Movies, TGI Friday's and My Bed

Going to the movies here is kind of a frustrating experience for me. Yesterday I went with a few peeps to see The Dark Knight. It was MUCH better than Get Smart, the movie we saw two Fridays ago (by the way, Fridays are our Saturdays here). Anyway, there are a number of differences between going to the movies here and going in the States. For one, you are assigned seats (and they enforce it!) and thus it is very important to make sure you buy all your tickets together if your group wants to sit together. And make sure you buy them early too because you do not want to sit in the very front or something. But this is not what makes going to the movies frustrating. What makes a trip to the movies frustrating are two things. Number 1: The lack of movie etiquette!!! I am not Emily Post or anything, but people have no manners. People not only do not turn off their phones at the movies, they answer the damn things! And they are constantly getting up and moving around and their kiddies are running around causing havoc! It is so distracting. For much of the movie yesterday there was a dude's head at the bottom of the screen because he was standing for whatever reason. In sum, people show little respect for their fellow movie patrons who shelled out 35 QR (about $10) to enjoy a movie in peace! One of these days I am going to snap and tell them to sit their ass down and shut up or go the f*** home. And they buy up all the popcorn and are rude to the movie place staff people (I cannot remember what they are called in this temporary moment of frustration...). But I will spare you the details of that incident. I will just let you know that I wanted to drop kick one dude in particular, but restrained myself due to visions of being deported. So on to Number 2: Cutting out kissing scenes. Kissing and such is a big no no. Violence and death equals no problem. But a little kissy kissy comes from the dark side or something. And they do such a bad job of cutting it out. Like you do not know what happens! Shoot... It is rather funny, but also quite absurd. I want my money back, beetches.

I do not like chain restaurants very much. Scratch that...at all. I just do not feel they have much soul (talk about dark side...) and thus whenever possible I would rather go to a mom and pop place (I think the folks in Syracuse can attest to my whining about our frequent ventures to the chain restaurants on Eric). However, I think I have gone to TGI Friday's more times in these past few weeks than I have in my entire life. And my body hates me more and more each time we go.

But one thing my body is thanking me for is my new bedding. I bought a mattress pad for my bed a couple days ago as well as new sheets and a duvet cover. The mattress pad has made a huge difference. It is so comfortable and thus I have a new best friend. The new sheets and duvet cover also put a smile on my face. First, their thread count (softness) is so much higher (I am totally turning into a thread count snob). Second, they no longer look like something out of a plantation home. I hated the stuff that was originally on the bed. It put me in a bad mood, but now my bed is a slice of heaven. Now I just need to get the rest of my apartment in order. One of these days....

Norwegian Jade

It has been a few days since my last post. My bad. I have been busying with training. Training is now over and I am ready to be one of the best residence hall directors ever! However, you, my friend, could probably care less about my training and thus I will spare you the details. I do not have any new stories about my adventures through immigration. I moved into my new apartment yesterday. It is way nicer than my other one (and it does not smell like ass). However, the bed needed to be put together (mattress over here, box spring over there, frame is in several pieces...) and the shower curtain was missing. You learn here to expect these sort of things and just make it work in the mean time. So they, the maintainence peeps, will be fixing my bed and shower today...hopefully...you also learn very quicky here that patience, adaptability and a sense of humor are paramount to survival...or you would go absolutely bananas and be on the next flight home. But oh wait, Immigration still has my passport and I now need permission to leave the country. Damn it! So scratch that. :)

Anyway, I took another trip to the rug shop. I had never been to a rug shop (I could not even tell you where one was) before I moved here and frankly could care less about rugs, but now I have gone to one twice in two weeks and the dude knows me by my first name (and he knows I have a thing for orange soda). I am doomed to leave this country with a rug or two that will likely put a fatty dent in my bank account (I have a particular fondness for Qum rugs, silk rugs that literally change colors).

I have today off due to working over the weekend. Kristin and I are going shopping (Mission: super wonderful mattress pad) at Villagio (the fanciest mall I have ever seen...there is an ice skating rink in the middle of all the, of course, American chain restaurants, stores for all my needs and wants and then some, and a GONDOLA!) and then we are going to a BBQ at la casa de Dr. Roberts. So today is a rather chill day (except for the hard workout I put myself through in the a.m.). I also did a little possible trip planning (I will be able to come and go from the country as I please once I get my papers back and a multiple exit permit is granted) and found the most amazing thing! The Norwegian Jade! What a wonderful name because my name is Jade too (no way, man!) and I am part Norwegian! It is a ship that sails primarily in the Mediterranean (I am focusing my sights on Greece, Turkey and Italy). I am not a big fan of cruises, but after backpacking around Europe a couple times I like the idea of still being able to go to several different places (to reach by 30 by 30 goal), but keeping all my crap in one locale. And the price is not bad. I am thinking late fall or next spring. Who is in? And I just want my picture taken in front of it. Word.

My first marriage proposition.

I experienced my first marriage proposition on Thursday. Part of the long process to get a resident permit includes fingerprinting. So, like the interesting field trip to the Qatar Medical Commission a couple days earlier, several of us Education City newbies took a field trip to the fingerprinting place. I experienced here yet another lesson in classism. I was considered a 'VIP' and thus was taken to a large room with AC, clean bathroom, more than enough staff, high tech technology (no ink), etc. The process took all of us only minutes to complete. Anyway, back to the marriage proposition. I was the last person in my group to go. The fingerprinting police officer dude took my papers, we made some small talk ("Hi, how are you?" blah blah blah), and all seemed normal. Then he asked me if I was married. This is a rather frequent question here and thus I now do not think much of it. However, after I told him I was not married he told me (in a very low voice and so I could barely hear him) about his wish to move to America and how he believes he can only move to America if he marries an American girl. I wished him the best luck with that thinking he was just making more small talk (really, what do you say???). He then stopped taking my fingerprints for a hot second, looked at me and said, "What do you think?" I smiled and sort of laughed back and told him, "No, I do not think so." So he went back to taking my prints, but within 10 seconds he asked me if I had any friends in America (never the U.S. or United States, but America) that would marry him. And I gave him more sort of laughing 'dude, not gonna happen' answers (I did not want to be flat out mean to a government dude). Thoughout this experience, again all while he was taking my fingerprints, I thought he was sort of joking and/or having fun. But at the very end he took out a piece of paper and asked for my phone number! I told him I did not have a phone number (which is basically true right now). But this did not deter him. He figured he would just give me his number. I had to put a stop to the madness at this point and told I was not going to help him in his pursuit to marry an American girl (but good luck!). Thankfully, he obliged. The whole thing gave me a good laugh (along with the other EC newbies, all senior staff at Northwestern, in the van). I am getting used to the stares from people and have been told about the various propositions and such I will likely receive, but this was my first blatant one here and I frankly did not expect it to come from a government official. But it was quite the way to start a day!

Qatar Medical Commission

Yesterday was my day to venture to the Qatar Medical Commission to make sure I was not bringing any terrible diseases into the country. I heard it was quite the experience, but nothing can prepare you for the madness that is the Qatar Medical Commission. I would compare it to Ellis Island. The place is crazy packed and chaotic. Anyone who is trying to get a resident permit must go. Anyway, women and men are separated with the children staying with the women. Therefore, even though there were more men, the women's side was a lot louder. However, since we (there were about 5 of us who are new Education City employees) are all from the West, we get the process expedited. Room after room was full of women primarily from Asian countries. They were going to be there all day, we were going to be there a little over an hour. But then there was some thingy and the female workers decided to worker slower or something (a sort of boycott) because they were overwhelmed with all the people and thus we were brought to the men's side. So here I was getting my papers processed while hundreds of men who had been waiting all morning looked on. Then it was off to get my blood tested and have an X-ray taken. The blood test was simple, but the X-ray was very entertaining. The woman who was running the show was this woman who reminded me of a babushka. She would just yell at you, but you would have no idea what she was saying. She also liked to poke and grab. I about slapped her when she grabbed my necklace to tell me to take it off. I thought she was going to rip it off! Then she attempted to feel me up to see if I had a bra on with an underwire (the concept of personal space does not exist here)! But I quickly figured out what she was about to do and thus found myself yelling back "Lady, tank top! No touch, no touch, no touch!" (which was true, I was warned a head of time to wear a tank top under my shirt so I would not have to go topless or something) and she moved on to her next set of boobs. Then she would move you along by basically slapping your ass. So overall it was quite the experience and I am glad it is over. The whole thing was so bizarre and nothing like I have never seen before. Having a lot of privilege usually bugs me out a lot, but I was quite thankful during this experience that I did not have to spend more time at that place. What a zoo...or nightmare!

I wanna rug.

Still jet lagged. But I did get four hours of sleep last night compared to just two the previous few nights! Making progress! Holla! Anyway, enough about my lack of sleep. I went to a rug shop yesterday. It was a "You know you are in the Gulf when..." moments. I have only sort of tossed around the idea of buying a Persian rug or two while I am here, but now I am sold! They are beautiful! Some even change colors depending on what angle you look at the rug from. I was totally intrigued! I cannot afford the big guys (they are thousands on top of thousands of dollars), but perhaps a couple small ones to frame and put on a wall. Plus, I would be worried about maintaining them if I put them on the floor. I know me, I spill shit. Other than that, not much else going on. I have been to a shopping mall almost every day (and I hate shopping malls) to eat or buy things since I have been here (malls are big here). I still suck at Guitar Hero. If anything I am getting worse. And it all of a sudden got quite humid today. So instead of just being hot, it is hot and humid. Beautiful. Great for glasses... But luckily I do not spend much time outside (However, it makes me think about the people who have to work outside.). And I had the brilliant idea of starting a manual transmission driving school. There are a number of people with lambos and maseratis and ferraris around here, but almost all of them suck at driving them because they do not know how to drive stick (it is hard and amusing to watch at the same time). They tend to be alright once they get to third, but they are horrible with starting and stopping and such. However, my driving school probably would struggle because people around here tend to be sucky drivers anyway and would not want my assistance in being better drivers because (A) they think they are good drivers and B) I am a female). The end.

I am not sleeping and it is buggin' me out!

OK. This post is primarily a rant because I am in a bad mood at this current hour. In the last few days I have slept less than I normally do in one night and it is frustrating the shit out of me. I am normally an 8-9 hour sleeper. I love to sleep and deem it an essential part of my day. I have always made it a point to make sure I get adequate amount of sleep regardless of my schedule. But I basically have not slept since coming to Qatar. I get naps and that is it. I know I am tired because, damn it, I feel tired, but I do not sleep. I thought last night I would get my first full night of sleep. But hell to the no! So yesterday I went all day long on two hours of sleep. I woke up at around 2:00 a.m. and was up until midnight. Then I woke up again today at 2:30 a.m. and have not been able to go back to sleep since (so after being up for 22 hours, I slept only 2.5 hours...). And I should have been able to sleep this past evening because yesterday, my 22 hour long day, was a busy day! I went to a late breakfast with some work peeps, then we saw Get Smart (Save your money...sort of entertaining, but I feel a little dumber after watching it. Also, I have never seen so many previews in my entire life. And they cut out kissing scenes...but not the kissing scenes between dudes. Interesting...), and then we went swimming. So it was a day that you think would make a person sleepy, especially when they only got a couple hours of sleep the night before! But noooooo! I am at my ends with this shit. I have never had issues with jet lag in the past. In fact, I have always been able to get right on schedule (did not matter if it was a 3 hour, 5 or 6 hour, even 9 hour difference...). But now...problems galore! And it is not like I want to sleep at another time in the day! Even though I am tired, I cannot sleep. I am doomed. However, if this is the only problem I am having, I should not fret too much. Again, everything else is going well. I am meeting people and getting situated. I just want to sleep. That is what I want most right now. And my boxes.

They have chicken strips!

I finally fell asleep again around 8:30 a.m. this morning and slept until 12:30 p.m. to Chris (he is sort of my guide these first few days) calling to see if I wanted to eat (I actually think to make sure I was alive or something). We then head for the fine establishment of TGI Friday's. And guess what I had? CHICKEN STRIPS! Then we went shopping at Carrefour and I bought some food, hangers, plug adapters (but I got the wrong ones and now I need to return them...boo!), and a bathmat (I do not want to slip and die). Then I napped for a couple hours (one of these days I will be good). Finally, a few of us got together and played some Guitar Hero and ate sushi. I am utterly sucky at Guitar Hero. However, Wii bowling is another story. Anyway, I blame my damn messed up middle finger on my left hand (it does not bend all the way due to an accident as a kid) because I cannot get that yellow button very well! Anyway, that was my day. Good night! I am sleepy again.

I am here, people!

I made it to Qatar. I got here yesterday night (7/7/08). Now, I write this entry on my new laptop (it is one of those 'cute' little ones) eating M&Ms (si, they have them here and they taste just as good) in bed a little before 4 a.m. because I am wide awake due to some serious jet lag. The weather is hot, but surprising not as hot as I thought it would be (no humidity yet...that comes late summer/early fall).

My trip to Qatar started on Sunday morning in Sedro-Woolley. Emotionally, I was good until Sunday morning (except for the tears in Syracuse). However, all of a sudden it hit me (when my mom told me I should get something to eat of all things...) and I was basically a mess the rest of the morning. Then there were the goodbyes to my folks and brother at the airport. Too. Much. For. This. Girl. To. Take! I basically did not stop crying in some capacity until I fell asleep on my flight to Washington Dulles. I want this experience so much, but leaving my family sucks.

I only had two flights to travel literally to the other side of the world - Seattle to Washington Dulles on United Airlines and Washington Dulles to Doha on Qatar Airways. My United flight was a typically United flight - packed and late. They loaded us on time, but then we proceeded to sit on the plane for over an hour. First, a mechanic was summoned to fix a light in the galley and then we were supposedly delayed by heavy traffic heading into Washington Dulles. The flight after that was uneventful because, again, I slept most of it (I can sleep basically anywhere and at anytime...it is one of my special powers...except when I am jet lagged). But I realized right before landing (I was awake at this point) I might be cutting it close to catching my flight to Doha. I was originally supposed to have over two hours between flights. Now I would have less than an hour and my flight was in another part of the airport (and I would have to take one of those super goofy bus things to get to it). Luckily, I was one of the first people off my flight because they had folks with close connections depart the plane first. I busted my ass to the gate and made it just in time. Qatar Airways has mad security (you basically go through a couple checkpoints to get on) and thus it generally takes over an hour for a person to board the flight.

I must say flying on Qatar Airways is quite the experience. The plane was absolutely massive and amazing (it had mood lighting, people! QA puts American airlines to shame). And I definitely stuck out. There are not many young single white chicks with blonde hair flying to the Gulf. Most people on the flight were natives of a country in the region or they were dudes from the West, typically in packs, heading for business or something in the area. So I definitely appear out of place. Anyway, the flight to Doha was amazing - excellent food (and thankfully so since I was starving since United gives you nothing and I did not have time to buy food at the airport, specifically a yummy burger from Five Guys), comfy seats, good service (they have an army of flight attendants but sadly no Ji this time), etc. And I watched two excellent movies - There Will Be Blood and Before Sunset. Two very different movies. I have been longing to see There Will Be Blood since it came out months ago, but I never had the chance to catch it. Daniel Day Lewis kills it in this film (when does he not?). However, I think he should do a comedy one of these days to mix it up. So I highly recommend checking it out. Then I passed out for a good six hours. During breakfast over Turkey I decided to watch Before Sunset. It is the sequel to Before Sunrise, an indie movie made several years ago with Ethan Hawke and Julie Depsy. Before Sunrise is a great little romance movie that is basically all dialogue. Before Sunset was just as good, but the ending totally leaves you hanging (I wanna know what happens!). So that was my travels in sort of a nutshell.

The flight arrived in Doha just after sunset and it was 40 degrees celsius (or about 104 degrees fahrenheit), but it did not feel so bad (and I was wearing a little jacket and pants). I had Al Maha Service when I arrived (in other words, I was greated by a lady holding sign with my name (as usual the sign said Mr. Jade Anderson) to wisk me through immigration (you totally feel VIP because you are taken to this fancy lounge and given refreshments while they process your papers and then you cut lines at immigration and people stare at you...)). Then it was off to collect my bags and we waited and waited and waited...I was totally sweating it! I was worried my bags missed the flight because of the short connection, but at the very end they popped out and I did a happy dance (and the Al Maha lady had a good laugh). And then it was off to security to make sure I was not bringing anything prohibited into the country (basically, pork and alcohol and weapons). Finally, I was greeted by a very pregnant Belle and her husband Curt and was on my way to my new digs (However, they are temporary. I move into my permanent apartment in a few days when it is ready for me. I will then post some pics of my humble abode for your viewing pleasure.). Then I just unpacked, showered and crashed.

But jet lag is a beautiful thing and you promptly wake up at roughly 4 a.m. ready to go. Yesterday, I was up for about four hours reading, playing around on the internet, made myself a PB and mango jelly (not as good as raspberry) sandwich, and called home (good time to catch my folks)... I finally fell asleep again around 8 a.m. and was out until 11 a.m. Then I headed for the office (basically across the street...I love my commute) to do some HR stuff (I will have days of it) and say hello to everyone. After a couple hours I came home and napped for another three hours. Then I went to dinner with Chris, another hall director, at this yum Asian restaurant near the Burger King roundabout. And then I went to sleep again and now it is 4:45 a.m. and I am AWAKE. Ugh. However, tomorrow I do not have much on my calendar other than a trip to the store to buy a few things and do some more HR stuff and so I can sleep again until whenever I want. But all in all and after a super long and rather boring post, life is pretty good. Peace out!

4th of July

So yesterday was the 4th of July and the 4th in these parts mean the most amazing parade in the entire galaxy - Sedro-Woolley Loggerodeo Parade. The Rose Parade and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade have nothing on Woolley! Here are the highlights of this absolutely fabulous event:

My dad, the mayor. He rode with the Police Chief because he was afraid he would be booed and/or food would be thrown at him because of the whole recycling/trash project situation.

The parade was mostly composed of logging trucks, tow trucks, and other varieties of trucks.

And horses. Lots of horses.

And near us sat this little girl who would growl at and push other children when candy was thrown our direction. She reminded me of this kid.

And I leave tomorrow. TOMORROW!

Just a few days to go...

The big move is happening in a few days, people! Today is Wednesday. The big move happens on Sunday. I am by far more excited than I am worried or nervous (I would say 92% to 8%). I did have one panicky moment on Monday at 4AM (An 'oh man, I leave in less than a week' moment), but after a few minutes I calmed down and went back to sleep. I think I have everything covered, but you do not know what you do not know and thus I sort of feel like I am missing things...but I do not know what those things are. Anyway, I THINK I am basically good to go. I have a list of things I need to do (no need to elaborate because it is frankly boring), but things are getting done. The big things left on my list include getting a couple boxes shipped over to Qatar (I am waiting for the shipping folks) and police clearance business (STILL!). And of course packing. Otherwise, I am basically done. I sold (adios car!), donated or put in storage (woo hoo for parents who own a storage facility) the rest of my stuff. So that is that. After a couple of months, I am finally going. It feels rather unreal. But I am ready (especially after spending a month in Sedro-Woolley bored out of my mind), but will I ever be REALLY ready? Probably not. Come Saturday and Sunday I will surely be a mess. The end for now.