A party!

It's the weekend for me here on a friday and saturday, and this evening I got invited to a colleague's house for a barbecue. It was nice actually. I had no idea the house was so massive. I met a load of French people, an American girl (Chris's mate), and a few others. I drank a fair bit and danced quite a lot. I chatted a bit to Julie as well. She's another colleague. It all went a bit crazy after about 12 as most people had left and everyone else went a bit crazy. Also met Julie's mate Raed. He seems to be quite cool too.

All in all it was quite a good night and I think everyone had fun. It was a nice introduction to life in Abu Dhabi. Although obviously the place I live in doesn't have a pool on the patio area. Sadly, I don't think that living here will always be parties and fun.

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A new term

Got given my timetable the other day and it isn't so bad this term. I have to teach an IELTS preparation course, which may or may not be exciting. It'll be a new challenge, as I haven't taught IELTS in a 6 week course before. 

I'll see how it goes. I have an intermediate class and a pre-int class as well. Both of those should be fine as I've taught the level before. I m pretty sure they'll both go OK. Lets wait and see how the teaching goes. I m a bit out of practice but should get back into the swing of things again. 

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The move

I moved today from the Hotel to my apartment, and I managed to sort out my internet connection as well. It's not the best connection in the world. I basically have to rely on one of those dongle things. They are a bit expensive to be honest, but you can't get proper internet installed until you havea resident visa. I think this fact is correct.

Chris (a colleague) helped me move today. He picked up a rental car because he has someone staying with him at the moment, and he very kindly helped move all my bags to my new place. The new place is small, but modern and doesn't have any curtains on the windows. Also, in typical BC style it had furniture but this all  needed putting together, and the oven and fridge hadn't arrived yet. 

Not having any curtains isn't a problem in the day, but at night the windows are kind of see through.

All in all it was quite a productive day all in all.

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A public holiday

As luck would have it, I arrived on a public holiday and so had a few days to have a look round and get my bearings. AD is much more modern and different to Saudi Arabia. It's also by the sea which is nice. I had quite a nice walk around the place and managed to organise myself a mobile phone. People are generally useless, as I was told 'ooh no, you can't get a phone until you have a resident visa'. I didn't accept this.

In fact, I tried to get a phone, and got one. Actually, I already had the phone, but I got a local sim card for it no problem. It's all ready to go. In the evening, I went to see a film 'Just go with it' with Marina and Duncan. Both of them are technically my managers. It was quite a fun film with a few laugh out loud moments.

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Flight to Abu Dhabi in the UAE

Up very early today and off into Cambridge to catch the bus to Heathrow. I actually had a beer at the airport and a bit of food before the flight. The flight went fine, and I cleared immigration, and got my luggage pretty fast. There was even someone at the airport to pick me up.

I got driven straight to the hotel. It took a while to get checked in, but the place they had put me in was quite nice. It's called Cassells Hotel Apartments and was modern and clean. I went straight to sleep. Early start tomorrow as I have to meet the manager and the rest of the teaching team. It's all another adventure!

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More packing

I finished all my packing today ready for the flight tomorrow. Yes, the time has finally come for me to head off. It's come round a lot quicker than I thought it would.

I hope the bank manage to organise my documents to be sent on.

Had a goodbye dinner with mum today as well. I'm sad to be leaving St Ives, but it has to be done.

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Shopping

I sorted out some last minute shopping today and tried to sort out a new bank account. Seems that the HSBC bank that I opened my account with haven't actually sent anything out to me yet. Hopefully this will happen over the next weeks and it can be forwarded on to me.

I also saw Paul for the last time today. Went out in Cambridge to see him. It was good actually. The band were good, didn't get much of a chance to speak to Paul though. Hopefully, I will see him in a few months when I get back for a holiday.

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Mr P

I met up with my old buddy Ben P today for a load of food and a trip to the cinema. We had a good old catch up. I m glad it isn't just me that's getting fed-up with the work I do. Ben is feeling the same way as me. He wants to change career as well. He reckons he's going to be doing it sometime this year as well. I reckon I may well be doing the same.

In any case, we watched the latest 'Jason Statham' classic. He plays basically the same character in every film he is ever in. It was an OK action film, but that's as far as it goes. I'm not sure I'll get a chance to see Ben P again before I go, but we shall see. I hope I get to keep in touch with him. I know he isn't the best at replying to emails and things but he's still a good mate of mine.

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A brilliant concert

This weekend I attended a brilliant concert in one of the churches in Cambridge! Yes, a church is a strange place to hold a concert, but it was incredible. I had a bit of an issue getting there initially, and it meant I missed the first part of the talk. I m a bit miffed about it because a lady was giving a talk about her trip going down the Amazon. I think I d have really enjoyed it.

In any case I made it in time for the second part and the choir and band were incredible. It was also a great opportunity to meet up with Matt C, Marcus H, and Tom T, and Paul. In fact after the gig we all went out for a few beers. Marcus and I stayed on afterwards and Matt and Tom got the bus back. We managed to get a lift with Steve M actually. I hadn't seen him for ages and it was very kind of him to drive me back to Alconbury.

All in all a great night and a good laugh, although lugging Paul's drums back to the car were a nightmare. They are much heavier than they look. Overall a very enjoyable night out.

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A job offer!!

I got offered the job in Abu Dhabi today. I decided to accept it and turn the Libya post down. I felt a bit bad about this, seen as I'd already kind of said 'yes' to the Libya post.

It's a good job I'm not in Libya actually as it's all gone a bit tits up there at the moment. I very much doubt I would have ever started the post there. I hope Abu Dhabi is a good choice. If not, then I will look elsewhere for another position.

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February!!

Yes, I have managed to put a blog a day up now for almost the entire month of January. It's quite an achievement.

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