One of my favorite aspects of international sports events is the languages. At the Fifa Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi this year, we have teams made up of guys whose mother tongues are … Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Korean, Arabic, English and pidgin English. (Plus a smattering of Balkan languages.) When I’m not trying […]

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This is a pretty big deal for the country, for the city and for … me. I was designated to coordinate coverage, so it’s been just about all I’ve thought about for a couple of weeks now. For the Tuesday paper, we have six slugs and three briefs. Good stuff. Here are the links:

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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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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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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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The Asian Games are going on right this minute, in Guangzhou, China. They stage these every four years. Think of the Pan-Am Games and you’ve got the idea. A hemispheric gathering in which organizers are allowed to introduce sports with regional — but not global — appeal. Thus, we have men’s and women’s cricket on […]

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For non-Muslims in the UAE, Eid al Adha is the most notable for this: It is the longest holiday on the calendar. At The National, this was a one-day work week. Sunday. Eid al Adha then began on Monday, hit a zenith today and continues on for two more days, at least in the governmental […]

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The National is an unusual newspaper. Located in a country near the northeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, in a thriving city (Abu Dhabi) that attracts lots of expatriates. One that is written in English, a language that is native to only a fraction of the people who live here. The paper attracts an eclectic […]

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Today marks the one-year anniversary of the day in 2009, October 15, a Thursday, when we got on a plane to leave the United States. We have not been back since.

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Interesting, multi-layered topic. And I’ve been getting paid to think about it. Soccer, football, in the United Arab Emirates. I am convinced it is by far the most popular sport among UAE citizens — the local Arabs (and a few others who have been naturalized). I am convinced nearly every adult male in the country […]

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