Bird life

I was driving from Sharjah to Dubai and saw a large open space that is usually an impromptu cricket pitch but it was flooded and had become a bit of a bird sanctuary. There are a couple of Grey Herons and a number of other birds that I think are Armenian Gulls, Yellow-Legged Gulls, Great Black-headed Gulls, and a few Black-winged Stilts. They are all wintering here because the weather is just so great - about 30C during the day.














I took these with my new camera, and only later realized that I had a digital zoom that would have been incredibly useful but not so much when I was sitting in Dubai Mall having a cup of coffee and reading the camera manual.

Tony Parsons

I just finished My Favorite Wife by Tony Parsons, and I highly recommend it. I've liked his previous work (Man and Boy, Man and Wife). His characters are always basically good people who screw up (usually by screwing someone that they shouldn't have) and end up hurting themselves and their loved ones. They often manage to stumble through to a somewhat uplifting ending. I generally read his books with alternating feelings of anger and sadness. I almost always get a little teary (although no tears actually fell). I think the fact that I feel strong emotions when I read his books says a lot about how realistic and well-written his books are.

I was checking out his other books at Amazon and found out that he has written a book with an English teacher as the main character. I'll have to pick that one up for my next read.

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day...

Actually, I like the rain and I wish it would rain during the day so I could enjoy it rather than all night when I'm trying to sleep.
There are some interesting pictures at The National, The Gulf News, the Khaleej Times.

We've had a couple of days of heavy rain, lightning, and thunder - always a strange pleasure in the desert.

It's very strange. Rain days here are like snow days in Vancouver. Nobody knows how to drive. Some drivers, mostly in big SUVs with dark tinted window (read 'local') drive as though nothing has changed. They will drive at 100km per hour through knee-deep water, sending up a 'bow wave' that washes like a tsunami over slower cars or pedestrians, swerving in and out of traffic with total oblivion. Others drive with trepidation through a thin skiff of water that no Vancouverite would even slow down for. Overall, a somewhat unnerving experience.

Today it was beautiful and sunny and about 25C. I went for a drive to Ras Al Khaimah and there were no large puddles anywhere. The traffic was light and the drive pleasant. It was a beautiful day - and getting out of the office on a 'road trip' was excellent.

Quilting

Today a friend suggested that we check out a quilting exhibit. It was interesting, but I'm sure that I was not able to appreciate the art because I don't really understand all the hard work that undoubtedly went into each piece.

For me, quilting was always just about using pieces of scrap to make blankets. I had a quilt that my grandmother made that I used until it wore out. I loved that quilt. The quilts that were on exhibit were really impressive but they were a little too high class for my taste. I can't imagine using them on my bed.

University Club Day

Our university had a Club Day. Oddly enough, the clubs were mostly ethnic (i.e. Palestinian Club, Saudi Club, Somali Club). Still most of the students seemed to have a good time and a little cross-cultural mixing is always good.

Makkoli

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Barracuda to pick up some alcohol. By chance, I came across a little Korean alcohol. I've always liked makkoli, especially the rough homemade variety, so I thought I would give it a try. At Dh25 or about Won 7,800, it was a little expensive. It was okay but a little too refined.

Dubai

Last week, I went to a musical in Dubai at the Madinat Jumeirah. I'm not sure what I expected, perhaps a lot of laughter, some singing, and dancing. Well...Blood Brothers was interesting and I'm glad that I saw it, but it was very sad. At the end, both I and my friend thought, "Oh." The actors (I'm not sure if that's the correct term) had incredibly beautiful voices. They were awesome. It's always nice to dress up a little and sit with somewhat cultured people, but perhaps something a little more uplifting next time.

The Madinat Jumeirah was a place that I had never been, but it was very pleasant to sit outside in cool but pleasant temperatures and eat a nice Italian dinner, drink a glass of Italian wine, and watch abras (well, touristy abras) putt by. The wind towers and the traditional setting was worth the visit. The whole complex is nicely done.






The next day, I was at the Dubai Mall, and I always regret not taking a proper camera. One weekend, they had a young man trying to break the Guinness Book of Records for keeping a football in the air (I don't know how that ended.). Another time they had foosball tables set up for some kind of tournament. Last weekend, they had a judo tournament in one area, and, in another area, they had the most opulent car display (Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW) I've ever seen - including a car I've dreamed about for years. I had mixed feelings. The cars were awesome. I would have loved to sit in one, or, better yet, take one for a spin. Yet...to spend so much money on what is essentially just a car seems unconscionable when the world is full of people who are suffering. By strange coincidence, after drooling over the cars for a bit, I went up to the 3rd floor and sat in Caribou Coffee, had a soy latte, and read a book called Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom by Joseph Goldstein. One of the first lines I came across was "If a practice does not cool the fires of greed, aversion, and ignorance, it is worthless." I could have cried. This is such a strange place.

Evening walks

My Garmin 405 Forerunner has been a cool addition to my walks. It is inspirational to keep track. I go for my walks and then I just sit down by my computer and the data uploads automatically.

Tonight I hit 100.9 kilometers in my evening walks (about 6 kms X 18 - I added an extra turn around the roundabout when I realized the I was only doing 5.8kms door to door). I had a plan at the end of November to walk 100 kilometers every month. Well, this first hundred took me a little over two months. I'm not very good at math, but I should have been able to figure out that I would have to go out 17 times a month to do that. That's just about every second day!!! I may try to do that through February, but I might also just add another 15 minutes to my walks from time to time. However, if I don't go out that often, I may just change my goal.

Still...it has been quite enjoyable most of the time. Tonight I was listening to Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. I think that will keep me company for a couple of weeks. I'll have to listen to it several times I think.

New camera

I picked up a new camera to replace my old Canon Powershot S2 IS with its 12X zoom lens (after four or five years, the zoom was a little wonky and the focus occasionally acted up). My new camera is a Panasonic Fz35. It has an 18X zoom lens. I agonized for months over whether to go with another Canon Powershot or the Panasonic. The deciding factor was probably the fact that the Panasonic is about 5 oz lighter. For traveling (or even walking around all day with a bunch of stuff in my backpack), that is an important factor. Of course, the new cameras have so many features that I really need to study the manual.

Yesterday, I got home and noticed a cool little praying mantis near my front door, so I grabbed the new camera and tried to get a shot. The fact that no picture is posted is a testament to the fact that I haven't gotten to the part in the manual where I can turn off the "smart" focus. The camera focused on various parts of the floor and the wall and just about everything else except the little insect about a meter away that was dead center in my shot. I will figure this out, but the manual is 300 pages long and probably doesn't explain everything.

I will learn how to use this camera. That is my pledge to myself.

A night on the town

I had a night out on the town on Friday night. I went to the Mall of the Emirates and had a really great dinner at Salmontini. The restaurant has a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere and a view of the ski slope. My friend and I both had salmon on mixed shredded vegetables and wild rice. The salmon steak was huge, juicy, and very tender. The meal was perfectly cooked. Topped off with a nice glass of Italian Pinor Gris it was a great way to start the evening.

After dinner we went to a Sharq Orchestra concert (Essence of Arabia) at the Dubai Community Theatre. It was really wonderful - Mohamad Hamami leading a full western style orchestra playing Middle Eastern themed music. A friend was playing the saxophone and flute so that was an added bonus.

I haven't been getting out much for cultural events but now I see what I have been missing, so I'm going to keep an eye out for other interesting events. There's a lot going on in Dubai.

I think I might start blogging again. Work has become a strange place to be.

So...I'm starting my Mandarin lessons. I'm going to use Fluenz Mandarin for the oral/aural part and Arch Chinese for the writing part. I had a New Years resolution to do one hour a night. That didn't happen, but I'm starting again. Tonight, I start again.

To distract me from work, I'll do the Mandarin for an hour or two each night and I'll continue my walks (4-5 times per week / 5.8 kilometers each time) around the outside of the university.

I've been listening to Jon Kabat-Zinn CDs as I walk. It takes me about one hour to walk and each CD is about one hour.

Makes me sad

The semester has come to an end.  I have one exam to give tomorrow.  I had a couple of really nice classes this semester, but I had one class that may be the worst class I've ever taught.

One particularly irritating student made snide comments in Arabic followed by mocking laughter every time I turned to the board to write something. Twice I caught him cheating on quizzes.  He never even bothered to do the last two major assignments I gave. He NEVER did homework. He came late to class every day until I threatened to kick him out of class permanently - and then he came to the final exam 15 minutes late. This student is repeating the class because he failed it last semester. He had a D going into the final exam.

So...I get this email today.

I know I was not the best student this semester and i was not up to your hopes of me as a good student especially the last two weeks, and I do not know what is my exact stand in the course but I know that i was trying to do my best and i could not. I had a lot of family problems back in my country at the end of this semester so i could not concentrate plus I had a lot of projects and finals the week before the finals week. the reading assignment and the reflective essay are the only major assignment that i did not do for this whole semester. 

I do not know what could be my grade for the course but If I did not pass it, I will get out of the university and I will lose 60 credits and three years I spent finishing them.

I know that this has nothing to do with you or with my grade, but I think that I did good in the final today and I hope that you may understand my situation.

sorry for bothering you and taking out of your time, and it was great for me being taught by you.

Thanks in advance.

Well, he didn't do well in the final.  I don't believe his excuses.

Another student, who was a borderline B+/A- student sent me this.

As you know I really worked hard for this course and honestly I enjoyed every assignement we had to do. My GPA is low and I need to raise it in order to get a financial aid. Therefore if you see that I deserve to get an A in the course please sir help me and I would be really thankful if you took my situation ino consideration. And I would really like to thank you for this great semester.......

Is it any wonder that degrees here are looked at askance?  I was considering adjusting his grade up a little because he did work hard in class, but now I don't think so.  The fact that these two students thought that this would work seems to me to be an indication that it works on some professors.

I am really going to enjoy my summer vacation, which starts in a couple of days.

New driver's license

When I first moved to Dubai more than ten years ago, I got a Dubai driver's license.  It was good for ten years.  When I came back to the UAE last August, I rented a car for 6 months; then I bought a car.  The rental agency had a copy of my driver's license.  The car dealer had a copy of my driver's license when I bought the car a couple of months ago.  The insurance agent had a copy of my driver's license.  No one noticed that my license expired last year in September.  For almost 6 months, I've been driving with an expired driver's license.  Part of the problem was that the Dubai Traffic Authority had an old address, so they couldn't contact me to let me know.  The other problem is that I, like most people, don't look at the expiry date on my driver's license very often.  Fortunately, I didn't have any accidents, but every day that I drive in the UAE, I think I could easily have one.

At any rate, the university has a traffic police officer who comes to the campus every day or two.  Today, he was 45 minutes late.  Then he told me that I could go to ANY Regional Transit Authority outlet in Dubai to transfer my file to Sharjah, then get Sharjah to renew it.  The RTA website has dozens of outlets listed, so I chose one that was listed as being in Festival City Mall in Dubai.  I thought that would be great because I could get everything done and then go for dinner.  I got to the mall and was told that the RTA outlet was a couple of kilometers away, so I flagged down a taxi and went there only to be told that they could not do it there.  I had to go to City Center Mall.  After hiking along a deserted road for a kilometer or two, a taxi came by and took me to City Center.  At City Center, I got an eye check up (5 minutes) and then went to the RTA outlet at the mall and walked away with a brand new license 5 minutes later.  I didn't need to change anything to Sharjah.  I can drive in the UAE with a Dubai license.  It was frustrating getting to the right location, but, once I was there, it was quick and easy - and, yes, it looks like any other driver's license photo - nothing to write home about.

Emirate ID Authority

I went out to the Emirate ID Authority today to apply for my national ID card.  The whole process was quick and painless.  I've lived in both Brunei and Korea, where everyone was fingerprinted as part of the issuance of ID cards, so it was nothing really special.  However, here they scanned all eight fingers, both thumbs, my palms, and the sides of both hands.  The only thing they didn't scan was my retina, and it looked like they had a connecton for a retinal scanner but it was nowhere to be seen.

Life in the UAE

I teach at a co-ed university that is really remarkable.  Most universities in the UAE are single-sex.  When I walk across campus at lunch, I sometimes forget where I am.  The students wear a wide variety of outfits.  Many of the guys, especially now that it is getting hotter, wander around in shorts, sandals, and T-shirts.  Small groups of male and female students sit and chat comfortably.  Students in traditional dress mix easily with those in casual western dress.

So...today, when I was sitting in the cafeteria having lunch, I thought nothing of it when two young female students sat at the table beside me.  One of the girls was wearing a zip-up sweat shirt.  She unzipped it and took it off because the cafeteria was a little warm.  She was wearing a sleeveless tanktop which was NOT revealing or shocking.  In less than a minute, the female "security" guard came over and told her to put the sweat shirt back on - and she did.

I've often wondered what the female "security" guards did.  Now I know.

I'm not sure what the actual law is now in Sharjah, which is a more conservative emirate than Dubai.  At one time, it was illegal for women anywhere in Sharjah to wear sleeveless tops or skirts that were above the knee.  I had heard that the law was quietly dropped at the urging of the federal government which is based in Abu Dhabi.

The Last Lecture

I read this book in two sittings.  It was nothing new, but it was a pleasant, easy read.  It is simply an autobiographical story told by a thoughtful, interesting young (middle-aged man) who was dying of cancer.  His attitude towards living fully to the end was quite remarkable.  I do recommend it.

All a twitter

This is the latest update on my pigeons. The little critters are growing pretty quickly. They still don't have real feathers, but they are getting there.

This post seems apropos. We just got an email today telling us that AUS is on Twitter at AUSharjah and on YouTube at wwwausedu. My first reaction was a scornful "hmff" but its fairly well done. Clap. Clap.

Twitter seems like such an odd concept (waste of time), but I'm thinking that my friends might really want to find out what I had for dinner, if my workout was good, or if I'm wearing my brown loafers or my brown dress-shoes (Koff! Koff!). I wonder if I can catch Ashton Kutcher. He only has a million fans. I think I need a gimmick.

Twitter - HA! It's like blogging for the incredibly lazy.

Sharjah wild life

And this ladies and gentlemen is as wild as it gets on campus. Mom hatched two little chicks. I was pretty sure that there were three, but I can only see two now. The mother pigeon was regurgitating something for the chicks. I'll bet that was tasty. I guess she partially digests her catch and then gives it to the babies when it is mush.

At home in the classroom

This is one of my classrooms. The window has a little area that has been the home of a pigeon for the last couple of weeks. I'm assuming that we will soon see some little baby pigeons.

Dubai Dragon Boat Festival

Last weekend at Festival City on Dubai Creek, they held the 1st Annual Dubai Dragon Boat Festival. The venue has potential; however, the whole thing was a little tepid. There were several thousand people, but, if you took away the paddlers, there weren't very many people there. It's too bad, but maybe it will catch on and next year's will be better.