It is hard to believe that three days have already passed since leaving Japan and arriving in Abu Dhabi. The days have been a blur with information overload, shopping until dropping (literally) and adjustments mentally, physically and emotionally to a new culture and place.
The best part of the whole situation at the moment is the hotel I am staying at. The
Rotana Beach Hotel is lovely.
The photo is of the ceiling in the lobby, just thought it looked cool. ;D
So, Day 1 was a bit of a rough start. As Nick and I didn't have access to the updated schedule, we waited about a half hour in the lobby thinking someone would be there to pick us up. 9am came around when our first orientation session should have begun and no one was to be found in our hotel. After trying to make a few calls or find out what was going on, it turned out that we missed the provided transportation to take us to the university. Thus, we hopped in to a very expensive taxi and made it to the university on our own. After arriving, we spent another 15 minutes trying to suss out where we should be since no one was in the room we were told to go to. In the end, we managed to find the orientation session in full swing, but walked right in as if nothing was amiss. The funnier thing is that no one else seemed at all bothered by the fact that we were 45 minutes late.
Culture rule #1 realized - Time is a fluid concept...except in the classroom.
So, we continued with orientation along with everyone else. Met a few of the other new starts. There are about 15 of us in total, though all but 5 of us started a week ago and thus have bonded a bit more, settled in to their apartments more, etc.
Day 2 began with a health check-up. We got up before the sun, went to the hospital to have blood drawn and an x-ray taken. Then, if was a serious day of shopping or comparing prices for things, considering what should go into the unnecessary space that is called my apartment and try not to freak out at the whole idea of it all! I did manage by the very end of the day to buy my fridge, gas/electric range oven and washer/dryer machine. Also, to avoid a bed purchase, I got an air mattress to use until my things arrive next week from Japan and bedding for an extra bed should I ever get around to furnishing a guest room. By the end, I collapsed into my comfy hotel bed at 9:30 until the alarm roused me at 6:30 on Day 3.
Now is the end of Day 3, which I think was perhaps the most useless day of all. We had another early start, but started with an overview of the university and students lecture, then moved on to IT stuff. Some of it was useful information, but overall I was generally bored and wanted to just find my desk space and know my class schedule. I am told the class stuff comes tomorrow, so I am looking forward to that. The greatest fun was finding my desk. Another new guy said he saw my name on a desk at the Men's Campus - a 10minute walk from the main campus, where Nick is located - so I went with others there to find my desk. I walked around all the desks and found no Tara Waller. I did see a desk with someone named Tara D----. That wasn't me.... So, I trekked back to the main campus and went to the large teachers' room and looked around and around. I saw another cubicle with Tara D----'s name on it, but no Tara Waller. Great! I thought I was confused by the other Tara and had no home.... However, after being directed to speak with the lady responsible for assigning cubicle spaces, she took me across the hall to a smaller teachers' room, where at last I found a home! It was satisfying, though the environment could be questionable with a noisy fan and less enthusiastic neighbor, but we shall see how it goes. The cool thing is I have met a fellow Portlander whose cubicle is in front of mine, so we can continue to have an Oregon bond. ;D
So, this winds up my first 72 hours in Abu Dhabi. I've made some cultural notes already, but that shall come later.
Until tomorrow,
-T
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