About
After studying Arabic in Kuwait, Damascus, Cairo, Edinburgh and Durham, I now find myself in the midst of my PhD at Durham University surrounded by books and contemplating three years of hard drudgery learning all there is to learn about Qatar. Indeed, I shall be studying (yet more…) Arabic at the University of Qatar in a concerted attempt to push my Arabic over the proverbial last hill and to offer the the best possible opportunity to get to grips with Qatar from the inside.
I started out studying International Relations at the University of St. Andrews and went from there to Nottingham University to complete a Masters degree in Diplomacy. After this I decided to go abroad for a time. I arrived in Kuwait in September 2005 and left in May 2007. I taught in a British International School which was – to say the least – an enlightening experience. I also used Kuwait as a jumping off point to travel throughout the Levant and much of the Arabian Peninsula; to have a few wonderful holidays in Sri Lanka and Thailand; an underwhelming trip from Syria to Hungary via Italy; and an epic odyssey from Istanbul by car, boat, train, taxi, bus, bike, tractor and Llama to Shanghai via the ‘Stans.
