Its coming up to the one-month “anniversary” of my time in Oman and I realise that my communication with the outside world, and particularly my dear family and friends in Australia, has been pretty crap. So I want to try and make amends with this long blog post, and try and change my ways now that I’m a little more settled in.

I like to do things properly when I do them, and I think that’s why I have trouble communicating on a blog or through email updates, because I know once I start that I will end up writing a huge email so I can include everything, so I shy away from it and shelve it until I “have more time”. Which, of course, never comes because I never have more time. I always have the same amount of time.

So here’s a quick run-through of July 1 to 31:

1. Wed - Caught up with friends and said my goodbyes.
2. Thu - More coffees and goodbyes. Bought random stuff for my trip.
3. Fri - Madly bought the last things for my trip, went to airport and said goodbye to my loved ones. Flew off at 10:15pm for Muscat.
4. Sat - Arrived in Abu Dhabi airport at about 4am, used free internet. Flew into Muscat and was picked up at the airport by David and Gail.
5. Sun - Wrote sessions and prepared for the 3rd AIESEC Oman National Conference.
6. Mon - Exciting External Day: Youth Engagement in Oman 2020.
7. Tue - 3rd AIESEC Oman Summer National Conference.
8. Wed - Summer NatCo Day 2.
9. Thu - Tourismic day. Visited the Grand Mosque, the Souk, the Palace.
10. Fri - Visited the beach and went shopping.
11. Sat - First day of MC transition.
12. Sun - Lunch at the Golden Spoon with some members.
13. Mon - Met with Knowledge Horizon.
14. Tue - Transitioning with Carlos.
15. Wed - Dinner at Kargeen’s with Sheesha.
16. Thu - Visited the close shopping centre with Toys’R Us.
17. Fri - Relaxing weekend day.
18. Sat - Met with Ministry of Higher Education. Lunch at the nice Lebanese place.
19. Sun - Met with Tawasul. Online chat with CEEDer, Aziz, from Tunisia. Had dinner with Julia from Adelaide.
20. Mon - Ascension Day. More transition and celebration of Matt’s birthday.
21. Tue - Met with HSBC. Caught up with Mahmoud. Anjali’s arrival. Goodbye to Jojo.
22. Wed - Met with British Council, Ernst & Young, Apex Publications, and Zeenah TBWA marketing. Online chat with Mohammed Ali, MENA VP ER from Tunisia.
23. Thu - Renaissance Day.
24. Fri - Off to Wadi Shab at 4am. Walked all day. Night at the Souk.
25. Sat - Sick. Exhaustion and food poisoning.
26. Sun - Met with OPAL.
27. Mon - Met with Vision HRD, then Amideast.
28. Tue - Met with MB Holding.
29. Wed - Met with Bank Muscat in CBD, then had Costas Coffee. Met with MEPI at the US Embassy. Farewell evening for outgoing MC.
30. Thu - Website task-force meeting. BD meeting with Sheetal at Barista.
31. Fri - Dinner at the local Turkish place where they know our orders.

]]> http://avecmatilda.com/?feed=rss2&p=34 http://avecmatilda.com/?p=19 http://avecmatilda.com/?p=19#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:29:11 +0000 Tristan http://avecmatilda.com/?p=19 The first time I remember hearing about Etihad was when the Teltra Dome was renamed Etihad stadium in Melbourne. I guess their branding campaign worked and the millions of dollars they spent in getting the rights was a successful move. I had high expectations of Etihad because of the flow over effect of the reputation and brand of Emirites. I wasn’t disappointed and for a $2000 flight to Oman,  it was excellent value. The food was acceptable and edible, the attendents were satisfactory and polite, and the tv screens were the biggest I’ve ever had for a flight. Comparatively, I’ve flown with Qantas on a long flight before even without individual tv screens, so it was excellent. I will definitely fly with Etihad again when I have the chance. In addition, Etihad allowed me to change the flight twice, and even gave me 50% off the cost of the change after my personal circumstances forced me to change my flight. ye

In conclusion:

• Etihad good - like a more affordable Emirites.
• Great customer service, flexible and understanding of changed personal circumstances.

The exam period went well and I got my Middle East History essay (on the Shi’a in Iraq) in on time, then prepared well for both my Commerce Exams. However, unfortunately I just didn’t have enough time to catch up Arabic and the exam was a little crappy. I am hoping my effort will be enouh to get through, but I won’t sleep well until the results are released.

It was chaotic in the last hours before I left Melbourne for Muscat. I would probably still be packing if it wasn’t for my family and friend’s help. I thought I was reasonably on track but in the last hour before leaving I realised there was still loads that I needed to find and sort out. At the end I was just shoving stuff into my bags and praying it would weigh the right amount. We raced to the airport and everything worked out fine.

Leaving for 12 months is so hard, mainly because of the goodbyes and the knowledge you won’t breath the same air as your friends or family for so long. Luckily I’m coming home for chirstmas which makes it a little easier to handle. But the goodbye was still really hard. I’m happy that I can just shut it out and watch movies because if I really think about it, it makes me really sad. How do you deal with goodbyes? Short and sharp, don’t look back, or long and drawn out?