Abu Dhabi week 20

School – the first term finished yesterday and it’s been brilliant. Besides the usual school ‘stuff’, this term our eight year old son has been on a stage in front of an audience of around 400 not once, but twice, as not only did Year 4 perform their show, ‘Ocean Commotion’, in November, but last night Will played in the Prep School End of Term Concert.

And this has left us with something of a dilemma. You know how passionate I am about education; I firmly believe that every child deserves a top class education, delivered by teachers who share my level of enthusiasm and commitment. For me, the best part of being a teacher is getting to know your children and finding their talents. Some of you will know how scathing I am of colleagues who have only ever taught in the fee-paying sector, or those who believe their talents are ‘best suited to the most able students’. And our dilemma is this; would we pay for education were we to return to the UK? The teaching here is very good, but in my view it’s no better than that of many of my friends and colleagues in the English State system. So why would we consider private education? The answer is the opportunities the fee-paying sector is able to offer. Maybe it’s the sheer number of children, and hence staff, in the school, maybe it’s the facilities, or maybe it’s that the staff have a reduced teaching load compared to your average Primary teacher in the UK and so have more time to make opportunities for the students.

Many of you will argue that your child also has these experiences and opportunities because they go to theatre classes, or their ballet school puts on a Christmas performance, or their music school has a Carol Concert. I know that most parents make these things happen. I also know that many teachers in the State sector try to (and do) make these things happen, but it’s more difficult.
And this is why, if and when we return to the UK, we might just have to go against our (OK, my) principals. It’s not the teaching, it’s not that they know their students better, it’s the opportunities on offer. And at the end of the day, don’t we all want the best for our children?

Christmas – Last weekend we went to ‘Carols in the Desert’, an event organised by St Andrew’s Church. It was quite moving, singing carols and Christmas songs in the dark with hundreds of other folks. Definitely one for next year’s diary.

Now, with only a week to go, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, though it’s somewhat disconcerting to think we’ll be celebrating in temperatures of around 25 degC. Temperatures aside, there’s not that much difference to the UK, particularly in the shopping malls. Everywhere is festooned in trees, baubles and signs proclaiming ‘Seasons Greetings’ and ‘Festive Fun’. I’ve seen turkeys, continental cheeses, Scottish smoked salmon, chestnuts, Brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, crackers, tree lights and, in Marks and Spencer, boxes of shortbread biscuits. I’ve struggled to get mincemeat and glace cherries (note to self, shop early next year) but overall, I’ve bought everything we need – and more! A couple of slightly odd things – only alcohol free Christmas cakes and puddings are available and Waitrose Christmas crackers, price marked £20, are only 69 AED. People seem to be in the mood of the season, regardless of their faith. We’ve given Christmas boxes to the compound staff, many of whom are Hindu, I’ve done a bit of trade in Christmas cakes and goodies, and the children had Christmas head gear on for the festive fun morning. In fact, two of the Arabic staff won the dance off – I’m sure it was because one of them had reindeer horns on over her head scarf!

Gary, Will and I send our love and best wishes to all our friends. And as I may feel the need to take a break on Christmas Day, Merry Christmas to you all!

Abu Dhabi week 19

This week we have a guest reporter, courtesy of Lynne. Lynne, I hope the driving hasn’t left you too traumatised.

I was supposed to be the guest contributor in last weeks newsletter but there just weren’t enough hours in the day- lost four on the way out. It was great to see the Kellys so settled in their lovely home. It is just so quiet and peaceful. With the temperature and the style of house I could have been somewhere in the Med except there were no creepy crawlies.
I am looking forward to seeing photos of the finished Christmas tree as it was stunning without any decorations on. Really impressed by Kathryn being organized enough to take stamps for the cards out with her.
Carols in the dessert is where they really belong. Having been to Bethlehem I find it really difficult to sing “Oh Little town”. Not sure the Embassy would ever invite me though.
The speed at which Kathryn writes her newsletter is amazing especially with Ukes as background music. A whole book should be a breeze.
Will’s Ukulele playing is coming on leaps and bounds and I’m looking forward to Silent Night on Christmas Day. His Arabic is really impressive too and he hasn’t done a full term at school yet. I have to thank him for introducing us to Baskin Robbins.
My lasting memory of Dubai and AD will be the roads. You have to see it to believe it. Gary and Kathryn must have developed nerves of steel. A cement mixer is the only thing I would consider driving – not sure if I could get it valet parked though! I certainly felt safer in a bus than I did in a taxi. Big and powerful are musts. It seems that anything goes anywhere. This is certainly a developing country – things change on a daily basis – roads, signs, names etc. Why hire a car when taxis are so cheap and you might get to stay sane.
The Kellys are fantastic hosts. They taught and showed us so much during our brief stay. We wouldn’t have managed to see a quarter of it without them. If they were on Trip Advisor I would give them excellent for everything. Can’t thank them enough for giving up their time and sharing their home. I was a little apprehensive before we went but the people were very friendly and I always felt safe. Can’t wait for an excuse to go back for longer and explore a bit more.

Thank you Lynne, I’ll add a few comments about my week now.

Shopping – this week I’ve achieved the impossible; I bought an item with no value. Actually, that’s not quite true as I wasn’t allowed to buy it because the system couldn’t print the label. But I tried. As is my norm, I put one chilli in a bag. The assistant took it out of the bag to weigh. It didn’t register on the scales. Her solution? I needed to buy another one. My solution? Put it in the bag and weigh it again. The total cost was 5 fils, less than a penny.

Let’s go ‘Off Road’ – yesterday we headed off into the desert for Gary’s work Christmas do. I’ll not dwell too much on the off roading, suffice to say Gary got stuck twice, had to be towed out and in the process broke two tow ropes.

Speaking of cars, I’ve had my first accident. Someone reversed into me in the school car park. Fortunately, there was no damage to anybody and the damage to the car is minimal, but under UAE law, you have to call SAEED, the road assistance/accident management agency who come, all lights blazing, look at the damage, tell you whose mistake it is, scan your documents and give you a receipt. If it’s your mistake you have to pay a 300AED call out fee and then if there’s any damage you hand everything over to your insurers. I know my car wasn’t damaged because the man from SAEED said so. Actually, it’s not my car, technically it’s registered to Gary.  A bit like everything else here really.

Carols at the Embassy – one of this week’s highlights has been a visit to the British Embassy for the Scout and Guide Carol Concert. The Embassy is right down at the end of the island, almost as far from our abode as one can get. Abu Dhabi consists of ‘on island’, the original city with the Embassies, ’70s hotels and souks jostling for position amongst ultra modern skyscrapers, and ‘off island’ where most of the malls, newer properties and industry is situated. The Embassy is your traditional Colonial complex, exactly what you’d imagine an outpost of the British Empire to be. I can’t imagine it’s the easiest place to live or work but it was a bit of a thrill to be allowed in. As usual, I ended up serving food and poor Gary walked round with a bin bag, collecting rubbish. I did say to the rest of the helpers that I wouldn’t be offended if anyone told me to shut up for being too bossy or overbearing, but as one of them pointed out, if it wasn’t for the bossy, overbearing contingent, events like this would never get off the ground. The carols were lovely, it was dark, the children looked beautiful standing in front of the Christmas tree and one of the local chaplains gave a very short sermon on the significance of socks in the Christmas story. A great start to the Christmas festivities. All together now, ‘While shepherds washed their…’

School – I’ve been into school for a few days in preparation for my maternity cover next term. I’ve had a couple of days with ‘my’ class and a couple more covering for other staff. I couldn’t have been made more welcome, although the day in FS1 nearly finished me off! As an Upper Key Stage 2 and Lower Key Stage 3 specialist, I’m not used to practising writing the numeral ‘4’, although thinking back, there are occasions when it may have been of benefit! As OFSTED so eloquently puts it, Early Years practitioners need to ‘fully understand how very young children learn’ and that’s something that comes with time and practice. Horses for courses, as they say. However, I have to say I’m loving Year 1 and it’s an opportunity that would have been much more difficult to come by in the UK. I could have cried though when a five year old told me that he and his family couldn’t return to their own country because people were attacking it. His nationality? Syrian.

Abu Dhabi week 18

How long things last – this week we’ve had our first visitors, in the form of Mr and Mrs Box of St Johns, Worcester. We asked them to bring a few necessities from the UK, Body Shop deodorant, Colgate toothpaste (which was found in the Pound Shop) and one or two other things we couldn’t get to the end of the year without. This set me thinking; how long do basic commodities last? How long does it take to use, for example, a tube of toothpaste or 80 Tetley teabags? In the UK, I’m sure you, like me, just pop it in the basket when you need it, or when it’s on special offer. Well, on reflection, we’ve just about finished our second tube of toothpaste so that lasts about 10 weeks. A Mitchum’s deodorant (and bear in mind how hot it’s been) lasts about 16 weeks, Will is still on his first bottle of shampoo though I’m on my second so 6 months for him and 12 weeks for me, Gary uses a bar of soap and a bottle of deodorant a week and as for teabags, 80 Tetley teabags lasts on average 3 days, 47 minutes and 12 seconds. If you think I jest, you haven’t seen Gary drink tea.

Job – I have recently re-entered the world of the ‘employed’. Yes, as predicted, lady of leisure is not for me and I am starting full time work after Christmas at Will’s school. I had two short interviews with the Heads of the two Lower Schools and was offered a maternity cover for January and February. In Year 1. Please do not all laugh at once. I’ve been in three times, once with ‘my’ class and twice to cover other classes. It’ll be fine; they seem to cry less than Year 7s and definitely have less friendship issues.

Things we take for granted – having our first visitors has made me realise how easily one falls into the life of an ex-pat. As much as I like writing about the driving (have I mentioned that someone reversed up the hard shoulder in front of me last week because they’d missed their exit?), I now think that the standard of driving across the UAE is normal. Lynne’s reaction when we’ve been on Abu Dhabi’s roads has shown me how oblivious to bad practice I’ve actually become. Then there’s the 500 Dirham note. Now whilst Gary and I don’t like them as you can only change them in supermarkets and at petrol stations (I handed one over in Spinney’s last week to pay for a 10 Dirham bottle of milk; the assistant didn’t bat an eyelid, just handed me 490 Dirhams change), the fact that they are worth almost £100 doesn’t bother us. Abu Dhabi is very much a ‘cash’ economy so carrying large amounts of notes around is normal. Finally, the weather. It’s cold. I don’t mean UK cold, but it’s definitely cardigan weather in the evenings when the temperature drops to a mere 20 deg C. Meanwhile our guests are basking in the ‘warmth’ of a UAE winter.

The Grand Prix – as I said last week, last weekend was one of the highlights of the year in the Kelly household. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Combined with the 44th anniversary of the creation of the Union, it gave Lewis Hamilton even more of a superstar status. For those not in the know, 44 is Lewis’s driver number and the whole Emirate is festooned with giant ‘44’s. I was just relieved that Jenson got to the end! As you would imagine in the UAE, everything was bigger, bolder and brasher. The band, the fireworks, the donuts at the end of the race. Everything except the crowd which was still coming in through the gate 20 minutes before the race was due to start. Even more unbelievable for a sell out gig, there were empty seats. Not just odd ones, but rows and rows of them. We, of course, were in our seats with hours to go, soaking up the atmosphere and tweeting every 10 minutes.

Christmas – is definitely in the building. Not only so we have two Advent calendars (mine is courtesy of the Boxes), but the tree has arrived. That’ll be an 8ft tree, currently sitting in the corner of the dining room waiting to be decorated. Need to find my Christmas CD as you can’t possibly decorate a tree without the Christmas music in the background. I suspect Gary could be going out that night.