home

so i bought myself a house. i should be there and living in back in the USA come summertime. all are invited and i hope to see you there.

and so this is

Christmas... just wanted to wish everyone a joyous holiday. Hoping yours is spent with loved ones, or good company. Nothing like a few days set aside every year to act like the transgressions of the past are forgotten. Enjoy it while you have them around, life is too short to hold on to animosity. If you have wronged others in the past I hope you can find the strength to apologize and if you have been wronged I will be so bold as to suggest you forgive those that wronged you. The season shouldnt be about getting things or giving but about the commonality of experiences. We have all done things we shouldnt have and we all would have done it differently if we could go back, alas its not possible so make the best of the hand youve been dealt and have to work with. Make amends where the are needed. Life can be simple and enjoyed or complex and lamented. Seems an easy choice.

least

Christmas ever. It is so unlike christmas here, there are no decorations, no carols, nothing to inform the populace that what is perhaps the most important day in the christian world and undeniably the most important in the consumer world is upon us. It is actually surreal. I always thought I would like it if christmas didnt exist but here I have found that more than anything it is a good way to mark a season, tick off a moment in time and anchor some memories, now all I have is the year without anything christmas. At least I can use it in the future to remember the things that happened here.

sand

There was a fairly brutal sand storm that blew across the city a few days ago. It blotted out the sun and made life generally miserable. I had a funny experience when I realized that I was being the new guy that I used to find so amusing. When I worked in Boston the restaurant had a bunch of Portuguese cooks and this time of year it would be the first snow for the city. Whenever it happened word would spread that it was snowing and inevitably one of the new cooks would leave his station and go stand out back looking up at the snow. He or she had never seen the stuff before. I always had a good laugh at that because in a few weeks they would be cursing the snow for all the hardships it causes. Well as I got into work I stepped out of the taxi and as the college is north of the city it usually offers a fairly good view of the downtown in the distance. However as there was a sand storm the visibility was down to less than a block and it was all sort of cafe con leche from the ground to the sky. I just stood there looking at it, i knew i was in it but it didnt matter it was so unique so different from other weather I had been in. A few of the students looked at me like I was insane and I am sure had a good laugh inside at the new guy that if this keeps up will be cursing the trouble the sandstorms cause. But for now I am glad I got to see it and I hope next time I have a camera to get a picture, it was truly incredible.

weight weight

So I went and bought a set of weights to work out with. Nothing heavy just some dumbbells and a few kilos of weight to toss around in the afternoon when i get home. It is getting pretty boring here so I have to find some way to entertain myself. I did walk around the other day and it rained on me. It actually rained, in the Kingdom is amazing. And it rained on me. I asked some of my students if they had seen it and they told me it never rained in KSA. So I got to see something that never happens. It was a mere 3 minutes but still what a thing to see. Life smiles at those who look and are about to experience it.

kingdom

Life continues in much the same manner in the Kingdom of Saudi arabia. I go to work, dont really do very much there, get finished come home, lesson plan and read for awhile, then play on the computer and go to dinner, wait until it is dark out and I go for a run, I return home shower and read some more then it is off to bed. Repeated daily for the duration of the week. On the weekends I go for a walk around the neighborhood, or off to a mall and look at people and generally try to pass the time. Kind of a boring life actually. Its not bad just different, I am wired in a way that requires more stimulation. Ill finish out the term of the contract and then I will see what adventure awaits.

lessons

I have realized that no matter where I work there will always be room for improvement. In this case I am speaking of the midterm exams for the school that I work at. The system is such here that after the midterms the students will go on to the next level of book and study, thus if they were a level one they move to level two and so on. Now the school has provided the teachers with a crazy amount of information with regards to to how to administer the exam and what is considered passing and how to assess the written portion of the exam and so on. My hesitancy about all of this is that though the school also employs 3 assessment supervisors whose job it is to assure that assessment is uniform and happens in a timely manner and to look at the results and to give recommendations about improving teaching, they are not doing anything with the actual results. I know for a fact that there is a wide discrepancy of levels in my classroom, I am talking about students that could right now pass a level 5 exam and some that would struggle on a level 2. Will the classes be rearranged to group these students so that the higher level are grouped and the lower levels take class together? of Course not. Would it have immediate and long term benefits for the students, of course it would, would I as a teacher be better able to ensure proficiency in all aspects of English if I knew that my class as a whole struggled in writing but their listening and grammar was up to snuff, I most certainly would, will any of this take place, no. Why test the students if there will be no benefits, they pass and move on, there is no focused attention to the data provided from the assessments. What do these supervisors do with the info? Why cant the students be grouped to facilitate learning? The higher level students in my class will get bored as I must teach slower to the middle level and the bottom are being left behind and I cant go slow enough to get them up to speed without sacrificing the entire lesson or class. Seems like even though I try to adjust the lesson to take into account the disparity of learners it isnt as effective as just grouping them in the first place. Some students are just more determined/interested in the language and they are being punished by being help up in their studies. I wish that something more than just a day of testing came from this. Alas in a perfect world it would but to paraphrase a war criminal, You go with what you have not what you want. Ill make the best of it and try to remember that there is no perfect system and I will just be glad for the support and materials that the school does provide.

leaks

I wonder how the whole wiki thing is going to play out. I am in the middle about the whole business I see the reason for leaks and I also see the need for secrets, however I also see that if your not comfortable doing something with other countries then perhaps it shouldnt be done. I am referring to the whole bribes and such wrt gitmo. Also it isnt as if the world thinks that the US is in foreign affairs for the betterment of the world. Every country knows that each country is primarily concerned with the benefits to itself, so these leaks are not that big of a surprise. What caught my eye so far was that the US knew China order the google hack and never bothered to mention it. Whos side is the US on? I wonder what long term cost benefit analysis that discussion took. I guess the leaks will be big news for a few days then another shiny toy will catch the eye of the media and we will stare at that until another shinier toy ....

conspire

even the buildings conspire against me to remind me that there is no alcohol.

guess

I walked past this the other day and it made me smile. So many great memories. I didnt check the prices as I worried that I wouldnt be able to control myself.

figs

I have a new problem. It comes in multiple sizes and is not expensive at all. I cant get enough of it. Fig jelly. so good, its not sweet like other jellies but tastes like the fruit, did i mention it is delicious? So the seeds are all there and the fruit is still chunky I think in USA it would be closer to a preserve. I used to eat peanut butter sandwiches as I never saw the point of jelly as it was never very good, I have tried schmuckers and all the rest but to no avail. Yet here I find myself having a jelly sandwich without the PB. Remarkable really. I wish everyone could try it, it is that good. Tomorrow I return to work with a smile. Looking forward to it. I will get paid shortly after that. I havent done anything really but I am also not going to complain about being paid to relax.

routine

After a long and uneventful period here in KSA I am ready for the return of routine. I am actually looking forward the days of waking early, going to school, teaching and returning to my home. It is the little things that make me happy and while I have been happy just lounging and walking around Riyadh it has been a long vacation. I feel like it is time to get started again. I am sure that soon enough I will want some time off but for now work will suit me fine. There are lots of plans for the future and I will reveal them as they are more finalized. Happy turkey day to everyone. Enjoy the meal and the company.

king and queens

This could be interesting. The House of Saud is in trouble. The current king in KSA is now 86 years old. He holds a slew of titles including the newest on keeper of the two holy mosques. He can not be called a caliph for various reasons but the new title is as close as it gets, really. Another of the kings positions is to be head of the alternative armed forces. He just gave that position up to one of his many sons. This son is now in a unique position. You see the other brothers of the current king are in line to rule, they are all in their 70s but without the leadership of the military the crown could pass them over and go to the son of the current king. This is the stiff civil wars are made from. I know if I were one of the brothers of the current king I would want my shot at being king, in fact I would eliminate all rivals (including brothers and sons of my brothers) thus making my bloodline rulers forever. This current king is trying to sidestep the blood letting and make his line rulers for the foreseeable future. I wonder how it will all play out. To make matters more interesting the King is ill and just left KSA to go to USA for treatment the day he left the newspapers reported that his son had landed in the Kingdom and would be assuming responsibilities. After he passes away it could get even more interesting. In case you ever wonder why I live abroad it is just for these reasons, the intrigue of national interests fascinate me. I hope it goes smoothly but really when does that ever happen.

travel

almost a disaster. I got to the train station to go the one place that the train runs here in KSA(Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and after presenting my ticket and heading towards the metal detector I was asked for my passport. I dont have my passport, it is with the Saudi Government. I have a xerox copy of the picture page and the visa page as well as a letter from my employer that explains that I am in process. All of these papers are stamped and signed by the company I work for. I showed these pages to the police officer and he explained that the papers were no good as they had not been stamped by the police. So I was detained for about 5 minutes while the two officers discussed what to do with me, it is apparently not ok for me to be walking around without a passport (or at least I guessed that is what the repeated mentions of ,"you must have passport" meant.) after 5 minutes of this finally they (the police) decided that I wasnt worth the trouble and let me go. they didnt send me back out to the street they let me go to the train, just strange. The coast was dirty and had few people. I am glad I went now I know a bit more about the gulf and what happens in KSA. I dont think i will be going back to that side again, too much else out there to spend any more time in a place that wasnt striking.

beaches

going out to the beach today. its about 4 hours away by train. I get to ride from one end of the vast Saudi rail network all the way to the other. the whole country has a total of four stops. Talk about a fledgling program. I know if I had a boatload of cash i would invest it in rails here. Then again the government does have boatloads of cash and they seem not interested in rails. Anyways I am excited to see the ocean again I am more excited to see what the hell there is to do at the beach. I know what there isn't and I cant think of what there is.

This is from a supermarket near my home, makes me want to cook.

get a grip

Ok america you are really starting to piss me off. The FDA is currently tooling into the caffeinated alcohol drinks to see if they are safe. Really that is what the FDA worries about. Fuck no they arent safe, but neither is a bottle of Jim Beam or any alcohol. If they say that selling caffeinated alcohol is unsafe and prohibited or that it must come with a warning label then does my rum and coke at the bar get the same treatment, or my irish coffee? or kalua for that matter. Its alcohol it is not good for you. People dont drink to get healthy they drink to forget or celebrate or because they are addicted or for many other reasons but it makes me angry that the powers that be want to ban these drinks. So what some retard drank a few cans of this crap and shot himself and another popped a bunch of pills and died how many people everyday get behind the wheel after a few glasses of wine and slaughter others on the roads. How many people get filled with the liquid courage before taking the nestea plunge from the top of a building? Just tell me what the alcohol percent is and what the ingredients are and leave it at that. That's why I pay taxes so I can know what I am ingesting not to be told what I can or cannot ingest. Makes me crazy. I need a drink, make it a double. and a espresso on the side.

holiday

i slept in late this morning and eventually got up and got started with the entire moving around and being productive and eventually I got hungry so I went out to find some grub. I guess that today is some kind of special day for this part of the world as every restaurant that I entered told me that I could have take away or eat after the evening prayer. Mind you the evening prayer was 4 hours in the future. they were happy to have me sit in their establishment and drink coffee or tea or soda but not eat. So eventually i gave up and came home to make myself a sandwich. I will try again to go out and get some dinner in a few hours. On a completely unrelated note I went out with coworkers to dinner last night and after sitting around chatting I walked back home which was about 3 miles. I was a bit worried at first as I left their hotel at midnight and I was unsure what sort of scene there would be late at night in the streets of riyadh. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that for the entire hour of walking through neighborhoods it was just me and the cats. I did not see another soul, I may make it a habit of strolling around late at night while the rest of the city sleeps.

and i walk

I went for a stroll through the streets if riyadh yesterday and realized that this is not a beautiful city. it is working on becoming on and there are loads of high-rise buildings going up and the few that have been completed are architecturally interesting so I have hope for the future of the city. But right now it is low and monochromatic. There are not any places for pedestrians and the sidewalks that do exist are shabby at best. On the bright side i walked by well over a million dollars in cars just sitting in small showrooms. Until yesterday I wasnt aware that lamborghini had showrooms, nor bentley. But I walked by both and each model that they sold was shiny and new in the window. I went into a few malls and it was odd to see people shopping, not just because I hate the activity myself but the women are of course covered but walking into shops that sell western clothes Zara etc. Makes me wonder what exactly is under those long black robes. I have plans to meet some coworkers for dinner tonight about 3 miles from here, I will probably walk over as I want to see the city and get a better bearing on the areas. I still eat lots of goat cheese and olives they practically give the stuff away at the supermarket.

digs

so that is the place I am staying in right now, i havent been too good about taking picture of the outside world but I will go walking tomorrow and be sure to get a few pics.

express yourself

I was walking around this afternoon and I passed an area that sells plants, this area has maybe 4 average sized store sitting one next to the other. I walked through because I love plants and watched an interaction that gave me pause. There was a woman trying to buy some soil from the storekeeper, He was of course dressed in pants and long sleeve shirt while she wore the mandated niqab (just eyes showing) and they were having a fairly long conversation. Here is what puzzled me: we communicate through a variety of ways both verbal and nonverbal. In fact 90% of communication is done through nonverbal means. Now this man speaking to this woman is shut off from those clues. How can anyone tell what is going on. It is truly amazing and something that I want to know. I will have to make friends with some saudi man to find out. I cant imagine how you can tell if she is joking, or being sarcastic, or anything without seeing their expressions. In the end she bought some soil so I guess it worked out. I on the other hand bought nothing from the plant stores, though I plan to go back and get something soon.

vacation

All this work is killing me....
not really it is so easy and boring it is killing me. I have reached the end of my first full week at KSU and I am happy to report that I not only got assigned a class but I also get to go on vacation. So no work for me for the next 12 days then I have three days work then the weekend again. Then it is payday. It is like christmas every day over here. Except there is never a christmas here. So I am considering a quick three or four day excursion to the coast and spending the rest of the time getting to know the city. I wish I had a bit more time to plan it all then I could have gotten to know the country a bit better alas... Next vacation when I am a bit more settled.

walk

I am looking forward to the next few days as my work week will be ending. I et to go out into town and walk around and see what there is to see. I have heard that there is a huge market that is full of indians and pakistanis and other guests of this country that is just utter chaos. It should be fun to get in there and mix it up a bit with the other foreigners. Other than that it has been a pretty slow week I go to work at 7 am and either tech or not(more often not) from 8-1140. Get lunch then wait for 330 to roll around so I can clock out. I tend to go out for a walk in the evening around the hotel where I stay and so far I have seen almost everything that there is around here. I get dinner at 7-8 and come home and read or study. Its a simple life but I am enjoying it for now. There is enough to keep me occupied but not enough to make me stressed. Though the University is of course poorly run and I receive 6-10 emails every day from different departments and that is a hassle but most of them are simple things like tests will be ready at 730 or training has been changed to 215. Simple stuff. Thinking about it now I am glad they keep me informed instead of just leaving me to the wolves.

sleep

This is the first time that I can remember that I have been affected by jet lag. Usually I just power through the first tired time and then I am fine. This time I have not been able to sleep. I try to go to bed early and I just lay there waiting. I doze off for an hour or two and then I lay awake for the rest of the night. I am not tired during the day so perhaps jet lag is the wrong term. I just seem to be able to go on a few hours for right now. I would like to sleep for an entire night, not because it would make me feel better but because I love to sleep. I guess if it isnt hurting me then I cant complain.

finally

though i have been going to work for three days now I finally got to step in front of the classroom again today. It has been a really long time since I got to be in front of a class and I must confess that I still really enjoy it. I was a substitute teacher today for a teacher that was gone yesterday as well and thus the students have fallen behind. I got them caught up some and managed to have a lot of fun in the process. It is kind of odd being in front of a class of 25 boys that are all 18-19 years old. I actually had one of them ask why my father didnt buy me a car. Why did i need a taxi. So bizarre the ideas and entitlement that people have. I think the job itself will be fine the students seem excited, eager and energetic. It wont be a problem getting the to talk as it sometimes was in China. other than that life is fairly routine with the glaring exception being that I have to work on sunday. I get two days off in a row they just fall on thursday and friday. So my weekend is full of no football, no highlights just call to prayer. I will live but it would be nice to go to a bar and have a cold one and check out the big screen.

work

not that i do much but it is in fact work. Today i sat around for 8 hours learning the alphabet and #s in arabic. There is little to do at my job because I have no class assigned to me so I am on cover and have to wait for any teachers to call in sick which of course does not ever happen. If it were in theory I would cover their classes and have something to do for at least 3 hours. The other 5 I am just to be in the school. Its fine really I get time to study. I am looking forward to working again with students of my own.

time

so i went for a long walk through the city and found a bookstore wher i bought a few books for the study of ababic. I will have lots of time on my hands as I need to spend 8 hours at school even though i will only teach 3 hours per day. I will try to study some basic arabic in order to make life a bit easier. The city is in no way impressive, just a flat low dry place. Money everywhere but little culture or beauty. But that is just my first impression. I will give it a chance and perhaps it will get better.

nurse...oh nurse

So even after having to get a full physical from the US. I arrived here in Saudi arabia and on my first full day in the country I found that I needed to go and get a sort of mini physical with their doctors. Now all day I had spent on the male campus and driving over to the doctors office I noticed that there were no women, and on the streets there are no women, so basically it is kind of a sausage fest here in the worst way. At any rate in the doctors office there are of course all men patients and I went in with another new teacher and we were sitting and waiting. The first thing was to get blood drawn, have i ever mentioned I hate needles, so I go into the room and lo and behold a woman doctor is waiting. Just bizarre. She was of course covered from head to toe but still what is going on how does she get to work (women cant drive in Saudi) how does she do her job (women are not supposed to speak to men other than their families) how does this happen? But the strangeness wasnt finished, I next had to get a chest x-ray, the guy who was driving me and translating tells me the next doctor is strange, you know not normal. I just said ok expecting god know what, turns out the x-ray tech was effeminate, very much so, strikingly so. And Again I wondered what the hell, here is an educated man who can leave go to any number of countries and not have to live a life of either lies or in fear of beheading(homosexuals are killed here) just one of the mysteries of life I guess. turns out I am still healthy after the flight. or at least the female doctor and effeminate x-ray tech claimed i was.

kingdom

I have landed in the land of cheap gasoline and veiled women. As I boarded the flight to Saudi Arabia I began to look around. It was my 28th hour of travel and I was getting on a smallish plane from Dubai to Riyadh and the gate agent was taking passport to look at the person and their ID. Ahead of me was a family, a father two young boys and a mother and I guess an aunt. the mother and aunt were completely covered. Head, hands, feet, shoulders, face everything except the eyes and I wondered what exactly is the screener looking at? Can he tell who s under there is that safe? Of course nothing happened on the flight nor am I saying it was going to, just if the point of handing him the ID is to authenticate the bearer shouldnt something be done to actually authenticate him or her. So after landing I made it to immigration control where they take an eye scan as well as finger print and photograph you. I waited my turn and approached the officer. He did his business on the computer and then told me to place my right hand on the finger print scanner, after a few seconds I said "OK?" and he said "No." I looked at him and he called over another guard. They argued in arabic for about 30 seconds and the the first guard looks at me shoves me my passport and says "GO." I am not sure what happened but I know that none of the usual process for entry were followed. Just nuts. The hotel that I am in is nice I have a big apartment style accommodation which though not my style is furnished and comfortable. The job seems like it will be a breeze with little to no reason to worry and already I have found a dinner joint down the street that serves a bowl of chickpea soup and flat bread with a really nice tea for very cheap. There are of course all the regular western restaurants here from KFC to McD, pizza joints to dunkin donuts. I plan to stay away from the western food for awhile but already I can here the Dunkin calling my name. I cant have a beer so I deserve a delicious cup of coffee right? Right. Looking forward to getting started working and trying to pick up some basic arabic. Should be fun

plan

I am starting to make longer term plans now. I think it is time to try a new approach to this thing called life. It isn't what everyone else would do but then again I am far from everyone. I am considering getting some money together and going back to school. from the beginning back to school. I think I want to study landscape design. So this is the new plan. I leave for Saudi in 19 hours. Last moments of freedom.

texas

I have finally gotten my flight and everything ready to leave. I feel good about this next part. fresh and clean, shorn of things that i had been dragging around. Alcoholics Anonymous may be onto something when they say one day at a time, but for me it isnt about sobriety so much as living in the now. Tomorrow will happen, yesterday already has happened, my focus is on this moment and living it. So no more wanting or judging, I am just going to relax and enjoy the ride.

rocks

Having to deal with getting paperwork done is an incredible pain in the ass. Not in the best mood to deal with it to begin with wish I had some good news to report but these have not been smiley days for me.

time

having too much time on my hands. I am in the waiting period for my next visa, so i walk down the beach and remember things and wonder about how differently things would be if I had chosen another path. Not knowing what the future holds is tough. But seeing the moments that had an impact on my life and knowing that if I had done something differently it would have all changed is tougher for me. I wonder about the theory of multiple realities where every decision that can be made is made in alternate realities and therefore exists. Even if that is true, does it matter if I am here in this one? Sure its comforting in some ways, all the bad decisions I made are unmade by alternate me, but then all the good decisions (OK the few good decisions)are unmade. I will just stick to this reality and try to fix the bad decisions I have made and not make them in the future. Learn, live, and keep moving. Tough work.

elections

I tried to get a absentee voter form mailed out to myself today and of course I was met with a roadblock. Why is it that I can do everything that my life needs online including taxes and banking but to vote is still a hassle. The fact that there has been little progress made into electronic voting tells me that those with vested interests in the system are happy that the US has a 30-40%voter turn out rate. Why make it easy when that could lead to real change. I know the arguments about why there cant be e votes. The fact that i could be hacked, fraud, etc. but really it comes down to not wanting the people to have easy access to the reins of power. If my money is "safe" online I must believe that a vote could be as well. I will suggest that everyone vote not only this election but every election, those who remain silent deserve the decay that comes from apathy.

work

So this is it. I have begun to get everything in order for my next adventure. I will be going to Saudi Arabia for at least one year possibly more. I am actually really excited. I will have lots of stuff to learn all new ways to try and not offend others, and plenty of time to not be drunk. Its funny but the last one is actually the least of my concerns, dont get me wrong I love the booze. All of it. Every kind. Bar none. But i dont need it. Yes it is true I am fond of relaxing with a glass or thirty but I can find other ways to occupy my time. The only question I have is what does the rest of the world drink with dinner? If there is no beer then is it just water? Is hot tea really appropriate for dinner? Can there be so few other choices. Do they sell kool-aid in Saudi Arabia? I dont really like soda the exceptions being tonic water (w/gin), coke (w/rum), soda water ((w/vodka) so i guess ice tea or water it is for me. But getting to know some arabic and seeing islam up close should be interesting. wish me luck and ill be picking p posting more in the new job

america

is it cars or are the people in america completely clueless? I asked a lady in the information center what the hills were like to the next town and she said "it is flat" I can tell you as a person who just pedaled my happy ass up a bunch of those "flat" hills that t was nowhere near flat. I think that the ease of pushing the accelerator makes people oblivious to the actual conditions. I know that I would have in the past said most of the rods are "flat" but I can now safely say that almost nowhere that I have been have the roads actually been flat. ook around next time your in a car. Is there a flat area near you or are all the roads slightly up and down.

return of the king

First and foremost. Happy birthday to my niece, sister and father, in that order. You shall all live long and eventful lives. Second I think I have found a way back into this blog but who knows how long it will last before the nefarious reds get at blocking it. so I will continue to post here and at www.defendbeijing.blog.com as well. The winter holiday is nearly finished for this year. A bit earlier then I was initially led to believe. You see before the end of last term my boss told me that the new term would begin on the 1st of March. I made travel arrangements and thought nothing more of it. One would expect the department head to know when the term begins, I was also told 1st of March by the FAO (Foreign Affairs Officer) who deals with all matters related to foreigners. So I was confident that 1 March was teach again day. I got a call the afternoon before my plane left for Thailand(ahh thailand) and it was the department head informing me that school would begin again on the 22 of february. Right because 9 days is the same thing. What was I supposed to do about my travel plans? What was I to do about flights? Of course I got all manner of excuses (I remember my father used to say that excuses are like assholes: everyone has em and they all stink.) the chinese must have sixty or eighty orifices for defecation because I have never encountered a people so capable of passing the buck. Needless to say I will be having a discussion with the higher ups this week about the "cultural differences" that we have. You see my boss doesnt like that I schedule my free time to maximize my life. Apparently I should be here in the red menace all vacation long so that if something changes it is not a problem. My need to go see the world, my desire to spend time outside of my apartment, my audacity in expecting to be told what the start date for a new semester is. How culturally imperialistic. Anyways it was a grand vacation and I miss it already.