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Can I be happy as a young single woman going to Saudi?
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cmp45



Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 1475
Location: KSA

PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anyways...that wasn't a 'real' Rolling Eyes baby picture??? Was it???....so I still stand by my assertion that all young people are cute. Mad If the photo was real, then god have mercy upon your soul John!

Last edited by cmp45 on Sun Aug 15, 2010 8:43 pm; edited 1 time in total
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lazycomputerkids



Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Posts: 360
Location: Tabuk

PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cleopatra wrote:
What's "natural"? We're all conditioned by our upbringing and society.

One could define a statistical norm as natural and qualify homosexuality as aberrant, as a vulgate will. To state a belief: Statistical norms have produced spats of murderous and destructive behavior. I'm in the relativist's camp, but have my doubts...
Cleo's relativism vs. The Lady Spiral doth protest any chauvinism, concurrently claiming to have given little thought to a matter of which he's wholly familiar and intimate, given a sibling, is a discourse of a kind...
I once proffered to a nursery school teacher a maxim I quoted from Jenny Holzer: Raise boys and girls the same. The teacher's response was: You can try, but they're different.
I used to wonder were it not for Barbie, G.I. Joe, make-up and sports would sexuality more evenly divide three ways: Homo, Hetero and Bi. Or if one could magically suspend the constructs of gender what the result would be.
I'm unsure what is often contributed to conditioning accounts for reflection-- what conditioning can be successful were it not sought?
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Mia Xanthi



Joined: 13 Mar 2008
Posts: 955
Location: why is my heart still in the Middle East while the rest of me isn't?

PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to NCTBA's question: all we really know about the OP is her approximate age, her gender, and her name.

If "macho" means "masculine" in Spanish, and "-ita" is the feminine diminutive, wouldn't the name Machita then mean "little female masculine one"? Shocked

(Machita, forgive me. I've resisted posting this for days!) Laughing
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Cleopatra



Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago

PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
One could define a statistical norm as natural and qualify homosexuality as aberrant, as a vulgate will. To state a belief: Statistical norms have produced spats of murderous and destructive behavior. I'm in the relativist's camp, but have my doubts...
Cleo's relativism vs. The Lady Spiral doth protest any chauvinism, concurrently claiming to have given little thought to a matter of which he's wholly familiar and intimate, given a sibling, is a discourse of a kind...


Speaking of discourse, do you honestly not see a difference between the type of discourse appropriate in an online teachers' forum and an attempt to imitate the writing style of some obscure 18th century diarist?
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machita



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:36 pm    Post subject: I�m just now seeing al these posts� Reply with quote

Dios mio. Thanks for the advice, especially veiledsentiments , mia, lazycomputerkids, cleopatra, and dazedandconfused.

I have worked in Africa before, so I am not na�ve about the reality of hardship places, but this will be my first venture in the Middle East, so the concerns I have are totally different and it helps to get some insight. I only have one year of EFL experience, so I have found it hard to find non-sketchy opportunities in the more livable Gulf States (or lucrative ones elsewhere). So, I decided: I�m going for it!!! In one year, I could establish myself financially; I am determined to be one of the exceptions and study Arabic; and I plan to escape to Bahrain and the UAE when I can�At this point, my biggest concern is learning to navigate the culture when I�m in the public sphere, and finding a place to swim laps.
Smile

Contrary to the McCain�s misogynist comments, I do not have a defective education. I bet I have more degrees and speak more languages than him.

To address NCTBA pressing question: I won�t answer it directly, but I do know from teaching/tutoring Middle Eastern men in the states that I match up perfectly with their conception of "the attractive blonde Western woman". I was stalked by one Saudi guy, who after one tutoring session, called me obsessively to try to convince me to be his live-in English teacher� I had to have a male friend call and pretend to be my husband and yell at him for him to finally stop calling. I am in NO WAY interested in dating a Saudi.

BTW: "machita" is how Costa Ricans refer to blondes.


Last edited by machita on Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:43 pm; edited 1 time in total
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machita



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:42 pm    Post subject: Re: Can I be happy as a young single woman going to Saudi? Reply with quote

Middle East Beast wrote:
mccainjohn96 wrote:

Advice? Forget the Arabic, and learn the difference between your and you're. Then sign on that dotted line and thank your lucky stars they didn't see through you at the interview. You must be cute.


OMG, could you BE a bigger jerk? I'm so unimpressed with your/you're ability to point out her mistake. Kudos--NOT!

For Machita--for only a year, you'd probably be OK when you leave. I doubt that you will be happy there/their/they're (for mccainjohn96), though. I wouldn't recommend it. You might seriously consider Veiledsentiments' advice. Best of luck either way.


I love it. Very Happy
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lazycomputerkids



Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Posts: 360
Location: Tabuk

PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cleopatra wrote:
an attempt to imitate the writing style of some obscure 18th century diarist?

Imitation? I know a reference when I see one.
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." - William Shakespeare (Hamlet)Act 3, scene 2
You lost me with obscure, save a sarcasm.
Honestly, your opinion of what's appropriate is simply that. I've taught over 20 years and loved me some geocities.
Your smack, it talks.
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Never Ceased To Be Amazed



Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 3500
Location: Shhh...don't talk to me...I'm playin' dead...

PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Girl fight, girl fight, girl fight, girl fight!!!

NCTBA Very Happy
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Cleopatra



Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago

PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I have worked in Africa before, so I am not na�ve about the reality of hardship places


I wouldn't call Saudi Arabia a 'hardship place'. Material standards of living for teachers tend to be quite high, especially when compared to their colleagues in other parts of the world. The Kingdom can certainly be restrictive, boring, and more than a little weird, but it's not a hardship posting.

Quote:
In one year, I could establish myself financially;


Are you sure?

Quote:

I match up perfectly with their conception of "the attractive blonde Western woman".


... even if you do say so yourself!

Quote:
I was stalked by one Saudi guy, who after one tutoring session, called me obsessively to try to convince me to be his live-in English teacher�


To be perfectly honest, being 'stalked' in this country is no reflection of your level of attractiveness or hair colour. I'm not saying you're not attractive - I neither know nor care - just that its very ijportant for women in Saudi Arabia to keep things in perspective and not let all the male attention go to their heads. Women of all ages, colours and levels of perceived beauty get huge amounts of attention here - it's nothing to do with you, it's everything to do with them.
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lazycomputerkids



Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Posts: 360
Location: Tabuk

PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cleopatra wrote:
To be perfectly honest,

These words. I don't think they mean what you think they mean.
Your use is more like, "What I'm about to say is an assertion I equate with fact."
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Cleopatra



Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago

PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
These words. I don't think they mean what you think they mean.
Your use is more like, "What I'm about to say is an assertion I equate with fact."


Look. I know as well as anyone that Saudi Arabia can be a rather dull place, and people often have to look for inventive ways to fill their time.

But do you really have nothing better to do than over-analyse the casually written words of an anonymous poster writing on an informal ESL website?

Really?
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lazycomputerkids



Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Posts: 360
Location: Tabuk

PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 11:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cleopatra wrote:
But do you really have nothing better to do than over-analyse the casually written words of an anonymous poster writing on an informal ESL website?

I have the experience and maturity to distinguish commenting to the content of a post, rather than the poster. What you call analysis...I don't. Many of your posts are casual. Casually inaccurate.
Well, maybe not many. Any criticizing me, however.
C'mon, a poster responding to a poster asserting the high ground of how their time is spent?
Is Dave's an 'informal' ESL website? Show me a formal one. In the meantime, I'll use standard English and make no claims of "appropriate"-- another term for "What we all did before someone like you showed up."
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Cleopatra



Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago

PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So it seems as though the answer to my question...

Quote:
But do you really have nothing better to do than over-analyse the casually written words of an anonymous poster writing on an informal ESL website?


...is a firm 'No'.

Glad we got that out of the way.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lazycomputerkids wrote:
Well, maybe not many. Any criticizing me, however.

Laughing Laughing

VS
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meyanga



Joined: 02 Mar 2008
Posts: 103
Location: Malaysia

PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

machita

Contact the British Council in Jeddah - less holidays and salary than other places, but nice house on Arabian Homes compounds (google them) and you are dealing with Western managers etc - not such a culture shock. You also keep your passport. You will meet lots of people who can get you into the Consulate events, it won't be a problem.

I know someone who got a job there with not much post celta experience and they just put him through training and observations and stuff so your lack of experience may not matter.

Don't think about it too much - if you want to give Saudi a go - do it. You can always escape if it doesn't work out.

Good Luck Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
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