Alright so this post was supposed to go out 4 days ago when I was sitting in the Chicago airport for 7 hours awaiting my 13 hour flight to Dubai, BUT the Chicago airport does NOT have free WiFi access (jerks) so I'm posting it now, day 3 of living in Oman.
Moving to Oman
When I tell people I’m moving
to a country in the Middle East I get the strangest looks. Most people try to be nice and say “oh, wow,
what makes you want to move there?” Others are a bit more blunt and ask why I would
want to do such a foolish thing. In response I’ve been telling people that I’m
going because it’s a good job, with good pay, and good benefits. And it is. And
this is the kind of answer that my friends and family expect and accept,
because as we all know, money makes people do crazy things. But that’s not the
REAL reason why I want to go to the Middle East. Sure 0% tax, and a good
benefits package are appealing, but I would never trade in my short shorts and my access to liquor for just money! I’m moving to Oman because the Middle Eastern culture ACTUALLY interests me and I want to
explore another part of the world. I think there is more to the Middle East than what we see in the media and I want to experience it. I’m
curious about the people, customs, food and landscapes of the Middle East. I
want to gain a better understanding of these people and their culture. I want
to fall in love with parts of their culture, and learn to accept parts of their
culture I don’t like. I want to discover new foods and weird delicacies. I want to learn to tolerate, appreciate and
recognize another language, maybe even learn to speak it. I want to barter over
spices, rugs and copper in the souqs. Maybe break out in a song from Aladdin
while shining up some genie lamps. I want to smell and see frankincense. We’ve
been singing Christmas songs about frankincense for years and does anybody know
what frankincense is?? Well I’m going to
find out!
These are just some of the
things that I want to experience. I enjoy learning about a new culture and
exploring a foreign country. I've done my homework on Oman, and I think it's a country I'm going to enjoy living in. I’ve lived in North America, Central America,
Europe and Asia. It’s time for me to take on the Middle East. Every time I move to another country and experience another culture, I gain a deeper understanding of the world and myself. I'd like to think that all these experience have helped me become a more tolerant person of cultural differences, and helps me bring a wider perspective to my classroom. So why am I really moving to Oman? To
learn. And I also really really want to
ride a camel.
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