Travel Tips

This was part of an email that I wrote to my parents back in New Zealand .

Saudi Arabia is not all it seems, the media tend to down trod on this country so much because of the Al Qaeda network, many of its young people are depressed with its rigid regime that they get bored and when they are stuck in a situation they don't like, they try to fight it and unfortunately for some of these people that means taking the lives of others.

I see young people over here so bored with their lives spending time in coffee shops and drinking coffee, they want to break out and do something but their society will frown upon if they do something which is different to their 'norm'. Some are lucky and have parents or families who are more liberal and will allow these people to travel outside the Kingdom, often they will go to the States where they will train to become Doctors, Architects, or whatever interests them so that when they come back to the Kingdom they can get a good job which many of them lack in this place.

The unemployment rate is high because some Saudis have it in their heads that Allah will look after them or they can live off their families. As we all know it will only cause more problems for the younger generation. One day this place will close its doors off to expatriates such as me and the only people who will be able to enter this place will be those who come to perform Umrar and Haj (the pilgrimage to Mecca) and no one else.

The Middle Eastern people on the whole are very hospitable people they are very generous people, they are very kind people too and if you have respect from these people they will respect you in return. Alot of these people may sound rude too at times if not a little blunt, but what we have to understand is that English is not their first language and that when they say something it may come across as quite hard and the person has no manners.

I could write all day about this culture till the cows come home but this place has been my own home for a year and a bit now. For a westerner I am pleased that I have been able to experience this place and see it for what it is worth. It is wrong for a person to judge a country without actually being there before and never had anything to do with it. It is just so bloody sad that whenever Saudi comes up in the news that it is always something distressing and never ever something wonderful. People get the idea in their head that it is bad and look at you in shock horror when you tell them where you live. It isn't all bad and yes it is countries which is involved in so much conflict and hate, but tell me where it is safe these days?

Where is it safe to be right now, we all didn't expect the train bombings to go in Madrid, it can happen anywhere at any time and no place here on earth is safe, we can never know what is going to happen and where. For all we know there could be Al Qaeda network people in New Zealand (my homeland) or anywhere in the world. I am not saying it maybe in our country but we must realise that no country is safe to be in no matter how far we are away from alot of the action here in the Middle East, crikey Australia isn't too darn far away from Indonesia and we know what happened there back in 2001 in October (Bali bombings).

To be continued?

In this world in which we live in, we can all feel a little confused if not worried about what is going on around us. Just recently another scare shock us all in London, England where people were killed by terrorists. People are becoming more and more afraid of travelling and trusting others not really knowing whether to trust or not to trust. It is a sad fact these days and it leaves many of us with a bitter taste in our minds. People are quick to judge and point the finger and say it was the work of Muslims and unfortunately it was. It has shocked many a Muslim and Christian alike and yet these threats continue.Why? we ask ourselves, why do these people choose to kill innocent people... Many of these questions still remain. Don't these sucide bombers know that it is a sin to kill themselves and others? Surely they should know that or were they brainwashed into thinking that they were going to a better place than here on Earth?

I myself am not going to judge and when associating with any man, woman or child from any part of the world. I respect them for who they are, where they come from, what their beliefs and above all I am true to myself.

I wish you all to consider this whatever faith or country you come from. Essentially each comes with the Golden rule... 'What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others!? a simple but straight forward message from the Interfaith study website.

Baha'i: Blessed is he who prefereth his brother before himself. (Tablets of Bah'a'ullah, 71)

Buddhism: A state which is not pleasant or enjoyable for me will not be so for another; and how can I impose on another a state which is not enjoyable to me? (Samyutta Nikaya, V). See also Message from the Dalai Lama

Confucianism: Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you (Analects 15,23)

Christianity: All things whatsoever ye would that others should do to you, do ye even so to them (Matthew 7,12)

Hinduism:This is the sum of duty; do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you (Mahbharata XIII, 114)

Islam: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself (An-Nawawi, 40 Hadith,13)

Jainism: A person should treat all creatures as he himself would be treated (Sutrakritanga 1.11.33)

Judaism: You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19,18)

Native American: Respect for life is the foundation (The Great Law of Peace)

Sikhism: Do not create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone (Guru Arjan Devji 258, Guru Granth Sahib)

Zoroastrianism: That nature only is good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self (Dadistan-i-Dinik, 94,5)

Copied from http://www.interfaith-center.org
A Great website and worth reading up on for every Virtual Tourist member.

I have just started a new chapter in my life, I am not sure excatly where it will lead me but I am hoping it will guide me to where I want to go. After working the world of English language for awhile I found that the work here in my city had somewhat dried up. There were Language schools still present but a lot of the schools had teachers that had worked for them for quite awhile and things were not the best... People aren't coming out to NZ to learn English as much as they once did, our dollar has been somewhat high.... I have done a stint teaching up at our local University but with the casual contracts that we had, I couldn't always rely on it financially although it was good money to make at the time. I then decided that I would try Teacher Aiding and was offered a place at one of our local High schools. This has been an interesting role for me, I still do ESOL work but I also support young teenagers that have needs in areas where students have behavioural problems or are slow learners. So far the role has been varied as I have been employed to cover three different areas of the school. I am perhaps much more than just an aide but someone who the students can turn to and I give them that more personal help and I have my own students I teach individually. Some of the students are challenging for the staff and fortunately I have been able to use my own head in dealing with them. Often some of their backgrounds have been far worse off than most of ours and I feel for them and make a conscious effort to listen when they talk to me. I am not a counsellor but I can be there for them knowing when or if they over step their boundaries.

I have only been this role a short time but in this period it has taught me a lot of who I am, what my role is in the school, my community, my relationships with my family, friends, partner and so on. I have fun planning work for those students that I have for my Learning Assistant Programmes and enriching their lives with interesting topics that will help them later in their lives. Teenagers need to be heard, they need to know their limitations and they need to know that you are there for them. By being supportive and providing them with lots of good thoughts for their day, I feel my job is done when I know a student is happy.

I will come back to this space in a few months time as I am sure that alot would have happened since then and I can look back and reflect on how much I have gained with working with teenagers since then...

Until then....:-)