{"id":1010,"date":"2010-12-01T15:51:10","date_gmt":"2010-12-01T20:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/?p=1010"},"modified":"2010-12-01T15:56:24","modified_gmt":"2010-12-01T20:56:24","slug":"first-week-of-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/first-week-of-work\/","title":{"rendered":"First Week of Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a two month vacation of sun and surf, my life of leisure came to a crashing end this week as I started my new job<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Despite no longer being able to sleep in, my first week of work went well. The administrative department of NYUAD takes up 2 floors of a brand new building in downtown Abu Dhabi (about 10mins from our apartment and a 2 minute shuttle ride from the campus). Everyone I’ve met and worked with so far is incredibly nice. The building and facilities, because they are so new, are wonderful. And to top things off, Thursday is a holiday (UAE National Day) so I begin with only a 4-day week! I can’t complain.<\/p>\n

Every so often, I would sit back in my chair, look out the window and remind myself that I’m working in a foreign country. It is a pretty strange feeling. Although to be honest, if I didn’t do this, it would be pretty easy to think I was back in DC – the work I’m doing is based on American accounting standards, the buildings immediately outside my window are older and not very tall, and about half the employees speak with an American accent. But then I step outside to 85 degrees in December and the similarities end… <\/p>\n