Life as an Expat – Reflections from an Overseas Assignment in the UAE
– By Tony Schmidt, exhibit designer
Tony Was Here
Prior to joining PGAV Destinations, my wife Nicole and I celebrated New Year’s Eve in 2007 on an exploratory trip to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. This trip was to determine our ability to move to the UAE where I was to continue a full-time assignment working on Ferrari World Abu Dhabi as a site coordinator/assistant art director. With a minimum two-year duration, this move would earn us the label of ‘Expat’ (expatriate) – a citizen from one country working and living full-time in another. We officially moved to Abu Dhabi in March of 2008 – just prior to the difficult global financial crisis where we witnessed firsthand an expat mass exodus from the region. Fortunately, our project proceeded which extended our stay throughout 2010 (nearly three years).
In spite of troubled economic times, we had the unique opportunity to witness the grand openings of many outstanding UAE projects: The Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque, Atlantis (Dubai on the Palm Jumeirah – the firework display was apparently viewable from outer space!), Dubai Mall, Yas Marina Circuit (F1 Circuit, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix), the Burj Khalifa (opened as the tallest sky scraper in the world), Dubai Marina Mall, the elevated Dubai Metro commuter train system (opened on September 9th, 2009 at 9:09 p.m. – e.g. of regional value placed on numerology), Jumeirah Golf Estates (DP World Tour Championship) and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi (opened as the largest indoor theme park in the world).
Initially, Abu Dhabi (unlike the more western influenced Dubai) was a bit of a culture shock. The beautiful and exotic overlapping sounds of the ‘Call to Prayer’ rang from a multitude of mosques as a persistent reminder that we were far from home. The air was fragrant with the smells of frankincense and other popular spices. Everywhere there was the seemingly graffiti-like Arabic script that blanketed almost every surface, accompanied by a range of rapidly spoken mid-eastern languages. We observed a sense of unity in the black burkas worn by women and the swish-swish sound of men in white dishdashas. Pakistani men represented a large portion of the labor sector wearing what appeared to us like pajamas (the shalwar kameez), albeit appropriate dress for the steamy desert climate. Driving throughout the UAE was an aggressive experience. Our eventual one-hour commute from Dubai to the job site meant traveling comfortably with the flow of traffic at 100 mph. If you were too slow on the roads you could expect flashing headlights, a possible tap on the rear bumper, and of course a blaring battery of horn honks. Tempers ran high in the UAE – perhaps in part as an outcome to just how incredibly hot this part of the world can get (up to 50 deg C/ 122 F). But residents of the UAE certainly enjoyed their leisure. It was common to see families on the weekends sitting in green spaces or at cafes swapping stories and smoking shisha (tobacco water pipe).
Our life in Dubai turned out to be quite different. Dubai seemed more like an adult playground for westerners. On the weekends the beaches and bars were flooded with expats blowing off steam after often grueling weeks on job sites. We witnessed extreme decadence in Dubai. The roads were a parade of super cars such as a chrome plated Mercedes McLaren roadster with gull wing doors.
The UAE is well situated for local travel. The occasional long weekend afforded us visits to some nearby incredible destinations. Our list included: Muscat (Oman), coastal beach camping in Fujeira (UAE), Petra and its ancient rose colored rock dwellings (Jordan), swimming in the Dead Sea (Jordan), gold leafed Bangkok, Paris (the quiche!), Sri Lanka (rain forests, Buddha statues and pagodas), Barcelona (the interior of La Sagrada Familia had recently opened), the Greek Islands, Istanbul (Haggia Sofia), Amsterdam, and Munich.
As a designer, the exposure was tremendous. I relished in a plethora of unprecedented marvels of engineering in architecture and many examples of some of the of the most cutting edge emerging technologies. The region was a melting pot of cultures (and their physical representation) offering for me a wider range of vantage points to approach engaging and aesthetic design concepts. In general, the entirety of the experience significantly stretched my view of the world while also deepening my pride to be a citizen of the United States of America.
