Dubai Post 87: Last Day of Work

Sorry it has taken a while to write these posts.  Since being back I went straight to the north woods of Wisconsin, felt a little out of it during the work week and then headed home this past weekend.  I have wanted to post about my last day of work so I am finally getting to do so.

Waking up in the morning two Thursday’s ago was a surreal feeling.  I did not actually feel like I was headed back to the US.  However, once I got to work it had that “last day of school” feeling.  I tied up loose ends, ate one last Arabic meal and then said my good byes at the end of the day.  Each time I did something I said to myself, this will be my last water bottle from the fridge, my last elevator ride up etc…

The Dubai office on my last day. 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, at the end it did not feel like goodbye.  Over 90 days, I had seen these 20 people almost every day and developed a new life around them.  It just did not feel right that it would be the last time I would see them. 

It was weird coming to work the first day back in Chicago.  In the blink of an eye I was back on the 63^rd floor of 311 South Wacker and my days in the DIFC felt like light years ago.  Although the two offices are on opposite ends of the world, there is striking similarity between them.  The people make the office and are the reason I enjoy going to work each day.  My experience in Dubai would have been nothing without the people in the Dubai office and I cannot thank them enough.  

They have a special group of people in the Dubai  and are faced with a number of challenges.  However, after working with them for three months I know that they are up for the challenge and will work hard to keep up the continued success.