From: Ma' Subject: Report # 116: I guess it's x-mas... Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:58:56 +0000 Hey All! THE SWEDISH MOTHERSHIP I'm all IKEA'd up! Got delivery of wardrobe, bookcase, TV stand and kitchen trolley. You know you've been to IKEA once too many when the cashier asks you: "So how's your foot today?" I know all the "staff only" short-cuts at IKEA. You have to learn these things when you're hobbling around with a boot and crutches. I have also mastered the sad puppy-dog face to make IKEA a "DON'T do it yourself store"! APARTMENT 101 I'm on Abu Dhabi island, which is not a big island, however I'm 12 km / 7.5 miles from the dirty, low-class city center. For the first time since I arrived in the UAE, I can hear birds. I can see Orion's belt in the sky. NYU AD My colleagues are awesome! For the first time since i moved to the desert, I'm surrounded by really good people. Most of my colleagues are Americans or Western educated people so they have slightly different values than normal Middle Eastern values. Hence, to avoid soiling NYU's good name and try to stay out of the first page of The National (the national newspaper) we always say we work for Etihad Airlines and are cabin crew when we go out. We also stay away from wearing the NYU-Barney-purple color when we go out. This we refrain from for an entirely different reason, though: Because we don't want to look stupid. X-MAS Lots of Christmas celebration considering I'm in a pretty Muslim city: Christmas lunch with work, Christmas drinks with work, Christmas Eve Dinner with colleagues, Christmas Day Dinner with colleagues. Our Vice Chancellor decided to "reward" our hard work during Candidate Weekends and give us 10 days off during holidays. Just great... I will be so bored... 3D One of the perks when you work in education is that you can sit through a Compensation & Benefits meeting wearing your 3D glasses from Avatar... Happy holidays! EFTA00765550