Well it has now been a few weeks back into living in Dubai and life is good. I got a new SLR camera this week so I do intend on using it a lot and getting some great shots of Dubai for all to see, so look for those coming along. I have started reffing rugby again this week. It was a killer, the temperature was 38 degrees and we were running for 80 min. After my game, I thought I was done but the next refferee needed another assistant ref so I stayed to help him out. For my effort that day someone decided they needed my running shoes more then I did and took them from me while I was on the field. I hope karma is strong with those shoes and the person looses something of thiers.
I hope to get my car this week, still waiting for it....it has been almost a month now since we have been back and talked to the dealer. It is amazing how much paperwork is required to buy a car overseas, I think when I got my car in Canada it was done in 3 days and the guy told me that was a long delivery time for the car....if there was not such a high demand for cars here I think a few more businesses would fold quickly. But this is how life is here, everyone wants to be in Dubai and with that long line ups for everything, that is ofcourse unless you have tons of money to throw at the problem then chanels tend to open up quickly.
Ramadan is nearly over now, it has been much less of a hasstle then it was last year, I am not sure why but it has seemed quite normal, I guess I am doing a lot more and not looking to go out for drinks or eat during the day. I have not relied on shops as much, as they are closed during the day, well till 7ish when Iftar starts then all the resturants are packed with people. It is definatly and interesting experience. Loud music is a big no no so even if you do go for a drink at a pub the music has to stay down low, but that usually means that the weekend Ramadan is over everyone goes crazy. There are some big parties planned for that weekend. I am hoping to go to Nepal for the break, we are tying today to setup that trip. 4 days golfing in Nepal, I will take tons of pictures I am sure.
Well I have now spent more then enough time not working and should get back to it.
Curtis
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
It seems that my seams are wrong....
Well for those who read regularly or those who have stumbled by my blog I have been corrected in my last blog. I have misrepresented the word seams...it should have been SEEMS. Yes I know I am a teacher.... I try.
Anyway, so I am now 2 weeks into Dubai and life is good. traffic has become much worse, everyday the radio says something politically correct like there is a bit of congestion on Sheik Zied Road today......what that means in Dubai is that get your coins out because you will be parked there for the next few hours. I really like the city, I LOVE working at the school I am, mostly because of the kids and the fellow staff members but...the traffic is crazy. If I did not own a Ipod I think I would have a case of road rage that would make the hulk look like a Pansy. I do have an Ipod and luckily I turn it on as I leave from the area I have been and make my way back to the Hor, I should explain....we have termed the area Hor Alanz East to the "Hor". There are several reasons for this and besides that it takes a lot of energy away from you trying to get back into the Hor....in any other city the area we are in would be crawling with....well you know. Luckily the ladies of the night in Dubai are a little more conspicuous. we are blessed, now the good news about the area I am in is that I can get food of wide variety as long as it has a middle eastern flair and groceries delivered to my door with a phone call. The phone call sometimes is a exercise in futility as it would be quicker most times to walk to the store the struggle with the English that the person on the other end of the phone has learned 8 minutes prior...
Most of the rant was for humour, it is easier to laugh then get mad here. I should get back to work I do have a bit of planning to do. I will sign off, it SEEMS there are people still reading this so I thank you for that.
take care all, or you if it is only one reading this....
C
Anyway, so I am now 2 weeks into Dubai and life is good. traffic has become much worse, everyday the radio says something politically correct like there is a bit of congestion on Sheik Zied Road today......what that means in Dubai is that get your coins out because you will be parked there for the next few hours. I really like the city, I LOVE working at the school I am, mostly because of the kids and the fellow staff members but...the traffic is crazy. If I did not own a Ipod I think I would have a case of road rage that would make the hulk look like a Pansy. I do have an Ipod and luckily I turn it on as I leave from the area I have been and make my way back to the Hor, I should explain....we have termed the area Hor Alanz East to the "Hor". There are several reasons for this and besides that it takes a lot of energy away from you trying to get back into the Hor....in any other city the area we are in would be crawling with....well you know. Luckily the ladies of the night in Dubai are a little more conspicuous. we are blessed, now the good news about the area I am in is that I can get food of wide variety as long as it has a middle eastern flair and groceries delivered to my door with a phone call. The phone call sometimes is a exercise in futility as it would be quicker most times to walk to the store the struggle with the English that the person on the other end of the phone has learned 8 minutes prior...
Most of the rant was for humour, it is easier to laugh then get mad here. I should get back to work I do have a bit of planning to do. I will sign off, it SEEMS there are people still reading this so I thank you for that.
take care all, or you if it is only one reading this....
C
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
New blog
Well Ladies and gentlemen it is time for a new session of blogs from Dubai. I am sure it will be packed with interesting facts, pictures and stories....maybe a rant or two as well. Anyway the summer in Alberta was fantastic, I got a chance to hang out with my family and see some friends that I was missing even reacquainted with some people from my past that helped the summer be a great one. My brothers wedding was a great part of the summer, they are so good for each other and hope they have an amazing life together and I can share in some of their memories...
Well I have now been in Dubai for a week and it has changed a fair bit, the buildings (well some) are even bigger, seams like there is even more people on the roads and the same inefficiency are still prevalent. Ha Ha. It was great to see everyone that I worked with last year and hear their stories and adventures over the summer. The new staff that I am working with seam great, they are all very excited to be here. It is funny to see myself in their shoes last year and think about my growth as a person (still a long way to go on that) while wondering how they will cope with some of the interesting differences of Dubai and the life here.
As some people have asked me it has been hot here but not as hot as it was when we got here last year. it has been a comfortable 40ish most days dropping to 30ish at night and last year that was 10 degrees warmer so it has a much different feel to the weather this year it is not unbearable just slightly too warm for most people instead.
I am still living in the same area as i was last year and I realize I did not put up any pictures of what that looks like so I will make an effort this year to let you know more of what my surrounding are like. it is quite interesting for sure. there are places to eat everywhere and get your hair cut every 50 meters it seams. I really do not know how these places stay open but with costs for certain thing so much lower I guess it is easier on the owners.
well I have procrastinated long enough and should get back to planning as the kids come in on Sunday and we get rolling with school in a few short days. It really is amazing how time can fly by when you are not watching. I will make more of an effort to blog what is going on or even rant when I need to. Thanks to everyone for your support and occasional e-mail it does mean a lot to me to get them.
take care...
Well I have now been in Dubai for a week and it has changed a fair bit, the buildings (well some) are even bigger, seams like there is even more people on the roads and the same inefficiency are still prevalent. Ha Ha. It was great to see everyone that I worked with last year and hear their stories and adventures over the summer. The new staff that I am working with seam great, they are all very excited to be here. It is funny to see myself in their shoes last year and think about my growth as a person (still a long way to go on that) while wondering how they will cope with some of the interesting differences of Dubai and the life here.
As some people have asked me it has been hot here but not as hot as it was when we got here last year. it has been a comfortable 40ish most days dropping to 30ish at night and last year that was 10 degrees warmer so it has a much different feel to the weather this year it is not unbearable just slightly too warm for most people instead.
I am still living in the same area as i was last year and I realize I did not put up any pictures of what that looks like so I will make an effort this year to let you know more of what my surrounding are like. it is quite interesting for sure. there are places to eat everywhere and get your hair cut every 50 meters it seams. I really do not know how these places stay open but with costs for certain thing so much lower I guess it is easier on the owners.
well I have procrastinated long enough and should get back to planning as the kids come in on Sunday and we get rolling with school in a few short days. It really is amazing how time can fly by when you are not watching. I will make more of an effort to blog what is going on or even rant when I need to. Thanks to everyone for your support and occasional e-mail it does mean a lot to me to get them.
take care...
Thursday, May 22, 2008
My School
Well all I am now 3 weeks away from getting on a plane to head home so I thought I would post pictures of my school, a bit of Kuwait oh and Hockey night in Dubai...yes there is a hockey rink for all of the Canadians that are here. when it is 40 degrees outside a hockey rink is freezing, but it was great to go watch a game. Oh and I had my 31st birthday in the Middle East too, I will make sure that I get some photos of that night here too.
The school here in Dubai is massive, it however is not yet on google earth, they are about 2 years behind in filming here so I can not give you a link to see it there. The school is in Festival City and there is an amazing golf cours
e (it is a Canadian company) the Four Seasons is a PGA quality course and I have had the pleasure of golfing it a few times this year. Anyway back to the school, the campus is massive with lots of room to expand, it is very modern and 3 floors of classrooms. Max class size is 25 but I feel that may change as the years go by and the cash flow becomes more, they will more then likely increase the sizes. anyway it is a great campus with an outdoor pool which I have made every effort to abuse the use of. My classroom is one of the biggest in the school I have 25 student computers, a interactive white board and we have just recently ordered about $25 000.00 worth of software for the use in the lab. I am really looking forward to next year to have these students working on everything. the school is a split elementary and high school and shaped like a V so that they try to keep the big students from the little ones to avoid confusion and fear. It is a great facility.
e (it is a Canadian company) the Four Seasons is a PGA quality course and I have had the pleasure of golfing it a few times this year. Anyway back to the school, the campus is massive with lots of room to expand, it is very modern and 3 floors of classrooms. Max class size is 25 but I feel that may change as the years go by and the cash flow becomes more, they will more then likely increase the sizes. anyway it is a great campus with an outdoor pool which I have made every effort to abuse the use of. My classroom is one of the biggest in the school I have 25 student computers, a interactive white board and we have just recently ordered about $25 000.00 worth of software for the use in the lab. I am really looking forward to next year to have these students working on everything. the school is a split elementary and high school and shaped like a V so that they try to keep the big students from the little ones to avoid confusion and fear. It is a great facility. Hockey in Dubai is a bit better the beer leagues in Canada
but not by much, there are some really good players and some new to the game locals even playing. it was good hockey but the ice has a hard time staying cold with how warm it is here so the puck bounces a lot but hey, you are playing hockey in the desert, can you really complain? A few staff memebers play on a local team so we went to support them, plus they have really cheap drinks at the rink too. a double rum is about 4 bucks. heck of a deal...
but not by much, there are some really good players and some new to the game locals even playing. it was good hockey but the ice has a hard time staying cold with how warm it is here so the puck bounces a lot but hey, you are playing hockey in the desert, can you really complain? A few staff memebers play on a local team so we went to support them, plus they have really cheap drinks at the rink too. a double rum is about 4 bucks. heck of a deal...I have a few pictures of Kuwait but will get more up, I just have to find them... it was a good time and quite surreal how quickly a city will rebuild itself and how you would never know that the US came in and made a mess of the place, it is quite a beautiful city. The roads are very confusing and like most middle eastern countries the drivers are all insane. The pictures i am putting here are of a resort that I was taken to and there is a ship off the back of it that is really stunning.
I am excited to be coming home, golfing and seeing my family and friends. I am looking forward to getting around to see everyone and thanks to everyone who has kept in touch it has really ment a lot to me.
I may post one more before I go so look for it, I imagine my excitment will only increase as the closer I get to June 13th.
Curtis
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Dubai, the real scoop well what I know anyway
Well I have been asked a few questions about Dubai in the last year and my parents have asked that I send out a blog of things that you may or may not hear about if you wanted to come over. So this is what I can tell you, which may help or may not.
Dubai is a fantastic place to come visit, you can buy everything here. If you want a warranty then you can get it (whatever you want) at a mall, there are 9 now and 4-5 more on the way that of course will be the biggest in the world. But future projects is not what I wan
t to write about. So if you came here tomorrow you would be able to find all kinds of accommodation from about $100 us a night up to I think the Royal suite in the Burj goes for about $20 000 a night. There is an enormous amount of accommodation though, I think the hardest part would be deciding where to stay. I have heard that Expedia has good rates for hotels in Dubai. There is every kind of dining experience you can imagine here, I have paid $2 US for a meal that I could not finish and I have paid $50 for one that left me hungry. It all depends on where you want to eat an how fancy of a place you choose, but again the possibilities are endless.
I have been asked a few times if Dubai is Handicapped accessible and I have say yes for the most part, the locals all take elevators or escalators everywhere so anywhere you want to go is accessible. There are cabs available for it too but they are few and far between that part maybe a bit more difficult but for about $100 a day you can hire a personal driver that will be on call for you for 10 hours.
Again there is a ton of things to do and if you go to any book store in a mall there are guides in books that can show you everything you ever could want to do. The beaches are amazing, they are large long beaches, even the free ones are really nice. If you decide to pay for a beach it is not very expensive and you usually can be more relaxed on them in terms of being conservative. There is also usually a chair service for a nominal fee availab
le too.
the driving around the Emirate and even UAE is quite easy and very beautiful to go out into the desert on the highways. There are lots of camels that roam around and you can take some really interesting pictures of them too.
I hope this helps with some of the questions people have been asking. if you have more please feel free to e-mail me at cehegge@gmail.com and I will be happy to answer what I know about the Gulf.
The airport is a bear to come through FYI, passport control is fast but usually it is a 30min to an hour wait in line.
hope this helps.
oh by the way it is now over 40 degrees Celsius in the daytime (104 roughly for the Americans) and getting hotter. the better time to come to the Gulf is between October and April it is 30 and below for the most part between those times of the year.
Have a happy day all.
Dubai is a fantastic place to come visit, you can buy everything here. If you want a warranty then you can get it (whatever you want) at a mall, there are 9 now and 4-5 more on the way that of course will be the biggest in the world. But future projects is not what I wan
t to write about. So if you came here tomorrow you would be able to find all kinds of accommodation from about $100 us a night up to I think the Royal suite in the Burj goes for about $20 000 a night. There is an enormous amount of accommodation though, I think the hardest part would be deciding where to stay. I have heard that Expedia has good rates for hotels in Dubai. There is every kind of dining experience you can imagine here, I have paid $2 US for a meal that I could not finish and I have paid $50 for one that left me hungry. It all depends on where you want to eat an how fancy of a place you choose, but again the possibilities are endless.I have been asked a few times if Dubai is Handicapped accessible and I have say yes for the most part, the locals all take elevators or escalators everywhere so anywhere you want to go is accessible. There are cabs available for it too but they are few and far between that part maybe a bit more difficult but for about $100 a day you can hire a personal driver that will be on call for you for 10 hours.
Again there is a ton of things to do and if you go to any book store in a mall there are guides in books that can show you everything you ever could want to do. The beaches are amazing, they are large long beaches, even the free ones are really nice. If you decide to pay for a beach it is not very expensive and you usually can be more relaxed on them in terms of being conservative. There is also usually a chair service for a nominal fee availab
le too.the driving around the Emirate and even UAE is quite easy and very beautiful to go out into the desert on the highways. There are lots of camels that roam around and you can take some really interesting pictures of them too.
I hope this helps with some of the questions people have been asking. if you have more please feel free to e-mail me at cehegge@gmail.com and I will be happy to answer what I know about the Gulf.
The airport is a bear to come through FYI, passport control is fast but usually it is a 30min to an hour wait in line.
hope this helps.
oh by the way it is now over 40 degrees Celsius in the daytime (104 roughly for the Americans) and getting hotter. the better time to come to the Gulf is between October and April it is 30 and below for the most part between those times of the year.
Have a happy day all.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
31 in Dubai
Well it is now offical, I am 31 and in Dubai. Could I have seen this happening 10 years ago...certainly not. 10 years ago I was in Red Deer, Alberta working at Turple Bros and working at a golf course. I was floating and made a decision, well my parents helped me to go to Olds College and get my Horticultural diploma and get an education. It was a good choice to go I had a great time and learned a lot that I still use today. My parents did tell me a gem that I hold very close to my heart; no matter what happens to you in life, no one can take your education away from you..... Good words to live by.
life is good, really good. I have a job that I really enjoy doing. (for the most part) I have some good friends here. This is the first time that it has been 39 degrees on my birthday...I was told it was 4 degrees today in Red Deer....that is a little chilly. there have been lots of firsts for me this year which i am very grateful for. I really have to thank my parents for being so supportive of me and helping me along my very interesting and varied life path so far.
So I have 5 weeks left...I recall having my blog title of being the first 5 weeks in...it has been an amazing ride this year. I have golfed in weather that is hotter then I ever thought I could exsist let alone excersize, I have skiied in a mall that is in the middle of the desert, I have gone to one of the best waterparks I have ever been to, sorry Sylvan lake, Dreamland is amazing. I have gone to Damascus, Kuwait, Thailand and traveled around the UAE fairly extensivly. I get upset sometimes that I have not saved a lot of money this year but looking back on all I have done I would have never had these opportunites back in Canada so for that I am very grateful.
anyway now that I have offically gone into my 30's I guess I have to count my life blessed. As a great song I have on my Ipod says I look forward to my next 30 years....could not have said it better myself...thanks Tim.
I have a ton of pictures to get up on here and picasa I will post some pictures and get up more on picasa and give the link here.
thanks all
Curtis
life is good, really good. I have a job that I really enjoy doing. (for the most part) I have some good friends here. This is the first time that it has been 39 degrees on my birthday...I was told it was 4 degrees today in Red Deer....that is a little chilly. there have been lots of firsts for me this year which i am very grateful for. I really have to thank my parents for being so supportive of me and helping me along my very interesting and varied life path so far.
So I have 5 weeks left...I recall having my blog title of being the first 5 weeks in...it has been an amazing ride this year. I have golfed in weather that is hotter then I ever thought I could exsist let alone excersize, I have skiied in a mall that is in the middle of the desert, I have gone to one of the best waterparks I have ever been to, sorry Sylvan lake, Dreamland is amazing. I have gone to Damascus, Kuwait, Thailand and traveled around the UAE fairly extensivly. I get upset sometimes that I have not saved a lot of money this year but looking back on all I have done I would have never had these opportunites back in Canada so for that I am very grateful.
anyway now that I have offically gone into my 30's I guess I have to count my life blessed. As a great song I have on my Ipod says I look forward to my next 30 years....could not have said it better myself...thanks Tim.
I have a ton of pictures to get up on here and picasa I will post some pictures and get up more on picasa and give the link here.
thanks all
Curtis
Monday, April 21, 2008
Kuwait.....
Hey, so if anyone is still checking this once and a while I have not posted in a while and have no real excuse for it. So here goes.
I was recently on a school trip to Kuwait, yea things are done differently overseas. In alberta you have to get waivers and permisson to go across town with students. We go to Kuwait with 20 students with 2 teachers and are not in charge of them the whole time. The students were hosted by families in Kuwait, Iwill get back to some of those stories in a bit. We fly to Kuwait at 7am on wednesday morning, we arrive at the visa issuing desk and start the process of buying entrance into the country. It is early morning and there are a lot of businessmen there as well so I knew this was going to take a while. when we get to the counter we find out there is a list of countries Kuwait will let into the country and many they will not without special visas. well as you can guess I have 5 students who are on the do not let into the country list. The once officer makes it clear that the girl from Venesuala will not be coming into his country...the Taiwanese girls (3 of them) have diplomatice passports or they would have been told the same thing. they have to get permission from the Chinese government because China still considers Tiwan part of China, it is crazy. Oh and the last girl is a South African...they are horrible people as well to the Kuwaities, I guess. A man with more Wasta comes over, (more power) and says he understands we are here for a school funcition and wants to help me get into the country with every student. he was a very nice guy and I did not ever get a chance to thank him for his work. So we have to contact the school that we are going to and they have to go and get visas for us so that we can come play badminton. this does get sorted out but it does take 5 hours in all. The plus side to all of this is that the students did not know each other all that well and they had ample opportunity to gel. That part was really good, the stressful part is that a Canadian teacher that has not gone with students to a different country has the hardest time getting into a country then all of the other teams that travelled comined this year. Good learning experience forsure.
Kuwait was amazing though. it is a very beautiful place but there is not a lot to do there. it is a dry country, kind of. you can smuggle beer and wine making kits into the country or you can buy blackmarket booze of the governement that is in charge of making sure it does not come into the country...ha ha got to love political corruption. It all depends on who you are... the black market booze is really expensive so most people do not bother with it anway. I did try my hosts beer, I think I could go without if that was what my choice was...it was not overly great. Labatt has nothing to worry about with competition. We got a chance to go to an amazing spa for a while, it was called the Palms...very nice place.
Three days of badminton started at 7:30 am and finished around 6 pm most nights, it was a lot of sitting around and watching but the students had a great time even with all the sore shoulders. The friendships they made were fantasic, the hosting was second to none. A few students got to stay at the Amir's home (he is the ruler of Kuwait) the got to ride around on a tank in the back yard, go for a drive in a farri and get rides to school in a bentley, it is a tough life. Some of the students said they stayed in a house big enough to need an elevator, absolutley rediculous.... the money that is over in the middle east is mind boggling. A story on that, the Kuwait goverment is disscussing paying off all local loans to help the kuwaitie people with debt. like they need this. the funny thing is that because it became public they are expecting it to happen now. (the local Kuwaitie people that is). Unfortunalty you can not become a Kuwaitie even if you live there the rest of your life, you have to be born into this world.
Back to the badminton, the students had a great time overall and were a bit tired when we had to come home, but most wanted to stay a little while longer to hang out with new friends. That i think is a great success. We got back into Dubai at 1:30 am when the airport is the busiest it possibly can be, crazy busy. there were 10 000 people waiting at passport control easliy. we did not wait long and got out of there in less then an hour I would say. all students got picked up from their parents and slept the next day for a long time.
well if you are still reading I thank you, I hear it is cold and lots of snow in Alberta right now. that is not great, it is staying warm here and the messed up thing is that below 30 degrees now I feel cold. I know I have no sypathy at all from those of you reading this but I will freeze my butt off when I get back in June I am sure.
7 more weeks, I am excited to come back, even more so to see everyone again and just be back with my family. it has been an amazing ride so far I am already looking forward to next year and see how it plays out. I may even stay a 3rd year, but I should probably finish the first before I think about the 3rd.
Take care, I will get pictures up of Kuwait soon!!
Curtis
I was recently on a school trip to Kuwait, yea things are done differently overseas. In alberta you have to get waivers and permisson to go across town with students. We go to Kuwait with 20 students with 2 teachers and are not in charge of them the whole time. The students were hosted by families in Kuwait, Iwill get back to some of those stories in a bit. We fly to Kuwait at 7am on wednesday morning, we arrive at the visa issuing desk and start the process of buying entrance into the country. It is early morning and there are a lot of businessmen there as well so I knew this was going to take a while. when we get to the counter we find out there is a list of countries Kuwait will let into the country and many they will not without special visas. well as you can guess I have 5 students who are on the do not let into the country list. The once officer makes it clear that the girl from Venesuala will not be coming into his country...the Taiwanese girls (3 of them) have diplomatice passports or they would have been told the same thing. they have to get permission from the Chinese government because China still considers Tiwan part of China, it is crazy. Oh and the last girl is a South African...they are horrible people as well to the Kuwaities, I guess. A man with more Wasta comes over, (more power) and says he understands we are here for a school funcition and wants to help me get into the country with every student. he was a very nice guy and I did not ever get a chance to thank him for his work. So we have to contact the school that we are going to and they have to go and get visas for us so that we can come play badminton. this does get sorted out but it does take 5 hours in all. The plus side to all of this is that the students did not know each other all that well and they had ample opportunity to gel. That part was really good, the stressful part is that a Canadian teacher that has not gone with students to a different country has the hardest time getting into a country then all of the other teams that travelled comined this year. Good learning experience forsure.
Kuwait was amazing though. it is a very beautiful place but there is not a lot to do there. it is a dry country, kind of. you can smuggle beer and wine making kits into the country or you can buy blackmarket booze of the governement that is in charge of making sure it does not come into the country...ha ha got to love political corruption. It all depends on who you are... the black market booze is really expensive so most people do not bother with it anway. I did try my hosts beer, I think I could go without if that was what my choice was...it was not overly great. Labatt has nothing to worry about with competition. We got a chance to go to an amazing spa for a while, it was called the Palms...very nice place.
Three days of badminton started at 7:30 am and finished around 6 pm most nights, it was a lot of sitting around and watching but the students had a great time even with all the sore shoulders. The friendships they made were fantasic, the hosting was second to none. A few students got to stay at the Amir's home (he is the ruler of Kuwait) the got to ride around on a tank in the back yard, go for a drive in a farri and get rides to school in a bentley, it is a tough life. Some of the students said they stayed in a house big enough to need an elevator, absolutley rediculous.... the money that is over in the middle east is mind boggling. A story on that, the Kuwait goverment is disscussing paying off all local loans to help the kuwaitie people with debt. like they need this. the funny thing is that because it became public they are expecting it to happen now. (the local Kuwaitie people that is). Unfortunalty you can not become a Kuwaitie even if you live there the rest of your life, you have to be born into this world.
Back to the badminton, the students had a great time overall and were a bit tired when we had to come home, but most wanted to stay a little while longer to hang out with new friends. That i think is a great success. We got back into Dubai at 1:30 am when the airport is the busiest it possibly can be, crazy busy. there were 10 000 people waiting at passport control easliy. we did not wait long and got out of there in less then an hour I would say. all students got picked up from their parents and slept the next day for a long time.
well if you are still reading I thank you, I hear it is cold and lots of snow in Alberta right now. that is not great, it is staying warm here and the messed up thing is that below 30 degrees now I feel cold. I know I have no sypathy at all from those of you reading this but I will freeze my butt off when I get back in June I am sure.
7 more weeks, I am excited to come back, even more so to see everyone again and just be back with my family. it has been an amazing ride so far I am already looking forward to next year and see how it plays out. I may even stay a 3rd year, but I should probably finish the first before I think about the 3rd.
Take care, I will get pictures up of Kuwait soon!!
Curtis
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Not a lot new
Well i thought it was about time to write a new blog, it is Sunday morning I am at school (the work week here is Sunday to Thursday) and I have lots to do so I thought a procrastiation was in order. As you may know I was in the Calgary Herald for an article they did on Globetroting Calgarians featuring yours truley and ofcourse Dubai. It was well written and a lot of people found it interesting. So I guess I am almost world famous now, well in my own mind I guess.
So little has changed in my life in the last few months so I thought I would rant a bit as that what blogs can be for too, not just an update on what is happening in my life. Everyone had said to me that you will save sooo much money if you go overseas to teach, think of the tax breaks and the housing is paid for you will have difficulty spending the cash.... THAT is if you do not want to experience anything of the place you live at, or are living with someone. The things that keep you busy outside of work are very expensive and a lot of cash goes to that, I mean a lot. Every weekend there is someones birthday or event going on that a guy like me can not miss. I like to be busy all the time and it all seams to cost a lot of money.
to go for a drink here in Dubai is not a cheap under taking, I rarley do it anymore now being that you pay close to $10 CND for one, so what that is like $5US now?? and being that we get paid in US dollars we as Canadians over here are not making as much as we did when we got here. Oh well, people coming to visit pay less now, that is good, well if anyone does come visit that is. So back to my rant, golf is one of my favorite sports, well it used to be. I played on thursday night and shot the worst score i ever have i think. I will not say but it was well over a century, I am sure glad i am taking lessons once a week for the last 6 weeks, wow have they helped. At one point I was willing to stop golfing altogether. it was not a great day for Curtis.
Anyway I will leave it at that for now, I could go on for a while this morning but I think I should start to get some work done today.
oh if you do have questions for me I can not respond to the comments you leave on my blog. so e-mail me if you do have questions for Dubai or me. I will forward the questions you have for Dubai to her e-mail. you know what i mean.
14 weeks and I am back in Canada....not that i am counting...
Monday, February 4, 2008
Dubai Desert Classic...Tiger show...
Well over the weekend was the Desert Classic. I went on friday, got on TV and was in the local paper on the front page....not too bad I would say. We got there at 830ish in the morning and went on a trek to find Erine Els. He is not a hard man to miss as he is a large guy. I had no idea how big he actually is. we followed him for 8-9 holes and it was impressive to watch. He has such a nice swing, smooth and great attitude, nice and chilled out. he did hit a ball right over our heads on the 17th hole. He went for the green it is only 330 yards to cut the corner to get to the green.
I would say most of the pros did this. it is unreal to see how much better they are then the regular masses (me). we watched Ernie finish up on 18 and went to go find Tiger. We went to were the crowd was growing, on the practice tee.
I would say most of the pros did this. it is unreal to see how much better they are then the regular masses (me). we watched Ernie finish up on 18 and went to go find Tiger. We went to were the crowd was growing, on the practice tee. It must be a kick in the pants for every other golfer at these events, no one really claps or cheers for anyone else lik
e Tiger. I have heard he is the most recognizable man on the planet, I can see it too. for him to walk on the range. the crowd went nuts, he waved and everyone settled down. The other guys on the tee box must have been rattled by this. Anyway it was amazing to watch is warm up and see how he gets ready for the day. We left the practice green early to get a seat on the first tee to watch the first few group before Tigers go out. So O'mera, Juimenez and Garcia were the three bigger names that went out before Tiger and it was great to see. They were not on form this weekend and did not come close to the leaderboard, although Garcia did go to -5 under on friday and Juminez played great, he is a fun guy to watch golf. Also Colin Montgomery was playing with Tiger on friday. They had some great banter for the day, it was a lot of fun to watch.
e Tiger. I have heard he is the most recognizable man on the planet, I can see it too. for him to walk on the range. the crowd went nuts, he waved and everyone settled down. The other guys on the tee box must have been rattled by this. Anyway it was amazing to watch is warm up and see how he gets ready for the day. We left the practice green early to get a seat on the first tee to watch the first few group before Tigers go out. So O'mera, Juimenez and Garcia were the three bigger names that went out before Tiger and it was great to see. They were not on form this weekend and did not come close to the leaderboard, although Garcia did go to -5 under on friday and Juminez played great, he is a fun guy to watch golf. Also Colin Montgomery was playing with Tiger on friday. They had some great banter for the day, it was a lot of fun to watch. 
So on the second hole Tiger went for the green with a 3 wood, only 356 yard straight away...sick is all i can say. Luckily for me, he mishit and I got a chance to be 3 feet away from him to watch him stub a chip and do it again 10 feet in front of him. I guess ever great ones can make shots like me...ha ha. he still pared the hole though....I may not have done the same. the crowd was starting to get bigger and bigger so we had to start leap froging his shots, so that we could be close to see every second one. We did not get to see too many Tee shots from the tee as a lot of people camped out on the tee and watched all the golfers come through. On the 6th hole Tiger almost hit me with his tee shot so I was close again and to watch him hit a shot out of the trampled down rough, 180+ yards, up hill and within 3 feet of the pin is awe insipring. I am sure I would not even have made the green let alone attack the pin.
It was a lot of fun to be there for the day I do have to say by walk jogging around the golf course for 10 hours it makes for a tiring day. It was a lot of fun to watch Tiger and see the crowds go crazy for him. The one thing even tiger had said was the press photographers were getting annoying they would stand in front of him and take some weird pictures. The whole time I was watching the golf I did keep thinking though that I would much rather be actually golfing the course over watching people golfing the course. even professionals.
I do not do crowds overly well, especially tired so at the end of the day when we could not leave as there was only one way out that was 20 feet wide and 20 000 people were trying to leave at once. It was not a fun experice but again I was tired and kept my cool about the whole thing.
Overall it was an amazing experience and I look forward to going again next year for one day again.
I hope Tiger comes back..
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Flooding in Dubai
Yes I am serious, in January we had rain that lasted for a few days and it came down hard enough that cars got stuck on the road and there was massive flooding everywhere. It started in the morning around 5 am and by the time we left for school roads were almost totally under water. It rained all day and being the fact there is no rain sewer lines there was no where for the rain to go. Students started a rumor that we would not have school the next day because of it, it was hard to believe that a bit of rain could shut a city down like Dubai...but sure enough. They were right. They gave us not one day but two days off because of rain...ha ha. the last day we had off was a nice sunny day so we hit the golf course.
I should mention that George Bush came to the city a few days before and gave us a day off as well because of the fact that the military closed the major roads for the whole day. so it was called a national holiday. too funny. there was a bit of concern that with Iran being so close that something may have happened but it was all good except for the fact we could not go anywhere. it was a good day to catch up on some sleep.
so that was the week, out of 5 days we were supposed to work, we worked 2....it is a hard life here in Dubai...
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