I arrived to Dubai in the early hours of July 14th, 2012. First thing to keep in mind: Dubai airport can be a real busy airport, particulaly in the early hours of the day with all those flights from the east. So, the immigration can take a long time. It is a wise idea to arrange the "marhaba" service that meets you right at the gate and take you through a real fast access. Saves a lot of time and effort.
I then took a cab to the apartment houses I was rented. Taxis are working fine and it is all very safe. One thing real good about Dubai or all UAE is that it is a real safe country by all means. I went directly to the apartment houses, which is called as Arjaan Rotana. A sort of hotel and apartment mixed. They gave me a one bedroom house-like place with all the amenities, including the internet. All worked fine, checked in ok, went straight to my "house-for-a-while". I unpacked the two heavy luggages. After a nice sleep, I woke up but my friend, with whom I was supposed meet had an urgency and couldn't come. So, I took a cab and went to the Emirates Mall, which is one of the biggest malls of the city. I spent some time in a movie and strolled around. I then called another ex-colleague and met with him for a dinner. After the dinner I made some shopping and went to my hotel or house.
The next day was the 1st day in my new office. Woke up fresh, had my shower, dressed up with my suite and ready to show up as a brand new employee. The company I was going to work is going through some real big and fast growth and thus had some space problem in the office. Despite this, they gave me a good welcome. A lady from the HR has helped me to sit in a meeting room, the IT already prepared my notebook and my mobile phone. Well, the first shock came right then: the phone they use in the company, as a standard is Blackberry, which I never used. I was a heavy iPhone fan and for a iPhone user, the Blackberry was a whole new and painful experience. The notebook was with Windows 7, which I wasn't familiar either. All new set of experiences were ready to give me all the hassles of the day :) I was in a whole new set of views that I had to go through. Not even the internet browser was familiar to me. The notebook which I am writing now (thanks God I am more familiar by now) was a brand new IBM with that funny mouse stub in the middle of the keyboard. Another new hassle as I was used to real external mouse. I was trying to do some stuff but the keyboard mouse was a real pain in my neck.
Then I met my host buddy, an American who arrived just about 1,5 months before. So, he himself was a new person as well. He was a charming fellow, probably around my age, gave me a real good treatment. To cut the long story in short, I was and still am in a city as a stranger to go through all the stages to handle:
residence visa
national ID card
drivers licence
find a house
get a car
and....learn to survive in a completely different German company.
what a mess of new experience......I took a looooooong breath and said to myself "Cenk, all these are temporary......for a while.....everyone has gone through and you shall as well......no judgement, no bad feelings......just go through and live it.....like everyone else, and you'll be over just like everyone else." I gave a strict and firm decision NOT to judge anything. At least, I am in a city with quite modern infrastructure, with thousands of people, who are also strangers themselves. One nice thing about Dubai is that this is a city where everyone is a sort of expatriate. And, the best part is that they all speak English. So, one huge barrier of language is out. Even the doormen in the hotel, taxi drivers, everyone speaks English.
It is hugely hot here.....today it was about 49 degrees celcius in noon time. It feels like thousands of hair dryers all around you.
I will have to travel to Walldorf, Germany to meet with my boss tomorrow. So, in order to do this, I had to get my residence permit done pretty quickly. They sent me to the medical check, which is a compulsary step to get a visa done. Each company has a local person, whom they call as PRO (Public Relations Officer) who acts like a sponsor to the company. That person handles all the paper work and the bureacracy. Thanks God, the process works like a clock. The goverment offices are tidy and systematic. I went to the medical check, and then applied to the National ID card process. The process worked fine and they got my visa or residence permit in two days. Now I can travel tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I even opened a bank account....which is an important step for financials. In Dubai, like everywhere else, things depend on your residence permit and your bank account establishment. Everthing else comes second. Now I have to find a house, get my drivers licence translated to the local and get a car. I intend to rent a car for a while untl I get used to. Meanhile, I commute with taxis. Some of my old friends gave me a real good treatment, showed me around, took me to their places to see me thru their houses. Still has plenty to go, but, I'll take it as easy as possible. Meanwhile I have to also settle down into the office and get used to the real busy and large company. As I said, no judgement until I finish my first year.
I then took a cab to the apartment houses I was rented. Taxis are working fine and it is all very safe. One thing real good about Dubai or all UAE is that it is a real safe country by all means. I went directly to the apartment houses, which is called as Arjaan Rotana. A sort of hotel and apartment mixed. They gave me a one bedroom house-like place with all the amenities, including the internet. All worked fine, checked in ok, went straight to my "house-for-a-while". I unpacked the two heavy luggages. After a nice sleep, I woke up but my friend, with whom I was supposed meet had an urgency and couldn't come. So, I took a cab and went to the Emirates Mall, which is one of the biggest malls of the city. I spent some time in a movie and strolled around. I then called another ex-colleague and met with him for a dinner. After the dinner I made some shopping and went to my hotel or house.
The next day was the 1st day in my new office. Woke up fresh, had my shower, dressed up with my suite and ready to show up as a brand new employee. The company I was going to work is going through some real big and fast growth and thus had some space problem in the office. Despite this, they gave me a good welcome. A lady from the HR has helped me to sit in a meeting room, the IT already prepared my notebook and my mobile phone. Well, the first shock came right then: the phone they use in the company, as a standard is Blackberry, which I never used. I was a heavy iPhone fan and for a iPhone user, the Blackberry was a whole new and painful experience. The notebook was with Windows 7, which I wasn't familiar either. All new set of experiences were ready to give me all the hassles of the day :) I was in a whole new set of views that I had to go through. Not even the internet browser was familiar to me. The notebook which I am writing now (thanks God I am more familiar by now) was a brand new IBM with that funny mouse stub in the middle of the keyboard. Another new hassle as I was used to real external mouse. I was trying to do some stuff but the keyboard mouse was a real pain in my neck.
Then I met my host buddy, an American who arrived just about 1,5 months before. So, he himself was a new person as well. He was a charming fellow, probably around my age, gave me a real good treatment. To cut the long story in short, I was and still am in a city as a stranger to go through all the stages to handle:
residence visa
national ID card
drivers licence
find a house
get a car
and....learn to survive in a completely different German company.
what a mess of new experience......I took a looooooong breath and said to myself "Cenk, all these are temporary......for a while.....everyone has gone through and you shall as well......no judgement, no bad feelings......just go through and live it.....like everyone else, and you'll be over just like everyone else." I gave a strict and firm decision NOT to judge anything. At least, I am in a city with quite modern infrastructure, with thousands of people, who are also strangers themselves. One nice thing about Dubai is that this is a city where everyone is a sort of expatriate. And, the best part is that they all speak English. So, one huge barrier of language is out. Even the doormen in the hotel, taxi drivers, everyone speaks English.
It is hugely hot here.....today it was about 49 degrees celcius in noon time. It feels like thousands of hair dryers all around you.
I will have to travel to Walldorf, Germany to meet with my boss tomorrow. So, in order to do this, I had to get my residence permit done pretty quickly. They sent me to the medical check, which is a compulsary step to get a visa done. Each company has a local person, whom they call as PRO (Public Relations Officer) who acts like a sponsor to the company. That person handles all the paper work and the bureacracy. Thanks God, the process works like a clock. The goverment offices are tidy and systematic. I went to the medical check, and then applied to the National ID card process. The process worked fine and they got my visa or residence permit in two days. Now I can travel tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I even opened a bank account....which is an important step for financials. In Dubai, like everywhere else, things depend on your residence permit and your bank account establishment. Everthing else comes second. Now I have to find a house, get my drivers licence translated to the local and get a car. I intend to rent a car for a while untl I get used to. Meanhile, I commute with taxis. Some of my old friends gave me a real good treatment, showed me around, took me to their places to see me thru their houses. Still has plenty to go, but, I'll take it as easy as possible. Meanwhile I have to also settle down into the office and get used to the real busy and large company. As I said, no judgement until I finish my first year.
