Abu Dhabi - What everyone is talking about

          I have only been here a month and two weeks and it was interesting to be integrated into my team at the hospital.  My first week was all orientation at the human resources headquarters which is what I meant in my previous post about the first week being a wash.  You don't really get the skinny on what life will be like when you are hanging out with HR and all the other newbies.  So when I

Abu Dhabi at night
(Corniche Area)

arrived at my actual work location in a building in the heart of Abu Dhabi, I started to hear the funny adjustment stories everyone had to share about everyone's first month.  It was strange to hear because it took a long time for me to have a custom-made Abu Dhabi story of my own.  But rest assured, when it happened I thought to myself  "ok so this is what everyone is talking about".

View From Our Condo

          It began shortly after Sarah and I had finalized the paperwork on our new home when I realized the next step was to setup the utilities.  I learned that I had to physically go to the local electrical company headquarters to turn the electric on (yes most tasks here are best taken care of at the headquarters if you want it done and done right).  One big difference for errands like setting up phone, utilities or getting an emirates ID (you need this for everything) is that to get all of these tasks accomplished you have to wait in line.  You have to wait in a line, called a queue here where you take a numbered paper ticket and wait in a seating area until you are called up.  Now when your number comes up you better pray you have every paper they want to see and one extra random paper you never knew about or you may find yourself going home with no electricity and another future bonus waiting in line day.   And just for reference, it may not matter that the American right before you did not need the paper form you now need to present.  Tough nuggets, lol.
          My experience was no different; I arrived thinking I would be in and out in an hour.  Four hours later...when I first arrived I walked in to collect my ticket and the desk attendant checked my papers.  He informed me I did not have all my papers and told me what I needed to collect before I could wait in line again.  I was not pleased, having taken a long taxi ride to get to get there.  I called the powers that be (my real estate agent) who were supposed to have given me everything I needed and they advised me they were busy and I should come back another day.  Rest assured I responded to that comment in a way that made them feel less busy and more motivated to help me.  I found a photo studio in a nearby mall with a printer and email, where I printed my other documents.

Condo

          Round two: I pass the guard inspection and receive my queue ticket to proceed to the seating area.  I notice no one is happy, the people waiting or the local Emiratis working the desks at the electric company.  Forty five minutes later I get called only to find out I am still missing documents.  I'm less than moderately happy at this point, I walk out and do the real estate phone call again and the mall printer shop.  Luckily I return and the staff who helped me before recognizes me and lets me skip the queue this time.  I am rather spent at this point and I still notice how no one is smiling.  I am worried I still do not have the right paperwork.  So I remembered how I had just started taking weekly Arabic lessons from my friend Saeed (he grew up in Dubai) who I met in my orientation.  He generously offered to teach someone in our orientation so I took him up on it (he's really cool by the way and a great teacher).  So while my attendant is glaring at his computer screen I ask him how to say six in Arabic as I only knew one through five and I begin to recite them "Wahid, Ithnaan, Thelaatha, Arba'a, and Khamsa".  Suddenly my attendant stops typing and slowly turns from his computer screen with this huge smile on his face.  He kindly tells me that the number six is "Sitta" and begins asking me all these questions about the U.S. as he is visiting Ohio soon.  We chatted back and fourth for a while and after that it took about two minutes to get my paperwork done and my electric was turned on.  It was like I was transported into a completely different room.
              I am so happy I decided to try and change the vibe in the room.  I could have stayed angry and even starting chewing people out.  But instead I made a friend by trying to adapt and show that I am generally interested in learning about the local culture.  The moral of the story for me is that if you go somewhere else with expectations and demands for it to be like home, you should just stay

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

home.  These experiences like any other are all what you make of it and largely dependent upon your attitude and assumptions coming into it.  If you are entering into a culture you know nothing about, you have a choice to go in with an exploratory or inquisitive nature, but you can also enter the situation with a bad attitude based on previous experiences or what other people told you.  Either situation brings a pretty straight forward result, either positive or negative, the choice is yours.  That being said it still is a real challenge to not get angry at simple tasks you could normally do with a phone call or the internet at home and instead it takes this whole day of papers, printing and queue waiting.  But great stories come out of it and to be honest the positive moment at the end of my situation made it all worth it for me (I would like to note I have tried the same "teach me Arabic" approach many times after this and every time it produces very positive results.)  People really love when you try and show general interest in what and who and what they are about, even if the accent is all wrong and you sound like a total dork.  It has made many experiences different than what they could have been and I am sure this approach will do the same for many more situations to come.