When I am in the UAE I complain a lot...

... I complain too much about little things like Etisalat or the bureaucracy of renewing my car or visa or the annoyance of crossing a land border but when I have been away for too long, I so miss it.

I am asking myself if this is normal, a natural human trait or not. I have been away for over two months and I am thinking of an excuse why I should go back earlier than necessary, to spend the remainder of my time out in Al Ain. I kind of know that by the time my next trip home approaches - in about 4 months - I will be glad to get back home again, it seems like a constant craving for being where I am not at the moment.

I have been in the UAE for 3 years now, on and off, spending approx. 8 months in the UAE each year and it starts to feel more like home and I start to worry what I will do one day when I'll leave for good. I certainly wont visit as a tourist, there is not that much to see, but living there is great.

At the end of the day, what are my complaints about living in the UAE, they are minor issues, Etisalat robs me, so what, my bank is the most unreliable bank on earth, so what, it is easily offset by the people, the environment I find there, the food, the ease of life in general.

Yes, I do complain about how people drive, but at least there are huge roads and cheap petrol, better than complaining about traffic jams. Yes I complain about bureaucracy, but so what, it is better than being a foreigner in my country (which I am not, but I know some and they are not enjyoing it).

When I complain about the incompetence of people in many walks of life, be it at my bank, the border or my car dealership, these are minor issues really. They dont really ruin my day as much as it ruins my day that I cant even sit in a public space in my country without being harrassed by some idiot's dog who decided he wants to share my food. People are so bloody inconsiderate in Europe, I am unsure though whether this has always been the case and I just never noticed prior to moving to the UAE.

When we badmouth the nationals, we tend to forget that their lives are not easy neither. Money? Yes, but so what. I have money. I had enough money before I came to the UAE. It doesnt buy happiness, sounds simple and banal, is simple and banal. Back home I wouldnt exchange having more money and more of a welfare state in exchange for what the nationals have to put up with. A country run by foreigners and nationals paid off to get on with it. I dont know, I dont know them enough to be honest and deep conversations about feelings hardly develop with them. This is unfortunate and is probably the only thing that I really miss in the UAE. Nationals are not exactly forthcoming with friendships, I tried to make an effort but it seems bound to fail every single time. But then again, if I was such a minority in my own country, I'd probably stick to hanging out with my own people, too.

Freedom of speech? Sure, but it is overrated. I feel free to speak in the UAE, I have no beef with any of their issues. I am actually relieved that I dont have to have an opinion on everything. I dont need to have an opinion on politics in the UAE, back home it is expected and I am expected to be engaged in politics to some extent.

Well, so much for my random thoughts of the day... I am looking forward to coming back to Al Ain soon. I miss it a lot. Sometimes when people dirve like maniacs, I even consider it funny.

800.000 km in 45 months

My favorite taxi driver just left for home. The last time I was in his car, I realized for the first time the mileage on his car, it was just above 800.000 km in a 2003 Corolla. Every year, he spent 9 months in Al Ain, the other 3 either in Pakistan or taking his mum for Hajj. It total, he was driving for 40 months, he had received a new car when he first came and he has been driving it ever since and nobody drove it while he was on holiday, which brings us to a simple calculation: 820.000 km divided by 40 months divided by an average of 30 days equals slightly more than 680 km per day. What a tough guy. He is 29 years old, has 5 kids at home.

I don't know anything about taxis, but 680 km/day seems a lot of work to me. I also know they made him pay AED 5.000 on one of his last days as a taxi driver for picking up a 10 dirham passenger on the highway back from Dubai, which seems a bit over the top. I don't know how many weeks he had to drive for that, but probably quite a few. I will miss him, he is a great guy, but I hope he will find a job back home after they didn't want his services anymore over here.

John Pilger: Lest we forget (Remembrance Day)

I dont know if you are reading the posts on alainexpats, but there was a somewhat strange discussion over Remembrance Day.

Basically one guy asked for Remembrance Day service and someone else replied with their idea of what Remembrance Day is. Another guy claimed it was also for the civilians and against war in principle and all this was concluded with a lot of hypocrisy about war being bad and whatever.

Shortly after that day an interesting article by John Pilger came up on Information Clearing House, giving us a bit better insight into what Remembrance day is about. I urge all those who have read the discussion on alainexpats to read this before embarking on yet another half hearted and/or half knowledgeable defense of that day. It is not about being against the war, it is not about civilians and I doubt it is about anything but glorifying occupation armies and oppressors from some selected countries.

And I understand the point made by one of the posters on alainexpats, I am also glad for not having to be in London on a day like this, I also disliked the glorification of war in the UK and the associated aura of sacrifice for a greater good, a greater good which in most cases turned out to be financial interest or dreams of world domination or world police...

Thanks Etisalat...

There is something I could not achieve for weeks. Now Etisalat and Egyptian TV have done it. I have been trying to explain to my students the benefits of a competitive environment. I tried for weeks to explain that monopolies like Etisalat are not good news for customers. Using du as an example does no good, everyone knows this is not "real" competition but still a very limited and regulated one.

Over the past few days something has happened. Egyptian TV seems to have aired Etisalat ads for the local Etisalat subsidiary and a rumour started. People started checking out the prices online, the offers and the handsets and realized people get a much better deal in Egypt and not only because there is less money around but mainly because there are also other operators in a real competition with Etisalat. So they came to realize competition might be good thing after all.

I am happy for them and - for the first time in my life - grateful to Etisalat.

What else I love about Al Ain...

... the climate. I had to go to Dubai during the day and I had a hard time coping with the humidity. Last night I was actually sitting outside drinking coffee in my garden, that was nice, very nice and not too hot. In Dubai I guess this would be a free sauna.

... Jebel Haffit. Anytime of the day. I have been up there four times since I came back. I love that place in the morning, when the sun comes up as much as when it is dark and the lights of Al Ain shine like nothing else shines.

... the people I meet anywhere around here. Coming back from Europe I am impressed how the locals cope with a majority of foreigners in their own country. Back home there is so much stupidity about integration and the lack of tolerance is so painful and embarrassing. Here, I am a welcome foreigner and at least in my life there are no restrictions that restrict me from doing anything I want. Actually I think we are given too much freedom, things like liquor stores wouldn't need to exist if it was for me, but hey, this is their country, if they want to accommodate us beyond the necessary and give us too much, fine with me.

... the peace and calmness of this place. No drunkards in public, no annoyances in public. What a pleasant way to go about your business, whatever it is. No aggression in public space, I love this.

... my job. I cant think of an environment dealing with more pleasant people anywhere on this planet. Yes, there is plenty of bureaucracy, but at least people are apologetic about it and can laugh about it themselves.

... City Centre Choitram. They finally managed to get reasonable dark bread on the shelves. It is not quite like the one my wife bakes, actually it is still far away from that, but at least it is reasonable. Plus there is always a parking space during the day and it is only a few steps from the car to the entrance. It is still way too expensive, but therefore I can get Parmesan as well as decent Muesli.

... the fruit market. During my time back home I so missed the actually ripe fruits. Mangos that have not been picked weeks before maturing and grapefruits so ripe I eat them with a spoon.

... these huge, wide open roads all over the place

The only thing annoying me this week is that the local cleaners ruined my carpet and my guess would be that they are not liable for anything... any advice on this?

Ah well...

So much has been going on for the last - almost a year - and I still dont know what to make of the concept of blogging - too many a things occupying myself. Quite frankly, I have been worried about causing controversy if I would write my thoughts, too much has happened, I have accepted I will never understand this country and being home for a month in spring confronted me with mixed emotions. I had never been - culturally away - for such a long time, even though it was only six months. For the last 10 years, I have lived in 6 countries, but never too far from cultural comfort. The US may be different from the UK and Frankfurt different from Glasgow, but so what, none of them can possibly be sufficiently different not to understand the differences within a week or so. And besides, all our countries in Europe (I am not a tourist, I am a European) look the same now anyways, at least the high streets do. Some years ago McDonalds used to be a sign of lookalike cities, now it is everything, H&M, GAP, Accessorize and what not. Most cities in Europe I have visited this summer looked like a floor on Mall of the Emirates anyways...

Too many impressions during my spring break and during the summer holiday I just finished at home... It was nice being there and not having to work. Another luxurious perk working in the UAE gives me - a long summer holiday back home. And yes, I am still grateful for that. Very grateful. After around six weeks at home I started to miss Al Ain and - for the first time in my life - started to miss work.

I am glad to be back in Al Ain.

But first things first, last December I blogged about how happy I am to live in a straightforward monarchy and hell yes, I still am so happy about that.

1. I followed the summer theater of politicians back home and I think they are a waste of money, time and attention. I also followed political correctness games and labels, and it is a joke. I prefer a monarch being a monarch to Europe's politicians trying to look as if they cared about their people. How does Sarkozy again pay for his EUR 22000 a week holiday on a EUR 6000 a month salary?
   
2. I was somewhat surprised (though of course expected) how nude Europe is in public, in terms of dress as well as advertising, it doesnt offend me, but after being in the UAE for a year, it certainly surprised and confused me (I am just your regular guy, public nudity leads to irritated driving due to loss of concentration on my side).
3. I enjoyed art in public space, thought provoking art as well as just beautiful displays of artistic might. I feel sad that this is limited to indoors and to very few themes in the UAE and this is probably the only thing I will really miss.
4. I didnt enjoy displays of drunkenness all over Europe 's public space, from hooligans to completely deranged youngsters and hobos. I am glad this does not happen here.
5. I didnt enjoy the road rage and aggressiveness in public space in Europe neither. I am very happy about the secure and silently but still highly regulated behaviour in public space in the UAE.

I was surprised by a few other things in Europe relating to the UAE. The issue of Asian workers is way more present among educated people there as I expected it to be and the issue of high buildings is way more present among uneducated people than I expected it to be.

Well, this being the summary of year, it admittedly isn't that much or great, but it gives me a sense of being back and I ll try to find the time to blog more frequently again, I hope not out of justified or unjustified rage, but just things happening around here. I am glad to be back, in Al Ain and on my blog...

I stopped getting angry...

There is - and I am very happy about this - still nothing that upsets me around here. At least nothing that comes anywhere close to seriously upsetting me or making me angry. The only thing that sometimes upsets me is reading newspapers from back home and on those online papers that allow commenting I fall into the trap of joining forum discussions from time to time.

I seriously don’t care about politics back home anymore, even though I did when I was there, but the more I can avail myself of a bird's eye view of the so called democratic systems in Europe, the happier I become about the straightforward monarchy I live in. At least they don’t pretend to involve people in decisions in the UAE. I feel less fooled by the system here and I am a happier resident without a right to vote than I was ever a voter whom the system tried to fool into thinking his vote would count. So this is one thing, the less I read about politics back home, the happier I am.

The other thing that annoys me even more when reading European newspapers... I promise you one thing, even if you are in the unfortunate position of holding a grudge against the UAE, the culture here or Islam, go to any European newspaper website that allows readers to post comments and if their hostility doesn’t upset you, at least their complete ignorance will. I had to force myself to stop commenting on articles or posting by fellow readers. The constant brainwashing by so-called free media is not doing Europeans any favours. Look up any article related to Arab countries or Islam and the ignorance of journalists as well as readers who post comments is incredible. Where are all those shackled, beaten up women who supposedly live in any Arab country? How comes all the Muslim women I work with are so happy? Even though - according to European media - they are forced to wear hijab, beaten and shackled. So, this is the other thing, the less I read "expert opinions" about Islam in European newspapers, the happier I am. Rather than reading second-hand news from second-hand journalists and third-class readers, I rather speak to real people here and try to understand as much of reality for myself. And it worked, I changed the homepage of my browser from my former favourite newspaper to my webmail-interface and I have luckily become more selective about what I read and I stopped getting angry...

However, seeing ignorance does still hurt, I just need to get better at closing my eyes. Trying to educate people who are under constant media bombardment is not easy. One day, when I have seen enough and have the energy and actually care about what these people think, then I will take up that fight again, for now I rather leave them to it and find out more for myself.

When Western guys complain about discrimination against women in this culture...

The biggest surprise for me at the Abu Dhabi Leadership Summit was that Gerhard Schröder can't really speak English. He can more or less read a prepared speech, but that's about it. Kind of disappointing for a former European leader... besides, he missed the topic and kept talking about terrorism rather than leadership. It shouldnt be made that easy to bank on your background...

What came as less of a surprise was the hostility towards Daddy Bush, who at least once took offense by a young Emirati student and didnt know better than falling into southern brawling along the lines of "How come everybody wants to come to the United States if the United States is so bad?""... and well, he suggested to another guy to go back to school... overall, a mediocre performance in the Q&A session after a pretty bad speech about values and trying to make everyone feel comfortable with overdosed compliments.

I am ashamed to admit I had never before heard of Lee Kuan Yew - Minister Mentor of Singapore - but he was certainly the most impressive speaker of the day, talking about how he transformed Singapore from nothing much to what it is today.

And last but not least, "Hardtalker" Tim Sebastian deserves special mention. After grilling both Emirati speakers, Khaldoon al Mubarak as well as Sheikha Lubna on the discrimination against women topic, he turned out to be the most discriminative guy in the room. There were plenty of young Emirati women raising their hands and wanting to ask questions to the presenters and ONE, I repeat ONE WOMAN, was actually allowed to talk by Tim Sebastian. And she was great, telling Bush how little respect she has for his son, under intense applause from the audience. After that, no more questions from the ladies, but only from a few other guys who told Bush how great he is. Looked a bit like a well prescreened Q&A session...

The one thing that really made it to the local press this morning was Khaldoon al Mubarak thinking aloud about free education for expat kids while the foreign press picked up mostly on the insults to Daddy Bush...

Gulf News: Expats to get free education
Gulf News: Delegates rail against US policies
Independant: Bush Snr: My son is an honest man
IHT: Elder Bush defends his son against critics in Abu Dhabi

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