Stupid Things Expats Say When You Decide to Go Home

Most expats complain at one point or another about living abroad. It is just a fact of the lifestyle. Nothing is exactly as it was back home. Some things are better - salary, healthcare benefits, vacations, etc.

However, we all complain - lack of personal space, lack of freedom, foods we cannot find, beverages we cannot legally drink, call to prayers interrupting sleep after 4AM, missing friends and family, culture clashing because of different (strange) expectations and communication styles, etc.

We decided to move back home for two basic reasons: my husband would like the opportunity to seek a graduate degree, and I would like to start our family of non-furbabies in the US. We also miss our freedom. I am a runner and I have only ran alone once here. It was not relaxing mainly because of traffic, cultural expectations that demand women be chaperoned by a male family member and fully clothed. My elbows, kneecaps and shoulders were all too round and sexy for the drivers and passerbys to handle. I wore my baseball cap pulled down low and kept my sunglasses on despite the sun setting. I was annoyed, but safe. Here they don't mess around with punishing criminals and that made me feel safe....but I was still incredibly annoyed and vulnerable. I miss my freedom!

Anyway, this post is not about what we miss and why we are going home, but about the reactions we've had from others once they find out we're leaving the sandbox.

For starters, I kept our decision a secret for quite some time before I had to give my 6 months of notice at work. I did not want my employer to feel like I was happily screaming from the rooftops "We're outta here!" to everyone. However, I did tell a few close friends because I felt badly misleading them into thinking that we would be around again next year.

Once I told my employer I felt a huge sense of relief. Then I had to deal with the rumor mill at work. I remembered a friend who had left before also feeling annoyed at others' reactions to her leaving. I have been annoyed mainly because people assume things and they make judgements about my life without having been in it at all over the past 18 months.

Here's the stupidest reaction from someone who heard from another that I had turned in my resignation:

I was sitting in a common area at work and he approached me, kneeled down next to my chair and said with a lowered voice and cheshire cat's smile, "I just wanted to congratulate you on your resignation." I calmly replyed, "Oh, thanks." Even though I have not spent any social time whatsoever with this person, he continued with, "Hey, let's get together some time and we can talk about it." I know my face was probably saying, 'what the hell for?' but I calmly said, "Well, we're busy checking things off our list, so I don't know when that would be. However, if you're going to X's dinner on Friday, then we could talk about it there." He said he was busy. I can only guess that he wanted to hear some sad, dramatic, story about us hating it here and running home. He most likely wanted first hand knowledge of our private lives to spread around. (First hand knowledge in this part of othe world is rare, and prized.)

What he did was 1. approach me as if we were friends, 2. assume that there were some terrible news about why are leaving. Wrong. Wrong.

A few others made stupid comments like:

I just don't understand why you're going home when the US economy is so bad.

[Guess what? The world economy is bad. And hey - remember we are in the ESL/EFL field. And if you didn't know this before, that means that rich foreigners send their children to the US to study. If I were a car salesperson or a realestate agent, then I'd rethink leaving this stable job in this place that we don't really like to live.]

So you're quitting? Are you tired of the heat?

[It isn't quitting if you're giving notice (of 6 months!) and it ain't just the heat! There is a list of about a hundred things that are calling us back to the US.]

What will you do?

[Gee, I think I'll go to med school. Why are people so stupid. We've all got graduate degrees in what we're doing here. Why would I change my career just because I was heading home? Again, people send their kids to the US to learn English in intensive programs. And in all fairness the people who have asked this are either not from the US or they got their MA from online, so they do not know about the intensive programs.]

Hey, so I heard you were leaving. What will you do? Do you have a job yet? Where will you go? Are you worried? Why are you leaving? I've heard others are leaving and you know I just wonder. You know, you can out grow a place .... So, did you not like it here? . . . . [5 minutes later] . . . Wow! This is the longest conversation we've had.

[Yes, this is the first time we've had a conversation over 10 seconds. You're asking a lot of personal questions that you need to ask yourself. For example, why are you still here? What are you hiding from in the Gulf? And, who are you again?]

Do you have a job yet?

[Most asked this in January. I found myself thinking: What do you think? No, I don't and I think it is interesting that you are so concerned about my personal life when you never were before. Oh, wait. You are asking this to make yourself feel better about being trapped in this sandbox by not taking a risk and competing for a job back home. FYI: some US university intensive English programs do not hire teaching staff until 1 week before classes start, which might be late August for a fall semester job. No, I'm not worried, but thanks for sharing that you are worried for me.]

We'd probably move back, but we don't want to pay income taxes.

[Well, more power to ya! I would love to pay US taxes knowing that it builds and sustains our great nation. I love that our taxes will go towards roads, schools and other things that make life enjoyable instead of the government throwing money at projects in sandbox where people do not appreciate what it given to them.]

Will you guys live in the same place?

[I know we got married after I moved here, but I'm not done being married to my sweet M! I mean, even if we have to work as Wal-Mart greeters or Starbuck's as baristas to live in the same town and same apartment, we will. I think this question was asked by that particular person because he and his wife could not find jobs in the same place.]

Basically, some expats have been abroad so long that the thought of having to live in their home countries brings up a lot of fears. People don't want to pay for housing, pay taxes, pay for healthcare (Americans), or have to do their freaking job. In my opinion, there are a lot of people here that get too comfortable with a lifestyle that they really do not deserve. We've never hired a housemaid nor paid a man to wash our car. Yes, we've saved a lot of money here because of free housing and our tax-free double income. However, we have not lived above our American means. We've even managed to save as if we were paying utilities and rent back home each month. In addition, we're putting most of our savings towards our future home down payment and college education funds for our future children. The stereotypical expat lifestyle of wining and dining, hiring help, and doing the minimum at work (in my field of teaching anyhow), is just not who we are.

The other expats who are aghast that we're leaving the security and high salaries of the Arabian Gulf are those who have a lot more to lose if they went back home. We know people who are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, who live well above their means (even in the Gulf), who haven't filed US taxes in years, who seem to buy whatever they want (why not buy a year membership to a hotel beach club for $5,000USD or more/year?), and who seem to simply not follow a budget regardless of their salary. We only have my $19,000 student loan as debt, which we pay every month. We know we will have to buy another vehicle once we get home, but we will not be buying a brand new luxury car. Also, we will continue spending based on our budget. Basically, money and buying crap isn't who we are.

We're going home. And we're excited about that. There's no salicious story. There's no drama. We aren't terrified of having to pay for housing or taxes. We'll do it because the trade off for us is well worth it. I'll get to run around our neighborhood in shorts and a sleeveless shirt, M will get to BBQ pork bacon on a grill in our backyard while we sip margaritas, and we'll eventually have children who will be closer to their grandparents and our culture.

Until Next Time,

WW

Photo credit: http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/

The Big Homeward Bound List

We're making our way through our "get outta here!" list and it feels darn good! Here's what we've been busying doing lately:


1. Selling the car and squeezing as much out of the transportation allowance as possible in car rental
2. organizing our stuff: sell, give away, ship home, pack and take on the plane home
3. job applications
4. scourering online for various departure date airfare
5. researching the best (and cheapest) way to immigrate our two cats to the US
6. teaching


Selling the car was a pain the in ass that we ended early - thank goodness! As soon as we posted it on Qatar Living we got two phone calls despite my error in listing M's mobile number two different ways! Unfortunately, those early callers were just trying to low ball us by offering well below what we had listed the car. I figure there are some locals that make a killing off buying cars and flipping them for a profit in a week's time. After a few people called, said they would meet us at X location to view the vehicle, and then did not show up - M took the next customer that showed up. We finally sold the car less than a week after posting it to a nice Indian woman. Her husband and friend came to view the car, but I actually sold the car to the wife. We felt good about selling it to that couple because they really needed a car for the wife. They had been paying a driver 1,000 QR each week to drive her to and from work in Al Khor! I could see that she was very excited to get the car. We only dropped the price by 2,000 QR and more importantly, we do not have to worry about selling it at the last minute.

Kia Soul

Suzuki Celerio and Alto

Since we sold our car, we had to find a rental for our remaining months here. I have never driven a car quite like the one we have now. For just two days we drove what we thought was the world's tiniest car - the Kia Soul. We were wrong. In retrospect, I loved that Soul. We are now driving a Suzuki Celerio, soon to be replaced by an even smaller gutless Suzuki Alto. These Suzukis are so tiny and powerless that even though they are automatics we drive them as if they were manuals. I feel badly for formerly cursing the drivers of these tiny cars because I thought the drivers were just taking their time on the mean streets of Doha. I now know that the slowpoking was not due to the driver, but because of the car's non-existent engine. The Suzukis are both only 1450QR a month, and my transportation allowance is just 1500QR a month, so we are technically making money by renting a car run by gerbils.



We've got quite a bit of stuff, but not nearly as much as others will have to deal with when they leave Qatar. We have truly saved money while in Qatar, rather than spent it. The only things we will ship or pack are:

• books
  
• shoes


• clothes
  
• photos
  
• souvenirs
  
• Bose iPod docking station


• Pampered Chef crockpot


• Down feather comforter


• two personal laptop computers


• cameras


• iPods
  
• Imation media center


• cat toys (Yes, I am taking the cat tunnel whether my husband likes it or not!)

We've got nearly a whole house in storage at home, so the sell/give away list is quite large. Here are the things we will sell or give away:

• blender


• microwave (so big the crockpot could fit in it!)


• faux George Forman grill


• iron and ironing board


• DVD player


• clothes drying rack (no clothes dryer here - so happy to be going home!)


• two sets of twin sheets


• two sets of queen sheets


• four pillows


• throw pillow covers


• curtains


• dishes (not a full 8-person set because some were broken in shipment to Qatar)


• pots and pans


• forks, knives, spoons


• place mats for 6 (2 sets)
  
• trash cans (1 kitchen, 2 bathroom)
  
• shower curtain, rug, toilet bowl cleaner (2 sets)


• two folding picnic chairs
  
• potted plants
  

My job search has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. As always, I need to relax! While looking for jobs, I need to remember that the "fit" is most important. I need to find where I fit best, not just which job I think I want. I have been checking my favorite job posting sites nearly every day, but some institutions will not post openings until they confirm fall enrollment which might not be until late August. My little heart must be patient, which is something it does not like to be. In addition to waiting to pounce as soon as the job advertisement goes up, some openings are not really open to the public. Therefore, I am letting specific colleagues know that I am job hunting and what M and I are looking for in a place to settle for awhile.

Of course, if we are both unemployed for more than a few months after we get home there's always Plan B - get a part-time job teaching where I got my MA. I am not worried about M. He can go back to school for his MS, or do anything really because he excels at whatever he puts his mind to doing. My super husband is a jack of trades, very likeable, and a helluva worker. (In fact, his incredible work ethic was one of the top three things that attracted me to him!)

Sending the cats home to the US has been a nightmare of finding information. There are some good pet relocation services that operate out of Doha, Qatar. However, our hometown/region in the US is smack dab in the middle of nowhere. Therefore, we received ridiculous quotes like these:

1. Service can get the cats to Houston, Texas, but that's it . . . for about $4000USD. This was strange because they claim to get pets from "A to B."

2. Service can fly cats from Doha to New Jersey and then to Chicago. Service would drive the cats to hometown - hours away for double the price estimated above. Nice, so what you're saying is you'll rip us off and totally piss our cats off!

3. Service will only do the paper work and give us a website (see #2) to rip us off.

What we have decided to do is this:

M will take his one week of his 24 remaining days of vacation that his work refuses to cash out. M will fly on the cheapest airfare we can find to Houston, Texas. He will take all the luggage he can handle so we save on shipping later. He will meet the cats that will have flown direct from Doha to Houston via the "world's only 5-star airline" Qatar Airways. The three of them will road trip an estimated 12 hours to our hometown and collapse. M will leave the cats with my parents to acclimate to live in America while he drives back to Houston and flies back to Doha. That make me tired just thinking about it, but oddly enough it is the best plan for where we are going, and what my employer will give us for shipping allowance upon departure. Plus, M gets to eat Mexican food for a whole week! Sadly, they will leave me all alone in this hell hole. In fact, this upcoming Operation Fly Cats Home ordeal will keep M and I apart for the first time sine October 1st, 2009. Yikes!

During all of this I have been teaching a very good group of young Arab men. We are entering week four of fourteen, and I must say it has been a good first few weeks. M is also having some relief at work teaching courses that he has already prepared for, and thus, does not need to spend as much time making lessons.

Life is good, but it is going to get even better!

Until Next Time,
WW

Image sources:
http://www.indianautoblog.com/
http://www.mexicogarage.com/
http://www.car-blogger.co.uk/

Update!

Here I am on another "non-teaching" day before I get to officially be on vacation, and I'm looking back at all we've done this fall.

Two exciting things have happened:

1. We decided to train for a marathon. IN THE DESERT! We'll be running the Dubai Standard Chartered Marathon this Friday, January 21st, 2011. I am excited, but also terrified of the pain I'll surely be in afterwards (and during!). While this will be my fifth marathon, it feels like the worst training I've been through: running in sweltering heat, being surrounded by all men staring at me in my running clothes, not being able to run alone (by personal choice, not law), and massive IT band and knee pain for a good portion of this past fall.

2. We decided to move home! This is perhaps even more exciting than running my fifth marathon! I cannot wait to to do the follow things in the United States:

• buy dill pickles
• buy delicious deli lunch meats
• buy delicious whole wheat breads
• buy yummy bagels
• buy Dr. Pepper for my addict husband
• work at an American university
• run whenever, wherever I want - even alone if I choose!
• run a race at Disney World with my sweetie husband
• attempt a triathlon (first, must take swim lessons and buy a bike!)
• enjoy four seasons
• happily wear socks and close-toed shoes again, and all other cold weather clothes
• be able to see friends and family more easily
• go to the movies with an audience that knows talking on cell phones is rude
• go to public places and know that a child unattended will be quickly sought out by a guardian, rather than left to the involuntary supervision of strangers
• drive regularly in a car that will not be run off the road because some jerk is in a hurry and flashing his headlights while tailgating way too closely
• have police that actually enforce the laws on a regular basis rather than only have responsibilities as traffic cops
• celebrate all American holidays without offending someone by proudly saying to all "Merry Christmas!" rather than having to see it referred to as "the Magic Season" in the stores
• wear shorts and t-shirts (and possibly sleeveless shirts! - gasp!) without offending others
• watch our kitties experience life in the US - watching nature through house windows
• relax without censoring my self - words like "girlfriend":and "boyfriend" and "dating" will become part of my vocabulary again
• enjoy being able to leave my country for work or vacation without an exit permit
• enjoy getting to know an American city with my husband (we moved to Qatar almost immediately after meeting and marrying)
• getting a decent radio station while driving in the car
• knowing that if it gets ridiculously hot in the summer that I can and will wear a bikini to a public or private pool and not worry about it offending everyone or drawing an insane amount of judging leers from random people
• enjoying being home

Cats!

So we are leaving in about a week. While our departure couldn't come any sooner, I'm getting pretty sad about leaving our furbabies. I wanted to post another blog about Qatar, but cannot focus on anything worthy to write about here. In fact, when I'm READY to leave a place I'm very much in the 2nd place long before I leave the 1st place. The heat, lack of things to do outside, and my desire to be in the US have given me a bad attitude about all things Qatar. With the heat index regularly at 120-145F I just want to hibernate in our apartment until we leave to catch our flight. I'm also starting to get nervous that some unforeseen event will delay our trip home like I'll get in a car wreck or some other terrible thing!

So, here's a little photo montage of our furbabies:

Until next time,

WW

Terrible Wife, Great Running Partner

We are still training for the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago 1/2 Marathon that is on August 1st. We've also been taking co-ed group fitness classes at Aspire. I also had a consultation with a personal trainer to get set up on using the weight room. I like using the weights because I can go down a list of nicely organized exercises that my trainer (a triathlete from New Zealand) made just for me. I also really like the co-ed classes more than the women's classes because they are more difficult. The Group Fitness class has each person moving every 2 minutes to different stations in groups of 3 or 4. In the Total Fat Loss class we stay at stations for 4 minutes. By the time we're half way around the room M and I both are dripping with sweat. I love it! However, after two weekends of not doing our long run, we made a fatal error the night before our run.

Last week we decided to go to the Thursday night Total Fat Loss class with the fantastic-sub-five-foot-no-bullshit-allowed-no-excuses-trainer named George. He is a like a muscle bound pit bull . . . from Romania. He was wearing a tank top instead of a t-shirt last week and M and I couldn't believe how stacked he was! M heard he was a former Olympic gymnast (Doha the Branson, Missouri, of the Gulf - where former Olympians go to retire . . . ) George also commands the room with his voice. We had already started at various stations around the room when an Arab guy poked his head in and asked to join the class. George shot a quick look at the Arab and barked "Yes, go, check in, and when you come back 20 push ups!" Like I mentioned before, George doesn't mess around. So why in the heck we thought it was a good idea to take his class the night before our long run is beyond me.

I have to stop this story here to add some personal background. In 2008 I ran 7 half marathons and 2 marathons. That was while I was living in Seoul, South Korea, with one race being in Hong Kong. In Seoul there is the most amazing support system of fellow crazy runners and plenty of races in Seoul and all over Korea to enjoy. I was in heaven to say the least. I was single, working, traveling, running, and racing a lot. In fact, there was one month when I ran two half marathons. A friend jokingly asked, "Why didn't you just run one marathon and get it over with?" I went to races out of town by bus or train. I went with some great friends and also alone. I went to the Cherwon DMZ Half Marathon alone and spent the whole day speaking Korean. I will never forget that experience of running past South Korea DMZ guard towers with soldiers standing up on top and of running through villages and having Korean ajummas waving at me and cheering me on while smiling. I loved traveling throughout Korea and running. However, simply put, I was addicted and wanted to spend all my free time either preparing or actually competing. I wasn't great at it, but I had some amazing life changing races. Training and racing became me. I was a bona fide finisher's medal hording, race t-shirt collecting, early weekend morning training, monthly racing "marathoner" while in Korea.

Now that we live in Qatar things have changed. I honestly thought the only obstacle to maintaining my previous running and racing lifestyle would be the weather, but I was wrong. There is a small group of people who meet each weekend to run along The Corniche, but M and I stopped going last fall because we hated getting up early to meet strangers for a run along a brick (ouch!) path. Perhaps equally upsetting is the fact that there are practically no races in Qatar. I hear about some sort of "Women's Mini-marathon" or something like that. What the heck is a "mini-marathon"? Call it what it is - a 5k fun run/walk! I didn't run that race. It made me angry just thinking about it. However, M and I found a proper half marathon in the UAE for a nice weekend in February. We had a great time, but with less intense training I felt like it was just a training run rather than a race.

I miss racing like I used to do in Seoul. I miss feeling like I am good at running. I miss being known as "a runner" or better yet, "a marathoner" to others, but mostly to myself. I miss training hard and feeling good even though it kind of kills my social life. And I've let my husband (a marathoner and triathlete as well) know this in more than a few conversations since we moved here. I just hope we can visit Seoul and run a race there so he can experience it all.

So we recommitted ourselves to training. We've run a little more in the heat than was probably wise, and decided that we just can't change the weather. However, we can get up earlier when it isn't so darn hot. We decided this before George's Total Fat Loss class last week. We had been getting up at 5:00AM to run, but by the time we got out the door it was 5:20AM and the sun was glaring down on us.

Therefore, last Thursday night I set the alarm for 4:00AM. We would run 7 miles - the most we'd run since our February half marathon. For a half marathon we should run at least one 12 mile run about two weeks before the race. We've got time, but not much considering we've only ran 5-6 miles each time we've ran since our last half marathon and we skipped two weekends in a row. As soon as the alarm went off at 4:00AM I jumped up excited and ready to run. The cats were confused and looked a little perturbed. I know Frankie said to Sophia, "Hey, isn't it our job to wake them up?!" M wasn't trilled but I found a way to get him out of bed. I have to bluff and pretend like I'm going to run on the mean streets of Doha alone and then he's up!

Just for the record it was a nice cool 93F at 4:00AM on that Friday, June 25th. I was immediately in love with the idea of getting up every weekend in Doha at 4:00AM. I cannot tell you how incredibly refreshing it was to run at that time in that cool of weather. Right now it is a hot 95F but the "realfeel" temperature is 100F. In the past few weeks the "realfeel" temperature got up near 120F. What does that feel like? Basically, imagine putting your body into an oven, or turning a thousand hot hair dryers onto your body.

Until Next Time,

WW

Photo credit: Seoul Flyer's Running Club President, Jae Kim and me.

Gulf Fashion Observations

Amy Winehouse keeps popping into my head when I see my students. Read more to find out why!

Like in South Korea I was not accustomed to what I saw when I first arrived in Qatar. I saw a sea of sameness at first. Now I can see some differences. There are some subtle differences and some big differences.

First of all, there are many types of covering for women in the Arab world. BBC online has a good slide show of these. There is the hijab which is a veil and the word for "veil" in Arabic. You can still see the face and eyes when a Muslim woman wears this. They come in different colors and patterns. And like in this photograph, I see SE Asian women wearing these too here in Qatar.

Most of my students wear the shayla which is a bigger scarf that wraps around one's head and hangs a bit further down. Almost all of my students wear a black shayla with a matching abaya. Some students wear a matching shayla and abaya that have embroidery on the edges. This blog sells them and has some good photographs. Some abayas and shaylas are fairly modest with only black threaded embroidery on black fabric. Some are much more colorful like the one below. In fact, one of my students wore a black abaya with part of the sleeves made from zebra print fabric which had hot pink bobby sock puffs stitched along the cuffs. I immediately thought "Wow! Cat toy!" when I first saw her abaya. Despite her sassy choice of fabric she was quiet and diligent in class.

Another type of head covering is called niqab and it covers everything but the woman's eyes.

In a class of about 20 females from all over the Arabian Gulf, the Middle East, and Northern Africa, I have had only 2 or 3 who wore the niqab. Furthermore, only 1 of my students out of my total 40 from 2009-2010 never unveiled her face to me. She even wore long, black gloves outside the classroom. I only know that one student by her voice and her eyes. She was from Sudan. She was also one of my most respectful and serious students here in Qatar. I've found it interesting that in general my students who wear niqab seem to make a extra effort to express themselves with their eyes. Students wearing the niqab have crinkled up their eyes when I suppose they were smiling underneath their niqabs. They have also given me cold stares when frustrated during a class lesson. They also seem to speak their minds more than the others - perhaps because of the freedom associated with the niqab's anonymity or because they were simply outspoken individuals (I'm still not sure which is the cause).

The one accessory that interests me the most is the "flower puff" which some Gulf Arab women put under their head scarves (i.e. a bustle for your head). It goes to show that curves are in style everywhere. One online forum explains that some women add this extra Va Va Voom! under their head scarves to make it look as if their hair is fuller than it really is. The forum also points out that the reason for wearing the hijab, or head scarf, is to show modesty by covering one's hair. Furthermore, the forum goes on to argue that feigning fuller hair than what you have naturally is deceitful and against Islam. Hm . . . I guess women in all corners of the world use all sorts of trickery when it comes to beautifying themselves. I just cannot get Amy Winehouse out of my head when I see some of my students with a head bustle or flower puff.

Until Next Time,

WW

PS It was 50C or 122F here in Doha, Qatar, today so I cannot imagine ever wearing any of the above fashions. Thank goodness I don't have to wear any of them.

Photo credits:

http://alivemindandspirt.com/index

http://abayacouture.blogspot.com/

http://24.media.tumblr.com/

http://khaleejia.blogspot.com/

http://www.hairflare.org/

Why Not Have Outdoor Airconditioning in the Desert?

Qatar is a growing nation with a lot (A LOT) of money to spend. Hosting the 2006 Asian Games was not enough. We've seen several international sporting events come to Qatar.

• Tour de Qatar (cycling)


• IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championshi ps


• IAAF Diamond League (outdoor track and field)

But all of those (in the winter) are not enough. Qatar wants YOU! to Back the Bid for the 2022 World Cup Games in Qatar.

They are planning on building shaded, air-conditioned stadiums. Interesting! I kind of hope Qatar wins the bid just so we can see how they're going to pull that off.

Until Next Time,

WW

Image Credits:

http://theinosaudiblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/qatar-2022.jpg

Another Insightful NYT Article about Qatar

So this journalist, Michael Slackman, from the New York Times has done it again. I hope he is far from Qatar because he has written some very (true) critical things about this little sandbox.



Give it a gander. He apparently interviewed and followed a few expats and Qataris for a week while in Doha. He gives a balance of quotes from both expats and Qataris, but somehow I just don't feel sorry for the locals when these are the highlights of the story:

• Qataris do not see themselves as coddled. Sure, they do not have to pay for electricity, water, education or health care, and they are given land and low-cost loans to build houses when they marry. They are eligible for public assistance if they do not have a job, often receive generous pensions and acknowledge they will not take any jobs they do not consider suitable for them.
  
  


• Another Qatari man said that the foreigners were never willing to teach him new skills, so he had lost motivation. “I have been working there for three years, and I still haven’t fully grasped the work,” he said. “I go to work to drink tea and read the paper.”
  


• Ibrahim al-Muhairy, 29, a Qatari high school dropout who said he earns about $41,000 a year working for the government as a security guard in a mall. “Everyone is getting what he deserves and more.”

• “We are all angry for staying at home,” (This was said when explaining that some Qataris have lost their jobs to foreigners.)
  

It will be very interesting to see what becomes of Qatar after the gas and oil run out or in just 20 years time....


Until Next Time,


WW


Photo credit: http://www.onlineqatar.com/shopping/images/villagio-mall-doha.jpg


http://thumb1.shutterstock.com.edgesuite.net/display_pic_with_logo/262/262,1207068993,5/stock-photo-covered-qatari-women-with-their-children-and-housemaid-strolling-on-the-corniche-in-doha-spring-11007220.jpg

http://www.constructionweekonline.com/pictures/gallery/author/sponership_web.jpg

Blindness in Qatar

There's a new New York Times article out about Qatar's growing blind population. It mentions a little about the previous NYT's article and how marrying first cousins might be a cause of so much blindness.

A very fortunate woman, Dr. Heji, who went blind was given the opportunity to learn English, go abroad, and earn a PhD. She says that there are many obstacles for the blind in Qatar despite their growing numbers.

• Qatar's cities are built for cars
• Dogs are not well received here so seeing eye dogs aren't feasible
• Many still marry first cousins and other close relatives

It is a good article. Read it!

Until Next Time,

WW

BeautyFULL

Well, we finally did it. We joined a fitness center in Doha. We chose Aspire Fitness which has a whole slew of programs. The facilities are where they held the 2006 Asian Games too.

With so many different buildings and equipment they are capable of doing such things as the Academy Sports Program which trains young talented athletes from all over the world. That program is all encompassing with academic classes, housing, cafeterias, and training for the athletes.

In addition to grooming Qatar's national sports teams Aspire also has fitness memberships for all. Well, maybe all...as Aspire serves their own first and others later if there is space. In fact, on the Aspire website you will see this:

"If space is limited for any program, registration priorities shall be 1) Qatari, 2) non-Qatari born in Qatar, 3) residents of Qatar of any nationality, 4) non-residents of Qatar."

Well, thank goodness Qataris don't seem to like exercise (see last week's post about The New York Time's article) or we might not get to join a gym! After looking at their memberships online we decided the location close to home, high quality facilities, and membership fees were all good. Interestingly enough their system is the opposite of an American fitness center. Here we pay a flat rate for the use of classes only. Joining the gym (weigh lifting and machines) and swimming pool are considered add on memberships. Also, memberships begin only on day 1 of the month and end on the last day of the month. In addition, as a new member you are only allowed to join for one month. After that, you can join for only 3 months or 9 months.

Here is what we paid and what we are getting:

• 1 month Family Membership* (It is good to be married! 2 of 1 deals abound!) 350 QR (approx. $96 USD)
• 1 month Men's Gym 200 QR (approx. $54 USD)

* We can go to any classes for this membership fee. Some of the men's classes are open to both men and women. However, only women can go to the women's classes. In fact, the two are separated by about a half mile. We did not join the indoor swimming pool because it is only opened for us from 7PM - 8PM.

I saw the May Women's Fitness Class Schedule online and decided that after three whole days of not using our May 1st - May 31st membership that we'd better get to it! My experience was surreal. It was the first time in Qatar that I truly felt at ease. I wore my typical black spandex capri running pants and a form fitting synthetic work out shirt - but nobody stared at me. I saw all around me a variety of colors - of clothing and skin. Boy did I see skin! In fact, cell phones are not allowed inside the women's fitness center. Not only did we have to check phones at the door but we had to walk through metal detectors and face the possibility of being wanded while our bags were searched. I guess the security lady did think I was a threat because I was motioned to just walk on by without search.

I saw all sorts of women there - Westerners, Indians, Filipinos, Arabs from other GCC and Qataris. Almost all Arabs went into the facilities completely cloaked in black draping abayas, but entered the class in spandex/tight fitting leggings and cleavage bearing tank tops of all colors. Glorious colors! The desert and all the black abayas leave us with no colors at all in Qatar.

I originally lined up to attend the Body Shape class, but the line extended around the classroom. I wasn't going to get in and an Aspire Fitness Center woman told me just that. She told me to go to another studio where I could attend Pilates. Now, I'm much more of a strength, tone, run, run, and run some more kind of gal so I wasn't too keen on going to Pilates. I'm glad I did though. I got to hear the most lovely accent from a gracefully aging expert Pilates instructor and a great story to boot!

Our tiny, weathered and toned 50-something instructor walked in to class apologizing that the class was already so full. She explained that we would be doing some "controlled" movements to straighten our cores. In addition to her (Russian? Polish?) accent I cannot forget the word she kept using the entire hour: Beautiful!

The Pilates instructor would move around the room saying "for Fitness women you can do this like this" which was followed by her demonstrating a more advanced movement. After that, she would say, "for all you beautiful ladies you can do it like this," after which she would do a much easier movement.

I kept wondering 'who is she talking to? Beautiful ladies? Is she just trying to patronize the local Qatari women in the class, or bow to them?'

Only later did I find out to whom she was referring in class. After the one hour of Pilates I looked around and saw a bulletin board. On the bulletin board I saw it! Aspire Fitness has a program call BeautyFULL for overweight or obese women. Mystery solved! After I told my husband this story (he wasn't there because we were gender segregated!) he said, "BootyFULL?"

Until Next Time,

WW

Photo credits:

http://www.aspire.qa/

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/

http://www.google.com/

http://www.answers.com/

Interesting Article about Qatar

A few days ago I read this New York Times article after a few co-teachers posted it on their Facebook walls. Basically, Qatar is headed for a lot of problems because of: fast food leading to obesity and diabetes, sudden mass wealth leading to laziness, extreme heat making exercise outside nearly impossible, and the time honored tradition and popularity of marrying first cousins.


The article states that when people marry first cousins and have children there are genetic disorders like blindness and mental disabilities. This of course set off an alarm in my head when I tought of my class. (I cannot stop thinking of my class because they've been a particularly rough bunch.) In fact, out of 18 ladies I have 2 that have noticeable eye problems. One wears glasses and one does not. The one with glasses has one clouded eye turned inward towards her nose. The one with no glasses has one eye that catches my attention. I cannot figure out if the one eye is stuck in the same position or if it wanders. Either way, the one without glasses has a pair of eyes that act as separately darting around the room.


The article went on to explain that "Qatar ranks sixth globally for prevalence of obesity and has the highest rate of obesity among boys in the Middle East and North African region." I did notice a big difference in bodies when I moved from South Korea to Qatar. In South Korea I was looked upon as "big" even though I am 5'5" and about 125 pounds. Here, women cover their curvy (obese?) bodies with the long, black abaya. My students do not seem to have any insecurities about their bodies. It was refreshing at first, but now I see their habits as described in the New York Times article as clearly unhealthy.




Perhaps the most shocking (and predictable to me having lived here for several months) is the private life of the Qatari man running a government program to decrease these issues. That man is a 25 year old, overweight man who does not exercise and married his first cousin.

I do not know if the people here are in denial, do not understand/believe the medical research, or just do not care about these health issues. I guess only time will tell...



Until next time,

WW

Abaya photo credit: http://jamericanmuslimah.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/abaya.jpg

Qatar CBS News Story Videos

Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kU9gkmrmxg&feature=related

Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huXgOqBsJLU&feature=related


My students are using some video clips from this special CBS news story about Qatar.

You can see the growth (from 2003) in Doha. You can also hear and watch the Emir and his consort speak English while describing their dream for Qatar. It is inspiring.

Enjoy!,

WW

IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championship - in Doha!

Well, here I am again on vacation from teaching and looking at this blog again. I need to be more consistent with my posting . . . . .

In March M and I went to the IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championships in Doha, just 3/4 of a mile from our house. It was exciting!

There were athletes from a lot of countries. In fact, we saw some Ethiopian professional runners (Meseret Defar, Sentayehu Ejigu Kalkidan Gezhegn) who had an amazing cheering section from local Ethiopians and/or Ethiopians who had made the trip to Doha. One of the most amazing races was the women's 3K race. One runner actually fell down near the middle of the 1500K race, but managed to get back up and finish first! That runner was Ethiopian runner Kalkidan Gezhegn.



We also saw American male heptatlon athletes Bryan Clay and Trey Hardee, who won the gold and silver medals for the event. We were very excited to see American hurdler Lolo Jones race and defend her title in the 60meter hurdles.




It was an exciting day and seeing so many different people cheering on their own was fun. I hope we get to see more world class events like this in the future. In fact, in May Doha will host another IAAF track and field event - outdoors through the IAAF's Diamond League.


We left thinking that we needed to run more, but after the RAK 1/2 Marathon in February we've been taking it easy....maybe too easy. It is time to run again!

Until next time,

WW

Tour de Qatar (yes, really)

Saturday, M and I saw the final leg of the Tour de Qatar. The ladies tour came and went a a week ago and we did not see any of it. In fact, we have missed a few major sporting events here in Doha. Last fall we missed the Qatar Open tennis matches and also the England Vs Brazil soccer/football match. However, we were determined to see these world class cyclists duke it out here on our "home" turf so we quickly did an Internet search to find more information.

Luckily my husband is a cycling enthusiast so after we found very little information about future tour events (who wants to know past tour times?!) on the Qatar Cycling Federation's website, he went to Le Tour's website to find excellent, up-to-date information about Tour de Qatar events.

We found out that the last stage would be Saturday starting at 12:00PM and finishing around 2:00PM. The course would be easy to find and near our part of Qatar. The race would start from Al Wakra and end along the Corniche in Doha. So, around 11:00AM on Saturday, we got in the car and drove to Al Wakra.

Once we arrived around 11:30AM we noticed pre-race preparations underway. I love race day! It was so fun seeing all the police cars blocking off traffic and cyclists warming up! M and I are both runners who haven't been able to race since the summer in 2009, so seeing all this action was very exciting for us.

The funniest thing of the day was seeing the team crews all waiting along the Corniche. These men were all North American or European. Because it was a nice, warm day they all took off their shirts and lounged about in full view of local Qataris. Several abaya clad women stared, snickered, and covered their mouths after seeing the tanned bare chests of these non-Arab men. It was such a strange sight for us as well, that I made my husband take a photo of them. I said, "This is something that we will NOT see along the Corniche in Qatar ever again. Take a photo!"

The awards ceremony was also interesting. M told me that in European tours women give the cyclists their awards and kisses on both cheeks, but this simply was not done in Qatar. In fact, three obviously foreign women merely held a shiny tray of medals that were given to the cyclists by thobed Qatari men. I did not know the men who raced, but the winner was Francesco Chicchi from Italy. M knew Tom Boonen from Belgium and Tom seemed to draw a crowd from some Qatar expats.

Overall it was a great day. Just being at a race made us both want to train harder and find more races here in the Gulf.

Until next time,

WW

Buying Booze in Qatar - a Muslim Country

Even though I have lived in Qatar since the end of August, 2009, I just today got my Liquor Permit so that I can buy alcohol. The reason for the delay in getting this permit was just my own laziness and lack of desire to drink alcohol. Honestly, I am not much of a drinker. I tried to be a party girl when I was in college, but that just never was me. I have always had enough fun just being with the people that I love. In addition, after living in South Korea for 3 years and witnessing a plethora of dangerous/ridiculous/unprofessional/reckless stuff happen because of drunkenness not by college students but grown ass adults in suits, I am the straight and narrow semi-teetotaler I am today. And I do not like hangovers, beer bellies, or distractions from marathoning.

On the contrary, now that I live in a very conservative Muslim country . . . I kind of want to drink. I could blame this on the fact that we cannot drink legally without a Liquor Permit (and Muslims cannot drink alcohol at all), or the daily frustration that comes from teaching incredibly unmotivated and spoiled students, or that there is little to do for active people who like the outdoors. I don't want to binge drink or "party" with colleagues or students like some teachers do in Korea (never mind that I never wanted to do that in Korea). However, I find myself wanting to have a glass of wine or a margarita with Mexican food these days - plain and simple.

So I went through the procedure to apply for my Liquor Permit at the Qatar Distribution Company (QDC). Here's what I had to do:

1. Get a letter from my employer stating these things: basic salary (not including transportation and housing allowances), marital status, job position, and whether the employer provides me with housing or a housing allowance.

2. Fill out the application, which included this question field: Religion: _________ . I wrote CHRISTIAN in case you were wondering partly because I think anything but that would have given the QDC a reason to deny my permit.

3. Pay a 1,000.00 Qatari Riyal deposit (For what? I have no earthly idea!)

After I got my permit I walked into what looked like a little 1,000 square foot Brown Derby liquor store. Everything was nicely arranged. It was tiny considering that everyone in Qatar buys their alcohol there - even the hotels and restaurants. The store was arranged by liquors (whiskeys, whiskys, vodkas, etc.) with the beers and wines separate. The wines were arranged by country of origin. At the entrance there was a card swipe machine so you could check your balance. I was given only 1,600 QR because my employer did not write in my letter that they provided my housing, which would increase my salary. The alcohol permit customer spending is based on salary. Therefore, the next time I go into the QDC the permit office man said to bring my contract that shows I get housing from my employer, and they will increase my spending to 2,500 QR, which I am sure we will never spend.

Here was what I bought and their rough price estimates in the US dollar amount:

• Wolf Blass Eagle Hawk Merlot (75cl) 59.00 QR = approximately $16 USD
• Captain Morgan Spiced Rum (75cl) 99.00 QR = approximately $27 USD
• Jose Cuervo Silver (75cl) 105.00QR = approximately $28 USD
• Jose Cuervo Margarita Mix (1litre) 54.00 QR = approximately $14 USD
• Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (75cl) Baron Philippe 66.00 QR = approximately $18 USD
• Corona Bottles (33cl) 6 pack 42.00 QR = approximately $11 USD
  

I spent only 425.00 QR of my 1,600.00 QR allotment.

Here are the very specific and seriouly followed rules pertaining to buying alcohol in Qatar as stated on the QDC Alcohol Permit application and their nice hand out they gave us at the permit office:

1. Permits are for personal use only.

2. Purchases must be taken directly to the permit holder's residence and should be concealed from view in transit.

3. The permit holder and goods must be in the same vehicle.

4. Consumption must be at the permit holder's residence only.

5. It is strictly forbidden to give alcohol to others whether by sale or gift.

6. You cannot purchase without your card.

7. Only permit holders are allowed in the shop.

8. Management reserves the right to refuse or cancel any membership.

So, there you have it. I feel like a 20 year old American again . . . make that newly 21 year old! Sadly, I had the flu this past weekend so I did not get to actually drink any alcohol yet. Well, there's always next weekend and I am on vacation for two weeks. I guess I could have a Corona will doing laundry and cat sitting!

Until Next Time,

WW

Running in Qatar

I started to write this blog because I wanted to give (my own) information about Qatar, but I cannot help but compare Qatar to my experiences in the US and South Korea.

Running is my hobby, but also a way of life. I started running seriously in the summer of 2005 and by the fall I had run my first half marathon and marathon. I was hooked. In February of 2006 I moved to the countryside of Daegu, South Korea. I was too far outside the city to get into a running club. Nevertheless I ran the trails around Daegu University and loved it! I even took the slow train to Gyeongju and ran a half marathon all by my self. During my training runs and during that one race locals stared, but I got used to it. They were incredulous looks of amazement, not perverted lingering eyes that followed me. In 2007 I moved to Seoul and hit the motherload of all running clubs. Running really took over my life and I was grateful. In Seoul there were races every weekend! I met some of the best people through running. We became not just running partners, but traveling partners. Because South Korea is fairly small, we would just choose a region to visit, find a race, and hop on a train. Hotels or "love motels" and transportation were ridiculously cheap and safe. From spring 2008 to fall 2009 I had the time of my life running all over South Korea. And because it was rare to see a foreigner in a sea of Koreans at a marathon (and a woman especially!) some people started to recognize me. This recognition inside such a welcoming community of runners provided a perfect situation to practice my Korean. At one of the DMZ half marathons I found myself completely without English for the day and really enjoyed it. When I met other runners at races or running along the Han River I felt the most connected to Koreans.

Running in Qatar has been quite different. There are no races. I take that back. There was a 5km race put on by Doha Bank, but we did not go. The culture is less forgiving of women in athletic apparel here, not to mention women running around outside the home. Nobody has yet dared to say anything to me, or my husband but their cold stares say enough. The climate and terrain are harsh as well. Running in the evening or early morning is best - even in the dead of winter. I figure the only foreigners crazy enough to run here are lone runners - not likely to join a running club. In fact, we went to meet a haphazard group of runners for a few weeks. They met at 6:00AM to run along the Corniche, but after rising at 5:00AM every day during the work week, the last thing we wanted to do was wake up at 5:30AM to go run. In addition, the group just ran and went home, so we were not getting any of the social brunch type activities that I so looked forward to every weekend in Korea and the US. However, one of those runners and I spoke about starting an official running club to draw more people into it, but I just don't know if I want all that responsibility. Maybe my US and Korean running clubs were just too good to ever top.

Therefore, my husband I run together. He is a lot faster than I, but we make it work. Like a lot of things we miss living here - we will be even more grateful to have them once we return home. And this summer when we go home for a visit we'll be sure to load up on racing. We've already registered for the Rock & Roll Chicago Half Marathon for August 1st!

Until Next Time,
WW

Living in Qatar is a Lot Like . . .

Living in Qatar is a lot like the comedy Groundhog Day starring the hilarious Bill Murray. Let me explain. If you have seen the movie you know that Bill Murray is a TV weather man who suddenly wakes up one morning to re-live the same day all over again. At first, he is confused, later completely frustrated, and then he learns to deal with the sameness of it all - anticipating each character's action before they even know what they will do.

Qatar has been like Groundhog Day in that the weather and geography do not change. Okay, it was hotter than hell in August, ranging from 84F to 105F, and now it is only warm in January, ranging from 55F to 71F, but it will never get cold here. We did not see any clouds until the end of November, and there was no rain until December. Had we not bought a Christmas tree I never would have known it was that time of year. Living in Qatar is like the film Groundhog Day: the same again and again.

The geography is the same shade of beige with the occasional tuft of green shrub. We drove all the way out to the NW coast to see Fort Al Zubara, but it was the same. We also drove out to the Inland Sea and Al Khor just north of Doha. They all look the same. Some places just have more people and cars than others. Living in Qatar is like the film Groundhog Day: the same again and again.

The Ozarks are gorgeous and we say, "If you don't like the weather - wait because it will change tomorrow." South Korea also had four seasons and the most beautiful trees, mountains and rivers. I never knew that I would miss weather and geography diversity so much.

Bill Murray photo credit: http://www.foxnomad.com/
Fort Al Zubara photo credit: http://media.lonelyplanet.com/

Censorship or Harmless Film Splice

Everyone has been talking about James Cameron's Avatar so we finally went to see it. While I loved the movie for all the action and message(s), I did not appreciate the censorship of certain scenes. However, I am not the only resident of Doha, Qatar, wondering what happened to select scenes. Some commentators suggest that the movie theaters cut random scenes out for time, while others hint at some avatar sex scenes that went missing. The characters were not even human! How can anyone be offended by what might have been giant blue cat-people alien things kissing? I guess I will not know what scenes were deleted at the movie theater until we get a copy of the DVD. I still wonder to what extent is the theater obligated to tell their customers about scenes being deleted? And if theaters are deleting scenes must they give a reason? Furthermore, who would still go see the film knowing that scenes were deleted? I do not think I would have.

Avatar image credit: http://boxoffice.com/blogs/steve/avatar%20II.jpg

2009 Fun Facts

Since I have some time off I'm going to try to update this blog more regularly. Because the landscape and seasons do not change much here, I barely feel it is 2010 already. So, just to recap here are some fun facts about my 2009 when compared to 2008.

1. Did not run any marathons, but in 2008 I ran 2 marathons. This makes me really sad to have not competed in a marathon in 2009. I will have to do one in 2010!

2. Ran 3 half marathons, but in 2008 I ran 7 half marathons. What can I say? South Korea - especially Seoul was a runner's paradise!

3. Did not date anyone in 2008 (and that was actually a good thing for me), but got married in September 2009 after only 2 months and 1 day of meeting my Super Husband! :)

4. Moved home from South Korea in December 2008, but then moved to Qatar in August 2009.

5. Got a cat in October 2009 after being without a cat for 3 years. We love her dearly. She holds the current record of most uploaded photos on my facebook.

6. Turned 30 in 2009 - all I can say is now I'm officially not taking anyone's crap. I'm "old" and it feels damn good!

7. Finally let my naturally curly hair come back to life after having it chemically straightened in November 2007 while living in Seoul, South Korea. Side note: "Magic Straight" can really ruin one's hair so be careful!

8. In 2009 I lived with my parents again after 3 years of living abroad and on my own. Yes, I was living with my parents as a 30 year old. It was okay because they know me and let me be . . . me.

9. After about one month at home in 2009 I comptemplated moving to the following countries: the UAE, Turkey, and Chile. However, I now know that Qatar is the place for us . . . for now.

10. The United States finally elected a decent president. I swore I would burn my passport and never return home if anyone but Obama were elected. You might think that the American president has little effect on one's personal journey abroad, but this is really the first time I've ever been proud to be an America while living abroad. Thank you, President Obama for injecting some common sense into US international relations.

11. My first semester teaching in Qatar allowed me to meet for the first time and teach students from these countries: Egypt, Sudan, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, Oman, and of course Qatar. Before 2009, I had only taught students from these countries: Spain, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Holland, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Mongolia, Colombia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.

12. In 2008 I traveled from South Korea to the US, Cambodia, and Hong Kong. However, in 2009 I only traveled domestically to Dallas/Fort Worth, Tulsa (to catch a flight), St. Louis, Denver, and Kansas City. I also am very greatful for the epic, life changing road trip from Texas to Missouri. ;)

Until next time,

WW

1st Fall Semester in Review

So, here I am lounging on our hideous Elizabethan style sofa while watching FoxMovies channel's "E True Hollywood Story" about Jennifer Lopez. After getting up to fix M his birthday breakfast at 5:00 AM, I cleaned the house a litte, and thought I should write a blog entry.

It is January already. Final exams were given, graded, and emailed to students. I am greatful for "non-teaching" hours until the end of January. I've had some time to think about the semester and here's what I've decided about the experience of English teaching in Qatar thus far:

1. Why did I think this teaching gig would be in any way similar to South Korea? There are only some minor similarities between my Qatari students and South Korean students. Both Qatari and South Korean students seem to be less mature than Western students. I state this because of the lack of responsibilities that they have. In Korea very few drove or had jobs because of public transportation and their parents desire to give everything to them. In Qatar none of my students have jobs and or drive - they import Filipinos to do much of the work and have professional, private drivers. Because of this lack of responsiblitiy and dependence on family, both groups act a bit immature in comparison to American students. However, there are some very stark differences between my Qatari students and South Korean students. My South Korean students watched US movies, bought and wore somewhat scandalous clothing, (this is relative of course) and drank like fish any night of the week. The male Koreans also participated in compulsory military duty for nearly two years, which (thankfully) matured the majority of them. However, here in Qatar the female students tend to be sheltered by family, cultural and religious expectations, all of which make them unique to any other group of students that I have taught in the past.

2. Why do you even come to school? There is a revolution going on, but strangely enough nobody here wants the revolution. Yep, I thought I'd have a classroom full women pioneers like Rosie the Riveter and Annie Okley ready to kick butt in the workplace, get married and have children (if they wished) after their undergraduate degrees were earned, and take on the world. Boy was I wrong! In fact, the statistics about Qatari female students is quite misleading. Some say that 2/3 of the high education population are female, which I took to mean that women wanted to be educated more than men. However, now I realize that going to campus for the day is really their only good option. Otherwise, because of the restrictions placed upon them by family and society, they would simply be sitting at home. Coming to campus to hang out with friends, talk, and have coffee seems like a much better option. Seeing some of the things that my students do (or do not do) reminds me of a couple very well off college classmates, who never worked a day in their lives before graduation. Honestly, I cannot blame this younger generation of Qataris for lack of motivation. They are cared for by family and in the past by way of monthly government stipends. In other words, they are not paying for their education so in my opinion they cannot truly appreciate it. And what you do not appreciate, you do not want. Furthermore, the women especially really do not need to earn a living from a job and so they do not need an education degree to put on their CVs. This is a huge contrast between Qatar and South Korea, where many large companies like LG and Samsung, as well as cushy government positions (the kind you cannot be fired from, but occupy until you die), require a certain score from a standardized English proficiency exam like TOEFL or TOEIC.

3. Why the serious face? Korean students were usually game for some fun speaking activities, but in Qatar I've found that the ladies do NOT do something that they do NOT want to do. Hence, Listening & Speaking class becomes a little heavy on the Listening. Finding culturally appropriate and fun speaking activities for my Arab ladies is one of my resolutions for 2010.

4. Same, same, but different. My current program has striking similarities to the another intensive English program that I previously worked for: professionally published textbooks, various levels based on Accuplacer, classes are kept to a minimum of 20 students (in Korea there was no limit and I once "taught" English Conversation to 50 students - a gosh darn nightmare!), and a lot of standardization within levels and throughout the entire program. That being said, there are virtually no comparisons between my experience in Korea and here in Qatar in regards to curriculm or staff.

Even though there are some challenging aspects of teaching in Qatar, I know that like most challenges they become easier to deal with after more experience. That's why I truly enjoy teaching - you find new solutions to problems and are constantly challenged.

Until next time!,

WW