Switzerland - A Work Trip to Dubai

Spot the Difference Switzerland vs Dubai - Ski Dubai in Mall of the Emirates

Well, after 10 months, my employer finally decided it was safe to let me out of the office and I was allowed to attend / present at a meeting in Dubai. Actually, it was budget restrictions that meant I couldn’t travel up to now, but it’s felt a bit like I’ve been caged up for all this time. As a contractor, I’m probably lowest priority, so I’m not complaining too hard.

Work rules are that if the flight is at least 6 hours, you can fly business class. The flight from Zurich to Dubai is 6 hours and 10 minutes …luck was with me, for a change.

It was my first time flying with Emirates, and my first time in a double-decker plane (what is life coming to!); I can recommend both.

The Emirates lounge in Zurich airport managed to serve all my favorite food, so it was hard to decide what to have (Zurich Geschnetzeltes, lamb curry, beef stroganoff, black forest gateau, lindor balls, mixed salted nuts). I had the lamb curry, the nuts, and the cake in the end and packed a lindor ball for the journey. Maybe it was just because I was hungry (I’d just come out from two meetings), but the food was fabulous.

The journey was smooth and it was good to see some Arabic in real life again (rather than just in my text book of stilted conversations!). It inspired me to spend some of the flight learning my vocabulary.

The good thing about flying with Emirates was that they have their own fast-track through security and customs in Dubai (I think it’s their “home” airport). The bad thing was that, having taken advantage of this, it was all to no avail because my pick-up wasn’t there waiting for me as I came into the arrivals hall.

After walking up and down the line of people holding placards for their visitors, waiting for about 15 minutes, and wondering if I needed to phone the UK emergency number (I could have got a free chauffeur service from Emirates; that would have worked better), he turned up. Apparently he’d been delayed by someone who’d had visa problems (I later found out that it was someone I knew!).

Anyway, my driver finally collected me but subsequently dropped me off at the wrong hotel. He was gone before I realized the error. This was at 1 am. My hotel wasn’t so far away (just the other side of the Mall of the Emirates), but I didn’t really want to be walking in the dark on my own in the early hours of the morning after a long journey. I trudged along the main road and the building works, my small suitcase rattling along behind me, and I finally arrived at my destination.

To my surprise, arriving in the warmth of Dubai, being confronted with the Arabic design in the hotels, and seeing the Arabic writing on all the posters made me feel a pang for Egypt. I wanted to be back in the sun, experience its haphazardness, be back among the people. On the other hand, Dubai is very wealthy (or at least it appears to be) and I could also sense myself slipping into the consumerism mentality. I dreamt of limitless wealth so that I too could have a huge diamond on my finger, fly to all the exotic locations, and stay in the best hotels.

It was great to meet some colleagues face-to-face at long last and to forge some new contacts. Several people were there who I’d had teleconferences with on multiple occasions; by the end it felt a bit bizarre to think I hadn’t met them before. My one-hour talk got cut to around 20 minutes due to the meeting running behind schedule, but people still clapped in the right places.

The agenda was full-on with dinners planned every evening with less than an hour between the end of the day’s work and going to dinner, leaving little time for reading emails etc. They’d somehow managed to get a deal for most of the meals where there was limitless alcohol. It’s the first time I’ve been to a work event where I’ve been actively encouraged to drink as much as I possibly can.

Although I’m a Brit, and was therefore expected to fulfil the obligation of drinking a lot, I’ve been living in a “dry” country for 18 months and in Switzerland wine is served in only 100 ml portions at a time, so I’m really a bit out of practice. I ate far too much (the food was also limitless, it seemed), so it’s time for diet and exercise (unfortunately, my stomach is craving more food now!). I’ve returned with a cold, it appears, too. Those are the dangers of work trips!