‘The UAE is an excellent portal’

• Last Updated: January 03. 2009 9:30AM UAE / January 3. 2009 5:30AM GMT

Glenn Stevens’s home in Abu Dhabi is decorated with the mementos of a life well-travelled. Sammy Dallal / The National

Glenn Stevens, an English instructor at the UAE Academy, has already visited nearly 70 countries, and hopes to reach at least 100 before he is through with his globe-trotting.

I was born in Houston, Texas. But I have never actually lived there. I lived the first three years of my life in Saudi Arabia. I don’t really have too many memories of those days. My first memory started in Hawaii, where I spent four years. I lived in Honolulu for two years and the big island for two years. My first memory of Hawaii is Diamond Head, this huge mountain overlooking the beach. I remember Volcano Park, going to see volcanoes and sometimes we got taken out of school because there was a volcano erupting. When I was seven years old, I left Hawaii and went to Oman.

I am an English instructor at the UAE Academy, I have lived here for about five years now. I like living here because of my job and because it allows me to travel. I think it is important to have a job that you enjoy and a career that doesn’t just pay the bills but drives you, and I love teaching. It is definitely something I want to do, even if I was back in the States.


I spent the majority of my childhood in Oman, where my father worked for over a decade. We moved there when I was seven and left when I was 17. One of the perks to living in Oman was that my family travelled relentlessly during that decade of my life. The expat life in Oman and corresponding adventures abroad played an integral part in shaping who I am today and greatly influenced my decision to move abroad.

I moved back to the US (San Jose, California) during my last year of high school. I split with my family in my late teens. After graduating from high school and beginning university in the Bay Area, my parents left the States again and moved to Abu Dhabi. I moved up to San Francisco where I completed my degree in geography and worked for a couple of years in real estate banking. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in San Francisco, played guitar in a rock band and made a lot of friends there. However, as I got towards my mid-twenties, I began to think seriously about my future and career and chose to pursue a career in TESOL (Teaching English to Speaker’s of Other Languages). I moved to Abu Dhabi about five years ago and have been working in that field ever since.

If I had to pick one place where I would like to settle down, I would say maybe Mexico. Mexico just has a variety of things to offer people. They have a lot of history, such as the Mayan and Aztec pyramids and beaches. People are really friendly there and it’s also off the beaten track a little bit and it’s affordable. But for working I would rather be here. You have more stability than in Mexico; it can be a little dangerous and business practices are questionable. You’re not as protected as you are here as a foreigner.

I think an integral part of my childhood and my upbringing and my education is all the travel my family did over the summers. We would go back to the States, but we would also take side trips, usually to East Asia, Europe, and that is really where I got the urge and drive to travel. And that is pretty much the lifestyle I am seeking, and that is why I came here.


The Middle East, and the United Arab Emirates in particular, is an excellent place to be for those in my career. English plays such a predominant role in daily business and personal activities despite the fact that the large majority of people here are not native English speakers. I feel very safe here and economically better off than I would back home. I wanted to continue travelling and exploring the world. Life is too short not to. I have been to about 70 countries so far and have a goal to eventually make it to 100. The UAE is an excellent portal to many exotic destinations.

There were also personal, nostalgic reasons that I moved back to the Middle East for, with the majority of my childhood friends also having returned to the region. I loved living in Oman, but the UAE seems to have more going on so I chose this country instead. There’s a lot to do here. It’s nice to be able to go up to Dubai whenever you want to attend an event or experience the vibrant city life, or escape to the more laid-back Al Ain for the weekend. I also enjoy scuba diving in Fujairah or camping in the Liwa desert. Having my nuclear family here was another major pull obviously.

We have a house in Texas but as I’ve never actually spent more than a couple of weeks at one given time there. It’s more of a house than a home. I identify better with the San Francisco Bay area, as that’s the one place in America that I lived the longest. I would say that I have settled in nicely in Abu Dhabi, I feel like I have more roots here. I feel very at ease with the expat culture here. When I talk to newcomers in Abu Dhabi, I always feel like a veteran, or someone whose history here goes generations back. When travelling, people always ask me where I’m from and I always have to think about that one. I usually just say that I’m from California but live near Dubai. That’s probably the cool thing to say.

As I spent the majority of my life abroad, I would say that it has definitely had a huge impact. I tend to gravitate towards social groups of mixed nationalities. I find it quite stimulating to be surrounded by people who come from different cultures. I often find I identify better with groups of mixed nationalities than a group coming from the same nationality, my own included. I find that the expat crowd in the Middle East is a culture in itself, and that’s probably where I tend to gravitate more towards socially.

I find the lifestyle is more relaxed (than in the US). I have more time pursue my own interests than back in the States, where you never have time to stop and think. People seem to have more time to do things after work and on the weekends.

I miss the art culture of San Francisco. My old workplace was filled with artists, musicians and actors who would practice and perform in their free time. That doesn’t really happen as much with the expat community here. If you want to hear live music, you usually have to settle for cover bands. San Francisco had a lot of prominent artists, musicians and writers living in the area and that certainly rubbed off on the culture there. I miss the greenery and the nature, such as the nearby forests and mountains. However, I don’t miss the rain or cold weather. You hardly miss a day of sunshine here, which is certainly a huge perk. To let my stomach do the talking, I do miss super-burritos and genuine Mexican taquerias.

My apartment is decorated like a museum. Every time I travel I always bring back with me a nifty collection of souvenirs. There are artworks and face masks from all over the world hung up on all the walls. You can find Balinese character ornaments hanging from the ceiling over a Chinese lampshade with a Yemeni khanjar sitting on the table. I take many of these artefacts with me everywhere I go to give my living environment a feel that reflects who I am.

It’s a fun and exciting adventure but can be a pain and strain at the same time. In the end, I think any change is an experience and you tend to remember the positives more than the negatives. I would definitely suggest that everyone, even if they’re not going to make it a permanent lifestyle, tries living abroad at least once in their lifetime. It really expands your perspective on life in so many ways.

* Omar Zaafrani