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It's my last day of work at Nova Southeastern University! It's a very surreal feeling. I feel numb from the fact that I'm leaving and that my work and life routine is ending here. I had a very nice going away party this afternoon at work. It had a Middle Eastern theme including food, music and a nice power point presentation. People gave me some nice momemtos and it was touching. I'm also very exhausted by the lack of sleep, stress of packing, trying to tie up loose ends and saying good bye to so many people. Tonight is my last drumming class and it will be sad to good bye to my drumming teacher. Anyway - it's time for me to go so I'm signing off - good bye South Florida and thanks for the memories!
posted by Michael at 5:28 PM

 
We're moving to Abu Dhabi! I officially accepted the job offer today and my head is still spinning. Darcy and I have so much to do here in Florida and in Edmonton that I'm not quite sure where to start. But it's exciting and a year and a half of finding the right job has finally paid off! At the moment I'm trying to get quotes for renting a truck. We won't have that much stuff. Ryder doesn't accept one way trips (different pick up and drop off locations) - I can't believe that! Budget's online quote system is not working so I'm not getting off to a good start. I'd rather not use U-Haul after the horror stories from customers. I guess I was lucky to have rented a newer U-Haul truck when I moved down here in 2000. I better go as it's getting late - our dual move saga is to be continued....
posted by Michael at 7:08 PM

 
I forgot to mention last time that Darcy and I watched a couple of good movies. It's a big event because we seldom do! One was Catch Me if You Can . A good movie with lots of action but not all violence and sex and many Hollywood movies. It's *inspired* by the true story of a man (Frank Abagnail) who had quite an imagination and was a great story teller. This story discusses how the movie stretched facts based on his life so it may be more entertainment than fact. The other movie was Amelie and was cute. The French translation didn't hinder the pace at all since I don't watch many foreign language movies.

I dressed up as Abe Lincoln for one final time yesterday. It was his birthday so I read the book Milo's Hat Trick to a few pre-schoolers. It went okay and there was not as much pressure as previous gigs I did. The costume that my boss sewed two years ago lasted although it's getting a bit worn now! I had grown out my beard for over a month and a half and I was glad to shave the Lincolnesque beard. I brought my electric shaver and trimmer to work and shaved it off in my office!

I continue to wait for news from the Petroleum Institute but I'm patient. There is much work here to keep me busy. I submitted, hopefully for the final time, the final version of my manuscript. If all goes well it will be published in the spring 2006 edition of RUSQ. Weather was refreshingly cold for a few days and I think may have set a record during my 5.5 years of living in Florida. It got down to about 4 celcius one night. The old buildings we've lived in are terribly drafty and not very energy efficient. The inside temperature quickly changes with the outside temp.

I got likely the last batch of wedding photos from my friend Ed. So we can now work on our wedding photo album. I developed a B&W 5x7 of us embracing for Valentine's Day. There was a nice grey colored frame that we got as a wedding or shower gift so the photo matches nicely. Final bit of news is that I'm done with buying the McFarlane hockey figures as I have all the Oilers ones. I went on a shopping spree and bought some Star Trek comics. Most are from a couple of short lived series in the late 1990s from Marvel. I'd like to complete DC Comics's second series of Star Trek by acquiring issues 64 to 80. There are also a few one shot specials that I have bought. The prices I paid were pretty reasonable with many being face value or less and free or heavily discounted shipping when buying two or more items. My World War One dvd arrived and am looking forward to watching it sometime. The best documentary about World War Two is Laurence Olivier's World at War. I first remember watching in over twenty years ago and being spellbound. At about the same time I was also watching a black and white documentary series about World War One. It was produced by CBS in 1964 and was narrated by Robert Ryan. Unfortunately it's not in dvd or vhs. It was also an excellent series and cemented my interest in history while in high school. I guess that's all for now. I better eat my dinner and hurry off to my dumbek class....

posted by Michael at 6:19 PM

 
Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been meaning to do it for a while but work and eBay betting have taken precedent! My Jan. 19 to 24 trip to Abu Dhabi was an enlightening experience! Luckily I packed lightly (two carry-on bags) so I didn't have to worry about losing luggage. There were three layovers each way so it made for long trips (48 hours roundtrip). My stay in Abu Dhabi was barely 72 hours and it went by very quickly. I arrived in Abu Dhabi about 1 am Saturday which was 9 hours ahead of Florida. The Petroleum Institute rep greeted me at the airport and was able to fasttrack me through Customs. Who you know plays a significant factor in getting things done in a timely manner in that part of the world. Anyway we were quickly on the road and we got to my hotel in about 20 minutes. It was dark so the most noticeable impression, like first being in Cairo six years ago, was the driving. Much more eratic over there.

I woke up at about 9 am and had a delicious buffet breakfast was delicious. Then I wandered outside behind the hotel where the pool and workout facilities and located. I relaxed in a chair and began reading the local English language newspaper but sson fell asleep. I awoke about an hour later and met my contact from the library early in the afternoon. He was very friendly and showed me around the island city. Darcy and I could adapt there as it is more laid back than here and Dubai! Driving is bad but we can adapt - people's sense of personal space is almost non existant. Much construction there and many small, skinny highrises. Living near the corniche (waterfront) is obviously the nicest and most expensive place to live. Rent is cheaper as you move south (inland). Doesn't appear the rental apartments are as luxurious as here and the expensive villas are better but more expensive. We'd have to settle for an apartment and I can't remember if many had balconies or not.

Taxis are everywhere and fairly cheap and clean. There are many Indians, Pakistanis and Philippinos in the service industry so in some ways it doesn't seem like you're in the ME. Seeing the local Emirate men dressed in their pristine white robes and women in their black robes and veils is eye catching. Interesting how this culture has embraced technology and some Western values while retaining their own identity. It was somewhat amusing seeing women fully veiled and talking on their cell phones! It was refreshing to watch BBC and Euro news and getting a different perspetive on world events. I even watched some Al Jazeera English programming. It seemed a bit like a MTV show. There would be opportunities for us to socialize with expats and live the Western life which would be fun. But you'd lead a somewhat isolated life by not wanting to explore and travel which is what we'd do!

The Petroloeum Institute interviews went well I think. Very nice faculty there and staff were eager to answer my questions. The school does a lot of preparation for new candidates moving to the area. It's obviously common so they seem to know what they are doing. There are only a few books that I managed to find about visiting the UAE. Spectrum Guide to the United Arab Emirates has many good photos. Culture Shock! United Arab Emirates: A Guide to Customs & Etiquette, Perspectives on the United Arab Emirates may be worth buying if we move there.

Since I have an interest in this part of the world I honestly have few concerns about moving. People that we mention this aren't quite sure how to react and we realize that it's Western frame of mind. The expats I talked with there aren't obsessed with 9-11, terrorism news and endless American debate about security issues. So it would be a nice change to listen to other news albeit from a different perspective! The latest story about the Mohammed cartoon with the bomb in his turban is tragic. I see both the Eastern and Western perspectives but I have no answer for how it should be handled. I suppose it's part of why I want to move there and try and make a difference in young students' lives.

I quickly realized the emphasis of adapting to a different work environment and language and cultural differences. Also teaching BI classes to ESL students will be interesting and quite different from here. Their new library is very nice and I see many similarities between what the school is experiencing now and what NSU was experiencing four years ago! Much money to spend on a book approval plan, new building, rapidly increasing staff size and new policies needed.

I've heard no official word yet but that is okay. I'm patient and besides, I have much work to do here with FLA committee work, making sure that my article is finally published, ordering books and revising the new approval plan for next FY. Darcy continues with her lovely bellydancing (she's practicing with a friend as I type). I have bought several McFarland NHL figures (all Oilers of course!) I've also been buying some Star Trek (TOS) comics from Gold Key, Marvel and DC in an attempt to complete my collections. I haven't spent this much money in years and figure I deserve it. Plus if we move overseas it's better if I buy these items now while it's easier and cheaper! That's all for now...


A nice recent photo of Darcy posing with her new bellydancing dress.

posted by Michael at 6:43 PM

 
Happy belated 2006!
We went to a friend's house for the celebration and had fun. There was a ton to eat and drink but Darcy cooked a yummy cheese fondu so I wasn't too hungry that night. I agreed to be the designated driver so I didn't drink too much. We were both in bed by 2:00 am. Earlier on Dec. 31 we attended the King Tut exhibit in Fort Lauderdale. An excellent exhibit and it was well worth the one hour wait to get in. We arrived half an hour early thinking we'd make good time. There were many people so it took us three hours to see all 110 plus items. Ft. Lauderdale is one of only four cities to host the exhibit before it moves on to Europe. We bought the official exhibit book and it complements the 1978 exhibit book. Grandpa and Grandma Wood attended that exhibit in Seattle. That exhibit had ony 55 items but included the famed Tut funerary death mask. The 2005 exhibit has twice the number of items but doesn't have the gold mask.
My plane tickets have been confirmed and I fly out Jan. 19 and return on the 24th. I'll be staying at the five star Beach Rotana Hotel and Towers. I'm nervous and have many questions to ask. But it is exciting and despite being there only three days I'm sure I will see a lot of places and will meet many people. Library of Congress put together an informative county profile about the UAE. UAE Interact is a great website, Emirates.org, and the UAE government's site are good.
posted by Michael at 6:51 PM

 
It's Friday and I'm ready to head home for a relaxing three day break. Sounds like Darcy spent a lot of money at the grocery store so we should eat well during the short holidays! Unfortunately Darcy works tomorrow so we will only have Sunday and Monday off. It won't feel like Christmas being stuck here but we'll make the most of it. I will make Sin Fizzes and my Mom's cinnamon and sugar balls Christmas morning. Our little Christmas tree has even more gifts now and someone special is gettting many of those ;) It's strange but there really aren't many things that I want. There are some dumbek music cds I'd like and that's about it. I have been betting on a few Star Trek Gold Key comics and McFarlane NHL figurines but it's best if I buy those myself. I hope that I win the hockey figures! Starting bid is $1.00 and shipping for first figure is $9.00 and subsequent figures are $5.00 each for shipping.

I've been busy at work buying $8,000 worth of academic dvds in environmental science, health and technology. That seems like a lot of money but these videos are from small vendors like Green Planet Films, Bullfrog Films, First Run Icarus Films and Berkely Media. These are not videos that many public libraries would have or could likely afford to purchase. Many of these items cost around $200.00 but the content is excellent.

The weather has been refreshingly cool the last few days and it makes it feel a little bit like winter. Yuletide greetings to all!

posted by Michael at 6:31 PM

 
Well I officially have an on-site job interview at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. It's set for the week of January 21, 2006 so I have some time to prepare. Quite exciting but I'm also nervous! On Sunday I went with Darcy and friends to see a well known local bellydancer named Ansuya perform. She is one of the original Bellydance Superstarsand she performed an electrifying 20 minute performance! We had dinner and watched the show at a neat restaurant called Uva. It was a 45 minute trek down the turnpike and interstate to Coral Gables.

Weather has turned refreshingly cool (10 celcius last night!). So I wore my PJs last night and kept the bedroom window open just a crack. Today I dusted off my long sleeved Canada shirt in celebration of the cool weather. I'm currently bidding in ebay on two Star Trek Gold Key comic books. Don't know what made me decide to do this but I hadn't used ebay in a couple of years. The two comics total less than $10.00 excluding shipping. There's only a few hours left in the bidding so we'll see what happens...

posted by Michael at 7:05 PM