Doha Wrap-up

PB060038.JPG Well, my recruitment/interview trip to Doha, Qatar is sadly over. It was a very packed few days that would have been a challenge even without the jet lag. It was mentally and physically exhausting, but it was a great experience. I experienced business class air travel for the first time, and it’ll be hard to ever go back! Hopefully, I’ll be able to recount everything and give you a good idea about the overall adventure. I had tons of fun, and I would love to go back.  Don’t forget to check out the pictures on the photos page.

Obviously, this is a long post. Oh, and to answer the question everyone asks me, I should be hearing from them some time this week about their decision 🙂

New York

My flight to Doha was not the most direct flight possible, but that’s because they scheduled a little extra bonus for me. They created my itinerary to include a layover in New York City with dinner at the Ritz Carlton, Battery Park. This happened, because they put me on Emirates airline, and that’s how Emirates rolls. It was awesome. I had an 8 hour layover in NYC, and Emirates had a driver pick me up from the airport and take me to the Ritz. I checked my carry-ons at the concierge and walked around Battery Park for a little while. I got to see the Statue of Liberty from across the bay, the World Financial Center, Ground Zero, and Wall Street. Dinner at the Ritz was obviously wonderful, and it was all part of the Emirates business fare. After dinner, the driver took me back to JFK airport, where I got my first taste of the life in business class. I was able to wait on my flight in the Emirates business lounge at the airport. It was amazing. It was quiet and stocked with free food and drinks. I was immediately spoiled.

Emirates Lounge Traveling

I flew to from New York to Doha via Hamburg, Germany and Dubai, UAE. This was my first experience with business class, and I am forever ruined of flying. I’ve traveled overseas before in economy class, and I always had trouble sleeping, got bored and fidgety, felt like the flight would never end, and I was always immediately exhausted after the flight. Business class was completely different. I was able to lean the seat all the way back, and I slept very well. There was also endless entertainment and gourmet food. It made all the difference for the long flights. The trip home was on Qatar airline from Doha to London Gatwick, and Continental from London to College Station through Houston. Qatar air has an amazing business terminal in the Doha airport, complete with a complimentary clinic if you are feeling ill. I actually visited that clinic, because I had a small ear infection. The doctor there gave me some antibiotic ear drops and pain medicine. It helped a ton 🙂 As I said before, airport lounges are wonderful. I took a shower at the Emirates lounge in London, and I felt very refreshed.

PB070142.JPG Interview Process

The interview process for the job was exhausting. They had my day packed with interviewing with and meeting different groups within the IT department, as well as the rest of the university. It was a tough but great experience. I had to think on my feet, and I got a good feel for the kinds of things the job has to deal with. Through the interview process, I also got to know the different members of the group that I’ll be working with if I get the job. I really liked the people I met, and I think I could work very well with them. I had a lot of chances to ask questions of my own and see how their different personalities interacted with each other. These interviews took up two days, and the second day included my 50 minute technical presentation. I had prepared very well for the presentation, but I was still very nervous. It seemed to go well, though, and I got a lot of positive feedback.

PB060004.JPG Food!

They treated me very well by taking me out to dinner every night. I ate and ate and ate. It was wonderful. I was able to have a lot of arabic food in great atmospheres. I also had some really good seafood one night. Check out the pictures of the seafood restaurant in the photo album. We picked out what we wanted and told them how we wanted it prepared. It was great.

PB070099.JPG Doha

I realized first hand that Qatar is a very wealthy country, and the capital city of Doha is a great expression of that. They get their wealth from their huge natural gas production.

First of all, I was able to stay at the Ritz Carlton, Doha, while I was there. As you can see from my pictures, it was gorgeous. The room was spacious and elegant, complete with a marble bathroom, the bed was very comfortable, the food was great, and the pool area was beautiful. It was definitely the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

On the last day of my trip to Doha, they took me on a tour of the city and some of the possible housing options I will have if I get the job. The city was beautiful, and traffic is ridiculous. We got caught several times in stop-and-go traffic that ended up cutting into our tour time. Also, there is construction everywhere, especially the building of many skyscrapers. I’ve never seen so many construction cranes in one place. You can kind of get an idea about this in my pictures. The city tour also took us to the Souks, or the old city market. I definitely want to spend some more time there shopping for souvenirs. We also got to visit the Doha Equestrian Center, where competition and show horses are kept and trained. That was a fun experience. Check out the pictures.

The quick housing tour was nice. The university provides housing for employees, so they showed me two of the possible choices I’ll have if I move over there. I saw the Asas towers and the Qatar Foundation (QF) apartments. Both places I saw were three bedroom, fully furnished apartments.

The first place I saw was in the Asas towers, which is located among all of the big buildings. This was a nice place, and it definitely has the feel of the big city. It has a more modern feel to it than the QF housing, as you can see in the pictures. The Asas towers are right across the street from a very modern mall, and they also have underground parking. The Asas towers also have a nice outdoor pool, as well as separate men’s and women’s weight rooms. The main drawback of the towers is that they are kind of far from campus, and traffic is pretty bad.

I visited the QF apartments next. These were also very nice. They are located just 10 minutes from campus, and traffic would not be too bad. They have a completely different feel, because they are located in the QF housing compound, and they are in a bunch of little buildings instead of a huge apartment tower. The QF apartments are two story, with all three bedrooms being upstairs. I can think of positives and negatives for both places, so it would be a tough decision.

3 thoughts on “Doha Wrap-up

  1. couch

    Quadruple Wow bro!

    Lots of good stuff to report it seems, praise God for that. I know the Lord will guide you as you acknowledge Him in all you do – way to go bro!

    Ryan

    Reply

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