December 2 is like July 4. National Day is to the UAE what the Fourth of July is to the United States: A day to celebrate a country’s beginnings. What does that mean in tangible terms? Decorated cars, fireworks and crowds at the Corniche.

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Thought it could happen, but I didn’t think it would. (See: yesterday’s item.) Fifa went all weird today, voting for two countries to stage the 2018 World Cup and 2022  World Cup … that certainly were not the most fit candidates to do so. They would be Russia and Qatar, respectively. When the winners ought […]

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This is exciting, if you’re a soccer/football fan. Two World Cup announcements tomorrow on the same day. Never has happened before. Probably should never happen again. Personally, I think it’s going down this way so that aging Fifa president Sepp Blatter can push his influence another four years into the future without having to live […]

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Hard to envision a more exotic place, really. Papua New Guinea is the eastern half of that big island north of Australia. The independent country, as opposed to the western half of the island, which is part of Indonesia. What images do you conjure when you hear “Papua New Guinea?” Tropical rainforests. Towering mountains. Exotic […]

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Back to real estate. Something we have going for us, in this market? There are just the two of us. And landlords like that. A lot. Because a dangerous option? “Bachelors.”

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A year ago we were trying to find our first apartment here. It was about as pleasant as a migraine. Now, the one-year lease is almost up, and we’ve been trying to sort out what we should do next. Shall we go or shall we stay? And if we go, where to? Here are our […]

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A year ago, the Dodgers seemed paralyzed by the Frank/Jamie McCourt divorce. The club did almost nothing of note through the winter and went to spring training with four-fifths of a starting rotation, and one of the four was the personally and professional erratic Vicente Padilla. While Frank v Jamie continues to grind through the […]

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We didn’t miss the holiday, after all. Well, we were a day late. But it was the thought that counted. We made our way south of Abu Dhabi Island and found the home of an American family who played host to about 25 people,  some of whom (like us) they didn’t even know.

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T-Day in the UAE, our second. I can sum this up quickly: It didn’t really happen. Both of us worked on Thursday. Same as last year. Same as the year before, in Hong Kong. (Three consecutive Novembers outside the U.S.)

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I have been organizing coverage of the national soccer league here, as well as the UAE’s various national teams … and the country is on the threshold of some really significant achievements. Which says something, considering that in a country of 7 million the national teams come only from those with citizenship — Emiratis — […]

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