Nikolina+Diary+Entries

Diary entry 1 Friday This morning we arrived to Dubai, at the airport we were greeted and transfered to our hotel Burj Al Arab where we will stay for the rest of our trip. My first impression of Dubai was amazing. The hotel we are staying in is wonderful i would give it 10 stars, I love everything about it, we were photographing every angle of the hotel. The staff are so friendly and there was no problem communicating with them as they all could speak English very well. The hotel has a number of places to eat and drink, the Al Mahara restaurant probably being the most popular, with its 2 minute submarine ride to get to it and large aquarium. We had lunch at this restaurant as it was recommended to us by the staff and some of the locals in Dubai.

Diary entry 2 After breakfast at hotel I decide to visit a traditional way of living at Dubai. When I asked the receptionist for recommendation, he said that Bedouin village will be the perfect place for that and that he has some friends in hotel who are planning to go there and they can show me around.He said that his friends are Australians who come at hotel every year and stay there for a few months so they know a lot about Dubai. I was really happy to meet these people, first of all because we speak the same language, so they could tell me more about the culture of Dubai. Trip to Bedouin was quiet an excitement. I experienced some of the traditional way of living in a desert by a 4 wheel drive. Also we had a camel riding lesson, where i fell of the camel a few times, while looking at the residents. It was so funny,but eventually i learnt how to ride a camel.

Diary entry 3 Bad luck guys!! This afternoon we decided to go out to a club and experience Dubai nightlife. We researched on the internet and found Planetarium as a very interesting place. We all got ready and arranged a taxi to pick us up from the hotel. When we got there security wouldn't let the boys in. They tried to talk to the security and ask what's the problem but, security didn't speak english so they couldn't do anything. Boys were so angry that they didn't want to go to any other club and they went back to the hotel. Some of the girls from the group and me went in the club and were amazed when we saw all the girls belly-dancing to the Arabian songs. We could not understand what the songs were about but we enjoyed the music.

Diary entry 4 Today we decided to go to a restaurant for a lunch. We picked an Ashiana restaurant because I liked the name of it. When we told receptionist what restaurant we were going to, he said that it is one of the most famous and most highly respected Indian restaurants in Dubai. The service is excellent, good ambience. We got there and were asked to order. As we could not understand the menu and didn't know what kind of food it is, we just picked up anything we tought ight be good. When the food arrived, it all looked very nice, but when I tried SHOCK... i had to run to the bathroom and spit it out..it was so spicy and horrible..i didn't like it at all.

Diary entry 5 Hello diary, since today was our last day at Dubai we wanted to go shopping, as we heard back in Australia Dubai is labelled the "shoping capital of the Middle East". Mall of Emirates has over 200 shops plus cinemas, restaurants and ski centres. We could not go to all shops because we didn't have much time, but the ones we went in we could find anything we needed. I bought some clothes and a gold necklace...as it is much cheaper in Dubai than it is in Australia. Also i bought a nice picture of Dubai so it always stays in my memory. In shopping it was easy to communicate with people, because they are mainly businessmens and they could speak English.

STEP 4 : http://webmasterdubai.blogspot.com/2005/04/cultural-experience.html http://mhcindubai.blogspot.com/2006/01/last-few-days.html

Part 2: A potential difficult situation or cultural misunderstanding that could take place within my work place with: - an international visitor: A Russian lady at the restaurant has ordered a lunch,drink and desert. She receives lunch and drink, but not the desert. She doesn't speak English very well and keeps calling waiter saying something the waiter cannot understand. She became very angry with the situation and starts yelling. As a restaurant manager I come up to a customer and try to resolve the problem by speaking slowly and clear, also using some hand gestures. Also I use body language to inform the lady that I understand her and also make a good eye contact to show the lady that I am interested in what she is saying. Then I apologise to the lady for what happened and tell her that she will have her desert straight away and that she doesn;t have to pay for it, as it was our mistake.

A staff member from a different background: A Hungarian girl works at a restaurant, I told her that im going to a shop to buy some groceries we need for a restaurant and tell her to mop the floor before lunch time. I come back from the shop and see that she haven't done anything, and then i became very angry because customers may come in any time. I go to her very angry and ask her why haven't she done the floor. Then she tells me, that she doesn't understand what i ment by "mop the floor". She lives in Australia only 3 months and she doesn't know all the words and doesn't understand when someone talks really fast. I apologise to her, as I didn't realised before that she doesn't understand me. I show her what mopping is and start speaking slowly with her. I use eye contact and body language to better express myself. Every now and then I ask her is it easier to understand me and does she have any difficulties. She said that now that I speak slower and clearer she understands me better and is happy that we talked about the issue. I can also see that she is happier and that she understands me, as she does her work straight away when I ask her to. I am sure she will tell me of any other concerns or difficulties at a work place in order to operate the restaurant more pleasant for everyone.

5 Other Aspects Of Complaint Handling: 1. Find out what the problem is 2. Acknowlegde it 3. Set the steps of action 4. deal with it 5. Follow up

My cultural experience: My cultural experience as well as my lifestyle would help me in the workplace when dealing with customers and colleagues with cultural and social differences. In my cultural experience I have learned when to talk formaly or informaly, as well as how to talk to people older than me or if at workplace people at a higher position than me. I understand that everyone is different and everyone should be treated with respect. Also I understand that personal grooming is very important and should be kept at the highest level as it shows the persons personality and attitude toward work. Wearing the correct uniform and being neat and clean shows that you respect the job you have and your colleagues. Also I understand that peope may have family obligations and other but there may be time for everything if you are organised and efficient. You need to be able to work out the best solution for you and your company, if possible. This also should be practiced when person has some personal belifes and needs to preform some religous practices. If someone has a special needs whether it is about their health or maybe a service they require, we must listen to their problem and try to work out the best solution. We need to make sure that their needs are met.