Surprising Truths about an Expat Life | LAYC78

Welcome back, Amanda . Welcome back to North America and welcome back

to episode two of Who Is My Daughter Now, . Amanda Sheldon is my daughter,

and I am the author of Who Am I Now?

Feminine Wisdom, Unmasked and Uncensored.

And my name is Isabel Banerjee.

And I am excited to have this opportunity to be sharing some conversation with

Amanda in that she has just repatriated to Canada about three weeks ago after

being in the Middle East for 10 years.

And I'm just thrilled to be able to share some of her experience with

you for anybody who's thinking about an expat lifestyle or career, or has

curiosities about what it's like really unmedia filtered, what it's really

like to live on that side of the world.

And gosh, whatever other questions we can throw at Amanda, that she will answer.

We talked in the first episode about the adjustment of, leaving Canada.

Leaving Toronto for her own life and landing in Kuwait and working there

and the rather pleasant surprises after the initial culture shock, entry shock.

Oh, I know, Amanda, that you spent four really exciting.

learning years and growing in the culture and within your organization.

And then you had the opportunity to accept a bigger position

and you relocated to Dubai.

Correct.

Dubai is the name that more people, I think, recognize than Kuwait.

It's in the news and, for those of us who've watched the Sex and the City

movie, there's all this confusion about really was that Dubai or not?

And Amanda can talk about that.

But now I would like to open up a little more of what is it?

That may be a misconception or an unawareness about what it's like

in the Middle East, especially for you, a young woman, transplanted

there and working there.

Right away, what came to mind is that people believe it's not safe.

For women to be there, and as a single woman, especially unsafe, which is quite

false, it's, I think in both Kuwait and the UAE, I probably felt safer than I do

in Toronto because The law enforcement is a visible presence, but not in a

threatening way, and there is a very big respect for women within Muslim culture

and so women are protected in that sense.

The other big misconception was that, women don't drive and they

don't work which also is false.

I got my driver's license in Kuwait and then had to get

it again when I moved to UAE.

And it was actually, I would say, easier than North America process.

But it also then gave me that freedom for the work that I did to be able to commute

to see my teams in the various locations.

And lots of women do drive.

Whether they're, local women or expat women.

It was not seen as a hindrance in any way.

I remember when I visited you being so impressed with the roads.

They're so organized.

The signage is beautiful.

The road lanes are very wide and everything is so well maintained.

I don't I think there is a word in Arabic for pothole.

No, and it is one of those things where our main roadway in Dubai

Sheikh Zayed Road, is 13 lanes wide.

Rush hour traffic does not happen.

Everything moves quite quickly and in an orderly fashion.

I will.

Would you be safe to say it's nothing like the 401?

No, not at all.

There's no need to worry about traffic.

In fact I lived what we would consider the same.

Suburbs in Dubai, but it was a 20 minute commute into work.

Yeah.

Which was right in the downtown core.

And we actually, as expats, you used to think 20 minutes is so long, but

coming back to Toronto, thinking 45 minutes to two hours is too long.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It is too long and you're right is a different reality.

What what do you think may be some other things that would surprise

people in North America about living?

in the Middle East?

Especially Kuwait as my first impression was, I wouldn't be

able to find restaurants that I knew or food that I could eat.

And that was absolutely false.

Like every brand and then some is actually, in, in the Middle East

as an expansion, as a franchise.

And you actually get not just North American brands, but you get

English and European and French.

And so you actually get a lot more choice than you would

expect finding here in Toronto.

So I'm missing restaurants that I know.

As chains over there.

That's right.

I remember now that it's so multicultural.

Correct.

It's like you could just travel the world by walking down the street and there's

every major brand for shopping and dining.

It's all there in one place.

At every price point and every taste that you could have.

I know you and I have joked about it that my time, I never cooked because I could

just order out for relatively cheap and get it to my house faster than me trying

to think of a recipe that I could make.

My first.

I would say seven of my ten years, I didn't turn my stove on.

So it was only in the last three that I thought it would be healthier to cook.

Yeah, we we're having this conversation now on August the 4th, 2020, and,

we're unfortunately smack into, what, about month five of pandemic 2020.

And so now it's become much more the norm in people's vocabulary

to order in, have food delivered to them, or pick up curbside.

That's how you existed all those years.

Absolutely.

And it might sound snobby, thinking of a better word, but,

my, my entire time there, The conveniences that the region affords.

So people pumped your gas and they brought food to your car, or they

would deliver it directly to your home.

Every bill, every public services automated on an app.

So you really didn't need to go into an office to connect a utility

because you could just download the app and connect it right away.

. So they've done great things with technology and great things to enhance.

personal comfort.

And that's part of why the economies there have been so successful.

I know it's a small thing, but one of the things I remember being so impressed

about was that overnight magically somebody came and washed your car

in your parking spot in the garage.

Yes.

That's the coolest thing ever.

And actually the, coming back to Toronto and seeing everybody's dirty

car, I was thinking, where is that guy?

I should have brought him with me.

That's who you should have put in the suitcase, right?

Okay again, and I apologize for misspeaking and generalizing the

UAE and the Middle East because I know that there's a lot of different

countries and and each one has its distinct character and geography.

You had the opportunity or you took the opportunity to travel a bit wider there.

Could you give us some highlights about other areas that you visited?

So with, within that sort of region of the world for work

I did quite extensive travel.

My time in Kuwait, I worked with Pottery Barn to launch the brand.

So there, I went to Lebanon and spent quite a lot of time there to

do recruitment and then also open stores Bahrain, Oman, which is.

Just breathtaking as a country, and the people are so lovely and so humble.

I've, experienced Saudi for work.

I wish I'd actually gotten to be able to do it for tourism now that it's opened up.

So that will come later.

But just the region itself, you're right, there is an idea that it's

one place, but Each smaller country has its unique heritage and unique

flavor, I would say, to that culture.

And it's interesting over my time where, I stepped off the plane in 2010.

Just seeing everybody in their white dishdasha and not knowing who they

were, but now 10 years later, I can actually see somebody and go, okay,

I know what nationality you are.

I can understand the subtle differences to the dress you're

wearing to pick out your culture.

That is fabulous.

And that goes back to my earlier remark about if more people traveled

and were exposed to different cultures and really understood without the

filters of media and movies, there would just be so much greater

appreciation for each other, right?

Absolutely.

Those nuances of understanding the difference in the

clothing that's pretty cool.

I think what I haven't mastered, and I'm sad to say it, but

the accent, that's always been difficult for me, even in Canada.

I never thought I had an accent until I came back to Toronto

in these past three weeks.

I'm hearing it and I'm thinking, Was that what we sound like?

I had forgotten what, Canadian accents sounded like.

Hey.

Hey.

Yeah.

All right.

Is there anything else that comes to mind that that you would like to share in

terms of, okay, the nuances between the different countries and places that you.

Love to visit places you still want to visit?

From a personal travel, I think the best thing I had was that

geographically where the movie is, it's the launch pad to Europe and to Asia.

I've had that opportunity to take some pretty impressive vacations because

they were only a few hours away.

So to go to Prague, to go to France.

To, I went to Singapore for my 40th birthday and then down to South Africa.

Places where, coming from Toronto, I never would've dreamt.

I could go actually natural because I met people from those countries

and it sparked an interest in order to then go on vacation there.

And then also, feeling like the Middle East was home.

So after a vacation you come home and appreciate.

Appreciate it even more.

And then if, I talk about the differences.

So my time in Saudi, for example with the work that I did, I had that

opportunity to, meet men and women, interview, hire, recruit both men,

and and to have a local Saudi man to, be interviewed by a western female.

Again, that was a stereotype that I think I was surprised by to say,

oh, there's no problem with this.

I could shake their hand.

I could talk to them directly.

And often they were very eager to have a Westerner talk to them because they could

practice their English and they could, share communication which was great.

And then to have those staff of all nationalities working for me it was

their first exposure to have a female in a position of power or a position of

authority from Nepal or from Myanmar, all these smaller countries that people

don't think of, those were my employees.

That's fantastic.

You remind me of of when I traveled, I did business in China for decades and I

had that same very positive experience.

Meeting the locals, the nationals and their eagerness to interact and

have conversations so they could show off their English skills and

they could ask questions, and it was just the most heartwarming.

opportunity, and again, not to get all kumbaya, but hands around the globe, that

the more that we know about each other and celebrate with each other, a better

place it's going to be for everybody.

Absolutely, and I think even, Uber.

It was interesting to talk to those drivers in, especially in Dubai,

most of them are from Pakistan or from India, from the rural areas.

And so they're telling me their life story about coming and supporting not

only their own family back in India or Pakistan, but their brothers and sisters

families because they're the breadwinner.

And so it really humbles you to see people and their life journey and then what.

What I have and what I'm bringing into to my personal space.

And so it does, it opens up your eyes to a completely different world than I think

most of us in North America understand.

Okay.

I'd really like to make a point to talk in another episode more about.

that, about how your experience has expanded your thoughts on diversity and

inclusion and how that all works to make.

A company, a stronger environment and ev as they say, a rising tide lifts

all the boats . That would be great.

All right just a reminder for those of you that are listening

in episode one that we threw out a challenge for you to name all seven.

of the Emirates in the United Arab Emirates, and Amanda will be the judge,

and she will randomly choose a winner, and I will be very honored to send you a

personally autographed copy of my book.

For now.

We'll say farewell.

Can you say farewell, goodbye in Arabic for us?

Ask me and I've just frozen away.

All right, I'll give you time to think about that.

Okay, good.

And we'll be back to you soon with another episode of Who Am I Now in the World.