Merry Christmas!

Here's a taste of what a Christmas Carol sounds like in my neck of the woods:

The brand-new Greek Orthodox Church in Jebel Ali was inaugurated last night, with the Christmas Liturgy at sunset. It was fantastic to hear the church bells ring out over the desert sand while the choir was chanting inside the church and the last rays of sunlight caught the beautiful icons at the front of the church.

More pictures here

Thankfully, both Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on the weekend here in the UAE this year, so I'm off to Abu Dhabi shortly to celebrate Christmas with some friends there.

UAE National Day

Today is the National Day here in the UAE. On 2 December 1971, the UAE became an independent nation as the rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai formed a union and invited the other five emirates to join them. Today, Emiratis are celebrating their 38th year as a nation.

As the UAE is such a young nation, National Day traditions are still emerging, but it seems that camping is becoming more popular. Slide show here. Another trend is giving your car a complete National Day makeover. Video here.  BTW, I have no such plans for my Daihatsu, though I'm sure it would be fun. Another National Day event today is when Abu Dhabi will try to get into the Guinness Book of World Records by having the world's biggest fireworks display this evening. Story here.

We celebrated National Day at the Fujairah Men's College on the last day before the holidays, and in keeping with college traditions we expat teachers dressed up in national dress.

The white dishdasha is easy. You just put it on. But getting the ghutra, the headdress, just right is a bit more tricky. However, no worries. My students were happy to help.

Here's the end result. My students decided on the bedu look this year.

At the college, we had a traditional majlis (literally meaning "a place of sitting") in the foyer, complete with Arabic coffee and all. Did you know that you show your host you don't want a refill of coffee by shaking your cup? If you don't shake it, they will refill it when it's empty.

National Day events at Fujairah Men's College started off by everybody walking in a procession around the campus.

My students certainly enjoyed it. Can you spot the teacher in this picture?

Lots of work had gone into preparing for the day, including some really great displays.

Someone had brought his falcon along.

There was traditional dancing.

And music. The drummer the right is one of my students.

Some great performances.

And the finals of the balsa wood bridge building competition. The winners (shared first spot) had bridges that could take 40 kilos (88 lbs) before they broke (maximum weight: 85 grams of balsa wood).

All in all, the National Day celebrations at Fujairah Men's College were great. More pictures here.

The question now is, should I drive over to Abu Dhabi this afternoon for the world's biggest fireworks display ever? It's nearly a four-hour drive.

My Villa

Here's finally a blog entry about where I'm living now! I've just been so incredibly busy this first semester in Fujairah that I've hardly done any blogging at all. Anyway, we've got a 10-day holiday for the Eid Al Adha holidays and the UAE National Day at the moment, so I've finally been able to click on Xanga and look at blogging again.

Before I start talking about my villa, I also want to mention the deal you get when you start working as a teacher for the Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE. Basically, the college gives you an empty flat/house and $8,000 in cash to buy furniture and appliances. It's a great system. The college does not have to worry about all the admin involved in setting up flats for new teachers, and the teachers very much enjoy being able to get exactly what they want for their new homes.

Anyway, here goes. For the very first time in my life, I'm living in my own villa. Well, it's actually a semi (duplex for Americans), but nonetheless I've got my own house.

With my own patio and outdoor area.

About six weeks ago, neighbours moved into the other half of the house and with that, I discovered that the soundproofing was not very good between the two halves of the house. In fact, before they moved in it actually never occurred to me that I was living in a semi. I'm looking into ways of soundproofing the house a the moment.

Anyway, this is my living room.

I'm into red at the moment.  I've bought a Klippan sofa from IKEA and the good thing with Klippan is that you can change the cover at any time - like a pair of pyjamas for your sofa. I've got a blue and green flower-power style cover ready in one of my cupboards for after Christmas.

I also got some glass doors for my white Billy shelves and suddenly they look very cool indeed.

And talking about glass. I got this small glass display unit that I'm using for my icons. The icons look beautiful with all the candles lit.

Next is my dining area.

I've still got the table my dad bought in 1961 for $1. In one way, things are not important. In another way, they are. Keeping this table means I've got a bit of family history with me wherever I move.

The kitchen is not big, but certainly bigger than my kitchen in Nizwa.

And the guest room is ready for guests.

My villa has got four rooms and a dining area in the middle, so I've been able to have a separate study/library, which is fantastic.

In my library, I've also got my desk and work area. And my wonderful, cozy day bed. And in case you were wondering where the stolen Boy in a Red Vest by Cézanne was - I've got it!  Just joking. I think mum and dad bought this copy of the Cézanne painting in the early 70s.

My bedroom might seem a bit minimalist. Maybe it's because I've got so much space at the moment.

I spent hours and hours looking at wardrobes before I finally decided to go for a seven door wide unit of Pax with smokey glass doors (at IKEA, of course. Where else?).

I love my bedroom! And once I get some time to put up a few pictures, it might not look so minimalist any more.

Anyway, looking at where I'm living now - accommodation is free; it's part of the contract - I just can't believe how much my living situation has changed since I was working as a translator in London. Then, I only had one medium-sized room and that was it (the five-bedroom house share came with some very nice flat mates, admittedly).

Click here for some more pictures of my villa.

Time to go back to 24 (Season 2). I haven't watched it in a couple of years now and I've actually forgotten how good it is.  One definition of holiday is "being able to watch as many episodes of 24 as you want".

Exporting a Car from Oman

What I'm writing here is what I wish I'd known when I decided to export my car from Oman to the UAE. No-one I asked could tell me what to do, and I could not find a single page on the Internet explaining how to export a car from Oman to the UAE.

Anyway, here's the information in case you need it!

It is possible to complete the entire export process in less than three hours if you're in the right place, doing it on the right day, and if you get started at the right time of day. The reason is that the relevant department of the Royal Omani Police has to be open at the same time as an insurance company offering the 7-day car insurance for car export. This means you need to do this 8.30 AM – 12.30 PM on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. In other words, if you start 8.30/9.00-ish on one of these four days, you're OK. (It took me four days over a period of several weeks because I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time).

The best place to do this is in Muscat, and the best place to start is at the Shell petrol station opposite Muscat Airport. Next to this Shell station there is a translation and typing agency called Sanad. They have the form called "Vehicle Export Certificate" (in triplicate), which is the form you need (so you don't have to collect the form at the police station). They will type it in Arabic for your, for about 500 baisa or 1 OMR. N.B. the Chassis number and the Engine number has to be typed in normal, European letters and digits (the rest has to be in Arabic).

Next, you can go around the corner from Sanad to the Ahlia insurance company and they will sell you the 7-day car insurance you need. This is actually stamped directly on the "Vehicle Export Certificate" form and costs around 10-15 OMR. N.B. If your car is already insured by Ahlia, this will be free of charge (and if you want to drive to the office of your own current Omani insurance company – if this different from Ahlia – the insurance will, again, be free).

After that, you drive from Shell towards the Golden Tulip hotel on the service road that runs parallel to the motorway (in the direction towards Muscat). After you've passed the Golden Tulip Hotel, you'll see a police facility on the right-hand side called something like Traffic Police. You don't want this one. Instead you keep driving for a couple of hundred metres until you see a police facility with a tall drive-through structure (tall enough for lorries to drive through), about six or eight "lanes" wide. To the right of this testing facility, there's a building. This is the building where you take your completed "Vehicle Export Certificate".

Here, they will give you another form to fill in. They will also send you to the tall drive-through structure next door to have your car "inspected". What this means is that someone in the car testing area will check that the Chassis number on your form is the same as the one on your car. They will then stamp your forms.

Next, you go back to the building you came from and you queue up to see one of the police officers. The officer will take your form and he will ask for your yellow plates. You'll also need to pay for the export certificate (OMR7, using a credit card). They have no tools there to help you remove your licence plates, so you might want to bring something along. Otherwise you can just pull the licence plate off the car with your bare hands. I did it. It wasn't too hard, though a bit messy.

Once the police officer gets your yellow plates, he will give you a set of blue export plates, as well as return your "Vehicle Export Certificate". That's it. You're almost done.

If you've got some tape with you, you can just temporarily put the blue licence plates inside your front and back windows while driving back to the Shell station. Adjacent to the Shell station, there is a car accessories shop where they have a riveter and they will rivet the new blue plates onto your car for OMR1-2.

That's it. You've now got seven days to drive your car across the border out of Oman.

When you exit Oman, you will need to present your car and the "Vehicle Export Certificate" (in triplicate) to the border police. They will check the Chassis number and stamp your "Vehicle Export Certificate". I think they'll also keep one of the copies. You will also need to pay OMR1 (using a credit card). This whole process on the Omani side of the border might take 30-45 minutes.

Importing a Car into the UAE

At the Emirati side, the border police will charge you import duty equivalent to 5% of the value of the car. The value of your car (dependent on model and year) is stored on a database (in Sharjah in my case, as I took my car to Fujairah), so the value of your car is not up for discussion. The value will simply be printed on the form and you will be asked to pay the 5% up front and in cash. In my case, the value was slightly higher than what I'd expect to get for it if I'd sold it in Oman, but it was probably not far off a realistic re-sell value in the UAE).

At this stage, some over-eager Emirati border guards might feel compelled to pull off your blue licence plates, thinking they are Omani. Try and stop them if they do this (I couldn't, and had to drive around without licence plates for over 24 hours!). The process on the Emirati side might be around 45 minutes to 1 hour. If you arrive in the UAE outside office hours, they might let you drive through and ask you to come back to the border the next day to pay the import duty (which is what happened in my case).

Once inside the UAE, you'll need to have your car tested at an Emirati Police testing facility (they check suspension, tires etc.). I can't remember what I paid, but I think it was something like 200-300 AED and this process took around 30 minutes. Once you've got your car tested, you'll need to buy an Emirati car insurance. Where I tested my car, there was also an insurance broker next door who represented all the major car insurance companies in the UAE (and he informed of the best deal if I wanted Oman included on my UAE insurance). He sold me a car insurance once he'd seen my car test papers.

One you've got your car test papers and the car insurance, you can go to the Emirati Traffic Police and they will process the registration of your car. This process took around 45 minutes in my case and I think I paid 500 AED, but I'm not sure. Once you've paid and they've completed the registration process, they've got this guy nearby – around the corner or something – and he'll create new plates and then fasten the new Emirati licence plates onto your car (they use screws, not rivets, in the UAE).

That's it! Your car export/import is done!

Hello Fujairah!

Never in my life had I expected my move to Fujairah would mean no Internet for two months! I was almost in need of psychiatric help by the time I got Internet about ten days ago!

Anyway, I'm in Fujairah, in the UAE. I've got my own villa, which is great, and the college I'm working at - Fujairah Men's College, part of the Higher Colleges of Technology - is extremely well-run, well-funded and well-resourced.

Here's my villa. As you can see, my car has taken on UAE citizenship.  More later.

Goodbye Nizwa!

I'm now leaving Nizwa, after three very happy years here. I think my flat has had a lot to do with me feeling so much at home in Nizwa. If you have a nice place, it's easier to ask people over and I think my flat has had a lot to do with me having had so many parties in Nizwa.

I was the first tenant in a brand new house and the flat was spacious. Also, bringing over all my stuff from storage in the UK made a big difference.

As well as bying some things of my own.

The packing crew was fantastic. I didn't have to do anything.

The end result was 192 boxes!

A tight squeeze.  

Anyway, I will miss Nizwa a lot!

My Sommer Holidays

My summer holidays have been busy. I've been to the UK twice and also travelled quite a lot in Sweden, including driving through Lapland. But first things first.

I saw my friends Kuba & Lisa and their sweet adorable kids in Cambridge, and the decision to meet up at Grantchester at The Orchard for tea with scones, clotted cream and jam was just the right one!

I also went to London and took in a bit of the London atmosphere after a year in the desert.

One evening I met a few of my former MA mates as well. Great fun!

For more pictures, click here.

My sister has moved house and now lives in a cute little house right by the sea.

This summer was the first time for me to see her new place and it was great. She even has her own personal jetty!

After that, I took the train up north to Luleå to seem my cousins. We stopped by the Arctic Circle on the way to Jokkmokk to see the Sami museum there.

I was also invited out to Hinderön, a beautiful island in the Luelå archipelago, where my cousin Bertil and his wife Stina have built this beautiful summer house. Maybe the most memorable thing was to be taken around the island by Bertil on his three-wheeler!

For more pictures, click here.

Once thing I wanted to do this summer was to visit the village where I was born - Stensele - a name I often write when I cross a border but a place I've never been to since I was one. So, I decided to rent a car and drive from Luleå and through Lapland, down to Örnsköldsvik.

The highlight of the drive through Lapland and maybe even the summer was probably when I walked into what used to the Stensele Hospital - now a furniture shop! - and see the rooms that used to be the maternity wards. I guess I was in getting-back-to-my-roots mode this summer.

I also saw a lot of the places where I used to live as a kid during my drive from Luelå to Örnsköldsvik, including a stop in Bjurholm where I lived in this house between the ages of 3 and 11.

I took a lot of pictures during my drive.

• For more pictures from my drive through Lapland proper, click here.
• For more pictures from Bjurholm and Örnsköldsvik, click here.

Having worked my way back down through Sweden, I ended up in Gothenburg, where I saw my nieces Alexandra and Jasmine (and Alex' boyfriend Leo).

We went to a cafe with mega-size cookies, which was fun.

For more pictures, click here.

The next day all of us went down to Copenhagen for a day-trip, where we met up with my sister, Märit.

Visiting Copenhagen was fun, even though it rained. After a nice meal, we walked into these guys breakdancing - quite impressive.

I really like the Nyhamn area in Copenhagen.

Märit probably enjoyed riding in a rickshaw more, though.

For more pictures from Copenhagen, click here.

For the rest of my time in Sweden, I stayed with my sister. It was nice and relaxing. For example, having 11.00 o'clock coffee by the sea.

I also enjoyed seeing quite a few people I know - and playing MahJong.

For more pictures - including pictures of the area around Märit's house in the early morning mist - click here.

I stopped by in the UK on the way back to Oman, visiting my friends Geoff and Sue in Cambridge and Keith, Belinda and Aidan in Chorleywood. Here's Keith, Belinda and Aidan looking their best outside their house.

 My last dinner in the UK before returning to Oman was roast lamb. My favourite and a meal I will remember for a whole year to come.

For more pictures from the UK, click here.

As I'm writing this, a packing crew of four is finishing packing all my belongings here in Nizwa - it's been taking them two days! - and this afternoon I'll be driving to Fujairah in the UAE, where I'll be teaching English at the Higher Colleges of Technology. My new employer has booked a room for me in a five-star hotel this evening, while I'm waiting for my stuff to arrive.

A good start to my new job!

Underbody Neons for Sirion

I've bought a 100,000 km present for my car - underbody neon lights. Something I've wanted to get ever since I saw it the first time.

It looks cool.

Very cool.   

And I guess the average age of new friends I make will suddenly drop considerably.

Goodbye Lunch at Nizwa College

Today, there was a goodbye lunch for the teachers leaving Nizwa College of Applied Sciences. The Dean, Dr Abdullah Al Toobi, officially thanked all of us and gave us a small gift.

I will miss Nizwa College a lot. And my wonderful Omani students! When I arrived in September 2006, the project of changing the language of instruction from Arabic to English had only been going on for a year and there were lot of teething problems. Also, the college had just been reassigned to be a soft sciences college from a BEd college.

There have been quite a few changes since then. If I compare my students' ability to analyse and discuss issues in an essay from three years ago and now, there is definitely a difference. Also, Internet speed has gone from almost zero to normal broadband, so students are becoming much more Internet savvy - something I'm obviously happy about, having been the e-Learning Coordinator for the last year.

Six of us English teachers are leaving: me, Jeremy, Lucy, Nathan, Alexis and Heather.

Here's Jeremy...

Lucy...

Nathan...

Alexis and Heather have already left, so they couldn't attend. After the short ceremony of saying thank you, we all had lunch together.

It was a happy occasion, but also a bit nostalgic. This was the room where we all met in when I first arrived (along with 14 other new English teachers) in Nizwa in September 2006. For my post from that time, click here.

Well, today was not my last day at the college. I've still got three weeks to go before flying to Europe on 2 July for my summer break.

I'm Moving to the UAE!

After a few years in one place, I sometimes get this feeling that it's time for a new country. I think it's genetic.

Anyway, I've accepted a teaching post in the UAE, with the Higher Colleges of Technology in Fujairah, to be precise. I'll be starting my new post 14 August. I know! I know!! I really love Oman, and I'll miss this country tremendously! But with an 80% salary increase, I just could not say no.

Actually, I've been offered two jobs this spring. The other job was with Bahrain Polytechnic - and to have to choose between these two excellent, excellent job opportunities was extremely difficult. Painfully difficult, in fact. However, it is always a positive thing to be offered a choice, and I chose Fujairah, partly because it looks so much like Oman.  And to be only a 90 minute drive from Dubai is obviously another attraction. The reputation of the Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE is excellent - they've got 16 campuses all in all (website here) - while the launch of the brand-new Bahrain Polytechnic is an opportunity that has that exciting this-polytechnic-is-being-established-as-we-speak kind of feeling. What a difficult choice!!   Anyway, the choice has been been made - and UAE, here I come.

Fujairah is located on the east coast of the UAE, facing the Gulf of Oman. Here's the sea front.

 It reminds me a lot of Oman, as it is surrounded by mountains.

You've got a bit in the middle of the city that looks similar to Dubai.

Some of the teachers at the college live in this tower - on floors 33-38, I've been told.

Here's my new place of work: Fujairah Women's College.

It's got this great, contemporary ambiance inside.

Fujairah is just 20 kilometers from he Omani border, and about 12 kilometres from the city centre, you get to this area of wetlands with mangroves.

And miles of untouched beach.

 I just have this feeling I'll be very happy in Fujairah.