Episode # 8- I fought the bureaucracy

Moving to any new country involves the usual frustrations. Today i fought the bureaucracy.. and I may have won this round.  

During the our orientation our excellent superintendent said  "you will reach a point in your stay.. after the honeymoon stage, when you start to get annoyed about how difficult things can sometimes be". Why must I wait in line for 20 minutes to use an atm?  why is it so difficult to buy beer at the store? and why do you need a 4 passport photos and an expensive eye test for a drivers license?  To myself I thought.  That won't be me.  I will be calm and level headed.. there are cultural differences that are part of the "way things are" and you just have to deal with them. 

Flash forward 6 weeks. I had just been on the phone with HSBC bank for about the 10th time explaining that it was impossible for me to transfer money on my online banking. This, after patiently waiting in the line at the bank, handing my documents over, completing the "transfer approval form" etc. etc.  after yelling into the phone.. my colleague Amy, possibly the nicest person on the planet says to me "problems with the bank?"  she must have heard me yelling through the walls.  uhhh, yeah... i have to go to the branch again... this will be trip #5.   deep breath. 

I apologize to all the lovely phone operators for HSBC bank who are in India and kindly put up with my upset tone.. I may have been partially annoyed by the fact that I went to the Drivers license place last saturday after checking the website 3 times to see that they would be open... Closed.  90lb security gaurd from pakistan... I didn't mean to look so disgusted when you kindly wiggled your head in a strange yes/no motion ...  and said "closed... open tomorrow"   

So I went to the bank today... and after 25 minutes of sitting at the desk. The man fixed my bank account... YES.. I am winning. Ha.  4 days and it will be working. 

Next, I went to pick up my "alcoholic drinks license" This is the little card I must carry with me in order to buy alcohol at select discreetly-located stores. The card allows me to buy a certain value of alcohol every month. This value is measured by how much I earn. I suppose this is to stop you from spending your ENTIRE paycheck on booze. But they don't ask to see the card at the hotel bars.. therefore it IS indeed possible to spend your entire paycheck on booze.   Jenn is not allowed to have a little red card. Being that she is my wife, I must be with her (with my little red card) for her to buy alcohol.  This will stop my wife from going on wild drinking sprees without me  :)   

Dear gentle Ethiopian man at the liquor store.  I did not mean to be ornery and look so upset when you said you could not find my little red card...I brought my passport photos, work permit, passport copy, letter from my employer, and 100 dirham fee several weeks ago.   Someone called me 3 days ago and said you would have it here waiting for me.  I was merely admiring your fine collection of expensive alcohol .. I don't care that it's taxed at 30%... so close... yet so far. the cooler full of ice cold australian beer was mocking me. what do you mean you don't have my little red card?   I just need the little red card.  Ahhhhrrgggg.

Sir?  is your name Mr. Robbie? 

Yes, you can call me Mr. Robbie. 

Ah.. yes Mr. Robbie. It is here...

and then suddenly from a worn file folder hidden behind the counter.... it appeared.

victory..


 

Sweaty lads in the desert

Last Friday I played in a 6 v 6 soccer tournament and after losing in the group stage. We went into the conciliation round and ended up winning the 'plate division"  on the final penalty kick. However, the plate looked more like a tea saucer.  played seven 20 minute games starting at noon ending at 7:45pm. never sweated so much in my life, or drank so much water.

It was pretty hilarious watching how seriously many of the teams were with full uniforms, coaches etc. Our team managed to get 5 yellow cards... one of which was during a game we weren't even playing in!  During the Cup final top division we laughed at a guy who was called for diving... and subsequently he scored, ran over to the sideline where we were sitting and pull his pants down and mooned us while dancing the emirate jib....for which he was given another yellow card. HA! 

  We celebrated our victorious day with KFC, rum and beer.   attached is the rag tag crew post victory. well played lads.

All is well otherwise.  We just skyped with Minh (jenn's maid of honor) and she and micheal are coming to see us in May for 4 days.

Episode # 7- The start to the school year.

The school year has gotten off to a fast start.  On the first day cavalcade of SUV's lined the road leading to the school and 2,300 students joined DAA for the first day of school.  There was a definite buzz in the air with lots of hugs in the hallways as students,(most of who spent the summer in their home nations) met up again and shared stories of their summer adventures.

The students at DAA are literally from all over the world and Jenn and I feel happy about being at a school that is truly an international school, whereas some "international schools" are made up of a mostly local students etc. There seems to be a good amount of students from Lebanon, Holland, Pakistan, and of course the US.  Most our dual passport holders and speak another language at home but have been studying in English their entire lives. 

Given that I do counseling at the school, part of my duties is scheduling students into their classes. So starting on day one to about the middle of the second week, our office had a line out the door of students waiting to get their schedules changed. I therefore met about 45 kids a day for 5 or 10 minutes and got a quick synopsis of their lives in Dubai and family background. 

Our weekends so far have been filled with dinners out at really nice restaurants with other teachers, getting sorted out with bank accounts and "alcohol licences", and other paper work stuff that needs to be done, and occasional trips to the shops to get our apartment set up.  Getting internet at the apartment has been a big step for us... it's amazing how addicted we are to checking email and looking things up on the internet.   We also got cable television in the apartment..but after about 10 minutes of scrolling through, we realized that most of the channels are in arabic and feature lots of strange music videos.  Purchasing the channel that gets the English Premiership soccer will double the rate on our cable. ugh. oh well, I guess i'll be forced to go to the local hotel bar which shows the games.

We have been doing a little bit of training for an upcoming 10K in Abu Dhabi which we are looking forward to in November. We did make the mistake of running at about mid day last weekend and almost melting into the pavement. bad move.  This was the moment when I wished I was at Indian Lake with cool air and the leaves changing colors.

All in all, we are really enjoying our new lives here.  The school is great and it's so incredibly convenient living so close to school and the shops that surround us here.  We can go surfing at the beach, skiing on the fake mountain, eat at a nice restaurant, or lounge by a pool all within a ten minute walk or taxi.  It's easy to see why so many of the teachers have stayed here at DAA for so long. It's hard to leave a good thing I think.  There is also a buzz to Dubai that holds similarities to London or New York.  It's exciting living somewhere where new buildings are popping up, great restaurants are constantly opening, and of course... living tax free adds a degree of happiness to everyone here. 

Other than our plans for Abu Dhabi, we are also planning our holiday break to Thailand where we'll be meeting Jenn's mom for 2 weeks traveling in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.  very excited for that. 

That's all for now.  We miss everyone back home and hope all is well.