“Can you work over there?” is a question many people ask me.
Well, I could work over here. It is not like there’s a law that states women can’t work. But instead, I spend my time drinking coffee and blowing spit bubbles. And more often than not, I talk about crap that doesn’t really matter so much. It kind of feels like one of those lake amoeba is slowly eating my brain.
Continue reading “Rosie the Riveting Coffee Drinker”
Like hungry guests, a sitting audience looks, Plays are like suppers; poets are the cooks. The founder’s you; the table is this place, The carvers we; the prologue is the grace. Each act a course, each scene, a different dish.
~ George Farquhar ~
Continue reading “The Sushi Class”
Home Strange Home.
Many expats will be moving home this year after living abroad and although one might think it will be a smooth transition to return to our previous lives, experts say — think again. Continue reading “Home Strange Home”
Teacher’s Appreciation is being celebrated this week at GEMS American Academy and Maha and the other ladies at GEMS American Academy Parent Association have really went all out for day #1 of the celebration (yes, it is a 3 day celebration). Great work Maha and the GAAPA girls! Also, a big plug for the terrific popcorn at Sunny’s POP. Find more details here on their Facebook page.
Continue reading “Teacher’s Appreciation”
For those on the outside, the life of an expat seems glamorous or exotic….grass is always greener….right? Truthfully, it is a never boring set of challenges that keeps us slightly addicted to the what’s next lifestyle. Here’s my short list of things that make being an expat so great. I am sure I am missing a few things so be sure to share your own thoughts in the comments. Continue reading “15 Best Things About Being an Expat”
Something wonderful happened last week.
A large group of children and parents gathered for a bite to eat. Well, it was a little more than just food it was something much larger and interesting. It is what we call International Day and it is always a spectacular display. Over 50 nationalities side-by-side sharing cultures and traditions the expat way. Continue reading “50 Countries”
— The big smile of a laborer — because I know it comes from the heart
— The smell of shisha at a cafe — even though I don’t smoke
— The thrill of the city lights as they shine against the dark desert sky
— The willingness of a friend or a stranger to do almost anything — for nothing in return
— The way a friend from another country pauses to come up with the best word so I will understand them accurately
— The twinkle in an eye from a soul that has lived through tragedy
— The cheery conversation of two British kiddos during the morning school run
— The smell of foods I have never heard of — from countries I’ve never visited
— How I secretly am drawn to the chaos of miscommunication
— That I have almost grown to appreciate the smell of oud
— That I could now compete on a game show and correctly guess a sentence understanding only two words
— When disaster strikes we all pull together empathizing with people and countries we have never met or visited
— I am addicted to the surprises that the UAE constantly offers
— Realizing I now understand global politics, history, relations and also realizing that many people don’t
— My empathy for others has grown enormously
— What I want is for everyone I love to feel/see what I am experiencing
— I have grown used to driving in the chaos of the UAE roads
— I feel a little lost without a National dress
— Mam/Sir doesn’t bother me anymore
— It saddens me to know that many people around the world are misinformed about life in the Middle East
— The slang words I don’t understand but am always willing to try
— I love rubbing elbows with people in the supermarket
— The smell of rain is like heaven
— I love unexpected friendships that pop up out of nowhere
— And most of all, I love seeing the world in my child’s eyes
— My heart is full for the one we lost on a sad December day
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Thank you to the unknown artists whose photography and art I have used in this post.
Something strange happened this week.
Twice I was in a room filled with people who looked just like me — and it was odd. Nobody with dark skin. Nobody with a Middle Eastern accent. Nobody dressed in their country’s native clothes. Only white people, in white people clothes, having white people conversation — and I was bored.
Since I arrived in the Middle East I have been immersed in a melting pot of cultures and I have not stepped outside my melting pot since I arrived. Here in the UAE, my norm has been a mosaic of languages, clothing, and exotic features; all of which I now consider ordinary. One day I asked my friend Wlede, “Is this dress too African for me?” Of course not! was the response. In the States I would have received many stares for exploring fashion outside of my own ethnic group. Here nobody raises an eyebrow. Many days I ask myself, “Who have I become? Do I even still feel American anymore?
I never realized the extent of our global education until Max called out to me, “Yalla habibi! (Come on my loved one — which, as a nine year-old boy, he obviously didn’t quite understand or he wouldn’t have said it.) Another day he tossed out a “Ya know mate” that would rival any Aussies’s. And then he surprised me with the British terms keen, trolley and trainers almost in the same sentence. Who is this kid?
Raising an expat kid is different. They absorb the culture of their classmates and sometimes identify it as their own. They will swear up and down that they are from countries outside their home. Laura, my Italian friend, has three children who assumed they were Chinese. Imagine explaining to your child that although they’ve lived in China all of their lives, they are not Chinese. Interestingly, in their little view of the world they do not recognize the difference.
My friend who is a kindergarten teacher asked her class, “So class where are you all from?” One little boy screamed, “Exxon Oil!” While another little girl with a Texas accent said, “I’m from Saudi.” Many American children of teachers teaching internationally and other expats living abroad have never lived in the United States. They’ve lived here and there around the world, moving from assignment to assignment. Kerstin, my American friend whose children have never lived in the USA said, “I hated it when my kids lost their Aussie accent!”
Of the nineteen children in my son’s class there are probably ten different ethnic groups represented. During holidays the children disperse around the world to visit family or vacation in far away places. The cultural experience an expat child receives in the UAE is unmatched. Yes, we are living in the Middle East but we are truly receiving a global education due to the overwhelmingly large expat community. We are a melting pot larger than New York City. And fortunately for me, I am learning to pick and choose the best each country has to offer.
When deciding to move internationally, our goal was to create a global citizen. Someone who isn’t defined by geographic borders, an inherited culture, or misinformed by the evening news. Someone who is as comfortable in Dubai as he is in London. Someone with a kind heart, an accepting spirit and a thirst for knowledge and exploration.
And then one day Max said something to me that was so British it made me smile.
I realized with the quip of his little British slang that this experience was achieving its bloody goal.
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