About me....
If you asked me 10 years ago where I would be in 2016. I surely would not have said I am an expatriate living in Qatar and working at the College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) as a Qatar Relations Coordinator.
I was comfortable in South Africa, happy with my job at KPMG and my steady career growth. Of course life has a way of throwing a curveball, perhaps not directly at you but enough to create an awareness to re-think your values and long term goals; which leads to decision making, acceptance, execution and living up to that cheesy proverb “stepping out of our comfort zone”
That, my friends, is how I found myself in Qatar on the hot and balmy night of 3 November 2010.The pilot’s nasally welcome to Qatar indicating the temperature is 30°C, I looked out the window to see infinite stretches of brown, brown and more brown land and thought “Good God what I have I gotten myself into, there is no green?” With absolute dread and despair I disembarked and solemnly trudged to Arrivals like a petulant child.
I have come to love Qatar, its people, the rolling dunes, the camels, the sand storms, its safety, the well-manicured gardens but most of all the cultural diversity of the myriad nationalities that live within the boundaries of this small country. I like the climate in all its glorious +50º degree summers and I most definitely enjoy the tax free earnings. I thoroughly enjoy my job, I get to meet interesting people, hold fascinating discussions with them and learn about their countries and culture.
My decision to step out of my comfort zone saw my learning curve in a totally different direction. Not just a unique career change but opportunities to continue formal learning. This is where I am right now and this is why I was pushed even further out of my comfort zone to create this blog.
If you asked me 10 years ago where I would be in 2016. I surely would not have said I am an expatriate living in Qatar and working at the College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) as a Qatar Relations Coordinator.
I was comfortable in South Africa, happy with my job at KPMG and my steady career growth. Of course life has a way of throwing a curveball, perhaps not directly at you but enough to create an awareness to re-think your values and long term goals; which leads to decision making, acceptance, execution and living up to that cheesy proverb “stepping out of our comfort zone”
That, my friends, is how I found myself in Qatar on the hot and balmy night of 3 November 2010.The pilot’s nasally welcome to Qatar indicating the temperature is 30°C, I looked out the window to see infinite stretches of brown, brown and more brown land and thought “Good God what I have I gotten myself into, there is no green?” With absolute dread and despair I disembarked and solemnly trudged to Arrivals like a petulant child.
I have come to love Qatar, its people, the rolling dunes, the camels, the sand storms, its safety, the well-manicured gardens but most of all the cultural diversity of the myriad nationalities that live within the boundaries of this small country. I like the climate in all its glorious +50º degree summers and I most definitely enjoy the tax free earnings. I thoroughly enjoy my job, I get to meet interesting people, hold fascinating discussions with them and learn about their countries and culture.
My decision to step out of my comfort zone saw my learning curve in a totally different direction. Not just a unique career change but opportunities to continue formal learning. This is where I am right now and this is why I was pushed even further out of my comfort zone to create this blog.