Return to the UAE

Well, we’re back in the Middle East. And so I thought I’d see where the blog was up to and found we hadn’t updated it since September. How bad is that?

So how did we end up back in the UAE? Not hard to explain really. We came for a holiday in October – just visiting friends. After 18 months in China, of which more than 9 were at freezing point, Cheryl has still not been able to get work. This arose in conversation while we were with friends in Abu Dhabi. One conversation led to another, and another, and several interviews later, Cheryl was offered a great job. We leapt at the chance.

At that stage we weren’t too concerned about me getting work – figuring I’d pick up something when we got here. In fact I was looking forward to at least a few months of being a man of leisure.  Silly me. Almost as soon as Cheryl landed hers, I got to interview stage and now I’m working for the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC)  as a cluster manager.

So Cheryl moved over in mid-December, having packed most of the house things up and left me with the landlady’s furniture and a minimal kitchen pack. Not wanting to dump too badly on my employer, I stayed until the end of the semester and came over at the end of January.

Cheryl spent her Christmas with Liz, Mark and Ange Stevens and also spent three weeks staying with them before heading off to New Zealand for her work. Cheryl is working for Cognition Education which is a New Zealand based company and she is part of the corporate HR team as HR Consultant – Gulf States. She is spending most of her time in her base office in Abu Dhabi and is also responsible for HR matters for all the Gulf countries Cognition works in. It looks like she could be visiting Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, maybe Kuwait and Bahrain. So we are keeping a close eye on what is happening in all of the close by Gulf States.

And it’s been all go. Cheryl is incredibly busy and loving the fact that she is again using all those fantastic skills she has. I’ve had a cruisier start, but am also relishing the role mentoring a small group of principals through their school improvement process as part of the school reform agenda.

On reflection we both agree that China was a fabulous experience. My school made leaving a heartfelt experience. Lots of staff and kids wishing me to stay – but also wishing me the very best in my new country. They were all just lovely. And we wouldn’t have swapped the China experience for the world. But it is SO good to be back in the warmth, in the very cosmopolitan Abu Dhabi.

Unfortunately circumstances didn’t allow for us to have a break back in Australia between China and the UAE -  but we’ll be back soon. We’re eagerly awaiting the birth of our first grandchild courtesy of Mike and Bec and will be on the first plane as soon as that happy event occurs.

Next weekend we will move into our accommodation in Abu Dhabi – up until now it has been a nice little hotel apartment but it is really just too small for what we like – needing to spread our wings and feel settled. We have purchased a Prado so we can whip out into the desert with the Abu Dhabi off road group.

We will have lots of bedrooms and bathrooms so the calendar is filling already. Lee and Betty are booked in for August – both ways on their trip to Europe. So let us know if you are planning to pass through – we make great tour guides!