Liz's European Adventures: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Through ASB, I joined my classmates (Business Performance Management) and signed up for a study trip to Dubai and Muscat, Oman. A study trip is something that is very common in Denmark – trips like these are organized as early as high school. It is basically to learn about other cultures and different parts of the world, to have fun, and in our case, to visit Danish companies in the Middle East and listen to company presentations about business cultures in the Middle East. We listen to how business is different than in Denmark, and how as a company, they survive in a different culture.

The trip was relatively inexpensive, considering we were gone for 12 days. Much of the food and cabs were pretty inexpensive, especially compared to Danish standards. The two days of travel were around 24 hours, which was a long, long time - all in all, this was the longest trip I have ever been on. Being gone somewhere for 12 days was a really long time to be away from home, especially with a bunch of people who you don’t know that well. I was picked up at my apartment in Aarhus at 330am to begin the day of travel. We took the train to Copenhagen, then flew out of Copenhagen, through Istanbul, Turkey, and then on to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for the first 5 days.

Dubai is a very cool, very modern city. Everything is bigger and better, the best in the world. That seems to be what they are aiming for. While very new and unique, many of the buildings (skyscrapers, hotels, etc) reminded me heavily of America – think Manhattan, the former twin towers, Las Vegas and the elaborate hotels, and on and on. That is probably one of the things about Dubai that I am torn about. The boom in construction obviously just began in recent years, so everything is very new and modern. We stayed in Deira, which is more of what you would think the Middle East and Dubai would be like. So while I saw Muslims in traditional dress, woman fully covered from head to toe with only a slit for their eyes (which is intimidating for some reason to me – just fear of the unknown and unfamiliar I guess), I at the same time felt as though I was in America.

And expanding on that - I was the only international student in the group of 15 – 1 American and 14 Danes. At times, the language barrier was a little overwhelming. There are only so many times where you want to remind people to change who they are and their language to speak to you in English. It was frustrating at times because I felt alone, like I was in my own bubble. I am normally a leader, but had to be a follower. There were a lot of type-A personalities on this trip. Lets just say there were way too many chiefs and not enough Indians. I would get most frustrated when a decision would be made (in Danish) without translating to me so I could voice my opinion, and I would just have to be okay with whatever was decided. Or the few times I was able to voice my opinions, they were quickly dismissed. The age gap between me and some of these students was very evident. I am almost 27 years old, and most of them are about 24, with the youngest turning 23 on the trip. A few of the girls were getting upset with feeling left out, or wondering why everyone just can’t do everything together. I told them that there were 15 of us together for 12 days, and you couldn’t possibly expect people to get along and/or do everything together the whole time. It was very trying, but I got through it and didn’t let that ruin the trip. I survived, and actually got to know a few of my classmates a bit better. I am very thankful for AnneMette and Christina, most especially Christina, who went out of her way to hang out with me and speak to me in English. Ironically enough, Christina is an older one like me – 26, and you could sense the maturity level was a little higher.

Sightseeing in Dubai was great with the Danish students. It was cool to hear what their opinions and views were. They would comment on the cars (think SUVs: Toyota Highlanders and Seqouias; lots of Honda’s; Mercedes SUVs; Hummers). They were amazed and kept commenting on how nice they were and how big they were. All I could think of was that I ride in those cars all the time, and my friends own them – (I have two friends who have Hummers, for example). So that was not unusual to me. They commented on the size of the highways (6-7 lanes at times), because they are used to 2 lanes – that’s it. While St. Louis may only be 4-5 lanes sometimes, I have many times seen highways in the US that are that big. (Which, by the way, the mere construction of the highway system in Dubai is so very similar to the US, unlike anything I have seen in Europe). They would comment on the cityline and the skyscrapers – again, think Dallas, NYC, LA. When we visited the malls with the over the top attractions (high end stores, aquariums, marble floors, etc), again, I thought of Las Vegas. So it was very interesting to see how they all reacted to everything they saw, when most of it was fairly common and normal for me. I was not really expecting to see that in Dubai.

Just to elaborate on how very Americanized Dubai is…here are a sampling of the stores/restaraunts that are there. Subway, McDs, Charleys grilled subs, Burger King, KFC, CPK, TGI Fridays, Chilis, Applebees, Saks 5th Avenue, Forever 21, Gap, Banana, Lush cosmetics, MAC, Baskin Robbins, Coldstone Creamery, Marble Slab Creamery, Hardees…just to name a few. So even though I was in the Middle East and surrounded by a completely new culture, it was somewhat comforting to be surrounded by familiar places and things. And you can sure bet I took advantage of eating at some of those restaurants since I can’t get most in DK.
Dubai is also very commercialized – so many malls and lots of shopping.

There are gorgeous beaches, waterparks, cool hotels, indoor skiing…pretty much anything you can ask for. It is a new ‘emirate’ with new money, and they are in the business of being flashy. It would be nice to revisit Dubai in a few years when many more of the buildings are done. The entire city essentially was under construction – there were construction sites and cranes everywhere.

The men are not discreet, to say the least. I was almost uncomfortable walking around the streets. They would blatantly stare at you, look you up and down, whistle at you…it was kind of creepy. I definitely did not enjoy that.

Getting taught about the Muslim religion in a mosque - which was cool for me also, because one of my best friends is Muslim, so I was able to understand a little more about what the religion represents for her and her family

Inside the mosque

My favorite part about hte trip in Dubai - we had a desert safari night where we could ride camels, ate traditional food, sat on the ground, watched belly dancing...and best of all, went sand duning in SUVs in the desert. So cool!!! (Check out the videos at the bottom!)

So fun!

Christina Breum was one of my roommates

The camp in the desert for dinner, etc.

Cooling off the engines

I loved it - it was almost similar to the peaceful feeling I get when I am at the beach...

Right before starting the sand duning

A city skyline right across from a manmade beach

AnneMette and Christina - the 3 of us went out by ourselves one night, and it was probably one of the most fun nights for me

Atlantis Hotel in Dubai

Shoes outside the door at a mosque

These mosques were so gorgeous

The really organized trash bin!

We had dinner one night on a boat where we cruised up and down the river

Our dinner boat

Indoor ski slope at the Dubai Mall

They had HUGE pictures of the top man EVERYWHERE - on the sides of buildings, etc. We don't really have pictures of our president plastered around like that, I don't think.