Newbies in Qatar

At the moment we are meeting new staff as they arrive in Doha. Teachers start in schools next week so our teams have a full week of PD to run and students start the next week. We have 11 new schools to support and this is there first year of operation as Independent Schools. We work on the theory no choas on day one!

As new staff arrive we meet them at the airport and take them to their apartments. After time to shower and refresh we take them out for a drive

to look around and try to get their bearings. This also keeps them awake after the long flight from NZ. We always go along the Corniche (1st picture) as this shows them the green part of Qatar! I remember our friend Mike Baines saying when he visited that the country is so brown and so flat and he's right.

Then we go up north to the Doha Golf Club ( more green, second photo.) Next we cirlcle back past the Diplomatic Club and show them that. Most of us a members there . A stop for lunch somewhere follows and some grocery shopping is usually enough for the first day.

So as you can see Steve and I have variety in our work its not just education consultancy and administration it is also tourism, HR, mum and dad, driver etc etc.

Back In Qatar

Hi my web-footed New Zealand friends. I am having my first go at doing a blog - I might never be able to find it again but hey its all new learning.

So while you guys have been having cold, rain, floods and land slides we have been having heat! The temperature reads 36 C, humidity 63% feels like 48, and it does! The dust storms that we had during June and some of July have finished and the days are hot and some very humid. You know how humid when you get out of the car and you glasses fog up. when driving at night you get condensation on the outside of the car window!

It is amazing that we have ( with a six month gap in the last part of 2006) completed two years in Qatar. The place feels like home when you get off the plane and see all the familiar sights.