Making the most of it

We're both determined not to let the pressures of work stop us from enjoying our time in this fascinating place and to do our best to enjoy the extra curricula activities!
On Sunday it was valentine's so John organised a surprise dinner for us to Finz - the excellent seafood restaurant at the Beach Rotana. He did everything, booking the table and organising his driver to take us and he managed to buy me a lovely card which is quite a feat when you don't have your own transport! He bought me a diamond heart necklace and I bought him a replacement Mont Blanc pen for the one that went missing on our desert trip so it was as romantic as you could wish for. Finz had guest Australian chefs who cooked up a fabulous special dinner. We were less impressed with the 'intimate' table which we were shown to which felt like eating dinner in the middle of a dance floor, but we were assured that all the cosy tables had been specifically booked. Never one to let things lie I voiced our discontent to the food and beverage manager who assured us that 20 couples had failed to show but has offered to host us for a night at their Italian restaurant so a more than compensatory response. We also had fun expecting a chestnut salad as one of the course (in my dictionary 'marron' is a chestnut), however, we were delighted with the lobster salad that showed up and the manager's confirmation that his staff had ordered many kg of chestnuts till the chefs arrived and assured them that a 'marron' is a crayfish in Australia! J spent 3 years in Sydney and never came across this delicacy but there you go!
As if that wasn't enough treats for one week, on Monday we went to the Emirates Palace for one of the Abu Dhabi classics concerts to see Loren Maazel conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Wow - that was amazing! We are so lucky to get such world class culture and it more than makes up for missing the Halle this season. They did Beethoven's Pastorale, which I love, though it always reminds me of Daddy cooking Sunday breakfast at Park Hall Road in the seventies, as well as Daphne and Chloe by Ravel and Debussy's 'La Mer'. We had the most expensive sandwiches and glass of wine in town beforehand which was fun but slightly stressful as the EP don't really do a quick supper!
Later in the week John went on a business dinner to Chamas, the Brazilian restaurant at the Intercontinental. He had a great time though the on demand red meat wouldn't have suited me and he reported that the scantily clad dancers who couldn't dance felt very incongruous in Abu Dhabi!
On Thursday night we were invited to an evening at Sami and Rana's house, along with several other professionals we've met in the course of John's work. We had a lovely evening with homemade Arabic food - quite amazing and delicious and a laid back conversation. We felt very privileged to be invited to someone's home who, although expat like ourselves, was a bit different to the usual British expat evening.
The weather has warmed up but not too much so on Saturday we revisited the beach and both swam in the sea which is still warmer than the English channel, even in February! It was divine with calm water, golden sand and a relaxed atmosphere of families both local and expat. Such a treat at this time of year though strange to enjoy the beach whilst knowing we had to go to work the next day!
Work is proving to be quite a challenge. I find that I am pushing all the time to try and get things done but not getting much pull which makes it hard to feel like I'm making a difference. I saw the first mock up of my staff handbook which looks great and I've got some interesting projects on. However, in a company where marketing has mainly been about creating new corporate identities for companies as they form, the idea of messaging and branding seem very alien. I keep voicing the usual issues about letting others manage our reputation or choosing to control it ourselves but I don't know if I'm speaking a foreign language! Hopefully I will make some progress and there are lots of great colleagues around who do listen. I really need to learn to be more patient and to spend time immersing myself in the culture more so that I understand things better. Not easy for a 'hit the ground running and worry about the rules afterwards' sort of person like me!