I’ve been short on time this week due to work, plus Tom Cruise is in town for the Dubai premiere of his new movie, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and someone had to show him around (LOL)!
That's actually Tom scaling the Burj Khalifa, half a mile high
Since my invite to the red-carpet premiere must have got lost, I’ve been hoping I might bump into him (I had a bit of a crush on Tommo when I was 15, you see – back in the days of Top Gun, when my husband – who stole my heart at Sixth Form College – wanted to fly for the US Air Force and I dreamt I’d be DH-to-be’s wingwoman in a Kelly McGillis-esque fashion).
Anyway, I digress. This post isn’t original – it’s doing the rounds on Facebook and so I apologise if you’ve already seen it. Or wrote it.
It made me chuckle and I hope you enjoy it too.
You know you’ve been living in the Gulf for too long when…
• You’re not surprised to see a goat in the passenger seat
• When phrases like ‘potato peeler’, ‘dish washer’ and ‘fly killer’ are no longer household items but are actually job titles
• You need a sweater when it cools down to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
Dubai: A city of contrasts (not my behind unfortunately)
• Your idea of housework is leaving a list for the maid
• You believe speed limits are only advisory and expect all police to drive BMWs or Mercedes
• You believe the definition of a nanosecond is the time interval between the time the light turns green and the guy behind you blasts his horn
• You can’t buy anything without asking for a discount
A friend, just to the left of Tom, who DID get to meet him - AND he's following her on Twitter!
• You make left turns from the far right lane
• You send friends a map instead of your address
• You think it’s perfectly normal to have a picnic in the middle of a roundabout at 11pm
• You know exactly how much alcohol allowance you have left for the month
• You never say Saturday instead of Friday or Sunday instead of Saturday
• You accept that there is no point in asking why you are not allowed to do something
• You expect queues to be 1 person deep and 40 people wide
• You realise that the black and white stripes on the road are not a zebra crossing, just bait to get tourists into the firing line
• You carry 12 passport-size photos around with you just in case
• You overtake a police car at 130 km/h. And don’t worry about it
• When a problem with your car’s air-conditioning or horn is more serious to you than a problem with the brakes
Ha, this is great! Some of them could have been written here in Seoul, especially the car-related ones. And we all send maps, too – no one can find anything with a street address!
Hilarious as always Marianne!!! You should publish all your blogs as a book! Or send them off to some magazine!!!
Thank you Pia! This one I did just steal off Facebook! Thank you for reading my blog and I do appreciate your kind comments! It would be amazing if one day something came of it, but there are so many good blogs out there. It’s a fun hobby to have, don’t you think!