It's The Little Things...

We've all heard that phrase at one point in our lives. It usually ends with, "... that you cherish," "...in Life that make it worth living," or something along those lines. I've decided to go with another ending: It's the little things, that are actually big things when you think about it, that make you realize you're in another country. I'm sure there are plenty more than the ones I've listed below, but I've decided just to go with these. If you can think of some others, post them in the comments section.


1. Saudi Arabia's flag in the classroom. Do you remember, in elementary school, you stood up and pledged allegiance to the US Flag? In Texas, we pledged allegiance to the state flag as well.

"Honor the Texas Flag;
I pledge allegiance to thee,
Texas, one and indivisible.

Yeah, that's not happening here. At least not in the intermediary school, 7th-9th grades.


2. Commas used as decimals. My students are accustom to using decimal commas and periods as place value separator (PVS) or digit group separator (DGS). I don't exactly remember when I first encountered this, but I remember feeling very peculiar about it. Silly closed-minded American. I am in the process of transiting them from decimal commas to decimals points. It can be confusing for the teacher as well. There are several times I've had to scratch out my own markings because I realized their answer was correct but they used a decimal as a DGS. Another reason why I love math: it's an opportunity to learn how other countries use familiar symbols in a new way. To read more about decimal marks click here.


3. I imagine in most US schools you will see pictures of past presidents line a wall near the main office. If not there, then probably in a U.S. History class. Yeah, that's not happening here either. We have pictures of KANGS. No, not Elvis Presley nor Bernie Mac, RIP. King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz's picture is posted prominently outside the boys' school's multipurpose room. It's not the picture I mentioned earlier, but click here to see a picture of him with President Obama.


4. My southern drawl helped me pronounce someone's name. I really don't have anything else to add to that. I just thought it was pretty cool. :-D


5. Faculty meetings in Arabic. I have two weekly meetings. One is with the intermediary and secondary math teachers. The second one combines the math and science departments. Pretty much everyone understands some English, but their native language is Arabic. Even though a co-worker would translate for me, I used to feel detached from the group. Now, I use it as an opportunity to pick out words, learn the context of its use and English translation. Lemonade from lemons...


6. Fast food made fresh. Having it your way at Burger King usually means that you'll have it in your hands within two to four minutes. That's not the case here. If I order a whooper with cheese, the order is prepared fresh. And no, I don't think they use camel meat, smart-butts. It usually takes about 10 minutes. They have a drive-thru window, but I don't know how often it's used. You might as well get out of your car and wait in the establishment.


7. Constellations. I can't remember the position of Orion in the US, but here, I believe he's on his left side. The Three Kings...


8. Is there separation between Mosque and Kingdom? Nope. Sometimes, I'm still amazed that there is time factored in the students' schedule to allow them to pray. In the US, usually the only time I've seen students pray is when I run into them at church, or right before a test. Well, latter one is a practice American and Saudi students share. :-)


9. I am a foreign-born teacher. As a young boy, I remember making fun of the way most of my foreign-born teachers talked. I now understand the courage it took for them to leave their home country and experience a new one for the grand purpose of "the better making of men." I could have been more understanding and patient with teachers who had thick accents. The kids here are able to understand me for the most part. There are a few that ask me to repeat something or slow down. My Arabic is, in my best Charles Barkley voice, turrible. Most of my students are quick to help me with pronouncing the words. Though there are sounds that I have yet to perfect, and may not for some time, I am encouraged by my students' willingness to support me. I can't say I did the same with my teachers. I apologize.


10. When's the best time to run errands? After 7pm. Anytime during the day can be a crap shoot. Businesses SHUT DOWN for prayer. It can sometimes take them an hour to re-open. A business can also be closed for no reason! It's very frustrating to wait in a car for a store to open up and it wasn't even closed for prayer. It's usually best to go straight home from work, take a nap, and then go back out. I'll probably elaborate more about this in a later post.

Talk to y'all later.

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were big things."- Robert Brault