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Seditious
Joined: 09 Feb 2010
Posts: 26
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 Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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| svatopluk wrote: |
Play a game with them:-
PS. LOL at the guy OD-ing on Red Bull. |
I see you've also tried it. 
With the pressures we face in the west, I can't imagine any other reaction to your suggestion than of total loss of respect. Heck, I don't know you and I've already dismissed you as an idiot. |
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Seditious
Joined: 09 Feb 2010
Posts: 26
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
I got a bigger laugh at Johnslat's response on the bull issue 
I reckon your 'game' would raise barriers - not break them down!!
I already have credibility problems with Saudi students, you see. This is a very small city and I frequently see and am seen by the students around town. I have a dog who accompanies me (as is the normal custom here) shopping and to pubs and restaurants. He's very patient in the clothing and shoe stores. Last week as I was trying on a pair of jeans, there was my schnauzer, a bulldog, and a lab all patiently sitting in the changing room area. A couple of our students were also in the store, and quite surprised to see us....
The best laugh I got was when two of my female friends came to visit from Austria, and we all went out (dog in tow, of course) to a local pub. A whole pack of our male Saudi students came by, to see three women and a dog all sitting at a bar drinking wine (dog at least doesn't drink).
Anyway, I won't ask them to change in favor of my cultural ways, nor will I go for theirs - but we can all respect each other all 'round.
So, no challenges to their culture. I won't play along with any to mine, either  Fair enough. |
Hahaha, you paint quite the picture there. Thank you for the best laugh of the day! |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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With the pressures we face in the west, I can't imagine any other reaction to your suggestion than of total loss of respect. Heck, I don't know you and I've already dismissed you as an idiot.
I assumed svatopluk was joking 
It was kinda funny to imagine what such a game would do to classroom dynamics |
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Seditious
Joined: 09 Feb 2010
Posts: 26
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
I assumed svatopluk was joking
It was kinda funny to imagine what such a game would do to classroom dynamics |
Unfortunately, I've had a few professors who did do things like this in class. It only encouraged my classmates to take things further. It wasn't funny then and isn't now. It's cowardly bully humor. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 5:21 am Post subject: |
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| I meant that it would totally destroy the classroom dynamics. I picture something along the lines of dropping a nuke on it - impossible to ever retrieve a normal working relationship inside a group subjected to a 'game' like that. |
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cmp45
Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 1475
Location: KSA
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 11:32 am Post subject: |
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| svatopluk wrote: |
Play a game with them:-
Bin Laden or King Abdullah?
Lamb or pork?
Shia or Sunni?
Mecca or Medina?
Jew or Israeli?
Black bag or scarf?
I found it always broke down barriers.
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Unbelieveable! Please tell me you're not actually a teacher!
Very lame attempt at humor, if you can call it that! |
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sharter
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Posts: 878
Location: All over the place
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 4:18 pm Post subject: ha ha |
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| I'm amazed any Saudi male students turn up once they're in the UK/USA. In my experience Saudi males who 'go west' turn into lecherous, Jonnie Walker slurping dope fiends, who get called home at the end of the first year, having been menaces to any females everywhere and at all times. Not just the females either. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 4:23 pm Post subject: |
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Our program is very strict regarding attendance, punctuality, and doing the work. So far the Red Bull junkie's our only 'failure' along these lines.
I dunno about lechery, but this is the Netherlands after all. There are legal outlets for such urges. |
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7atetan
Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Posts: 93
Location: Not in the Mediterranean Sea
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 6:21 am Post subject: |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
I would treat them, men and women, as regular people, without making any special provisions for either sex and certainly without banishing women to the back or any such nonsense. To me, in a mixed classroom, I have no males and females; I have students
[...]As I tried unsuccessfully to say, I was hoping for some different kinds of insights into, for example, how their families at home might look at different aspects of their lives and study here - obviously the students go home on holiday often. [...] |
Well, I have experience dealing with Saudis (females) on scholarship and it appears that (a) you don't get a scholarship unless you're from an "important" family, which means quite wealthy and well-traveled and all that goes along with that, and (b) pursuant to (a), they are not very different from those whose families shell out the thousands in fees and other expenses themselves.
Anyway, all that is supposed to converge to mean that the vast majority of your students are individuals who have been around (probably even around the block in many cases!) and who are not some ultra-conservatives plucked straight out of a Saudi village for the first time in their lives. Their families know they will be exposed to many things to which they will already have been exposed anyway, but this time on an ongoing basis.
Basically, what they wear, on their heads or otherwise, what they do and with whom, is not your concern. You are not their guardian, let alone religious police.
However, make sure that you keep a detailed record of the students' (both sexes) attendance in case something goes wrong and they get themselves into trouble. They may use you as an alibi and you need a paper trail. If you notice any profound change, take it up with the student but nothing beyond regular academic counseling, as one would with any other nationality.
Other than that, do not worry about their families and the fallout from their studying in the "Satanic West." The biggest problem you will be facing is their lack of or different understanding of work ethic, and may fate help you with that.
Enjoy your time with them. They can be very sweet and charming, both women and men; I far prefer them to Western or Eastern students. |
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7atetan
Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Posts: 93
Location: Not in the Mediterranean Sea
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 6:24 am Post subject: |
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| svatopluk wrote: |
Play a game with them:-
Bin Laden or King Abdullah?
Lamb or pork?
Shia or Sunni?
Mecca or Medina?
Jew or Israeli?
Black bag or scarf?
I found it always broke down barriers.
[...] |
I know you weren't serious but, man, you gave the "enlightened" "progressives" on here an apopleptic fit! Keep 'em coming!!
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 6:41 am Post subject: |
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Basically, what they wear, on their heads or otherwise, what they do and with whom, is not your concern. You are not their guardian, let alone religious police.
However, make sure that you keep a detailed record of the students' (both sexes) attendance in case something goes wrong and they get themselves into trouble. They may use you as an alibi and you need a paper trail. If you notice any profound change, take it up with the student but nothing beyond regular academic counseling, as one would with any other nationality.
Yes, of course. Obviously this is all SOP. And has been for years. Again, I wasn't really looking for advice into basics or logistics. The program is in its third successful year. |
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svatopluk
Joined: 16 Sep 2009
Posts: 81
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 10:06 am Post subject: |
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| 7atetan wrote: |
| svatopluk wrote: |
Play a game with them:-
Bin Laden or King Abdullah?
Lamb or pork?
Shia or Sunni?
Mecca or Medina?
Jew or Israeli?
Black bag or scarf?
I found it always broke down barriers.
[...] |
I know you weren't serious but, man, you gave the "enlightened" "progressives" on here an apopleptic fit! Keep 'em coming!!
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Hehe. Some people are so stiff you could snap them in half. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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| svatopluk wrote: |
| 7atetan wrote: |
| svatopluk wrote: |
Play a game with them:-
Bin Laden or King Abdullah?
Lamb or pork?
Shia or Sunni?
Mecca or Medina?
Jew or Israeli?
Black bag or scarf?
I found it always broke down barriers.
[...] |
I know you weren't serious but, man, you gave the "enlightened" "progressives" on here an apopleptic fit! Keep 'em coming!!
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Hehe. Some people are so stiff you could snap them in half. |
And they would likely say "birds of a feather" ... as you snigger in the corner.
VS |
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svatopluk
Joined: 16 Sep 2009
Posts: 81
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| Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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Hey, that's a great idea Mrs. Not only can you teach the useful verb 'to snigger' you can teach 'em a song from REM:-
That's me in the corner (sniggering)
That's me in the spot light
Losing my religion
You never know, it might lighten them up. |
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sharter
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Posts: 878
Location: All over the place
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 11:22 am Post subject: erm |
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Nice to see someone's still got a sense of humor in the Kingdom.....must have a secret stash of flash and devil weed.........or is a regular competitor in the whacky race to Bahrain every weekend.  |
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