Job Discussion Forums

[Cleopatra]

Locals aren't allowed in bars in the Gulf countries?!?

OOh er! Could you imagine being in your home town and being told you couldn't go inside a bar because you were a local? Of course it wouldn't happen. I only know KSA and there are no "bars" here in the normal sense of the word, so the issue doesn't arise. I do know, however, that the US embassy bans Saudi men from wearing thobes. Honestly, I do think ex-pats can be a bit sad, to put it mildly.

Anyway, as to learning Arabic: in my experience, only a tiny minority of ex-pats ever even make a stab at it. As you say, most of us don't have any chance to use it on a daily basis, so even those of us who would like to learn don't get much a chance to practice. Neither are we encouraged to learn by our employers, at least not in my case. Having said all that, I do still cringe when I come across ex-pats who have been hre ten years and more and are not in the least embarasssed that they can't say more than "shukran" in Arabic. Mind you, these same people probably couldn't point to Riyadh on a map...

[Capergirl]