Language Barrier

Men: do you know what this is?

One of the things I love most about my life and work is the multi-cultural element. Not only do I get to travel and meet interesting people, I’m constantly surrounded by ex-pats from  all over the world, each with a different story and perspective. There’s no doubt that my life is infinitely richer, and my world view wider, as a result of this experience.

I was sat with two extremely interesting individuals last week. One was a global consumer head (female, British) the other was a research professor (male, American).  We were having a good chat about families and children (you can’t talk work all the time), when the lady had to take a call from her husband.  It seemed an animated and rather urgent discussion.  She re-joined us in a fluster.  Her husband, apparently, was having an issue with the children's packed lunches in her absence.  “How hard can it be to make a packed lunch?!” she exclaimed.  The male American looked utterly perplexed.  

“What the hell’s a packed lunch?”  We stared at him. He’s incredibly clever, I thought he was joking.  But he clearly didn’t know. “A packed lunch” she repeated.  “What do you think it is?” He remained perplexed.  “A lunch…that you pack?” he asked, stating the obvious, but clearly not understanding at all.

We burst out laughing; I’m still not clear if it was lost in the English/American translation, or lost in the woman/man translation.  Anyway, one lesson learned here: if you’re a woman, a high powered job and international business travel does not let you off mother/wife/household chores, wherever you are in the world. If you’re a man, you will probably never need to know what a packed lunch it, let alone have to make one after a hard day’s work.  Take note, universe, and please ensure the father of any potential children knows his way around a kitchen....

This Modern World We Live In....

So here’s a thing that’s only happened to me since moving to Dubai. At least once a week, I get completely random friend requests on Facebook. Always from Arab guys. On the odd occasion they come through a mutual friend: which means that some people really do go trawling through other people’s friends…but a lot of the time they are completely random – how do they even find me?

This is my latest request:

I am Hamad from uae

My age is 32 years

Where r u from and where u r live ?

I see ur pic its very nice and u r so cute I like to be good friend with u if u dont mind .. try me :)Have a great day

I mean, the man makes a couple of good points ;), but seriously, call me old-fashioned, does he really expect a response? And who the hell thinks it’s acceptable to contact someone completely randomly like that? I can only surmise, that, as in the case of Mr Abu Dhabi (whose opening line was the classic: I have 57 cars) that this route has worked in the past. Women of Dubai: get a grip!

Tall Man Heaven

Anyone who know me will know that I have a penchant for tall men. So imagine my excitement when I realized that I was staying in the same hotel as not one but five basketball teams this week. I first realised this gem when waiting for the lift. A very tall (6 foot 5 plus) young man emerged. Aha! I thought. Finally, some tall men! And men there were…he was followed by not one but 6 more equally strapping young specimens. And a short walk into the nearby restaurant made me feel like I was in land of the Giants – everywhere I looked there were more, and more of them. Believe it or not there was a huge basketball event taking place – and all of the teams were stationed in the same hotel as little old me. Treat! Boy can they put away a lot of breakfast….