip to turn an ominous color, indicating SOMETHING VERY BAD. All of my liquids were then checked (the rest were okay), and after my name, passport number, and where I was going were marked in a log book, I was allowed to proceed, sans sanitizer. After that, another hike (at least 10 minutes again) led to the 3rd from the farthest gate in the whole of Heathrow. Mine. Sigh. (Note: The family MUST NOT come this way.)
The flight from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi was a British Airways flight. It was good, with lots of good food. They fed us dinner (I passed on the lamb and went with chicken) and a snack, with sandwiches. And here I am, back in a world where ice in drinks is not a given; at least the flight attendant asked most of the time. Here, I’m not sure about. The soda fountain in Ikea didn’t have an ice dispenser, so…
I’ve also learned that not every cab driver in Abu Dhabi knows where my hotel (the Abu Dhabi Plaza) is. My first ride back from Ikea was quite an adventure, with my driver stopping at every light to ask other Pakistani cab drivers where it was. I tried really hard not to panic, and mostly succeeded.
As for the Abu Dhabi Plaza, it’s not really a hotel; it’s a short-term apartment rental place. Oops, flats, not apartments. Anyway, I have a one-bedroom flat, with a nice little kitchen. In the living room is a lovely flat-screen tv that I was unable to operate; finally, I called for help, and the “electrician” came up and turned it and the satellite on for me. Now I’m afraid to turn it off. I asked him for an adaptor for the iron (provided by them) plug, which didn’t fit the one socket in the bedroom. I’m still waiting for it. (NOTE: Bought my own on my second trip to Ikea.)
Let’s see (very informal writing style), food. I’m eating in the hotel restaurant, and the food was good, but I have no idea how much I’m spending. There’s no menu (the restaurant is just getting up and running), so the chef just came out and told me what he had, after the waiter and I failed to communicate. (NOTE: It was much too expensive – won’t be doing that again.)
I’m still figuring out the money; when I was at Carrefour’s (grocery store), I was getting a little sticker-shocked by the cost of things, but in retrospect (and with calculator in hand), I see that it wasn’t that bad. For example, one can of Pepsi was 0.90 UAD (dirham), which is about $0.30, so…I can buy another can. LOL
I’ve figured out the numbers by the dirhams, which have English on one side and Arabic on the other. I’d rather be able to read both sides, in a money-paying or change-receiving situation. Although the money is color-coded, so I guess I can handle it no matter which side is up. Maybe.
Prices. I’d heard that books and magazines were expensive here. They are. A People magazine was over $7, which is fairly expensive and rather irrelevant as I don’t read People, but it was familiar. I didn’t look at anything else.
~~~
Everyone keeps asking me where I’m from. I don’t know if it’s just me, of if that is typical here, as most people in the UAE are from somewhere else (about 80% ex-pats). One gentleman in the hotel lift (elevator to you Americans, haha) just looked at me and said, “Italian?” When I said, “American,” he got flustered and said, “Oh, sorry!” I’m not sure what for…
~~~
9:30 pm, Saturday, August 9, 2008
After I wrote the above, I met another American – the first one so far. I was writing in the hotel restaurant, and heard a familiar accent, so I turned around and invited her to join me. She will be teaching with me at ECAE. We sat and chatted for a while, then met yesterday and went to Ikea and Carrefour’s. Yes, again. I’m the expert now! LOL
She brought her computer, and that’s what I’m using to type this up. It’s a Mac, so I’m confused and hitting all the wrong function keys. I just hope I can cut and paste without deleting this whole thing! Please note, too, that I don’t know how to run the spell-check. (I’ve just figured out that it’s “command+S,” ect., rather than “control+S.” My friend’s just bought this thing, so she didn’t know either!)
I’ve now had Philippine food and Indian food, but no Arabic food. Well, I bought my own flatbread and hummus (terrible – do NOT buy canned hummus), and had that and cucumbers and tomatoes for lunch today; that may count. Oh, cucumbers! I couldn’t believe the price; they came to abour 24 cents a pound! I’ll be eating lots of those! I imagine that, if I’m going to get sick (knock on wood), tonight will be it. I ate tomatoes, which are mostly water, and drank a Pepsi with ice at dinner, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
I’ve actually been eating in a lot. I bought some kind of cheese spread the other day, and it’s good on flatbread. Of course I bought a pitcher, tea, and sugar, and made iced tea. I have instant coffee (bleh), and yesterday I bought some “puck cream” to put in it, rather than the milk I’ve been using. This morning, I opened said “puck cream” (which comes in a small can, with a pull-top), to discover a semi-solid, quivering mass of whatever puck cream is. Yes, I put some in my coffee. No, it did not work. I poured it out, made another cup with milk again, and wrapped up the puck cream until such time as I can figure out what the hell it is and what to do with it.
Thursday night, I could NOT sleep. I went to bed around 11:00, and lay there until 5:30, when I gave up. Periodically I got up, looked out the window, drank some water, tried to read, watched tv, tried to write, but mostly I just lay there. Bleh. Then last night (Friday), I was so tired, but I made myself stay up until around 10:00, and went to bed, setting my alarm for 6:00. When it went off, I got up, turned it off, went back to bed, and slept until 10:00! So I guess I was tired. Now I feel fine; I think I’ve acclimated to the time.
Tomorrow (Sunday, which, remember, is like Monday here), we go to the school for the first time and meet everyone. I’m very excited, but don’t feel comfortable with the clothes I have to wear. I forgot my suit back in the States, and when I went out looking this afternoon, admittedly only in a couple of shops in the immediate vicinity, I was unable to find anything that was not shiny. I may have to start wearing shiny stuff. The horror…
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
prose poem
I won't post many poems here, mostly for copyright reasons. Here's one I got (wrote) a couple of days ago at a freewrite in Milton, Delaware. And I have to say goodbye to Carol, who is a good friend and a gentle teacher.
Conversations on departure
I have to say goodbye to many. I realize I've said goodbye before, too much. Some I’ve seen again, most I haven’t. I’ve seen the ones I want to see. I’m the person who can get pissed off, hang up, and never speak to you again. I like to go away. Leaving makes me happy. I left my parents for the army, scared and sarcastic. I left the army for college, older, maybe smarter, still sarcastic. I left college for California, and years later reversed right back to the East Coast, right back through time. It felt like an adventure every single time. I liked every single mile. I liked saying goodbye. You'd think I'd be sad. You'd think I'd be afraid. But I like to go. I like to say goodbye. I like it.
Conversations on departure
I have to say goodbye to many. I realize I've said goodbye before, too much. Some I’ve seen again, most I haven’t. I’ve seen the ones I want to see. I’m the person who can get pissed off, hang up, and never speak to you again. I like to go away. Leaving makes me happy. I left my parents for the army, scared and sarcastic. I left the army for college, older, maybe smarter, still sarcastic. I left college for California, and years later reversed right back to the East Coast, right back through time. It felt like an adventure every single time. I liked every single mile. I liked saying goodbye. You'd think I'd be sad. You'd think I'd be afraid. But I like to go. I like to say goodbye. I like it.
My new school is in the news.
My school in Abu Dhabi holds its first gradution Thursday, June 12, 2008. You can read the story here: ECAE graduation.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
My Fatal Flaw
Procrastination. There it is for everyone to see. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with everything I need to do that I just do nothing. Or I read. Reading has always been my comfortable place. It’s so hard for me to close a book without having finished it, so usually, if I have something I need to do, it’s better to not even start reading.
The opposite happened with The Great Gatsby. I was supposed to read it last month (really, I decided to read it), and I coerced my sister, Karen, into reading it with me. She said she had hated it in high school, but she would read it with me, and then went out and convinced some of her friends to read it, too. So the month ended, and Karen was the only one who read it! (Well done, Karen.) I got so bogged down in the beauty of the language that I had to keep stopping and making notes and stealing lines for poems. I was carrying it around everywhere with me for a couple of weeks, and reading a paragraph or two at a time, but eventually I had to lighten my purse and took it out. Now I can’t find it. It’s somewhere in the maw of my house, where we’re getting ready for a yard sale and a realtor’s visit, so you can imagine the craziness. That’s not the only book that I can’t find.
Eventually, I’ll find The Great Gatsby and finish it. Maybe on the plane to Abu Dhabi!
The opposite happened with The Great Gatsby. I was supposed to read it last month (really, I decided to read it), and I coerced my sister, Karen, into reading it with me. She said she had hated it in high school, but she would read it with me, and then went out and convinced some of her friends to read it, too. So the month ended, and Karen was the only one who read it! (Well done, Karen.) I got so bogged down in the beauty of the language that I had to keep stopping and making notes and stealing lines for poems. I was carrying it around everywhere with me for a couple of weeks, and reading a paragraph or two at a time, but eventually I had to lighten my purse and took it out. Now I can’t find it. It’s somewhere in the maw of my house, where we’re getting ready for a yard sale and a realtor’s visit, so you can imagine the craziness. That’s not the only book that I can’t find.
Eventually, I’ll find The Great Gatsby and finish it. Maybe on the plane to Abu Dhabi!
Monday, May 12, 2008
The Next Steps
Happy Mother’s Day to Kay and Fran and all the other great moms!
Last week was tough. I finished classes at both schools. I had been teaching at Polytech for seven years and DelTech for six. That’s the longest time I’ve ever stayed in the same job (or jobs). I’ll be back to both this summer: to Polytech for graduation, and to DelTech to teach a summer class. Still, it was weird walking out of the buildings after my last classes. We had planned a big picnic Saturday for students, past and present, from both schools, but it was been cold and rainy all morning, so it has been postponed until next weekend.
I had my first Arabic lesson last week, too. (Thanks, Fatima!) It was sobering. Because I am a visual learner, I really need to see something written down before I can understand it. However, I have no comprehension of the Arabic writing system, so I can’t see things written down. This means that I will have a huge learning curve at the beginning of the process, but once I master the script, I’ll be okay. (If you’re interested in learning more about the Arabic language, Omniglot.com seems good.) Charles will do better at first because he learns very well from spoken language. Of course, Paul will sound like a native within a year!
Of course I have a lot of other things to do this summer besides learning a new language. Now that school is done, I’ll have more time to do everything. We need to sell the house, the cars, and most of the other stuff we’ve accumulated over the ten years we’ve lived on the East Coast. We’ll have two garage sales: one in the next week or so, and one in late July, just before we leave.
In addition to selling stuff, I will be dealing with paperwork. A lot of paperwork. I've passed the security check for my new job. Now I have to gather documents and get them attested (something like authentication) by the State Department. I plan to just take everything to Washington myself, if possible. That seems simpler and safer than sending all our official documents through the mail.
We’ve also been looking for a school for Paul, but it’s incredibly difficult to evaluate a school from however thousands of miles away we are. We’re really hoping Charles and Paul can both find places at the same school, though, which would reduce or eliminate tuition. We are playing this one by ear…
Last week was tough. I finished classes at both schools. I had been teaching at Polytech for seven years and DelTech for six. That’s the longest time I’ve ever stayed in the same job (or jobs). I’ll be back to both this summer: to Polytech for graduation, and to DelTech to teach a summer class. Still, it was weird walking out of the buildings after my last classes. We had planned a big picnic Saturday for students, past and present, from both schools, but it was been cold and rainy all morning, so it has been postponed until next weekend.
I had my first Arabic lesson last week, too. (Thanks, Fatima!) It was sobering. Because I am a visual learner, I really need to see something written down before I can understand it. However, I have no comprehension of the Arabic writing system, so I can’t see things written down. This means that I will have a huge learning curve at the beginning of the process, but once I master the script, I’ll be okay. (If you’re interested in learning more about the Arabic language, Omniglot.com seems good.) Charles will do better at first because he learns very well from spoken language. Of course, Paul will sound like a native within a year!
Of course I have a lot of other things to do this summer besides learning a new language. Now that school is done, I’ll have more time to do everything. We need to sell the house, the cars, and most of the other stuff we’ve accumulated over the ten years we’ve lived on the East Coast. We’ll have two garage sales: one in the next week or so, and one in late July, just before we leave.
In addition to selling stuff, I will be dealing with paperwork. A lot of paperwork. I've passed the security check for my new job. Now I have to gather documents and get them attested (something like authentication) by the State Department. I plan to just take everything to Washington myself, if possible. That seems simpler and safer than sending all our official documents through the mail.
We’ve also been looking for a school for Paul, but it’s incredibly difficult to evaluate a school from however thousands of miles away we are. We’re really hoping Charles and Paul can both find places at the same school, though, which would reduce or eliminate tuition. We are playing this one by ear…
Thursday, May 1, 2008
You're going WHERE?
A lot of people don't know much about Abu Dhabi or the United Arab Emirates. Here are a few links. The ones that I like the most are the BBC News and the Gulf News. Enjoy!
First, BBC News has a nice overview.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/737620.stm
The Emirates Network also has some maps and information.
http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/maps/uae_world.php
Here are a few UAE newspapers. Warning: While I was reading one of these papers (I'm not sure which), a matrimonial service pop-up got through.
I've mostly read the Gulf News. Their website is kind of frenetic. http://www.gulfnews.com/home/
7 Days: http://www.7days.ae/
Al Arabia: http://www.alarabiya.net/english/
Khaleej Times: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/index00.asp
First, BBC News has a nice overview.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/737620.stm
The Emirates Network also has some maps and information.
http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/maps/uae_world.php
Here are a few UAE newspapers. Warning: While I was reading one of these papers (I'm not sure which), a matrimonial service pop-up got through.
I've mostly read the Gulf News. Their website is kind of frenetic. http://www.gulfnews.com/home/
7 Days: http://www.7days.ae/
Al Arabia: http://www.alarabiya.net/english/
Khaleej Times: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/index00.asp
Decision Making
A few people have asked me what made me decide to go to Abu Dhabi. It was simple, really. I needed a change – in job, in lifestyle, in location.
I have made several life-changing decisions in my life, as have most people. Mine tend to involve really big life changes, like moving cross-country, or to another country, or joining the Army, which I did when I was seventeen years old. Some people may have thought that was a precipitous decision, but that was far from the truth. It was 1983, jobs were hard to find, and I had no money for college. The best option for me at that time was the military. I did realize that there was always a chance of war; anyone who joins the military without keeping that in mind hasn’t thought things through. And while I may not have discussed my decision-making process with friends and family, there was a process.
There is still a process. After living in Delaware for several years, I realized that the best opportunities were elsewhere, so I started looking there. Because the US economy was not promising and because I wanted to live abroad again, I searched the world for the places that had the most jobs, best opportunities, and highest salaries. Next, I looked into opportunities for my husband, Charles, to teach, and good schools and support for my son. And then I thought about what the most different, most exciting place to live would be. All of my research led me inexorably to the Persian Gulf countries, so I applied and interviewed for several positions in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.
Months ago I told my family I was looking for jobs in that part of the world, but I’m not sure they believed me. I guess they do now.
So now that I’ve accepted a position, I have to get myself and my family (including Trouble, The World’s Most Patient Cat) to another continent. The last time I left the United States, the US Army took care of the logistics; this time it’s all up to me. This time I have property to deal with (a house, cars, furniture, thousands of books, televisions, dishes, and other trappings of American domesticity). I remember when the Army sent me to California, I had one duffel bag and a purse with my uniforms, a pair of flip-flops, and one John Lennon t-shirt. I can’t even think about all I have now. Most of it is not going with us. It’s not necessary.
I haven’t had much time to think about anything beyond getting there, finding a place to live, learning my way around, and starting work. But the real challenge will be learning the culture and being patient with things that may not immediately make sense to me. I want to learn Arabic although I’m told that it’s not necessary and that most people speak English. I don’t care; I don’t want to live in a place and not learn the language. I’m ashamed I didn’t learn more German when I lived in Germany. It wasn’t necessary, but necessity is not the point. The point is to learn something – anything – new. The point is to know more languages. The point is to expand my understanding of second language acquisition. The point is to build empathy for my students. The point is to be a better person.
That’s my real goal.
I have made several life-changing decisions in my life, as have most people. Mine tend to involve really big life changes, like moving cross-country, or to another country, or joining the Army, which I did when I was seventeen years old. Some people may have thought that was a precipitous decision, but that was far from the truth. It was 1983, jobs were hard to find, and I had no money for college. The best option for me at that time was the military. I did realize that there was always a chance of war; anyone who joins the military without keeping that in mind hasn’t thought things through. And while I may not have discussed my decision-making process with friends and family, there was a process.
There is still a process. After living in Delaware for several years, I realized that the best opportunities were elsewhere, so I started looking there. Because the US economy was not promising and because I wanted to live abroad again, I searched the world for the places that had the most jobs, best opportunities, and highest salaries. Next, I looked into opportunities for my husband, Charles, to teach, and good schools and support for my son. And then I thought about what the most different, most exciting place to live would be. All of my research led me inexorably to the Persian Gulf countries, so I applied and interviewed for several positions in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.
Months ago I told my family I was looking for jobs in that part of the world, but I’m not sure they believed me. I guess they do now.
So now that I’ve accepted a position, I have to get myself and my family (including Trouble, The World’s Most Patient Cat) to another continent. The last time I left the United States, the US Army took care of the logistics; this time it’s all up to me. This time I have property to deal with (a house, cars, furniture, thousands of books, televisions, dishes, and other trappings of American domesticity). I remember when the Army sent me to California, I had one duffel bag and a purse with my uniforms, a pair of flip-flops, and one John Lennon t-shirt. I can’t even think about all I have now. Most of it is not going with us. It’s not necessary.
I haven’t had much time to think about anything beyond getting there, finding a place to live, learning my way around, and starting work. But the real challenge will be learning the culture and being patient with things that may not immediately make sense to me. I want to learn Arabic although I’m told that it’s not necessary and that most people speak English. I don’t care; I don’t want to live in a place and not learn the language. I’m ashamed I didn’t learn more German when I lived in Germany. It wasn’t necessary, but necessity is not the point. The point is to learn something – anything – new. The point is to know more languages. The point is to expand my understanding of second language acquisition. The point is to build empathy for my students. The point is to be a better person.
That’s my real goal.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Welcome
Welcome to my blog! My name is Julie Riddlebarger (hence the blog's title), and I am a teacher of English as a Second Language. I am also a writer.
This is my first blog, and I'm creating it for my friends, family, and students to keep in touch with me as I begin my international teaching journey. I am moving with my family to Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates) in August 2008 to teach English in a new college there. (I will check with the school about their policies for naming the institution in blogs.) That is less than four months from now, and we have a lot to do.
I will be posting here, on no regular schedule, to share my experiences preparing to move, getting settled in a new country and culture, teaching in another country, and anything else that comes to mind!
This is my first blog, and I'm creating it for my friends, family, and students to keep in touch with me as I begin my international teaching journey. I am moving with my family to Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates) in August 2008 to teach English in a new college there. (I will check with the school about their policies for naming the institution in blogs.) That is less than four months from now, and we have a lot to do.
I will be posting here, on no regular schedule, to share my experiences preparing to move, getting settled in a new country and culture, teaching in another country, and anything else that comes to mind!
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