On November 17th, John gave a key note address at the Masdar summit 'Exploring Masdar, the sustainable economy and Abu Dhabi 2009' to an audience of over 400 business people, government and media.
Thursday 26 November 2009
Masdar summit
On November 17th, John gave a key note address at the Masdar summit 'Exploring Masdar, the sustainable economy and Abu Dhabi 2009' to an audience of over 400 business people, government and media.
Wednesday 25 November 2009
My first National Day celebrations
National Day is the day when Emiratis celebrate the founding of their country and, at just 38 years old, it's still a living memory for many people and they certainly do it in style. National Day itself is December 2nd, but as that falls in the middle of the Eid holiday, everyone has an extended break and celebrates in their schools and offices on the last day before the holiday. With the exception of Masdar who did it on Sunday for some reason!
Emirates College for Advanced Education had an amazing celebration and the college was completely decked out in red, green, white and black, the colours of the national flag. I went along with an I love UAE wristband and lapel badge but decided not to wear the scarf which J had brought home, complete with the Sheikh's photo, however everyone else was completely done up with scarves, tinsel and all manner of colour themed outfits. The ladies looked amazing in their best Abayas and the guys had decorated their cars.
After a lot of early rushing around to get some work done, the day started in the auditorium which had been decked out and we were all given wristbands and coloured balloons. We had the Emirati national anthem and pictures of the late Sheikh Zsyed, the father of the nation and the one who decided to use the oil revenues to create a world leading nation as well as the current leader, Sheikh Khalifa and the Crown Prince (who John met on Sunday), Sheikh Mohammed. The VC said a few words. Interestingly enough Masdar City featured large in his address and everyone asked if I'd written his speech!
The students made patriotic theatrical presenations (in Arabic so I was relying on the pictures to work out that they were about the country's history and vision) and played various games.
It was really humbling to see the younger generation's passion for their country and pride in their very brief heritage. I can't imagine an audiorium of undergraduates cheering in the UK every time their was a mention of the Royal Family! Amazingly it all kept to time so, when the stick dancers came on I had to beat a hasty retreat to get changed for my role in the event.
Several Faculty ladies took part in a fashion show - Abayas and the more flamboyant Jalabayas, which are worn for weddings and special occasions. I managed to sashay about the stage without falling over either garment and it was well received by the students. Both outfits were beautiful but, for a simple routine, it was quite a nerve wracking experience. However I waved my Emirati flag with aplomb as the two students finished the show with beautiful wedding outfits.
After this we went outside to watch the military band perform and watch people riding camels and horses.
Everyone repaired to the courtyard for tradiational food, music, stalls, more stick dancing and a dessert in the form of the national flag. I'm afraid at this stage I mainly watched from my office window and, although the Arabic music lent great ambience to the occasion it was quite nice when it stopped! However, everyone else must have been enjoying similar celebrations as no-one called or I would have had to shout over the music.
All in all it was a tremendous experience and a touching one to see a young nation so clearly proud of what they have achieved in a very short time.
Emirates College for Advanced Education had an amazing celebration and the college was completely decked out in red, green, white and black, the colours of the national flag. I went along with an I love UAE wristband and lapel badge but decided not to wear the scarf which J had brought home, complete with the Sheikh's photo, however everyone else was completely done up with scarves, tinsel and all manner of colour themed outfits. The ladies looked amazing in their best Abayas and the guys had decorated their cars.
After a lot of early rushing around to get some work done, the day started in the auditorium which had been decked out and we were all given wristbands and coloured balloons. We had the Emirati national anthem and pictures of the late Sheikh Zsyed, the father of the nation and the one who decided to use the oil revenues to create a world leading nation as well as the current leader, Sheikh Khalifa and the Crown Prince (who John met on Sunday), Sheikh Mohammed. The VC said a few words. Interestingly enough Masdar City featured large in his address and everyone asked if I'd written his speech!
The students made patriotic theatrical presenations (in Arabic so I was relying on the pictures to work out that they were about the country's history and vision) and played various games.
It was really humbling to see the younger generation's passion for their country and pride in their very brief heritage. I can't imagine an audiorium of undergraduates cheering in the UK every time their was a mention of the Royal Family! Amazingly it all kept to time so, when the stick dancers came on I had to beat a hasty retreat to get changed for my role in the event.
Several Faculty ladies took part in a fashion show - Abayas and the more flamboyant Jalabayas, which are worn for weddings and special occasions. I managed to sashay about the stage without falling over either garment and it was well received by the students. Both outfits were beautiful but, for a simple routine, it was quite a nerve wracking experience. However I waved my Emirati flag with aplomb as the two students finished the show with beautiful wedding outfits.
After this we went outside to watch the military band perform and watch people riding camels and horses.
Everyone repaired to the courtyard for tradiational food, music, stalls, more stick dancing and a dessert in the form of the national flag. I'm afraid at this stage I mainly watched from my office window and, although the Arabic music lent great ambience to the occasion it was quite nice when it stopped! However, everyone else must have been enjoying similar celebrations as no-one called or I would have had to shout over the music.
All in all it was a tremendous experience and a touching one to see a young nation so clearly proud of what they have achieved in a very short time.
Monday 23 November 2009
School visits
Yes the bare feet are deliberate as Jenny and Amal are presenting to these school girls in the Prayer Room.
Visit by the President of MIT
This weekend saw a vist to Abu Dhabi from the President of MIT, Dr Susan Hopfield, who came, along with her husband to visit the city and to judge the Zayed Future Energy Prize, along with a host of other world wide dignitaries. The winner will be announced at the Future Energy Conference in January.
On Saturday we headed off to the Emirates Palace to meet up with Dr Hopfield and Fred and Pat from MIT who are starting to feel like old friends. Along with John's colleague Marwan we went for a formal lunch at Sheikh Nahyan's Majlis. John had been to one before but it was my first experience. They tend to be men only events, but, since the guest of honour was a woman, then women seemed to be allowed. Pat and Fred are always very thoughtful about including me in things which is much appreciated.
After the formal reception in a grand room we went through to lunch to a table absolutely heaped with food. J had told me how to behave and not to panic about trying to do the English thing of presenting a clean plate - round here it suggests that you haven't been given enough! I received a plate full of rice and camel which was very tasty - I'm not so sure about the grey, jelly like stuff which arrived on my side plate and looked like the stock in which the camel had been boiled. No-one seemed too worried about me not giving that a try though! We also had a plate loaded with serious stodgy desert but once the Sheikh rises you have to get up and leave anyway so that wasn't too much of a difficulty. Sheikh Nahyan is Minister for Higher Education and seemed a very gentle and welcoming soul - everyone who has met him says so and many of my colleagues know him personally as he is the Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology where several of them used to work.
After lunch we returned to the Emirates Palace and were able to look at some of the artwork on show for Abu Dhabi Art week. We also saw the Guggenheim mini exhibition, aimed at wetting our appetite for the day when the Guggenheim opens on Saadiyat Island, though that is some years away. After a lot of Emirati style hanging around we went on a helicopter trip over the city whcih was really exciting and I was so lucky to get a invite to. What a treat to see the city where you live from above, something I've never been able to do in Manchester or Leeds, except from a long way above in a plane. We saw the Yas Marina circuit, Saadiyat Island and the whole city including where we both work and our apartment block. It was a bit noisy but we are trying to point out places of interest to the American visitors. Sadly we didn't get to see the Masdar Institute building though I'm not sure if this was because the pilot didn't know where it was or because it was too near the airport. We also got a birds eye view of the power boat grand prix taking place in the bay which I'd also been watching the day before from the balcony.
It's a great example of Abu Dhabi schizophrenia that they could be hosting the Zayed Future Energy Prize, for ideas on sustainability and renewable energy, at the same time as the finals of a sport which must burn more fossil fuel per second for no possible gain, than any other activity on the planet! What a tremendous place - you have to love it!
On Saturday we headed off to the Emirates Palace to meet up with Dr Hopfield and Fred and Pat from MIT who are starting to feel like old friends. Along with John's colleague Marwan we went for a formal lunch at Sheikh Nahyan's Majlis. John had been to one before but it was my first experience. They tend to be men only events, but, since the guest of honour was a woman, then women seemed to be allowed. Pat and Fred are always very thoughtful about including me in things which is much appreciated.
After the formal reception in a grand room we went through to lunch to a table absolutely heaped with food. J had told me how to behave and not to panic about trying to do the English thing of presenting a clean plate - round here it suggests that you haven't been given enough! I received a plate full of rice and camel which was very tasty - I'm not so sure about the grey, jelly like stuff which arrived on my side plate and looked like the stock in which the camel had been boiled. No-one seemed too worried about me not giving that a try though! We also had a plate loaded with serious stodgy desert but once the Sheikh rises you have to get up and leave anyway so that wasn't too much of a difficulty. Sheikh Nahyan is Minister for Higher Education and seemed a very gentle and welcoming soul - everyone who has met him says so and many of my colleagues know him personally as he is the Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology where several of them used to work.
After lunch we returned to the Emirates Palace and were able to look at some of the artwork on show for Abu Dhabi Art week. We also saw the Guggenheim mini exhibition, aimed at wetting our appetite for the day when the Guggenheim opens on Saadiyat Island, though that is some years away. After a lot of Emirati style hanging around we went on a helicopter trip over the city whcih was really exciting and I was so lucky to get a invite to. What a treat to see the city where you live from above, something I've never been able to do in Manchester or Leeds, except from a long way above in a plane. We saw the Yas Marina circuit, Saadiyat Island and the whole city including where we both work and our apartment block. It was a bit noisy but we are trying to point out places of interest to the American visitors. Sadly we didn't get to see the Masdar Institute building though I'm not sure if this was because the pilot didn't know where it was or because it was too near the airport. We also got a birds eye view of the power boat grand prix taking place in the bay which I'd also been watching the day before from the balcony.
It's a great example of Abu Dhabi schizophrenia that they could be hosting the Zayed Future Energy Prize, for ideas on sustainability and renewable energy, at the same time as the finals of a sport which must burn more fossil fuel per second for no possible gain, than any other activity on the planet! What a tremendous place - you have to love it!
Sunday 22 November 2009
School visits week
Last week I spent much of my time, in between putting media schedules together, organising brochure copy and creating web content, going on school visits with the recruiters. This is always an interesting experience since the recruiters present in Arabic and, although I know the content of the presentation, I don't actually know what they are saying! For all I know they could be saying 'don't worry about this English idiot, she hasn't got any idea what we're on about'!
I went with Amal to two schools in Shamkha which was quite an experience as Amal hadn't been to the schools or the town before and came equipped with a college car and Sat Nav. Sat Nav is a very different thing in a country with no postcodes and where everything changes on a weekly basis and not to be trusted. It had been pre-loaded with schools, one of which has the same name as one we were visiting but happened to be in Al Ain, about 70 miles from where we were going. It was only when I pointed out that the Sat Nav reckoned we had another 68 km to go when we should have been nearly there that we realised it was taking us to somewhere else altogether! We then tried plugging in the name of the town, but, being a new town it didn't feature on the UAE programme. However, Amal used her local knowledge and we found the town and a school who were able to point us in the right direction. This short detour did mean that I got my first glimpse of the desert - undulating dunes of sand as far as the eye could see, which was amazing and really beautiful. Shamkha is clearly a new dormitory town for Abu Dhabi and felt strangely empty during the day. We agreed it would be a good place to learn to drive as there were no cars on the road so we were able to take all kinds of strange routes. There didn't seem to be much in the way of shops or malls and all the houses looked to have been built to the same design. Even the two schools were identical, giving an uneasy feeling of deja vue at the second one and I wondered if we might be trapped in a school visit version of ground hog day!
In both schools the best place to conduct the presentations was in the Prayer room. I can't say I've ever done a presenation in bare feet before but it was a new experience and also lost one of my main topics of conversations with the girls afterwards where they always admire my shoes! The presentations went well and the project worked on both occasions which was a novelty. We gathered lots of names of interested girls. It always makes me wonder about the life expectations of girls, especially in such a strange town but they all looked like the bright, shiny school girls anywhere, sure that life is going to be good to them.
The next day I went with Salem to the boys schools which was a whole new experience again. We went to three schools and in one of them we were presenting in a science lab so had to present to several groups one after the another. It's tough sitting through the same presenation many times anywhere, but when the presentation is in Arabic its even tougher. Salem is excellent at his job and really engaged the boys before starting on the power point, which was good since it only worked half of the time. He talked to them about their career aspirations and got them thinking about teaching and the bachelor of education degree in general so gathered hundreds of names from the different schools. I hope we can convert at least some of them as we have very few male students. Teaching is not seen as an appropriate career for boys, here or anywhere so its a global problem. The boys we do have call themselves 'pioneers' and are a great bunch. I was the novelty turn and attracted lots of attention. Salem has a great rapport with the schools so there was lots of relationship building going on around the presentations - excellent from a marketing point of view though it was largely lost on me.
I was most impressed when one lad, who was messing about at the back, was called to the front and Salem sent him out of the room. After that everyone else sat in rapt attention till the end of the session! He'd have made a great teacher.
I went with Amal to two schools in Shamkha which was quite an experience as Amal hadn't been to the schools or the town before and came equipped with a college car and Sat Nav. Sat Nav is a very different thing in a country with no postcodes and where everything changes on a weekly basis and not to be trusted. It had been pre-loaded with schools, one of which has the same name as one we were visiting but happened to be in Al Ain, about 70 miles from where we were going. It was only when I pointed out that the Sat Nav reckoned we had another 68 km to go when we should have been nearly there that we realised it was taking us to somewhere else altogether! We then tried plugging in the name of the town, but, being a new town it didn't feature on the UAE programme. However, Amal used her local knowledge and we found the town and a school who were able to point us in the right direction. This short detour did mean that I got my first glimpse of the desert - undulating dunes of sand as far as the eye could see, which was amazing and really beautiful. Shamkha is clearly a new dormitory town for Abu Dhabi and felt strangely empty during the day. We agreed it would be a good place to learn to drive as there were no cars on the road so we were able to take all kinds of strange routes. There didn't seem to be much in the way of shops or malls and all the houses looked to have been built to the same design. Even the two schools were identical, giving an uneasy feeling of deja vue at the second one and I wondered if we might be trapped in a school visit version of ground hog day!
In both schools the best place to conduct the presentations was in the Prayer room. I can't say I've ever done a presenation in bare feet before but it was a new experience and also lost one of my main topics of conversations with the girls afterwards where they always admire my shoes! The presentations went well and the project worked on both occasions which was a novelty. We gathered lots of names of interested girls. It always makes me wonder about the life expectations of girls, especially in such a strange town but they all looked like the bright, shiny school girls anywhere, sure that life is going to be good to them.
The next day I went with Salem to the boys schools which was a whole new experience again. We went to three schools and in one of them we were presenting in a science lab so had to present to several groups one after the another. It's tough sitting through the same presenation many times anywhere, but when the presentation is in Arabic its even tougher. Salem is excellent at his job and really engaged the boys before starting on the power point, which was good since it only worked half of the time. He talked to them about their career aspirations and got them thinking about teaching and the bachelor of education degree in general so gathered hundreds of names from the different schools. I hope we can convert at least some of them as we have very few male students. Teaching is not seen as an appropriate career for boys, here or anywhere so its a global problem. The boys we do have call themselves 'pioneers' and are a great bunch. I was the novelty turn and attracted lots of attention. Salem has a great rapport with the schools so there was lots of relationship building going on around the presentations - excellent from a marketing point of view though it was largely lost on me.
I was most impressed when one lad, who was messing about at the back, was called to the front and Salem sent him out of the room. After that everyone else sat in rapt attention till the end of the session! He'd have made a great teacher.
Sunday 15 November 2009
A working week and a quiet weekend
After John's hectic schedule and stresses over the last couple of weeks he was pretty exhausted by the weekend and for me it's been the closest thing to a 'proper' working week since I got here with being at college, going on school visits and having meetings.
So we were pretty glad to have a quiet weekend at home, especially since next weekend it looks like J will be on MIT duty again as the President of MIT is visiting Abu Dhabi.
We lazed around at home reading the paper and watching TV. There have been some really thought provoking films on recently - never heard of them but one in particular 'Crossing Over', about different experiences of trying to achieve citizenship in the US, was very interesting. Our neighbour Helen joined us for supper on Friday night but otherwise we stayed anti social after so much activity over the last couple of weeks.
We had a run to Spinney's to stock up on the wine supplies which nearly ended in disaster when J dropped the precious liquor licence out of his pocket when getting into the car! We went back to look for it and luckily the guy who had found it had not yet driven away to hand it in or do whatever one does with lost liquor licences so we got it back - quite a relief. He looked nothing like John so I think he's have had a hard time passing himself off as Dr John Perkins.
On Saturday night we took a half hour stroll along the sea front and went for dinner at 'Amalfi', our favourite Italian at the Royal Meridien. This time we sat by the pool outside and it was just heavenly. It felt just like being on holiday - apart from on Sunday morning we had to get up and go to work! Still I'm not complaining - how amazing to wander along by the sea on a beautiful evening and eat dinner by the pool - in mid November!
Into the working week again and last night we attended a lecture on CO2 given by NYU Abu Dhabi which was really interesting and well put together. Not only that it was very well attended and took place inside the Al Mamoura building (home of Mubadala which is a very powerful organisation round here) which I'd been keen to see inside. I work across from there and J did his Board of Trustees meeting there so it was great to actually make it inside. It's every bit as impressive as it looks from the outside, complete with internal glass atrium with Formula One cars! We met the Provost of NYU who is delightful as well as being helpful to meet as I would love to work for them at some stage.
Today J went to the Dubai Air Show to meet a VP from Boeing - that I would also have loved to see but, unlike air shows in the UK, it isn't open to the general public. I went to meet Mark Rix again, from 7Days and ex MEN so a friendly face from home. This time to talk business as I'd like to use 7Days for the college. We met at the Alraha Beach hotel, outside the city and then I went on to a meeting at Masdar city with a consultant I've been trying to hook up with. Its my furthest foray in the car so I felt very pleased with myself for finding my way around. I did have a bit of a fun time at Masdar as the police had closed the road to the airport so they weren't letting anyone out. The security guy on the gate was directing everyone to another gate but forgot to tell the other security people so we ended up drving round the building site for some time. It gave me a great few of the Masdar Institute building, which i haven't seen since it was steel posts in the ground in March. It looks like it's going to be amazing and hopefully they'll start to move in early next year with an official opening in September. I was jolly glad of the 4x4 off road vehicle as much of this trek involved sandpits and unmade road. Not something I'd have been happy to tackle in the BMW. Once I'd done a tour round they did manage to direct me to the other gate but I was then on the wrong road into Abu Dhabi and desperate for petrol so it was a nail biting journey back to civilisation and a petrol station. Still a good way to test the car and my driving ability!
So we were pretty glad to have a quiet weekend at home, especially since next weekend it looks like J will be on MIT duty again as the President of MIT is visiting Abu Dhabi.
We lazed around at home reading the paper and watching TV. There have been some really thought provoking films on recently - never heard of them but one in particular 'Crossing Over', about different experiences of trying to achieve citizenship in the US, was very interesting. Our neighbour Helen joined us for supper on Friday night but otherwise we stayed anti social after so much activity over the last couple of weeks.
We had a run to Spinney's to stock up on the wine supplies which nearly ended in disaster when J dropped the precious liquor licence out of his pocket when getting into the car! We went back to look for it and luckily the guy who had found it had not yet driven away to hand it in or do whatever one does with lost liquor licences so we got it back - quite a relief. He looked nothing like John so I think he's have had a hard time passing himself off as Dr John Perkins.
On Saturday night we took a half hour stroll along the sea front and went for dinner at 'Amalfi', our favourite Italian at the Royal Meridien. This time we sat by the pool outside and it was just heavenly. It felt just like being on holiday - apart from on Sunday morning we had to get up and go to work! Still I'm not complaining - how amazing to wander along by the sea on a beautiful evening and eat dinner by the pool - in mid November!
Into the working week again and last night we attended a lecture on CO2 given by NYU Abu Dhabi which was really interesting and well put together. Not only that it was very well attended and took place inside the Al Mamoura building (home of Mubadala which is a very powerful organisation round here) which I'd been keen to see inside. I work across from there and J did his Board of Trustees meeting there so it was great to actually make it inside. It's every bit as impressive as it looks from the outside, complete with internal glass atrium with Formula One cars! We met the Provost of NYU who is delightful as well as being helpful to meet as I would love to work for them at some stage.
Today J went to the Dubai Air Show to meet a VP from Boeing - that I would also have loved to see but, unlike air shows in the UK, it isn't open to the general public. I went to meet Mark Rix again, from 7Days and ex MEN so a friendly face from home. This time to talk business as I'd like to use 7Days for the college. We met at the Alraha Beach hotel, outside the city and then I went on to a meeting at Masdar city with a consultant I've been trying to hook up with. Its my furthest foray in the car so I felt very pleased with myself for finding my way around. I did have a bit of a fun time at Masdar as the police had closed the road to the airport so they weren't letting anyone out. The security guy on the gate was directing everyone to another gate but forgot to tell the other security people so we ended up drving round the building site for some time. It gave me a great few of the Masdar Institute building, which i haven't seen since it was steel posts in the ground in March. It looks like it's going to be amazing and hopefully they'll start to move in early next year with an official opening in September. I was jolly glad of the 4x4 off road vehicle as much of this trek involved sandpits and unmade road. Not something I'd have been happy to tackle in the BMW. Once I'd done a tour round they did manage to direct me to the other gate but I was then on the wrong road into Abu Dhabi and desperate for petrol so it was a nail biting journey back to civilisation and a petrol station. Still a good way to test the car and my driving ability!
Meeting the team
Jenny meets Mark Hughes at the Manchester reception at the British Embassy and refrains from telling him that it's not as good as it was in Colin Bell's day!
Manchester and Abu Dhabi in partnership
As I have already mentioned last week was Manchester week here in Abu Dhabi, with an 80 strong delegation of public and private sector dignitaries visiting to forge links and look at ways of working in partnership. It all culminated in a match between the UAE national team and Manchester City, though due to injury and international commitments it was a reserve team who came over from Eastlands and were beaten 1-0 by the local side (politics or just Man City losing - I don't know!) As a Man City supporter all my life I'm used to the disappointment!
We went to a lovely reception in the garden of the British Embassy where we met one of John's former colleagues from the University who was representing the President who is apparently still recovering from heart surgery. We also met lots of interesting people from both Manchester and Abu Dhabi on a balmy November evening in the garden. The British Ambassador remembered me from when we met in March and seemed quite impressed with the job offer from Emirates Advanced Investment, though the time its taking for them to sort themselves out I'll have worked my 6 month contract with the College in full! I'm getting quite good at eating standing up and the food was very impressive, including mini fish and chips in paper! There was some excitement when a large part of one of the tress in the garden came crashing down but luckily no-one was hurt and I think it was natural rather than terrorist activity.
The real highlight was being introduced to Mark Hughes and having my photo taken with him.
The next day we went to a second reception at Pearls & Caviar at the Shangri La where J was deputising for the CEO of Masdar City, Dr Sultan. I have a feeling that this was really aimed at connecting with the local Emirati population but that somehow they didn't have the right connections for that. Most of the people there were the Manchester delegation, us and a few people from Etihad Airways, including the CEO. This was great as Etihad are celebrating winning 'World's Best Airline' which they seem to celebrating by hiking their prices for business class to some purpose. The Manchester flight is clearly a real money spinner for them as they only fly 330's and so have very little business class available and as it acts as a hub for the rest of the world from Manchester flies at 80% capacity. Hopefully they will start to fly bigger planes before too long. However, for our return home at Christmas I have booked BA via Heathrow which worked out at just under half of the cost of the Etihad flight to Manchester. I did mention all of this to the CEO of Etihad and Manchester but at the end of the day they are in the business of making money not keeping me happy!
On this occasion I felt for the Manchester delegation as the leader of the Council Richard Leese gave a fabulous speech and we got given a whole host of goodies exhorting us to 'Visit Manchester' but it did feel like preaching to the converted and we clearly weren't the intended audience for this event! I was offered a 'Manchester cocktail' on arrival which seemed to comprise lemon juice, cranberry and strawberry. I have to say that in my experience that's not what they tend to drink on a Saturday night on Deansgate. At 8pm they obviously decided that no Emiratis were likely to show up and broke out the beers, but by this time John and I were starving and beat a hasty retreat to the Chinese restaurant at the Shangri La, whcih we've not been to before. The food was amazing though the service was pretty slow!
The highlight of this particular event was meeting Mike Summerbee - a childhood hero along with Frannie Lee and Colin Bell. He invited us to the Director's box at Eastlands next time we're in Manchester which I know Daddy would have loved. Perhaps next time they play out here I may even meet Colin Bell in person and be able to tell him how I grew up with the constant remonstration ringing in my ears 'Jennifer, Colin Bell wouldn't have behaved like that!'
We went to a lovely reception in the garden of the British Embassy where we met one of John's former colleagues from the University who was representing the President who is apparently still recovering from heart surgery. We also met lots of interesting people from both Manchester and Abu Dhabi on a balmy November evening in the garden. The British Ambassador remembered me from when we met in March and seemed quite impressed with the job offer from Emirates Advanced Investment, though the time its taking for them to sort themselves out I'll have worked my 6 month contract with the College in full! I'm getting quite good at eating standing up and the food was very impressive, including mini fish and chips in paper! There was some excitement when a large part of one of the tress in the garden came crashing down but luckily no-one was hurt and I think it was natural rather than terrorist activity.
The real highlight was being introduced to Mark Hughes and having my photo taken with him.
The next day we went to a second reception at Pearls & Caviar at the Shangri La where J was deputising for the CEO of Masdar City, Dr Sultan. I have a feeling that this was really aimed at connecting with the local Emirati population but that somehow they didn't have the right connections for that. Most of the people there were the Manchester delegation, us and a few people from Etihad Airways, including the CEO. This was great as Etihad are celebrating winning 'World's Best Airline' which they seem to celebrating by hiking their prices for business class to some purpose. The Manchester flight is clearly a real money spinner for them as they only fly 330's and so have very little business class available and as it acts as a hub for the rest of the world from Manchester flies at 80% capacity. Hopefully they will start to fly bigger planes before too long. However, for our return home at Christmas I have booked BA via Heathrow which worked out at just under half of the cost of the Etihad flight to Manchester. I did mention all of this to the CEO of Etihad and Manchester but at the end of the day they are in the business of making money not keeping me happy!
On this occasion I felt for the Manchester delegation as the leader of the Council Richard Leese gave a fabulous speech and we got given a whole host of goodies exhorting us to 'Visit Manchester' but it did feel like preaching to the converted and we clearly weren't the intended audience for this event! I was offered a 'Manchester cocktail' on arrival which seemed to comprise lemon juice, cranberry and strawberry. I have to say that in my experience that's not what they tend to drink on a Saturday night on Deansgate. At 8pm they obviously decided that no Emiratis were likely to show up and broke out the beers, but by this time John and I were starving and beat a hasty retreat to the Chinese restaurant at the Shangri La, whcih we've not been to before. The food was amazing though the service was pretty slow!
The highlight of this particular event was meeting Mike Summerbee - a childhood hero along with Frannie Lee and Colin Bell. He invited us to the Director's box at Eastlands next time we're in Manchester which I know Daddy would have loved. Perhaps next time they play out here I may even meet Colin Bell in person and be able to tell him how I grew up with the constant remonstration ringing in my ears 'Jennifer, Colin Bell wouldn't have behaved like that!'
Monday 9 November 2009
A weekend stroll on the Corniche
Here we are going for a walk on the sea front a few minutes walk from our apartment. You can see our building behind me (the one on the left of the new tower with the metal globes on the roof). We are really lucky to live in such an amazing place and now that is cooler we can enjoy the corniche. I run along this walkway and through the parks which go all along the corniche end of the island several times a week which is lovely though a little hot, even first thing in the morning, but then I am used to running in Manchester where it is rarely more than about 10 degrees so anything over 25 is likely to feel pretty warm!
A busy time
Well the last few days have been particularly hectic - mainly for John though I've managed to keep myself busy too.
John spent Saturday working with the team on the presentation to the Board of Trustees at the Emirates Palace and not getting home till after 10pm. I believe all their hard work was worth while and it seemed to go well though the meeting itself was pretty chaotic, as things tend to be round here, with members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries dropping in and dropping out most of the time. John showed me the folder with the business plan and all the slides and handouts and it all looks amazing with lots of exciting projects and a clear set of goals and priorities.
Today he is at the MIT conference where he was participating and doing a presentation on the Masdar Institute.
Last night I was invited to join the MIT people for dinner at the Emirates Palace which was lovely. We ate at Sayad, the fish restaurant there and the food was amazing though the service was very slow. We had a very convivial evening and it was good to be a part of it. One of the Board of Trustees is also the Chairman of Man City but I don't think J was able to give him any advice!
I spent Saturday on the beach at the Hiltonia beach club which was lovely though not nearly so much fun on your own. However, it was amazing to be sitting on the beach in beautiful sunshine on a normal weekend in November and to swim in warm sea whilst enjoying a view of the city and the corniche. I shall definitely go back and take John to enjoy it too when he has a bit more time.
Today I went on school visits with Sarah, one of the recruitment team, which was fascinating. It was a delight of Emirati organisation with non of the schools seeming to expect us despite having received letters from the education zone and calls from the college to confirm! Mikes and projectors finally got organised after Sarah had started her presentations and pupils continued to arrive long after the session was underway. I couldn't do much apart from smile and look interested and enthusiastic as the presentations were in Arabic! However, we managed to gather 26 forms from interested girls so hopefully it was a worthwhile exercise. It was great to see inside the schools and in one case we watched most of a PE lesson since the presentations were in the gym. Funny to see Emirati girls in jeans and t shirts doing exercise, as there were no men present they did not have to wear Abayas. The girls were particularly impressed by my shoes and keen to know where I got them - perhaps I should bring some back from Manchester next time!
I have a desk and an office in college now as well as a laptop, but so far no network connection or phone, but I am making progress. I've started work on pulling a series of brochures together and bought a domain name www.teachuae.ae to create a more generic portal for their website. I enjoy spending time with the recruitment team who are friendly and invite me to share their lunch of flatbread with all kinds of delicious toppings. I wonder if just sitting with them as they chat away in Arabic will help me to learn the language but I doubt it somehow.
I hope that I will be able to add some value to their marketing activity as we have stiff recruitment targets to meet and very quickly. Paul, who is from the US and one of the professors, has also joined the team as we have been allowed to recruit from the private schools for the first time and he is making great headway in this area.
For the rest of this week John and I are both now involved in 'Manchester week' with two receptions to go to. I would love to get involved in helping to create links between the two cities that I call home, though I hope the Manchester people won't be too disappointed to come all this way and meet someone from Manchester!
John spent Saturday working with the team on the presentation to the Board of Trustees at the Emirates Palace and not getting home till after 10pm. I believe all their hard work was worth while and it seemed to go well though the meeting itself was pretty chaotic, as things tend to be round here, with members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries dropping in and dropping out most of the time. John showed me the folder with the business plan and all the slides and handouts and it all looks amazing with lots of exciting projects and a clear set of goals and priorities.
Today he is at the MIT conference where he was participating and doing a presentation on the Masdar Institute.
Last night I was invited to join the MIT people for dinner at the Emirates Palace which was lovely. We ate at Sayad, the fish restaurant there and the food was amazing though the service was very slow. We had a very convivial evening and it was good to be a part of it. One of the Board of Trustees is also the Chairman of Man City but I don't think J was able to give him any advice!
I spent Saturday on the beach at the Hiltonia beach club which was lovely though not nearly so much fun on your own. However, it was amazing to be sitting on the beach in beautiful sunshine on a normal weekend in November and to swim in warm sea whilst enjoying a view of the city and the corniche. I shall definitely go back and take John to enjoy it too when he has a bit more time.
Today I went on school visits with Sarah, one of the recruitment team, which was fascinating. It was a delight of Emirati organisation with non of the schools seeming to expect us despite having received letters from the education zone and calls from the college to confirm! Mikes and projectors finally got organised after Sarah had started her presentations and pupils continued to arrive long after the session was underway. I couldn't do much apart from smile and look interested and enthusiastic as the presentations were in Arabic! However, we managed to gather 26 forms from interested girls so hopefully it was a worthwhile exercise. It was great to see inside the schools and in one case we watched most of a PE lesson since the presentations were in the gym. Funny to see Emirati girls in jeans and t shirts doing exercise, as there were no men present they did not have to wear Abayas. The girls were particularly impressed by my shoes and keen to know where I got them - perhaps I should bring some back from Manchester next time!
I have a desk and an office in college now as well as a laptop, but so far no network connection or phone, but I am making progress. I've started work on pulling a series of brochures together and bought a domain name www.teachuae.ae to create a more generic portal for their website. I enjoy spending time with the recruitment team who are friendly and invite me to share their lunch of flatbread with all kinds of delicious toppings. I wonder if just sitting with them as they chat away in Arabic will help me to learn the language but I doubt it somehow.
I hope that I will be able to add some value to their marketing activity as we have stiff recruitment targets to meet and very quickly. Paul, who is from the US and one of the professors, has also joined the team as we have been allowed to recruit from the private schools for the first time and he is making great headway in this area.
For the rest of this week John and I are both now involved in 'Manchester week' with two receptions to go to. I would love to get involved in helping to create links between the two cities that I call home, though I hope the Manchester people won't be too disappointed to come all this way and meet someone from Manchester!
Training with the recruitment team at ECAE
Here we are working away with obligatory stickies and flip charts as well as the cakes which represent the perfect marketing mix and without which no training course would be complete!
Thursday 5 November 2009
An interesting week
It seems like a funny week this week - only 4 days with going to the Grand Prix on Sunday but as John has to work this weekend with prep for the Board of Trustees meeting and the MIT people over it doesn't feel that short.
I did my second training session on Monday which went down well - especially the cakes representing the marketing mix! Glad that everyone likes cakes and there were enough for John to take to work as well. I still haven't got a desk or an internet connection at the college so when I'm not in meetings I carry on working from home which isn't ideal for a social animal like me but it gets lots done and we have plenty of clean clothes as well! I should be getting that sorted out next week as the pressure is on to bring in the students. Next week I'm hoping to accompany the team on some school visits - they present in Arabic so I shan't know what's going on but it will be interesting to see how it works. I've put together a master marketing plan so there's plenty to do.
The other organisation are taking an age to sort out security clearance - I had to fill out a very detailed from including details of who my family and friends were so maybe that's the problem! It's all very frustrating as I'd like to get sorted as to what I'm doing and be able to get on with it. Still I am trying to end the struggle and dance with life and just enjoy being here in this amazing place. I did 'ladies who lunch' at The One with Daksha which was fun and went for coffee and home made biscuits with Angela and Bettina came for coffee so I can hardly complain about being lonely.
John got his liquor licence last week so we went to Spinney's to buy wine and gin which wasn't as scarily expensive as I'd feared despite 30% tax. However, we didn't buy Nuits St Georges, Chablis or Gevrais Chambertin as we might have done in Majestic.
John is very tired and stessed with so much going on over the next few days. The MIT people arrive on Friday and they have meetings and dinners planned around the big day on Sunday when they present the business plan to the Board of Trustees which is Chaired by the Crown Prince so you can imagine it's not a little worrying. Then on Monday they are doing a conference and dinner with MIT so more stress. The week after John goes to Doha for two days for an education conference where he is a speaker so no respite then. However, he'll sail through it all brilliantly but it's still a worry.
I shall try and go to the Hilton beach club on Saturday as I look out at this amazing blue sea and warm sunshine every day but can't swim as the public beach is still being renovated. I had planned the Shangri La, including a spa treatment but they wanted the best part of £200 which seemed excessive for a day's entertainment. When J goes to Doha I'm planning another girls soiree so I'm busy making plans for food and cake to feed people.
I enjoyed the video of the work pumpkin carving challenge - there were pumpkins here but it seems hard to believe it's November when it's 30 degrees and sunny. No fireworks today though and no-one has heard of the gunpowder plot funnily enough.
Next week is Manchester week in Abu Dhabi so we have a delegation from home and Man City are playing the UAE team. John managed to wangle me an invite to a reception at the British Embassy which should be great. He is also invited to a lunch to talk about ideas for possible links - now there I do have some ideas! Bring us the Halle, the Royal Exchange and all of the other great cultural things that go on. We have some amazing things but not much in the way of ballet or theatre. I have bought tickets for Lorin Mazel conducting the Vienna Philharmonic as part of the Abu Dhabi classics season which is just great. At 500 Dirhams for two of the cheapest tickets there's clearly an appetite for culture.
Anyway fingers crossed that all goes well for J over the next couple of weeks and maybe I'll get my future a bit better organised as well - but then again this is Abu Dhabi Insha'Allah.
I did my second training session on Monday which went down well - especially the cakes representing the marketing mix! Glad that everyone likes cakes and there were enough for John to take to work as well. I still haven't got a desk or an internet connection at the college so when I'm not in meetings I carry on working from home which isn't ideal for a social animal like me but it gets lots done and we have plenty of clean clothes as well! I should be getting that sorted out next week as the pressure is on to bring in the students. Next week I'm hoping to accompany the team on some school visits - they present in Arabic so I shan't know what's going on but it will be interesting to see how it works. I've put together a master marketing plan so there's plenty to do.
The other organisation are taking an age to sort out security clearance - I had to fill out a very detailed from including details of who my family and friends were so maybe that's the problem! It's all very frustrating as I'd like to get sorted as to what I'm doing and be able to get on with it. Still I am trying to end the struggle and dance with life and just enjoy being here in this amazing place. I did 'ladies who lunch' at The One with Daksha which was fun and went for coffee and home made biscuits with Angela and Bettina came for coffee so I can hardly complain about being lonely.
John got his liquor licence last week so we went to Spinney's to buy wine and gin which wasn't as scarily expensive as I'd feared despite 30% tax. However, we didn't buy Nuits St Georges, Chablis or Gevrais Chambertin as we might have done in Majestic.
John is very tired and stessed with so much going on over the next few days. The MIT people arrive on Friday and they have meetings and dinners planned around the big day on Sunday when they present the business plan to the Board of Trustees which is Chaired by the Crown Prince so you can imagine it's not a little worrying. Then on Monday they are doing a conference and dinner with MIT so more stress. The week after John goes to Doha for two days for an education conference where he is a speaker so no respite then. However, he'll sail through it all brilliantly but it's still a worry.
I shall try and go to the Hilton beach club on Saturday as I look out at this amazing blue sea and warm sunshine every day but can't swim as the public beach is still being renovated. I had planned the Shangri La, including a spa treatment but they wanted the best part of £200 which seemed excessive for a day's entertainment. When J goes to Doha I'm planning another girls soiree so I'm busy making plans for food and cake to feed people.
I enjoyed the video of the work pumpkin carving challenge - there were pumpkins here but it seems hard to believe it's November when it's 30 degrees and sunny. No fireworks today though and no-one has heard of the gunpowder plot funnily enough.
Next week is Manchester week in Abu Dhabi so we have a delegation from home and Man City are playing the UAE team. John managed to wangle me an invite to a reception at the British Embassy which should be great. He is also invited to a lunch to talk about ideas for possible links - now there I do have some ideas! Bring us the Halle, the Royal Exchange and all of the other great cultural things that go on. We have some amazing things but not much in the way of ballet or theatre. I have bought tickets for Lorin Mazel conducting the Vienna Philharmonic as part of the Abu Dhabi classics season which is just great. At 500 Dirhams for two of the cheapest tickets there's clearly an appetite for culture.
Anyway fingers crossed that all goes well for J over the next couple of weeks and maybe I'll get my future a bit better organised as well - but then again this is Abu Dhabi Insha'Allah.
Wednesday 4 November 2009
Julian and Bettina Sargent on the Julian's 60th birthday and a duck!
We enjoyed a lovely meal at Vasco's at the Hilton Beach Club to celebrate Julian's 60th birthday. Julian and John were at university together. The duck just wandered in to join the party!
Formula 1 - a triumph for Abu Dhabi
This weekend saw the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for which the city had built a race track on a previously uninhabited desert island just outside the city. We were lucky enough to be given some tickets by John's boss, Dr Sultan, a couple of days before and were able to actually go along. I had thought we'd be watching it on the big screen on the corniche so it was great to be part of it as the excitement has been mounting in the city.
The circuit is absolutely amazing with a hotel right in the middle and a marina and yacht club. In the sunshine it looked great with incredible yachts moored right up to the track and the sun shining on the water. But as night fell and the sun set it really came into its own with coloured lights on all the buildings and lights shining on the track.
We were sat with the real race goers rather than the champagne corporate hospitality set so we got the true flavour of the event. I think John could have got grand invites, but only for himself and, being the gent he is, he knew I'd want to be included.
I've never been to F1 before so it was a totally new experience, even if the outcome for this year was already decided. We got the shuttle bus from the Marina Mall which worked really well and went across the new bridge and onto the new motorway which has been built over Sadiyat Island, which will one day be a cultural hub with a Louvre, a Guggenheim as well as various other theatres, museums and galleries.
We watched G2 and Porsche's racing as well as the F1 practice sessions and qualifier. It was pretty hot but the stands were covered and the noise was incredible. On day 2 we were lucky enough to be given some BMW ear defenders which were rather more effective than the little sponge ones.
When Louis Hamilton took pole position we were hopeful for a British winner but his car broke down. Jenson Button nearly overtook Vettel in the final seconds but we were robbed of our chance to hear God Save the Queen and had to listen to Deutschland Uber Alles for the third time in the day (yes the Germans won the G2 and Porsche races as well!)
Etihad showed off their specially liveried planes with a fly past by two planes which was impressive to watch such big Airbuses performing so close to the ground.
I'm afraid though the heat of the long days meant we were too tired to stay for the evening concerts and missed Jamiroquai, Aerosmith and The Kings of Leon which everyone said were tremendous. We also missed a special Beyonce concert on the Thursday as we were invited to share his 60th birthday by Julian and his wife Bettina. Julian and John were at university together so it was a rather special treat. We had a lovely meal, sitting outside at the Hiltonia Beach Club.
All in all it was a pretty busy weekend and even more special in that John got Sunday off to see the Grand Prix so we actually had a non working Sunday which still feels right!
The circuit is absolutely amazing with a hotel right in the middle and a marina and yacht club. In the sunshine it looked great with incredible yachts moored right up to the track and the sun shining on the water. But as night fell and the sun set it really came into its own with coloured lights on all the buildings and lights shining on the track.
We were sat with the real race goers rather than the champagne corporate hospitality set so we got the true flavour of the event. I think John could have got grand invites, but only for himself and, being the gent he is, he knew I'd want to be included.
I've never been to F1 before so it was a totally new experience, even if the outcome for this year was already decided. We got the shuttle bus from the Marina Mall which worked really well and went across the new bridge and onto the new motorway which has been built over Sadiyat Island, which will one day be a cultural hub with a Louvre, a Guggenheim as well as various other theatres, museums and galleries.
We watched G2 and Porsche's racing as well as the F1 practice sessions and qualifier. It was pretty hot but the stands were covered and the noise was incredible. On day 2 we were lucky enough to be given some BMW ear defenders which were rather more effective than the little sponge ones.
When Louis Hamilton took pole position we were hopeful for a British winner but his car broke down. Jenson Button nearly overtook Vettel in the final seconds but we were robbed of our chance to hear God Save the Queen and had to listen to Deutschland Uber Alles for the third time in the day (yes the Germans won the G2 and Porsche races as well!)
Etihad showed off their specially liveried planes with a fly past by two planes which was impressive to watch such big Airbuses performing so close to the ground.
I'm afraid though the heat of the long days meant we were too tired to stay for the evening concerts and missed Jamiroquai, Aerosmith and The Kings of Leon which everyone said were tremendous. We also missed a special Beyonce concert on the Thursday as we were invited to share his 60th birthday by Julian and his wife Bettina. Julian and John were at university together so it was a rather special treat. We had a lovely meal, sitting outside at the Hiltonia Beach Club.
All in all it was a pretty busy weekend and even more special in that John got Sunday off to see the Grand Prix so we actually had a non working Sunday which still feels right!
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