Oman OR How I Live In The Middle East Without Being A Terrorist - Question Me Here! - General

So three years ago I moved from America to a country I knew nothing about with my parents. Now, I am going to be a senior in high school over there, and I figured now would be good time to share what I have learned. [h2]THE COUNTRY[/h2] [img]http://www.state.gov/img/10/36952/oman_map_2010worldfactbook_300_1.jpg[/img][img]http://www.33ff.com/flags/XL_flags_embossed/Oman_flag.gif[/img] Oman is located in the Middle East, on the arabian peninsula, bordered by Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. It is about half the size of California, but the population of 3.5 million is concentrated in one city, Muscat, which is the capital, since most of Oman is desert or mountain, where the indeginous tribes live. Since it is in the Middle East, it is hot. Really really really hot. I've seen it get up to 130 degrees during the summer, and it cools down to probably 80 degrees at night during the "winter". It rains about three days out of the year. We've had two tropical storms in the past four years, Gonu and Phet, that shut down the entire country for a week or so each, since the water pools up without gutters in the streets. The economy is run mainly by Oil (which is why I am there) and Tourism. Other families move there for building jobs (since we are expanding the city) or contracting. Some of my friends moved there for Energy or Communications jobs as well. THe main companies represented at my school is Shell, Occidental Petroleum, Sony Erricson, Haliburton, and ABG. Religion-wise, 100% of the Omanis are Muslim. There is only one church in Oman, for the christian expatriates. While almost everybody here speaks Arabic, a lot of Omanis know English as well, so I didn't have to learn Arabic to get along here. [h2]PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS[/h2] There are three main schools here; The American International School of Muscat (TAISM), American British Academy (ABA), and British School of Muscat (BSM). All are K-12, and small by American Public School standards. For example, there are only 300 students in the High School of my school. We are very diverse in my school as well. I think overall we represent something like 60 countries. I personally have friends from America, Canada, Venezuela, South Africa, Greece, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Ukraine, Korea, and Australia (that is all I can think of for right now). Most of the teachers are from America or Canada though. Now I have lived in 5 (Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, and Chicago twice) other cities as well, and gone to schools in two of those (Los Angeles and Dallas). On the whole, I would say that my school in Oman is easier than the schools in America. Less homework and less need for a lot of extra work, excluding the Physics and History teachers. We don't have honours classes though, just normal or AP. For fun we have limited options. We get movies, but a week or two later than America and sometimes they are 'edited' by the Country to removed nudity or sexual content. There are many Shisha (I think you guys call it Hookah in America) bars in Oman that are cheap. Mainly though, we hold parties. There really is no legal drinking age for expatriates over there, so everybody becomes an alcoholic at some point. There is no drug use though, outside of Cigarettes or Tabacco. YOu'll get immediately thrown out of the country for doing any drugs. Nobody stays in Oman over breaks though; We all travel to either our home or other countries. For example, over Summer I usually go back to America (I have a house in Texas still), and over our many breaks (we have 5 other ones), I have gone ot Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Italy, Greece, France, Britain, Kenya, China, Brazil, and Zanzibar, to name a few. [B]I don't know what anybody else wants to know about Oman or anything, so questions are encouraged and answers will be added to the OP if I deem them necessary.[/B] [QUOTE=Mr. Scorpio;30992343]What would you describe the common opinion on freedom of thought as?[/QUOTE] You can see the censorship everywhere, really. Newspapers feel slightly scripted. It is only relatively recently that you can see more expression against Oman in public thought. There is a firewall that blocks dangerous ideology and porn, though. It is very strict. [QUOTE=kizza55;30992319]How safe is it out there compared to western countries? Have you experienced any kind of crime or danger personally?[/QUOTE] It is pretty safe. Not many crimes against Expats here. There has been one problem, though. I had a party once and a 'gang' of Omanis started yelling insults and throwing stuff over the wall of my house. We tried calling the police but they never came because the gang is Omani. We had to chase them off at around 2 AM with knives and bats. [QUOTE=Micr0;30992540]How's the food over there?[/QUOTE] They have western food places over here. The traditional food is actually quite good though- Lamb and Goat and Rice and Dates. Something I forgot to say, however, is that pork is banned. ALL PORK. You have to import it yourself. It sucks. [QUOTE=Intoxicated Spy;30992564]How bad is internet censorship there?[/QUOTE] It can be pretty annoying. For example, Blender (the 3D program), and Skype are blocked for some reason. And all Proxies and VPNs are being blocked, so we can't access Skype. [QUOTE=Mr_Razzums;30992641]Are the girls cute?[/QUOTE] I don't find Omani women themselves very attractive, but we get a lot of girls from all over the world, and in general the Scandinavian and Canadian women we get are pretty cute. The American's are generally average. [QUOTE=Fhenexx;30992674] How stable is it in Oman? I can't imagine its nearly as unstable as Afghanistan or Yemen, but are there insurgents in that country?[/QUOTE] Pretty stable. Probably the most stable in the Middle East, actually. During the 'Arab Spring' we had only one problem, in the city of Sohar, but it was discovered that people from the UAE were actually posing as Omanis and revolting. Mainly the people just wanted a few more jobs and some higher pay. They love the Sultan, so they didn't want him out or anything. He granted their demands after two weeks or so, and we continued on as normal. [QUOTE='[sluggo];30992675']What do people think about the Israel/Palestine situation? Also, what is the general opinion of Europe and America there?[/QUOTE] Omanis side with Palestine. Despite progressiveness, there is still antisemitism. Americans, Canadians, Scandinavians are all almost universally loved. The other countries have reputations all over the spectrum just depending on who the Omanis know from those countries. [QUOTE=ASmellyOgre;30993017]So what are the biggest social issues there (what are people trying to change)?[/QUOTE] I would say people are trying to push for more economic freedoms (capitalism), more women's rights, and more freedoms of speech and choice. Paradoxically, they also seem to want to be more 'Muslim' and stay true to their heritage while doing this. [QUOTE=SNNS-SEAN;30993272]How fast is your Internet in Oman?[/QUOTE] Sloooooow. It can take a while to load something like Google. Cuts out a lot tough. We were trying to get some high tech 4G thing installed that worked on plasma or something, but it also shut down the internet for our entire block, so we had to pull it out. [QUOTE=UnknownDude;30993309]Do you consider Oman to be more "modern" than the other middle eastern countries?[/QUOTE] Yes and no. In my view, some other countries are more modern and western-savvy than Oman, but we are definitely more dynamic and are catching up quickly. [QUOTE=Captain Bald;30993818]What role does the national religion play in day to day life, more specifically, schools? Is there a separation?[/QUOTE] In day to day life, it's pretty prevalent. You can hear the call to the mosque everywhere. You see mosques everywhere. Religion dictates how people act, dress, even talk. As far as schools go, we have a prayer room, but almost nobody in the school is muslim, so there is no separation. [QUOTE=keyfuzz;30994579]How cheap is gas over there?[/QUOTE] Really really cheap. Like maybe 50 cents per gallon. Jealous?

How many bombs do you hear going off per class?

How much do AK-47's cost over there? $30?

How safe is it out there compared to western countries? Have you experienced any kind of crime or danger personally?

Stop stereotyping that every middle eastern country has some kind of a cheap arms dealing and that everyone is a terrorist. Look at United Arab of Emirates.

What would you describe the common opinion on freedom of thought as?

How many goats are there?

[QUOTE=BackOnCrack;30992257]How many bombs do you hear going off per class?[/QUOTE] None, Oman is peaceful with Western and Arab nations [editline]8th July 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=seereusroleplay;30992291]How much do AK-47's cost over there? $30?[/QUOTE] Can't get guns over here [editline]8th July 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=seereusroleplay;30992356]How many goats are there?[/QUOTE] A lot. Seriously, you have no idea. We have a lot of goats. [editline]8th July 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Mr. Scorpio;30992343]What would you describe the common opinion on freedom of thought as?[/QUOTE] You can see the censorship everywhere, really. Newspapers feel slightly scripted. It is only relatively recently that you can see more expression against Oman in public thought. There is a firewall that blocks dangerous ideology and porn, though. It is very strict.

Are you actually a spy trying to trick us into giving top secret information to al qaeda [editline]8th July 2011[/editline] Serious question: Are you muslim personally? How strong is your belief?

In three years, how much arabic have you learnt? If that's something you're intending to do.

How's the food over there?

[QUOTE=kizza55;30992319]How safe is it out there compared to western countries? Have you experienced any kind of crime or danger personally?[/QUOTE] It is pretty safe. Not many crimes against Expats here. There has been one problem, though. I had a party once and a 'gang' of Omanis started yelling insults and throwing stuff over the wall of my house. We tried calling the police but they never came because the gang is Omani. We had to chase them off at around 2 AM with knives and bats.

How bad is internet censorship there?

[QUOTE=Croix;30992513]Serious question: Are you muslim personally? How strong is your belief?[/QUOTE] No. I was raised Christian, but I'm not super religious. I'm ambivalent on religion.

Oh man heehehhe

You're living there? You have an American flag under your avatar

Are the girls cute?

What's your worst experience in Oman?

[QUOTE=MedicmanV500;30992626]You're living there? You have an American flag under your avatar[/QUOTE] I assume he is on break. After all, he did say that he has 5 breaks out of the year. How stable is it in Oman? I can't imagine its nearly as unstable as Afghanistan or Yemen, but are there insurgents in that country?

What do people think about the Israel/Palestine situation? Also, what is the general opinion of Europe and America there?

You said porn is banned? How do you get your tuggin on?

So what are the biggest social issues there (what are people trying to change)?

So what kind of food do you enjoy? [editline]8th July 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Paravin;30992810]You said porn is banned? How do you get your tuggin on?[/QUOTE] All of this.

How fast is your Internet in Oman?

Do you consider Oman to be more "modern" than the other middle eastern countries?

I've been to the United Arab Emirates and I must say it's one of the nicest, friendliest places I have ever visited. People need to stop being so ignorant when it comes to the middle east.

Does your internet get heavily blocked?

Can you buy cheap silk there I've always heard you can get it for like what cotton costs here but I don't know if that's just a stereotype of the middle east or not

[QUOTE=myalt22;30993629]Does your internet get heavily blocked?[/QUOTE] did you even read the thread?

op why do you have the great flag of the united states of america under your post when you're living in some backwards ahrab nation