I’ve been really busy this week with a really fun event that I’ve been going to after work. I’m a huge tennis fan, and Doha is hosting the Qatar Total Open, which is a Tier 1 women’s tennis event. I’ve been able to see people like Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams play. I have tons of pics up here.
I also had a friend and his roommate visit this weekend. He’s a good friend from A&M that I haven’t seen in about four years, so it was really good to be able to hang out again.
Sorry I haven’t written yet. Life in a new country is crazy, but it’s going great. I just uploaded some pictures that you can see here.
I hope to write a little very soon to post on here. I’m still trying to get settled in, and I’m getting there step by step. I had to visit the doctor earlier this week, because I was really dizzy for a couple of days. It turns out that I had ear infections in both ears. The hospital was really nice, and I got some medicine that helped a ton.
Work is extremely busy, but I love it. I really love the people I work with. Check this out. My team of 7 people is represented by 7 different countries: Germany, India, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and the US. That’s right, I’m the only American. What an awesome experience! The team dynamic is nothing like I’ve ever experienced. The cultural differences are interesting and fun, and everyone is very helpful. I really do love it.
More to come!
Well, I am just about ready to leave College Station en route to my next stage in life. It’s pretty weird, and I don’t think it has completely sunk in yet.
The moving company came yesterday and packed up the personal items that will be shipped to Doha, so there’s not a lot left in my apartment now. I have some cleaning and vacuuming to finish tomorrow night, and then it’s ready for me to leave to the next tenant! It’s been a real cleansing process as I’ve gone through everything to decide what I want to ship to Doha, what I want to take home with me, and what is just junk that I’ve been keeping for some reason over the years. What a pack rat!
I head out Friday afternoon to stay with my family through the holidays and until my visa gets processed. Yep, that’s right. My visa is still processing, so they can’t finalize my flight to Doha until that’s done. The kicker is that TAMUQ is closed for their semester break, and I won’t hear anything about my visa until at least January 2, 2008. Of course, my mom’s not exactly sad about the chance that I’ll have to stay with them longer than I originally thought. I think her response was, “Goodie, goodie, goodie!” 🙂
Other than the visa situation, everything has been going very smoothly. That’s been a real blessing, because I haven’t been stressed about any of it. I’m really looking forward to the time that I’ll get to spend with my family over the next few weeks. I am very close to them, and it will be tough to be so far away. Praise God for modern technology! Thanks to things like Skype, I’ll be able to stay in good communication with my family and friends back home.
I’m still working on the blog and figuring out the best way I want to go about it all. If you get an email update for this post and don’t want it, let me know. If you’re reading this on my page or through some other means and you want to receive email updates, let me know.
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 🙂
I have made the large part of trip to the other side of the world from my home in Texas. I’m sitting in the Emirates business class lounge in the Dubai airport right now waiting on the final leg of my trip to Doha.
I’ve never flown business class before, so this was a great experience for me. I’m already spoiled. I was able to get some sleep on the plane, and I’ve definitely eaten well: on the plane, in New York, and in the airport lounges. I never realized how big of a deal the lounges in the airports are. They have made all of the difference in the world for me during my layovers. It’s nice and quiet, and they have complementary food and drinks. The picture here is of the lounge in New York.
I have pictures up of my time in New York. I didn’t take pictures of the restaurant where I ate dinner, but believe me, it was very classy! You can see the pics by clicking here or clicking on the “photos” link in the upper-right corner of the page. The plugin for the photos is not working perfectly, be warned. For example, the slideshow link doesn’t work.
Look for more to come!