I can't believe that I have been in Dubai a week already. Some days it feels like I landed long ago. Other days it feels like I just got here. This week has continued to be CRAZY!!! My KG2 class (like Senior Kindergarten) is absolutely amazing. They are so good and have a great sense of humour. And, they actually listen to what I say. My KG1's on the other hand are not so good (yet!). Most of them have never been in nursery or outside of the care of their mother/nanny. So, to them I am just the help. They do not see me as someone they have to listen to. They do what they want when they want. If I have 10 of them listening on the carpet, I have 7 doing whatever they want. I take these 7 by the hand to show them what they need to do (sit on the carpet). I get one sitting and go get the next to bring to the carpet. By the time I get back with the second student, the first one is back playing. GAH! It is A LOT of micro-teaching. It is so tiring. I still have 5 students that cry all day. Hopefully this will end this week. I am also dealing with a language barrier so some of my students have no idea what I am saying and are scared. Lots of things to deal with here. Thankfully all the parents and nannies have left my class.
This week I was able to see and do a lot of things (thanks Jannie!). On Tuesday I went to the Dubai mall. It is HUGE!!! There are a lot of stores that we have back home...H&M, Gap, Cold Stone Creamery, Payless, and many more. There is even a Tim Horten's in this mall. It is a little taste of home. We also went to see the Burj Khalifa and the fountains that go off with the music. It is like the Bellagio in Vegas but much bigger. I hope to attach a video of it soon.
The people here are all really friendly. The parents of my students are very warm towards me. People I meet on the street are so interested to hear where I come from and why I am here. The people that I am living with in the hotel are also great. We have been going out a lot together. Thursday night we went out for Sheesha. It is basically like smoking a water bong with nothing illegal in it. It is flavoured water vapor. I had strawberry and it was so yummy. I have learned that I need to be more aggressive with people. This is very new to me as I am not aggressive at all. If you are standing in line, and you leave some personal space, people just cut in line and stand there. So, no leaving space in lines. Also, when I was buying some groceries, I had some lady place her items on top of mine and expected to be served first. This was the first time I spoke up and told her "No, I was here first". She took her things off of mine and I could pay for my things.
Yesterday, I went on a nice tour of Dubai. I saw the Burj (the only 7 star hotel in the world), drove around the Palm islands (Google map it, it is really neat), Atlantis Dubai and a lot more of the city. We then went to a pool to hang out for the afternoon. It was a great time. I had a fun time trying to get home from my friend's house. What should have been a 45 min cab/metro trip took almost two hours. Got out of the cab and found the metro station. Figured out what to do and made it on to the right train. At this point I am feeling pretty proud because this small-town girl can find her way home. Then the train stops and we have to wait for over an hour. We get to the next station, wait for 30 more minutes to find out that we can't use the metro anymore. Get off the metro and head to bus station. Didn't want to wait for a bus so me and some random stranger split the cab fare. What an adventure!!! I am excited to think of what this week holds.
This week I was able to see and do a lot of things (thanks Jannie!). On Tuesday I went to the Dubai mall. It is HUGE!!! There are a lot of stores that we have back home...H&M, Gap, Cold Stone Creamery, Payless, and many more. There is even a Tim Horten's in this mall. It is a little taste of home. We also went to see the Burj Khalifa and the fountains that go off with the music. It is like the Bellagio in Vegas but much bigger. I hope to attach a video of it soon.
The people here are all really friendly. The parents of my students are very warm towards me. People I meet on the street are so interested to hear where I come from and why I am here. The people that I am living with in the hotel are also great. We have been going out a lot together. Thursday night we went out for Sheesha. It is basically like smoking a water bong with nothing illegal in it. It is flavoured water vapor. I had strawberry and it was so yummy. I have learned that I need to be more aggressive with people. This is very new to me as I am not aggressive at all. If you are standing in line, and you leave some personal space, people just cut in line and stand there. So, no leaving space in lines. Also, when I was buying some groceries, I had some lady place her items on top of mine and expected to be served first. This was the first time I spoke up and told her "No, I was here first". She took her things off of mine and I could pay for my things.
Yesterday, I went on a nice tour of Dubai. I saw the Burj (the only 7 star hotel in the world), drove around the Palm islands (Google map it, it is really neat), Atlantis Dubai and a lot more of the city. We then went to a pool to hang out for the afternoon. It was a great time. I had a fun time trying to get home from my friend's house. What should have been a 45 min cab/metro trip took almost two hours. Got out of the cab and found the metro station. Figured out what to do and made it on to the right train. At this point I am feeling pretty proud because this small-town girl can find her way home. Then the train stops and we have to wait for over an hour. We get to the next station, wait for 30 more minutes to find out that we can't use the metro anymore. Get off the metro and head to bus station. Didn't want to wait for a bus so me and some random stranger split the cab fare. What an adventure!!! I am excited to think of what this week holds.
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