Day 1

Here I am in Dubai! I arrived here late last night, bleary-eyed and sleep deprived. I didn't get to see much of Dubai, but noted that I have a pretty fabulous hotel room. Going to sleep was difficult. Everything was strange... and I missed my bed. I clutched my bear and hoped that we could magically be morphed back to my bed in Vancouver. But alas, it didn't happen.

After messaging and facebooking everybody I know, and taking a sleeping pill, I finally fell asleep. Woke up this morning and was driven to my place of work. I work in a beautiful university. It's bright and spacious. I met my colleagues and had lunch with them. I felt like a zombie. I followed people, smiled and nodded a lot. People spoke to me and I can't remember anything they said. The one thing I did take in today though, was the awesome-ness of my office. I've never had one before, and my very first office is pretty impressive. It will be hard to top that in the future.

I was taken on a city tour today. Dubai is a strange place. I kind of reminded me of Taipie, with all the tall buildings, but without the people milling around on the street. It's spread out with patches of tall buildings clumped together. There are also patches of sand that are construction sites. It looks like they are constantly building things. Every so often, my guild pointed out buildings and told me that they are being torn down because they are too 'old'. I asked how old is 'old', she said 20 years. It's so unbelievable... considering the building I lived in Vancouver was built in the 40's. In Dubai, that would be considered outdated and awful and would have been torn down ages ago. Most of the buildings in Dubai are beautiful, new and modern looking... one can smell money in the air.

Went to the mall next to my hotel. It's a massive mall. It has every store imaginable. Even some of the crappy Canadian chains, like Le Chateau. I will need to watch my money after I get paid, I can see that it is extremely easy to spend it in this town.

I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. More to come in a day or two.