Tuesday, 30 June 2009
One Year in Dubai
Okay, so technically it hasn't been quite a year yet, but since we leave for vacation in 4 days - it's close enough!
We have been reflecting back over the year and have decided...
Best things we have done so far (in no particular order)
1. Dreamland Aqua Park - waterslides
2. Horse riding lessons - yes, that's Zoe, but we all enjoyed being at the stable club and watching her
3. Green Mubazzarah in Al Ain
4. Brunch, camel riding... at Al Sahra
5. Full moon desert drumming
Things that have been the hardest to get used to
1. The heat of the summer - but the warmth of the winter was great
2. The traffic and the roads - that's an entire blog in itself
3. Seeing people driving down the street holding their babies on their laps in the front seat
4. The lack of colour
5. Weekends starting on Friday
Things we miss most from Canada
1. Green lawns and trees
2. Friends and family
3. Slurpees,green Aero chocolate bars, pork, Kraft Dinner
4. Barbecuing
5. Our back yard
Great things about living in Dubai
1. Making friends from all over the world
2. Victoria International School of Sharjah
3. We can go to the beach any time of the year
4. Bargaining at the Souks
5. Playgrounds and amusement parks in all the malls
We have been reflecting back over the year and have decided...
Best things we have done so far (in no particular order)
1. Dreamland Aqua Park - waterslides
2. Horse riding lessons - yes, that's Zoe, but we all enjoyed being at the stable club and watching her
3. Green Mubazzarah in Al Ain
4. Brunch, camel riding... at Al Sahra
5. Full moon desert drumming
Things that have been the hardest to get used to
1. The heat of the summer - but the warmth of the winter was great
2. The traffic and the roads - that's an entire blog in itself
3. Seeing people driving down the street holding their babies on their laps in the front seat
4. The lack of colour
5. Weekends starting on Friday
Things we miss most from Canada
1. Green lawns and trees
2. Friends and family
3. Slurpees,green Aero chocolate bars, pork, Kraft Dinner
4. Barbecuing
5. Our back yard
Great things about living in Dubai
1. Making friends from all over the world
2. Victoria International School of Sharjah
3. We can go to the beach any time of the year
4. Bargaining at the Souks
5. Playgrounds and amusement parks in all the malls
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
School in Dubai
Since the end of the school year is fast approaching, I thought I would write about our experiences with the education here.
Private school is a must - there are no options for public school, other than the Arabic schools. We have Zoe and Chase in one of the few Australian curriculum schools. Most of the schools are British, American or Indian curriculum. There is only one Canadian school that I have found and that is in Abu Dhabi so not an option for us. We had not planned on an Australian school and found this one out of desperation and chance. When we arrived the school of our choice was not an option so we scrambled to find something. The schools enroll students in the spring and there were long waiting lists for Chase's age at every one we looked at. A co-worker suggested VISS and because this is only their 2nd year of operation, they had openings. In fact, both kids started the year with around 12 in their classes. Generally, children must pass a "placement test" to be accepted to any school here. I sat with the principal and showed her some of the kids' art work, writing samples and Zoe's work from grade 2. They wanted to put Chase in year 1 which was a concern for me since he would be in kindergarten in Canada. The principal explained that in Australia, they consider kindergarten to be year 1. We decided to give it a try with the understanding that we could move him to KG2 if it wasn't the correct placement. The principal then discussed Zoe being placed in year 3. I said that at home she would be 3 grades above Chase, so the principal said we'll put her in year 4.
The school goes to grade 13, but has 3 separate buildings so there is little interaction between the primary students and the older ones - except on the bus. The school has a completely open floor plan and the desks in the classrooms are organized in clusters rather than rows. All of the classes have large areas where the students work in groups on the floor - usually on bean bags or big floor pillows. The school is across from the Corniche (lagoon beach) and has a beautiful grassy field. There are also a couple playgrounds - one which is covered to help beat the heat. In the fall and in June, they have the option to play indoors for recess because it is too hot outside. The school uniform includes a wide brim hat. If they don't have their hat, they have to play in the covered playground.
Both of the kids take Cultural Arabic. They have learned the alphabet, numbers, some animals and basic phrases. Zoe has also learned some conversation scripts. The Muslim students are in a different Arabic class. The Muslim students also take Islamic studies and the rest of the students take "Health" at that time. Basically, they get extra time with their teacher in small groups - in Chase's class there are only 3 or 4 kids that are not Muslim. We were very excited to see that both kids would be taking "technology" thinking it would be computer related. Actually, it is cooking! For other arts related classes they have performing arts, music and art. They still have time to fit in the standard English, Math, Social Studies, PE and Zoe has Science. The pool is not finished yet, but swimming is supposed to be part of their curriculum. They do a lot of work in groups and seem to do a lot of hands on activities. Apparently Zoe does have spelling, but she never brings anything home. They are separated into groups according to their abilities and move from group to group as they progress. They seem to work at their own pace and be encouraged to move ahead as they are able to.
Even though they say year 1 is kindergarten, Chase attends full days and his days are completely academic. He has weekly spelling tests. The school uses a program called Magic Words which divides common words in to groups of 10 - 20. I am not sure what they do with them at school, but Chase brought home the sheets and practiced them with us. He would read out the words to the teacher and then progress to the next level. He actually got through all of the 200 words for grade 1 and 2(that might mean kindergarten and grade 1)! He is even bringing home (and reading) level 11 books. He writes sentences and types them on the computer. In math he counts to 100, skip counts, and does addition and subtraction.
Zoe brings home homework every Sunday which is due on Thursday. It involves Math, Language, physical activity, a creative project and an interactive activity. Usually most items involve the theme that they are currently studying and apply the knowledge. One week she had to make a boat and keep in mind whatever they did in school. The class then floated the boats and discussed which were successful and why.
The only drawback we have to the school is that it is in Sharjah. Without traffic, it is about a 10 minute drive from our house, but with traffic it is impossible to get to. Plus most of their friends live in Sharjah and it is too difficult to get them together outside of school.
Private school is a must - there are no options for public school, other than the Arabic schools. We have Zoe and Chase in one of the few Australian curriculum schools. Most of the schools are British, American or Indian curriculum. There is only one Canadian school that I have found and that is in Abu Dhabi so not an option for us. We had not planned on an Australian school and found this one out of desperation and chance. When we arrived the school of our choice was not an option so we scrambled to find something. The schools enroll students in the spring and there were long waiting lists for Chase's age at every one we looked at. A co-worker suggested VISS and because this is only their 2nd year of operation, they had openings. In fact, both kids started the year with around 12 in their classes. Generally, children must pass a "placement test" to be accepted to any school here. I sat with the principal and showed her some of the kids' art work, writing samples and Zoe's work from grade 2. They wanted to put Chase in year 1 which was a concern for me since he would be in kindergarten in Canada. The principal explained that in Australia, they consider kindergarten to be year 1. We decided to give it a try with the understanding that we could move him to KG2 if it wasn't the correct placement. The principal then discussed Zoe being placed in year 3. I said that at home she would be 3 grades above Chase, so the principal said we'll put her in year 4.
The school goes to grade 13, but has 3 separate buildings so there is little interaction between the primary students and the older ones - except on the bus. The school has a completely open floor plan and the desks in the classrooms are organized in clusters rather than rows. All of the classes have large areas where the students work in groups on the floor - usually on bean bags or big floor pillows. The school is across from the Corniche (lagoon beach) and has a beautiful grassy field. There are also a couple playgrounds - one which is covered to help beat the heat. In the fall and in June, they have the option to play indoors for recess because it is too hot outside. The school uniform includes a wide brim hat. If they don't have their hat, they have to play in the covered playground.
Both of the kids take Cultural Arabic. They have learned the alphabet, numbers, some animals and basic phrases. Zoe has also learned some conversation scripts. The Muslim students are in a different Arabic class. The Muslim students also take Islamic studies and the rest of the students take "Health" at that time. Basically, they get extra time with their teacher in small groups - in Chase's class there are only 3 or 4 kids that are not Muslim. We were very excited to see that both kids would be taking "technology" thinking it would be computer related. Actually, it is cooking! For other arts related classes they have performing arts, music and art. They still have time to fit in the standard English, Math, Social Studies, PE and Zoe has Science. The pool is not finished yet, but swimming is supposed to be part of their curriculum. They do a lot of work in groups and seem to do a lot of hands on activities. Apparently Zoe does have spelling, but she never brings anything home. They are separated into groups according to their abilities and move from group to group as they progress. They seem to work at their own pace and be encouraged to move ahead as they are able to.
Even though they say year 1 is kindergarten, Chase attends full days and his days are completely academic. He has weekly spelling tests. The school uses a program called Magic Words which divides common words in to groups of 10 - 20. I am not sure what they do with them at school, but Chase brought home the sheets and practiced them with us. He would read out the words to the teacher and then progress to the next level. He actually got through all of the 200 words for grade 1 and 2(that might mean kindergarten and grade 1)! He is even bringing home (and reading) level 11 books. He writes sentences and types them on the computer. In math he counts to 100, skip counts, and does addition and subtraction.
Zoe brings home homework every Sunday which is due on Thursday. It involves Math, Language, physical activity, a creative project and an interactive activity. Usually most items involve the theme that they are currently studying and apply the knowledge. One week she had to make a boat and keep in mind whatever they did in school. The class then floated the boats and discussed which were successful and why.
The only drawback we have to the school is that it is in Sharjah. Without traffic, it is about a 10 minute drive from our house, but with traffic it is impossible to get to. Plus most of their friends live in Sharjah and it is too difficult to get them together outside of school.
Monday, 15 June 2009
Our Weekend
Chase was invited to a birthday party this past weekend. This one was at the Mall of the Emirates - lunch and a movie. Zoe joined in, so we had the opportunity to peacefully walk around the mall. I have to say that is the busiest I have ever seen a mall here - almost like Christmas shopping in Canada. I can only guess it is because of the mall, the June sales and the fact that it is too hot to do anything outside.
The Mall of the Emirates is the home of Ski Dubai:
We haven't gone into the snow zone yet. Maybe on one of the hot summer days we'll cool down in there.
The Mall of the Emirates has a posted dress and behaviour code at every entrance. The items include shoulders and knees must be covered, no kissing or shows of affection...
Saturday we went to Emergency to get our vaccination boosters for our vacation. Yes I did say Emergency. I phoned the hospital to make an appointment to see a doctor, and that was their instructions. All people are not treated fairly and equally here, so when we walked in the door (even though there was a room full of people), we immediately were taken to speak to the doctor. I explained to him what we wanted. A little concerning was the fact that he listened to me and did not even glance at the documents I brought in. He wrote our prescription and we went to the pharmacy to buy the medication. We carried it back to Emergency and the nurses prepared the injections. Rick and I went first without incident. Then it was the kids' turn. Rick, Chase and I only needed Hep A, but Zoe needed Hep A & B - a fact that was not noticed by the pharmacist or the nurse. Before she injected Zoe, I clarified which one Zoe needed and the nurse was clearly completely stunned. She went back out to speak to the doctor who reinforced what I said. Then, she took Rick back to the pharmacy to get the correct medication. It was eye-opening for us in the lack of a double check system. In this case it wasn't a big deal, but can you imagine the problems that could occur? Vaccinations are not covered by our health insurance, so we had to pay out of pocket. The medications cost about $31 for each dose and the injections cost less that $8 each - a far cry from the almost $1000 we paid (for a few more vaccinations) before we came.
The Mall of the Emirates is the home of Ski Dubai:
We haven't gone into the snow zone yet. Maybe on one of the hot summer days we'll cool down in there.
The Mall of the Emirates has a posted dress and behaviour code at every entrance. The items include shoulders and knees must be covered, no kissing or shows of affection...
Saturday we went to Emergency to get our vaccination boosters for our vacation. Yes I did say Emergency. I phoned the hospital to make an appointment to see a doctor, and that was their instructions. All people are not treated fairly and equally here, so when we walked in the door (even though there was a room full of people), we immediately were taken to speak to the doctor. I explained to him what we wanted. A little concerning was the fact that he listened to me and did not even glance at the documents I brought in. He wrote our prescription and we went to the pharmacy to buy the medication. We carried it back to Emergency and the nurses prepared the injections. Rick and I went first without incident. Then it was the kids' turn. Rick, Chase and I only needed Hep A, but Zoe needed Hep A & B - a fact that was not noticed by the pharmacist or the nurse. Before she injected Zoe, I clarified which one Zoe needed and the nurse was clearly completely stunned. She went back out to speak to the doctor who reinforced what I said. Then, she took Rick back to the pharmacy to get the correct medication. It was eye-opening for us in the lack of a double check system. In this case it wasn't a big deal, but can you imagine the problems that could occur? Vaccinations are not covered by our health insurance, so we had to pay out of pocket. The medications cost about $31 for each dose and the injections cost less that $8 each - a far cry from the almost $1000 we paid (for a few more vaccinations) before we came.
Sunday, 7 June 2009
An Update
It has been a while since I last posted. Things are going well and not too much has been happening. We are winding down for summer and looking forward to some time off. I have 7 more weeks of vacation to take, so I will be off from the end of June until the middle of August. The kids are in school until July 2nd.
The weather has gotten very hot. It has been in the mid 40's for several days. Yesterday was only in the high 30's, but we were still melting at the beach. The kids now have indoor recess. They have even shortened the recess breaks and the school day ends earlier because it is just too hot to have them outside, even under the shade cloths.
We took advantage to a perk of the job a couple weekends ago. Most of the College staff have to invigilate the high school exams. We had the option to do it at the college where I work, or to travel to Umm al Quwain - one of the northern Emirates about 45 minutes away. Because we needed to be there for 8 AM, we were given accommodations in Umm Al Quwain. We were encouraged to bring our families, so we had a night away - first one since we have been here. The Resort was right on the beach. We shared our time between the beach and the hotel pool. The water was very rough, so the kids had a fabulous time riding the huge waves on their boogie boards. They hunted for crabs and Zoe found a cat with small kittens that fascinated her for hours. Because my co-workers also brought their families, they had lots of kids to play with.
The weather has gotten very hot. It has been in the mid 40's for several days. Yesterday was only in the high 30's, but we were still melting at the beach. The kids now have indoor recess. They have even shortened the recess breaks and the school day ends earlier because it is just too hot to have them outside, even under the shade cloths.
We took advantage to a perk of the job a couple weekends ago. Most of the College staff have to invigilate the high school exams. We had the option to do it at the college where I work, or to travel to Umm al Quwain - one of the northern Emirates about 45 minutes away. Because we needed to be there for 8 AM, we were given accommodations in Umm Al Quwain. We were encouraged to bring our families, so we had a night away - first one since we have been here. The Resort was right on the beach. We shared our time between the beach and the hotel pool. The water was very rough, so the kids had a fabulous time riding the huge waves on their boogie boards. They hunted for crabs and Zoe found a cat with small kittens that fascinated her for hours. Because my co-workers also brought their families, they had lots of kids to play with.
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