So I am now back in Scotland and my Abu Dhabi adventure has come to an end. I wanted to end this blog with a few Jerry Springer-style final thoughts and to reflect on the last two weeks. It has, on the whole, been a fascinating trip filled with many ups and downs, new experiences and I have finished it with a sense of real satisfaction.
Working with the team at IRENA, where I was placed for my 2 weeks, was an interesting experience. In my first week there I felt quite distant and separate from the people I was working with. They didn’t seam that interested in speaking with me or getting to know me and I certainly didn’t feel a part of the team. This was despite my best efforts to start conversations and spend time with the people that worked there. I found this personally very difficult, as something that I have always worked hard on is being a good team member and fostering a good team spirit in the places I work. I find this crucial to a happy working life. It had quite a profound effect on me in many ways and I felt quite down about being there at times. At first I wasn’t sure why it was that way, I wondered if it was because I was a consultant and not really part of the organisation and they knew I was only going to be there a short time. I also wondered if this was due to the many different cultures and backgrounds that were represented there, with Brits, Germans, French and Emirates all working in the office. However, ultimately, I think it was much more down to the fact that this is a very new organisation and my first week there was there first week in their new office. A lot of them had not spent much time working together and the place was clearly in a building stage. I think I just tend to take things personally and sometimes need to understand the bigger picture, but perhaps this is something that is hard to do when you are out of your comfort zone, as I was.
After the first week, the office began to have lunch together in the board room each day and this seemed to make a big difference in terms of people talking together, especially about non-work related matters, like food and politics, something that French, German and British people always have something to say on. The debate on whether Tony Blair should be the new EU President was a particularly good one. The lunches made such a difference (the power of food again!) and towards the end of the week I could feel that the atmosphere had changed across the office and not just towards me, but within the whole team. In fact, when it came to leave at the end of that second week I did feel a certain sense of disappointment that I wouldn’t be staying on, getting to know the team some more and watching it come together as a proper working unit (although not to the point where I want to up-sticks and head over there permanently).
Good teamwork is clearly crucial for a happy work environment, but I always knew that, and I although I always appreciated my FH Team in Edinburgh, I might just appreciate them a little bit more now.
During my time in Abu Dhabi I came across a lot of business people on trips, in the hotel business lounge, the work place, or in the airport. All of them seemed to be living a lifestyle that revolved around 1 week here, 2 days there, a weekend at home, and then off again. They had all perfected their travel packing with small, pull-along suitcases with the perfect amount of clothes and the right size liquids, and all had their laptop bags with easily removed computers and documents, so they were ready to work wherever they were. Many were not quite sure what time or even what day it was, due to lengthy travel, and many, if not all, had left behind families and loved ones. It was interesting to see in the business lounge the number of people that had hooked up web cams to their laptops and were speaking to people back home. I also noticed a lot of these people stayed late in the lounge drinking large classes of wine, that were clearly not their first. A lot of them were there on their own, but a few were there with work colleagues. It must be a fairly lonely way to work and live. I know this from my own experience, as although I spent time with people and some of my FH colleagues in the Middle East were great and around to talk to I did spend a lot of time on my own.
This laptop lifestyle isn’t for me, I know that. I don’t think I could have done too many more weeks in AD and I certainly wouldn’t have liked to arrive home Friday, only to be jetting off somewhere else on Sunday. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t go on a business trip again. I am certain I would, but maybe for slightly less time and not for a few weeks (at least!).
And finally, flying home was great. Club world was almost as good on the way back as it was on the way there. However, it was the flight from London to Scotland, which was the most satisfying. As we came over the border and flew over the Southern Uplands I looked out the window and watched Scotland stretch out below like a rugged green blanket, so very different to the deserts of the Middle East. The blanket was decorated with many hills of different sizes and shapes, some with forests, others dissected by rivers, and nearly all covered in sheep. It was early morning and low hanging mist and clouds clung to several of them, with their peaks poking through the top. The sky above the plane was a light blue and even though I was inside I could almost taste the fresh autumn air. It was an inspiring and invigorating site. I was so excited to be coming home.
I have lived in many places from Germany to Norway, Yorkshire to Northern Ireland, and of course here in Scotland. In fact this weekend marks the seventh anniversary of my move to Edinburgh. Looking out the window of the plane as we crossed that scenery and as landmarks such as the North Berwick law, Arthur’s Seat, the Castle and the Bridges came into view I genuinely felt I was returning home. Having lived and been in so many places I have always struggled to define anywhere as home, but Edinburgh I do. I may not be Scottish by birth and aside from a grandparent and great grandparent I have little by way of Scottish blood, but my heart belongs to Scotland, of that I am certain.
No comments:
Post a Comment