The World of Work - Day 30

Work is going great and I'm learning a lot about UAE, the Airline industry and ... office supplies. As my TDS friends know, I love me a good office supply. I love to be organized (or organised as I should be typing now), I love labels and most of all, I love pens and paper. So, imagine my disappointment to find such a lackluster selection of office implements at my new job. Here are just a few of the encounters I've had so far with office supplies.

What? No file folders?
As I said, I like to be organized and for me that means having a clearly labeled file folder for each project I'm working on. Sometime during week one I went to the office guys in the printing room (they dispense the office supplies) and asked for some file folders. They looked at me funny. I thought maybe it was a language thing so I brought one over to show them. No madam, we don't have. (sigh)  Which actually makes sense because I don't have any file drawers in my desk, so how would I store the things anyway? And a hanging file folder? I didn't even try. Now, I see this as a good learning experience to find a new way to keep myself organized (maybe it's time to go completely paperless, which is probably the point of not stocking file folders). So far, I'd give myself a C-, but I'm working on it.

A holey mess
My next encounter was a direct result of the lack of file folders. No file folders? Okay, plan B = binders. I got a couple of binders and a 2-hole punch ... yep only 2 holes. Okay, no worries, I've got a 2-hole punch for 2-ring binders, all is well. ... Until I brought some of my supplies from home to the office. When I came to  the UAE, I brought along a binder, some file folders, my 3-hole punch and a few other things as I needed to assemble my work portfolio for interviewing. I brought all the extra supplies into the office and am just now realizing how little I'll be able to use here.
First, was the problem with my Franklin Covey planner, which is a 6-hole binder and requires a special hole punch ... which I thought I brought with me ... which I cannot find. (sigh) - it's now sitting on a shelf taunting me to be 'highly effective'.
Next was a 3-ring binder, which I thought I had licked because I also have a 3-hole punch. Well, I tried it just yesterday and it won't work either. Because paper is a different size here and the top (or bottom) is actually longer than the binder, so unless I want paper sticking out of the top, the binder (and the punch) will have to go back home too.

The paper chase
As I alluded to above, paper is not 8.5 by 11, it's A4, which is 210 x 297mm or 8.3 by 11.7. Now I know this doesn't seem like a big difference, but try putting an A4 sheet of paper in a sleeve built for 8.5 by 11 ... it doesn't work ... I know, because I've tried it. So now, my very cute, very brightly colored page protector sleeve thingies won't work here either. (sigh) Luckily, my small collection of file folders will accommodate both sizes.


You call that a pen?
Actually pens aren't that bad here. They are cheap ballpoints like most companies use at home (except for Epic, which has some of the nicest pens around - and that Brian keeps tucked away so I don't steal them) but these actually work most of the time. Not sure if it's the warm climate or a different type of ink, but you don't get that clumpy mess you sometimes get with bics back home. Still, as a pen snob, most of what I use I brought from home and my collection of fountain pens is getting a workout, which is nice.


Missing my smelly markers
The biggest disappointment is in the classroom itself. We have whiteboards and flip charts like all classrooms, but we only have whiteboard markers ... that we have to use on the flip charts. I'm a marker snob as well as a pen snob and at TDS made sure we always had a ready supply of "smelly markers". No, not the smelly as in make you gag markers, the smelly as in red smells like strawberry, green smells like pine ... mmm, I miss them. I've been coping, but it's been my biggest trial as whiteboard markers aren't made to work well on flip chart paper.


So, I'm learning to adjust, and just might have to make a trip to the office supply store and see what I can find that fits the sizes and styles here ... wait, is there an office supply store? Surely they must have some - must do a little research.

The World Record for the Most World Records

I was driving home one evening and heard on the radio that the UAE holds the world record for the most world records ... no, I'm not joking. Well, I went out to the Guinness Book of World Records website and while I couldn't find a record for the number of records, I did find quite a few world records held by UAE. Here are a few, for the whole list, visit their website, which I've linked below.

• Largest Yowla Dance - Yowla is an Arabian dance that is done by the men using rifles (I know, it sounds bad, but it's really not). They kind of twirl the rifles like a baton, throw them up in the air and dance around in a circle. The largest Yowla dance was achieved by 285 participants from 3 different tribes within Fujairah, which is one of the 7 Emirates that make up the UAE. 26 November 2010.
• Longest Driverless Metro Line - This one's in Dubai as you may have guessed. It's the red line and the record was logged in May of this year.
• Most Expensively Dressed Christmas Tree - you all remember this one, right? Valued at more than $11 Million, it was erected and displayed by the Emirates Palance hotel in Abu Dhabi from 16-29 December 2010.
• Most Sand moved in 30 seconds with a teaspoon - I thought this one was funny. It was achieved in Dubai at the World Records Pavillion in Global Village in January of 2009. It sure would be an easy one to practice for around here!
• Most expensive shot of cognac - now this one is quite interesting for a Muslim no-alcohol-allowed country! It was another one held at the Emirates Palace Hotel. In August, 2008 they made the "Hardy Perfection" brand available for $2,226/ shot. 

Well, you certainly get the picture. There are a lot more on the website, but that gives you a taste and while I'm not sure UAE has the MOST world records, they've certainly made a place for themselves in the record books.

Guinness Book of World Records Website

Building a Workforce

One of the most interesting things about UAE is the idea that UAE Nationals, or Emiratis, are the minority making up only about 15% of the total population in the UAE. Coming from the US, it's hard to imagine and truly understand. It would be like another culture with a separate language moving into WI and taking over. Imagine if rugby or cricket became the WI sport of choice and we had off for Christmas, but only a small few actually celebrated - instead, the majority of the population celebrated Dwali or something else you were unfamiliar with. It's very interesting to contemplate.

When the UAE was formed 40 years ago, the vision was to create a world center of business, finance, art and tourism - a garden in the desert - and it was clear that this would have to be done with outside help (and a lot of oil money of course!). And so, the expat arrival began with the task of providing ideas, experience, access to methods and materials and as a result Dubai and Abu Dhabi are much closer to that original vision. Along the way, however, it has always been the goal to "teach a man to fish". In other words, the expats were brought in to help the UAE Nationals learn and eventually take over the work of the country. That has happened in some areas and industries and not as much in others and there are big concerns and a focus on "Emiratization" - a bit like the diversity goals in the US, but much more targeted and specific.

Now, the UAE has gotten so big so fast that the idea that expats will work themselves out of their jobs seems ridiculous ... or at least many many years off. But that doesn't change the end goal, which is to equip this Nation to lead itself and be self sustaining by sharing our knowledge and expertise with our National counterparts. In my role in Leadership Development, it's a key objective and one that is taken very seriously at Eithad. We are constantly talking about how to attract more Emiratis to the business and once there, how to continually develop them to higher roles within leadership. Because the airline industry is new to the UAE, it's almost impossible to find experienced Emiratis in the field so the company has developed some amazing programs to develop young Nationals in the field of aviation and then bring them on board at Etihad. It's a brilliant approach, but one that takes time, which can be frustrating when you want to see UAE Nationals in high level leadership roles now.

An interesting challenge and plenty of job security that's for sure!

Got a question, a comment, a suggestion for a topic? Leave me a comment here or an email at stoll.renee@gmail.com. I'd love to address your specific questions rather than come up with random topics that may only interest me. :)

Abu Dhabi Film Festival

Starting last weekend and running into the next is the 5th Annual Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Like most film festivals, this one has short films, documentaries, features and other events to round out the festival. They've set up a red carpet down on the Corniche complete with film stars. From the US came Topher Grace (that 70s show), Evan Rachel Wood and others who I didn't recognize.

We went on Friday night to the first show at the new outdoor venue at the Fairmont hotel. It was a beautiful venue with a view of the Grand Mosque. They had built this amazing screen and made quite a show of raising it before the movie started (everything's a production here of course!) Here are a few pics. And apologies that there aren't more - I forgot the camera at home so had to rely on Brian and his camera phone. And I obviously didn't give him specific enough instructions on what to take pictures of. :)

There was a snack bar and area to buy sodas and the chairs were relatively comfy for outdoors. It was warm, but there was a really nice breeze the entire night, so it was very comfortable. The only thing not enjoyable about the experience was the film itself. We saw a Swedish film called Stockholm East and while it was well done and acted, it was extremely sad and depressing.

We decided to go out for a drink after the show and we were both a little crabby after such a depressing film. Guess I'll look for a comedy next time. 

So how is the weather?

It's been a good week, the weather is getting cooler, I've got a few projects getting started at work, our garden is back to normal (almost) and we got to fill out the census.

While that last one is true, it hasn't amounted to anything yet. A few weeks ago, I opened our apartment door to find a professional looking envelope. Kind of curious as we were home all day and no one rang the bell. I opened it to find forms for the 2011 Census. Interesting. Hadn't heard a thing about it, but okay. I opened it, read through the instructions and filled out the form, which was pretty basic and pretty much like the one back home. I tried to then figure out how and when to send it, but the plan is that someone will come by later to collect your responses. The next day, the paper had an article explaining that census takers would be around sometime in October (toting iPads no less) to capture your responses ... I guess the forms were just so you could practice answering the questions. :) Well, we're still waiting, and yes, I know October's not over yet so maybe they'll be by in the next couple of weeks, we'll see. The funny (aka typical) thing is the lack of communication - in the States we start hearing about the Census months in advance and are bombarded with reminders and requests to fill it out. Here, we got them forms THEN an article in the newspapers and a few adds on the radio and then nothing. Maybe they don't have to cajole people to complete it here?

The weather is actually getting better - the humidity has dropped and my plan today is to put the clothes drying rack back out onto the patio so we can get our office back. The temperature has dropped about 10 degrees F, which means it's in the low 90s now, but you'd be surprised what a difference that makes. By the time it drops another 10, I'll have to wear a sweater! ;) We had a huge sandstorm the other night, but either the TV was too loud or it never made it as far as our place because I missed it - too bad, sounds like it was a good one.

And, our garden is slowly coming back around. If you haven't been keeping up, we struggled with the garden area all summer - first not enough water, everything died, then too much water, we had mold, then the water stopped altogether and everything died again. While we were in the US, the gardeners came by and replaced all the dead stuff and fixed the water timer so everything is now green and growing. That, coupled with the cooler weather means things are looking pretty good at the moment - another month as things start to fill in a bit and I'll post some photos. Rogue, as you can imagine, is in heaven. She gets 15-30 minutes out there each night and loves sniffing around and finally plopping herself right in the sand to smell the flowers and watch the birds.

Enjoy your weekend!