Two young girls, cuddled up on the sofa, singing the UAE national anthem.A candid moment from a quiet evening at the Jackson home in Al Ain has connected with thousands of UAE residents, after Alexander Jackson posted a video of his daughters coming together to sing Ishy Bilady.“This wasn’t planned. No rehearsals, no camera set up. Just my girls singing the UAE national anthem around the house in the evening, and I had to hit record because moments like this are music to my ears,” Jackson wrote on his Instagram account.“As a dad who grew up here and has now returned so my own children can experience this incredible country, moments like these mean more than I can put into words,” he added.The video has received tens of thousands of likes, including from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, and Chairman of The Executive Council.From student to teacher in Al AinSpeaking to Emirates 24|7, the 36-year-old British expat said he came to the UAE in 2000 when he was 10 years old.“I completed my secondary school here and went back to the UK. I joined the army in the UK when I finished school but I had been trying to get a job in the UAE again for almost 10 years,” he said.That moment came when he got a job teaching automotive engineering at Al Ain English Speaking School – the very school he had attended growing up in Al Ain.“The head of secondary is my old physics teacher,” he said.With his daughters Jemima, 9, and Bonnie, 7, and son Isaac, 14, attending the same school, he says it has been a real full circle moment for him.On his Instagram account, Jackson often shares his conversations in Arabic with his daughters, teaching them the language he grew up loving.The Jackson family at an Al Ain Club match recently.“When I first moved here, I had a lot of friends in school but the ones I got on with best were Emirati, so I made a conscious effort to learn the language. They even taught me a song, which helped me learn basic pronunciations, so I could pronounce other words. Most of the times, they’d refuse to speak with me if I didn’t speak in Arabic, to motivate me. So, I picked up the words pretty quickly,” Jackson said.Even though living away from the UAE meant his Arabic skills got a bit rusty, he’s tried to get back into the rhythm, saying he’s 60 per cent back to his original speaking skills.“My friends would jokingly call me ‘the White Emirati’, and even today a lot of times Emiratis get quite surprised with how good my accent is,” he said.My heart is Al AinOne of the biggest reasons he wanted to return to the UAE, and Al Ain specifically, was the overwhelming feeling of safety in the country.“I wouldn’t be worried if my wife were to go the mall at night, or if my girls went out to play. It is just a nice place to be. Also, how nice everyone is, the culture and everything really – it’s just the way that life is much nicer for my family and me,” he said.His wife, Sophie, too, spoke about how moving to the UAE has been a memorable experience for her and her children: "Everyone has been so welcoming and kind to our family, we feel grateful to have the opportunity to live here with our kids"For the moment, Jackson hopes to continue staying in the UAE, as he shares one of his favourite lines in Arabic: “Ana Britani bas qalbi Ainawi.”I am British, but my heart is Al Ain.
