My first experience of training Abu Dhabi style

Yesterday I ran my first training course here in Abu Dhabi 'marketing skills for recruiters' for the recruitment and admissions team at the Emirates College for Advanced Education. This was part one and I'm doing part two next Monday.
As you can imagine I was extremely nervous - I always get nervous about training, even at work comms where I knew everyone, but this was a whole new ball game. As I was driving in I wanted to turn and run home and explore life as a lady of leisure. However, I done lots of prep as ever, with folders of notes, slides and of course, lots of flip charts and the material is, after all, pretty familiar.
With a new team and a different culture it's hard to know how people will learn and how receptive they'd be to my way of thinking. However, I was lucky enough to be able to have a coffee with my friend Liz, who actually runs a training company here and has oodles of experience into how Emiratis like to learn. She certainly put my mind more at rest as she suggested all the things which I like to do.
Well it seems to have gone down well with the team and I enjoyed it very much indeed. I would say they were a joy to work with - they really engaged with the exercises and got stuck in with the pens, flip charts and sticky stuff. Before long the walls were papered with pictures, ideas and drawings. They had some great thoughts on recruiting students and marketing the college and asked lots of questions. I got some real insight into student motivation and the likely barriers.
We had prizes and goody bags at the end and all in all I would say it was a success from both sides.
We took some photos which I hope to add onto the blog when I get copies of them.
Today I spent the day writing up the material from yesterday, setting home work exercies and drawing up the slides and flip charts for next week with renewed vigour.
I am looking forward to next week's session and feel confident enough to include the cake making exercise which I have shied away from recently in the UK on the grounds that everyone has got way to cynical for such things.
If working with Emiratis is always this much fun then I think I shall enjoy it!