Never Too Old to Learn New Skills
In Dubai your career is accelerated forwards exponentially and along with study and training you can learn some extraordinary things about business. However, in other aspects of life you become so sheltered that it’s easy to understand why so many expats become conceited. You don’t put your own petrol in your car, for example, somebody does that for you; or nowadays, you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home, they deliver petrol to your door. You don’t pack your own shopping at the supermarket, somebody does that for you and will even take it to your car if you like. Most people don’t clean their own homes or even do their own laundry. This is seen as normal in Dubai and even expected. It does lead you to forget, however, just how much effort keeping a house requires. Since most people don’t have much of a garden in Dubai, gardening isn’t much of a consideration either, so weekend activities don’t generally involve rambling around the DIY Stores. It’s just a very different way of life – but one we all acknowledged – must come to an end at some point and getting back to reality an absolute necessity.
Now, I’ve always thought of myself as fairly well grounded. I always packed my own shopping at the supermarket and did my own laundry! Even if I did avail myself of other luxuries whilst there. It has, however, been a steep learning curve since coming to France. We took on a renovation project – because we wanted to learn to do it ourselves and not rely fully on tradesmen and project managers but the new skills required coupled with the shock of fending for ourselves again was a bit of a shock to the system!
The biggest thing for me was re-learning French. I have a degree in French and had a small business teaching French to nursery and primary school children which I sold in 2008. That meant over 10 years of not really using my French except to recruit and train Moroccan and Cameroonian employees into the company. I don’t think I’ve ever used my French as much in actual fact as I have over the past year or so. The types of legal documentation, technical estimations and service requirements I’ve had to deal with have really stretched me. I’m far from bi-lingual but I’m certainly happier with my ability than I was before coming here.
We have ever really done a great deal of DIY work ourselves; me probably more so and therefore knew the order in which things had to be done, how the budget might work and timelines etc. Doing a project plan, having a strategy, budgeting etc. are all second nature to us having worked in business for so long.
Lifting tiles and screed from the old terrace and disposing of tons of materials before choosing the right tiles for weight, climate and tenure are good examples of what did not come as second nature to us, however. We have learned how insert fires and wood burners work efficiently; we have learned all about the different ways of heating a house like this and how our ceramic heaters work most effectively. Tiling, sanding, painting, grouting, sealing, fitting macerator toilets, restoring ceramic skirting boards, stripping artex, repairing wooden beams, upcycling furniture, building flatpack furniture, fitting Edison lamps, sewing/ tailoring and lining curtains, replastering, rewiring, putting up pictures and blinds, making blinds, fitting chair rails, wallpapering, dry wall anchoring, interior design, disposing of hornets nests, insulating chimneys, integrating a dishwasher, fixing shutters…to name but a few indoors! We’ve had a hand in everything, even the things which really required a tradesman we chose to do the laboring and disposals ourselves to save money. We did all the design and chose all the materials ourselves.
The gite kitchen has been the biggest burden yet though and it won’t be completed until next month. It was by far the worst room in the whole house and so has needed a lot of specialist work and still does. Unfortunately, because it has been badly wired it had to be completely redone and not something, we can do ourselves. Before the old owners fitted the sump pump the lowest part of the house must have been flooded several times – the walls had soaked up the damp and it had never been dealt with properly. Now dried out and clear of damp – the walls need complete replastering. Thankfully we are almost there with this, but as we wait for the plaster to dry, we need the kitchen to be delivered along with the new flooring. In the meantime, we learned how to restore the old log burner and I have cleaned up the old fireplace. The wooden beams have been restored and the ceiling redone. Those are fiddly, time consuming jobs in themselves.
Outdoors, this is really where I have surprised myself. I didn’t expect to be getting my hands dirty in the garden until we have completely finished the renovations. That would have been some bad project management as all our guests, regardless of time of year, have spent much of their time in the garden. The garden, as it turns out, is one of my favourite places; but it requires a whole new skillset for me. It is huge and we completely underestimated the amount of work it both required and requires! Tree surgery requiring ropes, harnesses, triple ladders and special weights show you the actual size of some of the trees. Understanding what grows in this climate and where things can thrive is something that I think will take years but I have to say I do enjoy learning about it…I don’t enjoy the weeding or deadheading of roses nor the ivy! Surprising though considering I could barely keep the pots of bougainvillea on my balcony alive in Dubai never mind a huge expanse of flower beds!
The pool is a whole new ball game. Looking after the pool in summer is a full-time job! The chemicals must be accurately balanced; the filter needs to run for certain amounts of time dependent upon temperature etc. The area surrounding the pool now needs a great deal of work but for our first year, just understanding how it works and how people use it was super important. I struggle to understand how some of the holiday villas can only have a pool maintenance person once a week and I would be extraordinarily careful about getting in it!
These are all practical skills we’ve been honing. On top of that I’ve had to learn how to cook gluten free food from scratch. This is another things Dubai is bad for. You can eat whatever you want when you want it (except if you’re coeliac of course!). It is not uncommon for people to eat out several nights a week and on the other nights to get takeaway. When I sold my oven, it was practically brand new – I think I used to cook once or twice a week! Now though, there is no eating out and there are 100% no takeaways!
Quite apart from all the practical skills, starting two new businesses 15 years after the last one requires a whole different skillset again. Social media marketing, increasing followers, website clicks, blogging, tweeting, instagramming, attracting millennials! I spend more time doing all this than actually doing what I’m supposed to be. When I started La Jolie Ronde, I printed off a handwritten leaflet and sent it round the schools and posted notices on noticeboards around the villages on the 1st of every month!
I tell you what though, it might be hard work, and we may be on a constant learning curve…but learning new skills is 100% the way forwards! AND you’re never too old!