More stories from the parallel universe

Another interesting couple of weeks here in the alternative reality - once again on the face of things it all seems to get more familiar and pretty enjoyable. I am running around all the time with not enough hours in the day, people want things and quickly and we all try to accommodate them and generally get there but somehow you're never sure if what you are doing is the righ thing!
Yesterday I heard that I'd passed my probabation and had to sign the form today - all fine with fours or fives in every area but no discussion or chance to ask questions. Whilst I don't disagree, you wonder if only a four for 'knowledge of job' means that the boss genuinely thinks that after 25 years you don't fully understand the 'four P's' of marketing or whether (quite understandably) you can't argue with a booth builder in Arabic about the problems with an exhibition stand, or how to persuade HR to sign off on the staff newsletter (in which case I'd struggle to give myself a 1). As for a four for 'Results focused' I'm totally lost. I know that this is my main raison d'etre but I'm still trying to work out what the goals are so maybe that's a conversation we should try to have at some stage.
The last couple of days have involved a trip to Al Ain for a careers event - all very exciting with a new stand builder and for once the knowledge that sorting out the gift packs, 12kg of branded chocolates and floral arrangements would be key to success! It looks great though at 9.30 at night sitting patiently whilst Nidal argued with the booth builder in Arabic about what needed doing made me wonder what value I was adding and whether I could ever manage without her is a worry. Al Ain reminded me of Milton Keynes with endless roundabouts and shopping malls though it is the heart of historic Abu Dhabi. The fort was so small I missed it on several drive bys and the famous mountain is mainly famous because everywhere close by is flat! As I watched these groups of very glamourous Emirati girls wandering around with their gold plated blackberries and Gucci handbags I was stuggling to understand their motivation for working but I guess I'll get there.
I've had two fun experiences with going to meetings at military sites and on both occasions they did let me in but not without a body search and removal of blackberry, mobile and cameras. For both meetings, when I finally got in the meetings were conducted in Arabic so I did wonder why I was there but I had Nidal for one and Fatima for the other so I guess I was just a 'presence' though not much else.
I am trying to learn some Arabic and have picked up the pleasantries from Nidal 'kifack hebibby' 'janny' etc but when I try to sue them I'm told I'm using a Lebanese version so not very impressive! There are lot of words in English so I try to work out what's going on. At today's meeting it was clear that they were talking about the best ways to talk to 16 - 18 year old boys about careers - something I do know about even here, but when I discussed this with Fatima she assured me that it was gender, not language that stopped us from contributing to the conversation.
Last night we went to the dinner for the 'Women in Science' conference which was organized by Amahl. John's amazing female Emirati Professor. The guest speaker was Sheikha Aluman, another inspirational Emirati woman, who is Minister for Foreign Trade. She spoke passionately about the role of women in this society and there is no question that talented women are in abundance. Hopefully the culture will be able to change fast enough to make the most of this talent.
I was also lucky enough to be involved with the Emirates Skills competition, which we have been sponsoring and is organized by the Institutes of Applied Technology, whic our Chairman is also Chairman of. Especially as I was involved with the London bid to host the 2011 World Skills Competition with Investors in People. Another great example of last minute. The day before I heard that I had to be there at 10am and to write some words for the boss to say. It turned out to be 5pm and when I got there they needed a pull up stand as well. But Nidal had heard this an hour before and turned up at 4.55pm complete with a pull up that had been dried with a hair dryer and produced in less than 2 hours - only in the UAE. We did manage one overnight for the Now People pitch but that was a once off! When I arrived I discovered that we were signing an Memorandum of Understanding for an AED 1 million sponsorship deal in front of assorted press! However it all seemed to go fine - the boss read my words (translated in Arabic) verbatim and the pull up didn't stick to anyone's clothes! John was able to come along which I think was good for both os us as he met my Chairman and chatted to the Khalifa University boss and a few others. The best thing was the look on the winners faces as they won their medals.
It warms your heart to be involved in all of this but there's just always this worry that somehow you're not doing something that might be even more important! However, as I always say to John, it's got to be a lifetime of interesting stories!