Paragliding in Switzerland!

I wanted to post about my honeymoon trip since October; however, I was thinking about how to break the adventure down to avoid long detailed posts. So in this post I’m gonna write about our memorable day in Interlaken- Switzerland specifically about the adventure we had there. Some of my relatives and friends still don't know about it as I didn’t upload pictures of it before. I went PARAGLIDING on my honeymoon!!!! ( and I didn’t even tell my mom lol )

 I visited this town two years ago and had plans to revisit it again

 so here is goes:

On our first day we had breakfast buffet then headed to the lobby to inquire about the tourists attractions and activities in Interlaken. One of the brochures that caught my attention was the paragliding experience! I’ve seen this sport for the first time in a Korean show and tried to look for it around UAE but couldn’t find one. I asked my husband if we should go for it and even though the nervousness showed all over his face he didn’t gave a real NO back. so I stopped thinking too much and just went with the reservation!

“Be in the lobby at 1pm, the paragliding team will come pick you up” said the receptionist. Therefore, we had a walk around the hotel until it was 12:45pm, it was time to keep calm and wait for the van to come pick us up.

The driver showed up as agreed, we felt like we are on a reality tv show with all the excitement the driver welcomed us with. “ARE YOU READY FOR YOUR ADVENTURE?” said the driver with open arms.

At that moment no we were NOT ready anymore haha! 

We stopped at two hotels to pick more tourists; two Korean girls and another Korean man. The girls kept talking in Korean about how scared and how excited they were while the Korean guy remain silent and just when my husband and I predicted he is scared too, he mentioned that he already tried skydiving in France before coming to Switzerland !! *shocked face*

The team of pilots were so friendly they introduced themselves and the instruction post the flight very well. Every person had the chance to pick his pilot whoever you think you’re comfortable with. I picked a loud lady in belief that her confidence indicates and awareness of what she’s doing. (I prayed all the way up that I made the right choice lol) We had our belongings kept away and our shoes replaced by hiking shoes. We had to drive all the way up the hill for around 15mins then stopped near a green field.  We walked in pairs with our pilots having a little chitchats on the 10 mins walk to the spot of flying.

We reached a sharp edge facing the wind, that’s where they started unpacking their parachutes. My heart was racing. I’ve always been afraid of heights and edges especially were a nightmare for me. We all stood next to each other with like 2 meters away. It was very cold at the top so we were given special jackets. At first we had to demonstrate the run we will do when we attach the parachute, the idea was to never ever jump just run and let the wind do the work. I freaked out at the first trial, my pilot was screaming in enthusiasm while running but the second time with two pilots on each arm I got the courage to do it. I asked her for few minutes to relax before running and just when I was getting ready she pointed her finger saying “LOOK! Your husband already took off!!” what the hell! When did he find the courage to surpass me!!! D:!!

WHY YOU!

There was no turning back although I wanted to do so 10 times by now. The pilot holding by my back screamed: ”NOW! RUNNNN! FASTER  FASTER!!” I did exactly what she said and it was heavier than what I imagined and yelled back: ”I’M RUNNNNNNING!!!” and within a second of pulling we were already in the air.

Thats not our jump, the day was more cloudy but its a picture from the same spot

Among the clouds we started swifting, the town of Interlaken showing behind them. It was so magical, so cold, so flawless that I wanted to engrave it forever in my mind. We took pictures and videos in the air. We took a turn by the mountain, then over the town and finally landing in the park near our hotel. Before landing my pilot asked me if I wanted any more thrilling moves while landing but I had to say no cuz I was already having a light head from the excitement and the cold air.

Funny moment was: all the camera flashes coming from tourists while we landed. I covered my face with my hand. They gave me that feeling of having a glorious moment falling from the sky like heroes, or brave soldiers lol

We were gifted a flash disk with our pictures that had a piece of the parachute material written on it our name, date of jump and our pilot’s name.

We were drunk of joy the rest of the day and gave our moms a call to laugh hard at the scolding and hear how crazy we were. It was worth every euro we spent and my husband kept talking about this jump for days and days. I believe we will repeat it again somewhere new in the future!

Peace,

Amna Al Dhaheri

Say hello to the camera!

Spiritual Haven: A Day in Oman

I can tell that Al Ain people are most familiar with Oman  than other areas of UAE

the close boundaries they share pulled few immigrants from Oman to Al Ain and vice versa over the years

It was a fine Friday and we were two days away from starting the next semester so my mom's family wanted to hold a family gathering and I was tempted to go

Now when we speak about Oman the image that comes to our mind as emiratis is a splendid journey to childhood memories and simplicity of shared heritage

I really love Oman for keeping us a decent space to get away from this smothering modern life

so I said YES ! I don't want another friday spent on window shopping at Bawadi mall or sipping up a cup of my usual coffee at Starbucks/Nero, Lets welcome the opportunities and see how it goes 

well I haven't got the chance to meet my mom's family after coming back from Korea so this is like .. 6 months that I haven't seen them ? I know.

 So our trip goes from Al Ain city to Al Buraimi city -where we stop at the usual Dukan (Grocery store) for beverages and some fresh fruits- then voilaaa~ we are in Wasit village our destination!

To make the picture clear here is a map from my google account, As you can see Wasit is not far from the emirati borders

Road Trip Map from Al Ain to Wasit village

in around 1 hour we were there at our peaceful village of Wasit, most of its people has already moved to Al Ain but still keep their houses for holidays. The village was only inhabited by the famous family of "AlShamisi" which I never knew till recently! The people are very friendly, generous and really attached to each other :)

when we got there it was the habit to be served coffee and fruits at the beginning of every visit; It is a must in a decent hospitality and that's agreed on in both UAE & Oman. In modern houses though; Its not a mandatory thing to have fruits but were substituted by other international deserts. Yet it all depends on the guest and their age and level of openness.

after few talks around the circle; the lunch was served and god I can't resist the aroma of feasts especially when its homemade!

I need lessons on how to eat using bare hands x)

Note: in gulf area we prefer goat meat over lamb cause gulf people were not used to raise sheep for meat that they consider it more dense and smelly. However in Arabian countries around the Mediterranean sea its more common and preferred

After lunch,there were many women talks and catching up going until the sun went down alil and that was the best part of the day a walk around the oasis !
people calls it alnakhal النخل which mean palm trees area
 It was the resource of agriculture & food

This oasis used to be fulled with people who lived through it and worked most of their days

The diversity of trees was extraordinary !

cotton, mango, banana, lime, lemon, oranges .. I didn't even knew Arabian Gulf area would be able to produce such fruits in such climate !

Mango Trees

Unfortunately though with people leaving the area as it lost its value, these trees were cut down or abandoned to death 

Front yard of one vintage house

More interesting area is the neighborhoods spread around the oasis, I would estimate the age of these houses to be more than 100 years old based on local people sayings and tracking down generations. Wonderfully they still stand in quite good condition!
 

Despite the peaceful image people always made excuses to fight and so there were tribal wars going on and people got killed out of misunderstanding and pride. I found few mosques built here and there and called by the name of each tribe, its funny though because each one is far by 1 min walk lol
they were really ridiculously proud people who didn't want to pray in the same spot! you gotta problem wid that! hehe~ :)

View from the building on top, all houses were built to serve the basic needs of humans

The following pictures shows an abandoned well, not sure how they made it though these stones of hard nature. As it is shown the well was between houses and on the top of the hill, the reason for that is that the power of a tribe relies on how well they hide their resources; mainly water resource!

The following picture shows a police station with a different kind of architecture almost like a fort with small holes as windows

 and here we were there fascinated by the view at the top then rushed back to our residence before the sunsets, you don't wanna be wondering around an oasis with no flash light or farmers to guide you out !! reallllly risky. My mom said it was not as scary in old days because people were really brave and would help each other unconditionally. And when the oasis was blooming many farmers stayed around for late hours.. I could imagine that scene in my mind and it seemed great to live at that time !

Sun hitting on an old fort making it stand out beautifully

I think the Omani archeologists should pay more attention to the national treasures in this area before they vanish for real! The place is breath taking and less stressful. When you are young you appreciate such places less but when you are captivated by the new lifestyle you feel like whaoo this life is so fast and frustrating and I need to catch a glimpse of my childhood where everything was as this village wide, free and natural !

Sunset by the end of the tour

After that long trip we went back home for dinner followed by hot milk tea! we were really exhausted and sleep was all over our faces. The trip was supposed to end around 5pm yet it got as late as 11pm ! and by that we ended our day~

What about you readers did you spend the weekend somewhere inspiring and interesting :)?

Peace,

Amna

First Snowfall

First snowfall in Ansan 5th Dec 2012
 

I’ve been watching the weather forecasts one week ago waiting for the sky to snow. I woke up early on the claimed day but found outside as dry as any winter day here.

I went back to sleep in disappointment and was planning to uninstall that weather application on my phone. However, few hours later the fuzzy window glass was glowing, that hope was still there !

I rushed toward the window and slide the glass and there it was .. the most beautiful scenery!

if autumn was amazing then winter is breath taking. Everything was wearing a white gown !

I don’t remember how I changed my clothes so fast and went down stairs but I do remember my stupid question .. "when it rains we take an umbrella but do we need one when it snows?" hehe~

Even if we had to use umbrella I wanna feel the snow without it NOW !

some people were with umbrellas others just with coat hoodies so since it was my first snow I didn't care much.

 

 The feeling I got when walking on snow was new ! I can hear & feel the snow cracking down my feet it made me ask myself is it my converse rubber that is being crashed ? *NERD* haha ~

the snow was soft that once it gets on ur hands it melts so fast to have a good stare at it

on the way to that lab and in the middle of this happiness I bumped into one my good brothers, Rafin! actually the best to put the beauty of nature in words. :p we sneaked out from the lab to witness this beauty and we were blabbing on about how freaking awesome it was ! 

we decide to skip the lab for an hour more and go check Hanyang Campus lake :D It was covered with SNOW and there were ducks -strong ducks-!

 

Snowball fight followed that *most awkward childish act lol* we called that break over and came back to our labs.

View from Aimori Bakery at Lunch time

later that day I remember having pasta at dinner at Ivy’s with my oppas. I left a note on the guestbook to mark this wonderful day <3 span="span">

 Caution when walking on snow: snow looks very nice but its very hard to walk on it with your normal sneakers and almost impossible for high heels. I've seen many people fall including my lab partner :p as funny it is you really don't want to be the next one to fall ! the situation got worse when the snow started to melt and streets were covered with ice layer. I was so frustrated cuz walking daily to the lab needed so much balance and concentration exactlllllllly like skating lol 

and yes so far I fell twice :p 

who said its too late to experience new things such as snowfalls? sometimes having those experiences late in your life will make you more grateful and absorbent to their beauty :)

today 21st Dec it started snowing again only this time students are all gone on winter vacation and the campus is all ours to play and act crazy :D

few days left for me in Korea, its becoming hard to post new stuff as I don't have much time to sit on a computer but I'm collecting good stuff to write about and its all coming soon here :3

xoxo,

Amna

The joy of making mistakes

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
― Albert Einstein

Albert's quote is nothing new to us, in fact some of us memorized similar quotes and other used it to console their dearest people

but what does it really mean? and are you able to say that you worked by that quote in the past?

or lets put it this way..

how many mistakes you have made today? how many extraordinary methods you used to solve a problem and ended up with failure?

Feeling guilty?

Ever since I left my home country I've been drawn in arguments with myself quite often; what is wrong and what is right. I got to experience new things out of my usual landscape and I had to decide as an adult which way to go.

 I started feeling guilty more and more each day. 
I had this talk with a good friend and he mentioned that guilt comes from our religion ( or in my case it was ) There is a huge truth in that for the following reasons:

1- we seek perfection, which is also mentioned in different religions as an impossible state for human beings to reach; and thus repentance exist

2- we want to build an environment similar to the one we used to live in ignoring the fact that the new one can never be replaced!

 Feeling guilty is a good virtue when dealing with others, you hurt someone then you should feel guilty in order to apologize sincerely. However, when feeling guilty is all about blaming yourself and stands as an obstacle of hesitation or stops you from enjoying your time. it is the time you need to set yourself free.

guilt is that little devil whispering behind our ears all the scary things and possible ( if not imaginary) consequences of doing what you did in your own unique new way!

Brand new point of view?

I've read some interesting techniques to relief the stress of guilt and overcoming your fears in the book " achieve you goals" by Andy Smith. One of these techniques was about placing yourself in others shoes and reconsidering the situation again.

okay lets imagine, you in that same embarrassing spot! only now your eyes are free to move around to occupy any corner any place except your position !

look at that person ( you ) from afar, does it seem so wrong now ? Not really right?

that's how we magnify the mistakes. and how wouldn't we?! It is people reaction we fear the most. They are the ones capable of dragging us out of our comfort zone! but do they really remember clearly what we remember of the same situation?

The answer is NO !
 
No one will remember what happened to you more than you do 

Not even those with sharp memories are willing to reserve a permanent space in their valueable limited memory for your mistakes. 

so don't worry too much

With enjoyment comes learning 

 

When I first visited Korea I didn't know how to dispose my own food tray and got scolded really bad by an angry old lady.

  I felt bad for not being able to understand the language and for not been given the chance to learn and instead screamed at in front of all the foreigners and Korean people.

 I remember that I wanted to cry and leave back to my country and got emotionally down that night.

 (Well, partially I was having jet lag too I'm not that emo usually) 

Few Months later, my Korean friend was impressed that not just I was reading but actually fast disposing my cups and plate and food leftovers ! I just grind back and said "well ya I learned it that hard way I should be good at it now I suppose!"

Does anyone remember that girl who got scolded in the cafeteria? most probably not. but do I remember how to clean up my tray Koreans way? SURE I DO! hehe~

Don't cross the line

It's really tearing me apart to see people pushing each other toward insecurity.
 One of the reasons why the learning process is much easier being a child is because we were not aware of others words yet

we fell down or break things and we would probably do it again and again till we understand how the world works 
 
 so let adopt this philosophy again! you can make as much mistakes as you want and totally enjoy them as long as you don't hurt the people around you ( unless you wanna end up alone or in worst case scenario in jail lol )

On the other hand, when people do make mistake don't be part of the drama crowd ! 

a person slipped on a rainy day; give him a ahand and laugh later!
a disturbing crying kid on the bus don't look at the mother; kids mostly cry for no reason!
a friend got a bad mark in an easy exam; hide your mark and never ask about it!

bottom line, we deserve the equal amount of space to make our own mistakes!

if you think about your mistakes while reading this, it shows how a caring person with a deep thinking mentality you are! first be proud. second improve the wonderful being you. and third learn to enjoy life. 

YES

Enjoying is a skill to be learned.

Peace,
Amna

P.S: The completely adorable comics were taken from http://www.snotm.com the rest of his comics are really cute and inspiring check his work!

Fun and Dogs Cafe - Ansan, Korea !

So it was Friday !

or as my Korean friend calls it "FIRE Friday"

we skipped work for today and thought its time to take a break from all the stress

I'm really in love with dogs ever since my childhood and in Korea dogs are more seen than cats in the streets

I don't know why but you can notice that unlike western people; korean people rather get a small cute dog instead of big sized ones

 and I was like "awwwwww you cute sweet lil huggy puppy ..*ciphered text* "

so my lab partner introduced me to a new sort of cafes in Korea called dog cafes ( there also exist cat cafes however dogs are more active and much interesting than cats he says )

so I asked him to take me there and although I thought it must be only in Seoul; Ansan had few around too !

it was raining that day and we had to hold the map and walk around few blocks till we found the place. You know how in Korea one building has multiple shops so you have to search carefully and look up for a sign or so


anyways when we went through the door I totally got a fright as I've never seen such number of dogs in one place and they started barking at once !! xD I literally almost jumped on my friend hehe ~!

but then the owner calmed them down by a plastic hammer lol and they were sniffing us from everywhere and I let them do it cuz it the dogs way to get to know a new person 

Pic of the place

when we got to the table I said to my friend "you know I don't feel like having anything .." *dogs were jumping on our laps and sofa from all directions xD*

they dogs were so friendly and happy to see people !

my bad luck got me to play with a small naughty puppy, he was uncontrollable and bit my hand lightly then got to tease his mother xD

Trust me taking this picture was so hard and he's not as innocent as he seems xD !

The menu was quiet interesting you get a page with the family tree of the dogs in the cafe. it also included their name, gender, age, favorite games and the words they understand !

앉아 ~! ( sit down ) xD

another page for services you can give to dog like giving bath, haircut or coloring but it was a bit expensive ! around 50,000\ = 45 USD = 165 AED

Family tree

The place also allow dog owners to bring their own dogs and let them enjoy the company of other dogs while enjoying a cup of coffee 

One Korean girl's cute puppy ~! ♥

My Bodyguard, 4 years male doggy who barks when other dogs get close hehe~

and here a video of how the lady owner communicate with them, they were so excited cuz she had snacks hehe~

I never had so much fun like this before in a long time, it was the childish kind of fun and the too much excitement got us dead tired later in the movies lol

I, now really believe that Pets bring joy to their owners

but it is really difficult for me to get a pet as it needs too much care and responsibility all the day :(

wish we can have such cafes in my country. maybe cat cafes will get most approval as our culture is not that welcoming to raising dogs indoors

Peace,
Amna

I missed my flight to Korea !

for the past 2 months I came back from a 10 days cultural exchange program in South Korea that left me inspired to see more of the world and a little too attached to my home and family in UAE that I couldn't post any meaningful posts here !

However, the summer vacation is over and now I had to start packing for the real adventure !

I'm writing this post to remind myself of my real goals and why I deserve to be stronger and go for it cuz I was so down yesterday for missing my flight ..

for the half year passed I was planning to do my internship course abroad, of course I didn't thought about east Asia as an option because I lack language .. but when a thing is destined it will pop up in your life without any former notice !

and thats how I planned for KOREA and took a language course and made awesome korean friends all in half a year !!

with a little research I was able to review the top 10 universities in my field of study and I came up with Hanyang University which was more than welcoming to have me !

it is such a proud to be the first student from UAE and the first to let the two universities sign an MOU :)

Due to our conservative society that doesn't approve a girl going abroad alone without any protection from family members reminds me that this is an once in alife time chance and how wonderful my parents are to trust me and support me through this from the beginning :)

of course nothing as awesome as this chance comes on a silver platter! here are some of the toughest jobs that I had to do in a week :

- I had to apply for student visa in another city and drive all way from my hometown twice in a row

- apply for visa card 

- ask for budget from my university

- make phonecalls to korea to get my acceptance letter 

- book my ticket online

Now the tragic thing that happened yesterday is that I missed my flight at 8:45 am !!

usually Etihad airlines would process your transactions faster than usual but it was my luck that made the counters so busy and the lady checking not to hear me well when I said my flight is to incheon airport in Korea !

After the drama and the tears that came after the stressful nights and bad nutrition I thought that maybe its for the good for reasons : 1- The typhoon that was hitting Korea at that hour 2- the fact that I'll arrive night time in Korea which is not as easy as arriving morning time 3- I was feeling sick

so my next flight is today Wednesday at 10 pm I'm more relaxed and I will be there like hours earlier and hope the best to happen, if this trip was cancelled again .. will it be a god's will ?

for now 

Korea here I come :)

 will write more updates once I get there so pray for me :)

xoxo,

Strong Woman