Cool things and not cool things about the UAE
Cool
Eating hummus and arabic bread every day
Cool
The Emirati ladies at work are so lovely
Cool
Getting to see the Logos Hope and a few friends in Dubai
Not Cool
Driving on the WRONG side of the road
Cool
No one cares too much when you're in the wrong lane or no lane at all or cutting people up or whatever - you just drive how you like.
Cool
Valet parking at the hotel - it's so lazy! And I hate parking - though actually the spaces are so big here it's not too bad!
Not Cool
Being woken up at 2.30am by the alarm in the hotel - being evacuated and not getting back to my room until 5am - you know I'm sure this stuff happens to me an above average number of times. Don't know what it was this time - last time it was smouldering loo rolls on the Logos Hope. So sleepy today!
Not Cool
It rained all day Friday - what is that about?!
Cool
Sunshine!
Cool
Having lunch with some girls from the church
Cool
Being invited to someones home for a lovely dinner and discussion group

Neither Cool nor Uncool but seriously confusing

The days of the week

Cool
Facebook is not blocked - in fact nothing is blocked by work
Not Cool
Skype is blocked by the government
Cool
Thought I should end on a positive. It's nice here!

Start spreading the neeeeeeeews, I'm leaving todaaaaaaay...
Though not to New York.
Bring on the shwarmas!

Slight update with a few more countries - still only 17% of the world, but I'm still young!
create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

Got a couple of these at the weekend in readiness...

And a really ugly passport photo!!

Looks like I'm heading off on adventures (again) if you want to hear more about them then please sign up to get my newsletter. It's a yahoo group so you can change your address or leave the list whenever you like.

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Aargh I seem to be getting a cough - I blame the climate - I need to live somewhere warmer than here!

Apart from that life is good - I am so proud of how well the Newport Orchestra played on Sunday - the best ever I think! No dodgy moments! I can't believe how much we've improved in a year!

Had a fantastic weekend doing the first two of my seven Christmas concerts for the season (my weekend's desk partner Alan has 10 this year!) the orchestra was great - the 3 choirs were amazing even the 100 kids in the youth choir were lovely (to quote the Giraffe from Madagascar - they are so cute - from a reasonable distance). Though I did nearly die about 15 times on my way to the bus stop - it rained and froze so the path was solid ice as was the car park, the steps, the road even the grass. It would have been funny (OK it probably was funny as I was sliding along holding on to railings and road signs) but I had my viola with me and I didn't want to break the viola or myself!

I have now managed to persuade Blogger to speak to me in English which is lovely and we’re communicating so much better now!

I've decided to start blogging (not blocked from work - yet) again and hoping to somehow cleverly link it in to facebook (blocked form work) so that I get less nagging from 50 nationalities of friends about whether I'm still alive of not (yes that's you Douloids!). One of the many small issues is that Blogger is convinced that I'm German (easy mistake to make in fact it's happened to me many times) so I'm going to try and make it understand that I'd much prefer it to talk to me in English if it doesn't mind and that isn't all too colonial or something. Now do I need to click Jetzt Speichern or Post Veröffentlichen?

This is hilarious - I've never been Methodist in my life! I've been Anglican, Baptist, Free Church, Brethren a bit of everything but except for my parent's village church which is Methodist for one service a month I've not really been Methodist! I did play in an orchestra which met in a Wesleyan Church. I don't know what it means by Holiness - I've never been to a Holiness Church maybe it's an American thing! I quite like the Emergent thing though I think it's pretty good. I seem to have a high score on quite a few things - I guess I'm messed up theologically!

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71% Emergent/Postmodern 68% Neo orthodox 54% Reformed Evangelical 54% Fundamentalist 54% Classical Liberal 46% Roman Catholic 46% Charismatic/Pentecostal 29% Modern Liberal 21% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Lets try again here are the countries I've visited...

This map is pretty cool except that a large part of the world is not showing!

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

And in other news, yeah I got the flat - the nice man accepted my offer so now I'm talking to and filling in forms with mortgages and solicitors and estate agents and trying not get too confused but they all seem very helpful and able to explain things so I can understand so far....
I know that buying a house is supposed to be one of the most stressful things you'll ever do - these people clearly never lived on Doulos! Even so I'm trying to take it slow and not get frustrated or stressed about it even though I'm keen to move out of where I am as it's difficult to entertain! I do manage with people sitting on the floor and food on the coffee table and stuff but it will be nice to have more space! Anyway I must stop chatting and get back to work with my little aeroplanes flying around the screen - I'm modelling them it's not play it's work!
Here is my aeroplane

yes it needs to be that small for what I'm doing!

I was planning to paint the 2nd bedroom yellow and hey even the internet agrees with me!

You Should Paint Your Room Yellow

Bright and bold, yellow is truly the color of inspiration. Your yellow room will drive you to think clearly, develop new ideas, and be organized. Yellow is also energizing and very powerful. So don't expect to rest in there!

What Color Should You Paint Your Room?

In case we didn't know already...

You Are Incredibly Logical

Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

I have a very exciting weekend planned - taking my Mum and Dad to see the MOSCOW STATE CIRCUS! In Cardiff for my Mum's birthday - I can't wait! I saw a few of them doing a mini display about 15 years ago and it was absolutely stunning so I know it's going to be amazing! Also hoping to show them round a flat I like that I'm thinking of buying - the estate agent says it's in Cyn Coed (the poshest part of Cardiff) which I think is stretching the truth by several miles but nevertheless it's an OK area and the flat has a great view and a little balcony! You must all come and visit if I get it - I might have a party.

I've had lots of fun with snow in the past week, it was so beautiful! It was also really cold but I survived. The room I live in is quite warm although my housemates keep leaving the bathroom window wide open even though it's snowing and then leave the bathroom door open and then wonder why it's cold!

This week my favourite invention is the phone and also internet sites which let you call long numbers and then get cheap rates to call - this week I have spoken to friends in the Phillipines, South Africa and Benin - very exciting!

I have an orchestra concert tomorrow (Cardiff Symphony - see link) and there are still some parts I can't quite play though I've improved a lot so I need to practise those last few 'corners' tonight ready for the big night tomorrow!

I've had fun making new friends and meeting up with old friends - sometimes it's like the last years never happened and we get along just like before! I'm really enjoying my life at the moment - on Monday night I was glad that I still had 4 days of work left this week - I must be in such a small minority! Doing research about remote controlled planes but on a BIG scale! Very exciting!