Mosque Visit

Saturday - yes it is still my day off but we have a mandatory mosque visit we must attend to learn more about the muslim religion and ask any questions we might have.
No we didn't have to dress up in the outfits, but we did have to have pants on (not shorts, not capris, pants, regular pants) and a long sleeve shirt. We could bring our own scarf to cover our head otherwise they provide one. I brought my own.

It was a very weirdly interesting visit learning about religion. So many rules in this country revolve around the religion. It explained a lot about why things are the way they are. No pork or pork flavoured items at the grocery store, why some women are more covered up than others, the alcohol license and the prayer speeches that can be heard creepily making their way outside speakers of mosques.
I didn't update you from what I did yesterday because I didn't do anything. I slept like the dead and lounged on the couch for the rest of the day.
I promise my life will get more interesting and you'll want to read more about it! Haha!
Leanna xo

Government Medical

Today was not better. Today was even worse.
My life has become one hilarious horrible event after the next!
I did get on the right bus this morning at 6:30AM.
First we had this great Fire Safety Talk with a very humorous German fire marshal who informed us of all the things in our apartment that can blow up, catch on fire or malfunction and also start a fire. Buy adapters, but not the cheap ones. Don't cook, eat out (we are safer that way he informed us) don't smoke, don't leave the lights on, don't light candles...you get the idea. He had pie charts and graphs proving all the points lead to cabin crew destroying apartment buildings because we try and cook, light candles, leave lights on and smoke all at the same time while our laundry machine is shorting out as well. He was incredible! I could have listened to him talk all day! I'm pretty sure I was the only one in the auditorium laughing myself silly, I couldn't stop laughing at his jokes. Maybe it's a language barrier because I was laughing and crying by the end of his speech and everyone was glaring at me.
They were all about to cry and certainly not from laughing.
NEEDLE TIME PEOPLE.
As if we hadn't been poked and prodded enough back at home with our own countries medical exams now it was Dubai's turn!
Three blood tests, one after the other.
I've never seen bruises on the inside of my arms this big, it was gross. I didn't take photos, so don't ask. That doesn't need to be seen. Heck I shouldn't even be talking about it on here.
I just wanted you to feel a little bit of the pain I had to go through on my second day with the company.

Lunch was smooshed somewhere between all the blood gathering and people fainting and crying. I was surprised that I wasn't the only one who brings my lunch all packed up in tupperware cases. It was nice to see! These people are crazy about coffee though, so it saves me some time and money that I'm not into coffee.
Their weeks here are from Sunday - Thursday so tomorrow we get two days off!
Welcome Weekend, I've been waiting for you.
Leanna xo

Induction Day 1

I set my mobile phone alarm to 4:45AM. I had to have a quick morning shower when I woke up and make sure I have everything in my bag ready to go. I had packed my lunch the night before so that was set to go and I had a croissant and strawberry yogurt for breakfast then stuffed all my documents into my big red bag, locked the doors, switched off the lights, took the elevator downstairs and then proceeded to get on the wrong bus.
I did it on purpose...right.
Hopped into a taxi and took the five min ride between the training college (where I wasn't supposed to be) to Emirates Head Quarters (where I was supposed to be) and made more wrong turns after that, up the wrong escalator, into the wrong room. My morning was severely brutal.
I didn't have a name tag because they hadn't updated their systems so from the get go I should have known the rest of my Induction Day wasn't going to go smoothly.
All 66 of us entered a giant auditorium and were asked to sit with our batch mates. I wasn't given a new batch number so therefore I didn't have any batch mates. So I sat alone.
Pretty much the rest of the day went accordingly worse.
My name wasn't on any of the lists, it's like I didn't exist all day long to them.
More good news, when handing in all of our original documents I discovered that suddenly this new checklist we were just given indicted that I was supposed to have my chest x-ray with me along with 4 bite wing x-rays from the dentist and my latest eye exam results. None of which I had brought with me because they weren't on my original checklist.
The end of the day couldn't come soon enough.
The only happy point was getting our red polo shirts.
Please let tomorrow be better.
Leanna xo

Chore Day!

Today is the day before the big Induction Day! So naturally I am doing laundry, grocery shopping, ironing and cleaning up!
Here are some photos to keep you occupied for now!

Unpacking the vacuum seal packs of clothes!

I did not do this. I just took a photo of it. I promise. 

 Washing up sink and a great view out the window in the daytime of course!

 Ancient Stove (the knobs come off!) and fridge.

 Laundry Machine (I call it that because it washes and dries, so weird)

 Living Room, the lighting is a little weird because this was taken at night.

 Dining Room, a little messy with the moving in and moving out and some clothes drying.

 Giant storage closets on the left and straight ahead is the guest bathroom.

On the right side of the picture along the wall is all storage space with loads of shelving and the door straight ahead is Ashley's master bedroom and the one on the left is mine!

Talk more after my first induction day!
Leanna xo

The Great IKEA Shopping Day 2012 Edition

I've been busy nesting my new home! Oh, Ikea, you were good to me today!
I filled an entire shopping cart. I've never filled a shopping cart full before! It was a weird, scary feeling. I can't wait for my new roommate to show up so we can start doing nesting and decorating together of the common areas! I will let the photos speak for themselves for now! I am still on the hunt for a new blowdryer, duvet cover and some pretty fancy sheets.

 My temporary "office" in the closet because that's where the wifi I steal is located.

Leanna xo
P.S They don't have bathroom fans in my building and possibly in the whole of Dubai. So you have to leave the bathroom door open and the AC cranked to clear out the shower humidity. Interesting! I'm thankful my bathroom is ensuite so this works!

First Day in Dubai

Shower worked fine after I flipped the switch, and the building has 28 floors (promised I would check and let you know!) and one pool is on the 25th floor and the other is on the 27th floor both rooftop outdoor pools that sparkle and ooze gorgeousness! The views aren't terrible either (ha!)
First shopping date in Dubai with Ashley, we hit up the Mall of Emirates (separate from the Mall of Dubai) with the fancy and strange Ski Dubai inside the mall. They even have snowmen and tobogganing inside as well! And a skating rink!
The mall has so many shops that are familiar from back home, Starbucks, Quicksilver, Oakley, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and Bed and Bath for their yummy hand soap! Walking around the mall, seeing the same shops and talking with another Canadian felt like I was back home all afternoon.
Made a stop at the Hypermarket Carrefore (GIANT, the Carrefore by my place is just a Carrefore Express so it just has food and a couple of appliances) and walked up and down the aisles looking for the items on my list I had written down that morning.
Even though I had a list I started to feel so overwhelmed with all the decisions on what to buy in the moment that all I ended up buying was four packs of hangers and two Lion Bars and we went home.
We had dinner at the mall at a place called "Chop Chop" we both ordered the Sweet Chili Chicken with rice and vegetables. I discovered awfully quickly that our Sweet Chili and there's is something completely different. It's crazy burning hot spicy. I ate about two pieces of chicken before wolfing down all of the rice and my entire bottle of water to get rid of the spice!
The waiter noticed my odd behaviour and came over to find out what
Tomorrow is IKEA day where I can hopefully feel more decisive!
Leanna xo

Home Sweet Home!

I checked out at 2PM from the Sandman Hotel in Toronto near the airport and I was happy to sit around for three full hours before the check in desk opened. I didn't want to take any chances again. Check in went smoothly as I had the same gentleman who helped me contact head office in Dubai and also helped book me the pretty hotel suite I stayed at the last two evenings so of course he sent my bags through (overweight and all!) and didn't charge me a dime. He even scolded me for buying the online coupon for my third overweight bag and said I should try and get a refund on it. Since I had been at the airport for almost five hours by now I missed lunch and it was nearly pas dinner time as well so the second I got through security I hurried around reading menus of airport restaurants until one struck my fancy. A simple yet quiet bar and grill. People still haven't stopped giving me a funny look when they has how many to seat and I say one. As soon as my chicken fingers, fries and coleslaw were licked clean off the plate I headed to a dead area of the terminal to Skype mum and dad one last time before I arrived in Dubai. We chatted for about an hour and it was still hard to say goodbye even though I've been away for almost three days now and in Toronto at that! When I packed up my things and headed to my gate for boarding there she was. The first A380-800 I've ever seen and she was soon to be mine! It was like a Costco plane, everything about it was massive.

This is Ali, he helped call Head Quarters in Dubai after I missed my flight and booked me that lovely Presidential Suite in Toronto!

Airbus A380-800

As I was standing at the window admiring the plane and snapping a quick photo to show everyone my maiden voyage a guy who was sitting near the windows walked over and asked if this was my first time to Dubai. I was polite and chatted with him (even though I wanted to be alone) and I find out he's the buyer for my favourite store (FOREVER 21) how incredible! His head office is in Sri Lanka, Colombo and he was in Toronto to start the formalities to open an office in Canada. He explained all about it when he saw my eyes go all big when he started mentioning all my favourite shopping spots!
We exchanged emails and he said to keep in tough as he wanted me to come see his office someday in Sri Lanka (which we fly to!) he also gave me the email address of the top Senior Purser for Emirates (his best friends wife!) and said he would contact her and let her know that I was here and to take good care of me and give me lots of helpful tips. Then I was glad I didn't ignore him. HAHA

I'm sad to say the flight to Dubai was nothing to write home about, nor does it receive any rave reviews. Perhaps I am so used to flying nothing surprises me anymore? I was disappointed, I don't know quite what I expected but I know I didn't receive it. Their new entertainment system was quite snazzy however. So many movies you can barely decide which to watch first! "The Artist, Extremely Loud Incredibly Close, Ratatouille, MI4 Ghost Protocol, Documentaries about Dubai and We Bought a Zoo plus a million more that I don't remember!" I watched bits and pieces of other movies when I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I kept the menu from the flight also.

Three hours before landing I was already counting the minuets down before I could get to my apartment (the last hurdle in my mind to being happy here) and then hopefully sharing the good news with mum and dad. The plane had three outdoor cameras in different places on it so you could watch outside views of what was going on. So as we were landing I selected one of the views and saw nothing but sand for thirty mins before just like that a city appeared out of nowhere, no warning, it just appeared! Almost like a magic trick because it didn't start small either. Giant sky scrappers clustered together and high-rise after high-rise zoomed beneath the plane. The airport is something I am looking forward to exploring one day as well. It has some gorgeous architecture with the lines they created and the different texture of materials they used. As I walked through the airport towards arrivals sure enough just as they said my name was on a huge screen coming into the arrivals area and a lady in a navy blue blazer met me there to take me through the immigration and visa process. It took less than 30 mins (mostly because she pushed us through the line up of people, I tried not to look any of them in the eye) and it was the first time I saw their outfits up close. The immigration officer I received has to be the scariest person currently living and in equal comparison to my visa officer whom looked me in the eyes three times before stamping my passport for entry into the country and as we continued on he smiled at me and was the very first person to say "Welcome to Dubai!" (Sigh of relief with me everyone!) and when we arrived at my bags they were already spinning around the carousel waiting for me! I am pleased to say I love my new home on the lone reason that they had free extra large trolleys for my luggage (Thanks for nothing Canada!)

Don't be fooled. The trolley makes my luggage look tiny but it was hella heavy!

It was a short drive (maybe 20 mins) from the airport to my apartment. There's a Carrefore in the basement of the building (it's their Walmart/Superstore basically) and a pretty French cafe and Subway right across the parking lot. You can't see much around us because the buildings are so tall! When I stepped out of the brand new Range Rover that was my chauffeur ride from the airport I felt the heat for the first time. (Mike requested this part especially!) In short, it was suffocating. It wasn't the beating down heat from the sun or like anything I had felt before, it was all around and it was heavy hot air. I confirmed with three people at the airport that their heat here is dry desert heat not humid. I'm pretty sure I was lied to three times.

I was dropped off on the garage level of the apartment building so I could gather my keys from the (9) security guards they have on staff 24/7 in my building and was greeted with large smiles and how was your flight Miss Achen? It felt a little like checking into a fancy hotel because the lobby was impeccable! Marble tiles, granite, stone here stone there surrounded everything! There are four elevators in the building and 28 floors including a 13th floor (creepy!) and in my excited haste I went to the wrong door at the beginning. Oops! So I pushed my luggage back towards the elevators and this time read the signs that blared out at me to go the opposite way I had come. When I tried both keys, nothing happened. I was hot, tired and nervous this was the last thing I needed! I felt like a kindergartener that couldn't open a door! I left my luggage by the door this time knowing I was correct and made my way back downstairs to give them a little grief. Next thing I know I've got two guards fumbling over me to get the correct key and apologize. They ran back upstairs with me and tried the keys themselves only to discover that I was correct and they didn't work. As one of the guards was trying the keys for a second time "just to be sure" the door swings open and there's my roommate. A pretty tall blonde girl who smiles and waves at me immediately and says Welcome Leanna!! (Did they hand out an announcement I was arriving that they all knew my name?) I wanted to push everyone and my bags out of the way and give her a big hug, she wasn't weird or messy or from somewhere I didn't understand, she's from vancouver but I kept my hands to myself and decided to hug her later. The guards returned back downstairs to check their cabinet of keys and arrived back shortly to try the keys again and handed them over when they finally worked. Meanwhile after our introductions "Ashley" started helping me into the room with my bags and launched into a speech about how she just resigned and is leaving on July 10th and how sorry she is that the apartment is a bit of a mess since she is packing all her belongings up. I couldn't believe it, I get someone I like right off the bat and they are leaving. Bright Side - She wants to help me get her big master bedroom as a parting gift! My room right now is lovely however, ensuite bathroom, big closet (for my 6 hangers, haha!) a pretty vanity with matching chair and headboard, it's cute! I will hold off doing too much decorating in case I move into her room in two weeks (fingers crossed!) Our kitchen is a big U shape and has a big bright window above the sink. The living room has two couches and a console for the tv and a big nook for the dining table and 6 parson chairs that match our bedroom sets. The balcony can only fit a tiny set of table and chairs for two but it's overlooks some nice green space and a million palm trees! The master bedroom also has about the same size personal balcony! There are two pools in our building and two work out rooms that Ashley is taking me around to see tomorrow as well as a little girly shopping for whatever I need/want and will show me how to get there.

Welcome Pack - Mostly kitchen stuff! 

I tried to have a shower last night before bed but freezing cold water kept coming out. A quick inspection of the room led me to a light switch looking mechanism that says "Water Heater 20V" which I prayed was the solution. Apparently it takes longer than 20 mins to heat water and that's about as long as I am wiling to wait so I gave up on the shower and washed my face in the freezing cold water instead and fell asleep fast. Please let the water be hot tomorrow morning!!

I woke up at 7AM after going to bed at midnight and I couldn't go back to sleep. I am excited to see the city today, and I was also pretty hungry. I unpacked a few things from my Welcome Pack last night but it's mostly full of kitchen things (Pots, pans and utensils) and they also gave us a welcome pack of snacks and water which I am happily munching away at now as my early breakfast (I promise I will eat better tomorrow after I visit the grocery store today!) FYI Their Cheeze Whiz comes in a tuna can and I live a couple blocks away from a Camel Race Track. When I couldn't sleep after waking up at 7AM I started making a list of everything I needed in my room (More hangers, more towels, a clothes hamper and at least 20 more items) i won't of overboard, I won't go overboard, I won't go overboard!

Enjoy the photos for now, I'm going to try the shower out again and get ready for my shopping date!
Leanna xo

What?!

Today started off swell, my dad made "good time" to Calgary for my departure flight. Had an early lunch with my Auntie and Uncle there and said more sad goodbyes then the crap hit the fan. Literally. Well not literally but pretty close.
I was originally supposed to be on a 2:00PM flight to Toronto. It got cancelled. Then I was placed on a 3:00PM flight. It got cancelled. When I arrived to check in at the airport I found out I was now on a 4:00PM which simply would not do as it would get me in at the exact same time my Emirates connection flight to Dubai would be departing. So quick thinking and some swift movements took us to the WestJet desk to book a 2:25PM flight they had to Toronto which would get me into Toronto at 8:00PM exactly 1 hour and 40 mins before my Emirates flight departed (impossible because they begin boarding the flight THREE hours before departure). I would have to do some serious running and begging all at once.

I arrived off my flight into Terminal 3 in Toronto and had to collect my luggage and switch to Terminal 1 to check in for the Emirates flight. I have 3 oversize and overweight bags along with 2 overweight carry ons (shhh!) that no matter how you organize all the bags onto the hand basket sized cart you pay $2 for it isn't happening. Not today.
Nicole - All I could think to do was laugh at how ridiculous I must have looked (I told you I wasn't going to have any stupid stories to tell you and here I am!)
Long story short. I missed my flight. The second one in my whole life and this time it wasn't my fault. I still felt extremely foolish seeing as how this was going to be my job - being on time for flights - and on my airline no less. Awesome!
I am now in Toronto for two days until Wednesday evening when the Airbus returns to Toronto. I've been on 5 phone calls to Dubai now this evening and 9 emails later everything has been worked out. I am staying at a swanky hotel near the airport in a presidential suite!
I plan to kick back and relax until the craziness starts up again.
My induction has also been postponed because I was supposed to be at it tomorrow after I landed in Dubai - but that clearly isn't possible. My induction now starts on June 27th so I have a whole different batch and batch mates. Should be interesting!
My accommodation stays the same so no worries on that front.
It's 3AM here in Toronto and time for bed. Serious sleeping in tomorrow! What an insane and unreal first experience on my adventure. I never could have dreamed up what is happening now!
Please cross your fingers that the next try at it is smooth sailing!
Chat more tomorrow!
Leanna xox
P.S I returned two trollies and recouped 50 cents! That should make my parents proud!