The Round up VRS the Round down

So i was reading this article in the Glamour magazine talking about women that turn 30. It got me thinking... as much as I am in denial about the whole BIG 30 factor, it got me realising that I need to accept it. So i started reflecting on my life ( all 27 years of it) and NO this is not some pitiful 'young' female complaining about ageing. This article is about the really of eventually turning 30.

The other day, i happened to pass by my boss's office and noticed her looking down at her hands, I stopped and being the curious (quite annoying) person I am.... asked her " whats up with your hands... you OK?" and she looked at me and frowned and said " I'm conscious about my hands, they look so gross" So i stared at her hands.. and they looked fine to me. Thing is.... My boss is just over 30 - very young woman, but yet she was self conscious about her hands. This begs the question....." do we, as females, criticise our outer appearance purely based on age?"

So at the age of 21, if I looked at my face and saw a line...I would just shrug it off and think it was the lighting. But if I saw that same line at 30... it would be termed a "wrinkle!" But, the reality of the situation is that we aren't getting any younger..., but does it really matter?

When I was in primary school, all I wanted to do was turn 13. To get my first kiss and be on my way. At 13 I wanted to be 16, because that movie "16 candles" made it seem somewhat cool. At 16 I wanted to be 18 - legal to for most things....At 18 I wanted to be 21, have a boyfriend, have my own car, travel on my own. At 21 , i wanted to be 23 - qualified, career, maybe married. But then, it stopped. I didn't want to be older anymore. I mean whats after 23?

Looking back now I didn't scratch much off my to-do list and for some reason getting older didn't appear that far away. So what would any normal "scared" little girl in a grown up body do.....well? in the times before google (BG) , probably read a bunch of self help books. But googling women at 30 , to my surprise i get hits like .." Why women over 30 are sexy!: , "things women should quit before 30", "30 things women should have by 30"....I mean come on! Its like 30 is the age to achieve everything we wanted to achieve and more.... so what happens after 30? do we die?

I think (maybe believe) that 30 is like being 20 just much wiser. We old enough to understand adults ( much older) , we had our heart broken a few times, we learnt to work with people and are probably far into our careers, we've lost friends, gained friends,did things we weren't proud of. But we definitely wiser.

So yes I'm officially implementing a new strategy to getting old. Round down even when it doesn't make sense. So I'm 27 - I'm actually 25. When I'm 29 - I'm still 25. When I'm 35 ... I'm actually 30. And so on and so forth... Screw trying to understand this thing called reality. Its much more fun living in my parallel reality.... called DENIAL. :)

I MISS YOU….. XOXO Jane – Facebook 9.10.2010

So has the Romance left? Has love in all its existence been subjected to bb messages, facebook inbox messages, tweeting and mxit chats? Have our feelings been subjected to emoticons? So yes maybe when I was in high school (not so long ago of course) I remember receiving love letters – Not the sms kind – like the real deal type. Hand written love notes. Looking back, would I have changed a thing?  Considering getting a text message or a bb message is so much quicker.., probably not. There was something about the handwriting and the fact that it was an effort that made me feel more appreciated. 

So doing some research, I discovered that even back in the 80’s there were social networks (not the facebook kind, not the twitter kind) but using frequencies on a radio kind. For real! Young people were meeting potential girlfriends/boyfriends by tuning into a “private” frequency and having private chats. I have had the pleasure of discovering a couple who actually met on this radio network and are now currently happily married.

So this begs my question…has much changed? I mean men still open doors for women, but is the romance gone due to all these advancements in technology. What would you think if someone had to give you a love letter (hand written) today? I bet you would think it’s cheesy on the outside, but hopelessly romantic on the inside.

So what is it about the virtual world that is so appealing….to everyone? Is it the fact that we can pick and choose whoever we want In the comfort of our own homes wearing sweatpants and slipslops munching on chocolate peanuts and still feel confident that we might be choosing a potential husband/wife? Have we become Lazy? I mean, do people even chat up people in person anymore. Its no longer about the cheesy pick up lines, its about the cheesy facebook statuses…I mean, dating has become like shopping online. You can read up on a person’s whole life before you actually meet them. Its like a virtual review of a long term investment. You can even check common friends andpast boyfriends/girlfriends. Meeting people has become so easy…. , but yet why do most people feel lonely?

Is it the fact that we so consumed with searching online – that it’s too daunting making an actual conversation with someone? Has our generation become lazy? Or just really smart…. I mean what is the point of getting out there and making an effort, when it’s so much faster to just do everything online. According to a recent study, it was discovered that lawyers use facebook to strengthen their cases against the accused based on their facebook “ life”, so I guess we have all become lawyers with no need for a degree.  I think the effort has disappeared into the controversial world of cyberspace.

1 out of 5 marriages lead to Divorce in the USA because of facebook. Why? Well commonly due to spouses doing the naughty steamy chat with “friends.” Not only has “clicking” instead of writing become a gateway to a happy marriage, it has become a backdoor to an ugly divorce. In 2009, 286 million US subscribers sent 152.7 billion text messages per month, which is roughly 534 messages per subscriber per month….. Now imagine all that messages can be converted into dates, flowers and love notes? Oh how happy we would be…

So when do we change? When do we give up the days of texting  “LOL’s”, “xoxo’s” and “ROFL’s” for the real deal paper type? Probably never……. Or I guess until all the networks are down and the blackberry messenger doesn’t work…. J

Du-buy or not Du -buy

So this is officially my first blog and I wanted it to be informative and thrilling, so I'm writing about my experience working abroad in the UAE. I left to Dubai  in January 2009 for 6 months. I contracted at an audit firm for the duration of the stay. So like a keen traveller, i did my research and I thought I was well prepared for my trip.... or so I thought. I got there ( with 3 other peeps) and was welcomed by a number of men in long white robes and turbans ( traditional dress of the local men in Dubai). I started wondering why there were no women, but just shrugged it off. Driving down the highway - Sheikh Zayed ( they drive on the right hand side of the road - unlike Cape Town)  I was impressed by the tall buildings and amazing architecture. Also, the place looked so Clean! Everything appeared surreal I suppose, but eventually I got into the swing of things and discovered that in Dubai was only one telephone network - Etisalat (like our Telkom) and while I was there Du came into the market (kinda like how Neotel came into ours). Funny things is, they are the only providers for the local telephone network, cellphone network and internet services.  They in serious competition with each other. I also discovered that to own a business in Dubai you have to have a partner which must be a local resident owning 51% of your business. If you cant find a partner, you have to open your business in what they call "the freezone".

The free zone is called "Jebel Ali" and its located quite far away from the main city. I went there a couple of times to do audits, wasn't really that pleasant. It looks like very industrial. Another thing i noticed about Dubai, there names of places are quite.....well odd. Like in Cape Town, we have suburb names like Wynberg and Claremont, etc. In Dubai they have places called " Internet City, Media City, Knowledge Village....etc" and its exactly what it says.
Like in Media city (also a "freezone") there are companies like CNN, BBC, showtime Arabia, Sony to name a few -all related to media. Knowledge city houses the universities and colleges ,etc.  So to me, that's quite smart. I mean if you looking for a university - just go to knowledge village. Makes sense.

Enough about the facts.... lets get onto the more fun stuff. The nightlife....
So Dubai has a very well established night life. I managed to experience a number of clubs around Dubai. Women generally get in for free because there is a shortage of women that go clubbing in Dubai. If you a guy, they generally wont let you in without a woman. So all the single men out there ----- find a woman to go with you. The club closes at exactly 3am ( I mean the lights go on) because they have to prepare for Fajr Salaah. Alcohol and booths are very expensive in Dubai. To book a booth in a club for about 10 people would cost you in the region of about 5000 Dirhams ( approx R15,000). So its really pricy.

While I was in Dubai I managed to see Armin Van Buuren, DJ Tiesto and saw Coldplay Live in Abu Dhabi. So yes, there are loads of performances coming to Dubai. I recall John Legend being there as well.

Shopping in Dubai is relatively cheap. I mean they house a number of Souks ( like markets) that holds "genuine fake" clothing , like Prada, Gucci, Catier, Ed Hardy, to name but a few. But.....after going to the souks a couple of times, i was approached by by men that ask you if you want good brands. If you say yes, they lead you into these rooms, filled with branded bags and watches. Im talking serious merchandise. The stuff looks so genuine. But alas, i cant do fake hey. Its either the real deal or nothing at all. If you not into the whole "Souk thing" Dubai houses a number of malls..... like the Dubai Mall ( the biggest mall in the world), IBN Battutta mall, Dubai Festival City, Mall of the emirates. I must say, when me and a friend went to Dubai mall, we were so tired of walking, and we only saw a quarter of the mall! We were sitting having dessert outside the mall, when we discovered that we were watching the most beautiful dancing fountains outside the biggest mall in the world, next to the tallest building in the world ( Burj Dubai). Its quite remarkable how they have the biggest and best est of everything. I mean, they even building land that's shaped like the moon and the star as well as the planets. Quite Bizarre.

I stayed in an apartment sharing with 4 others. The place was called Jumeirah Lake Towers and it had the most awesome pool and jacuzzi on the top. With a gym inside. Im not talking small gym - I'm talking a kick ass gym with a panoramic view of the city. Ok, rent ain't cheap. I think our rent for a 2 bedroom was about 16000 dirhams a month ( R48,000). I mean, you can stay in a penthouse in Camps bay for that Price. In Dubai, you cant pay your rent month to month like here in Cape Town. You have to pay a year in advance. Its quite daunting to part with so much moola so quickly.

Is Dubai very conservative? Well , kissing and holding hands in public is generally frowned upon. But people do it anyway. I remember being there and a woman from the UK was arrested for having sexual relations with a man on a beach. Naughty naughty...

I never mentioned the weather.... Its extremely humid in Dubai. I swear, if you put your washing out to dry - its dry in less than 5minutes. people generally stay indoors as it is too hot to really walk outside.

So the experience was generally educational - I managed to survive. Would I work in Dubai again? Probably not. But if you wanna go shop....... then Dubai is Du - buy!!