Arab invasion

This summer I got the chance to be an English tutor for about a months time and got paid too! Granted it wasn’t much and I made more money in three days mowing lawns for a bratty graduate student boss, but it was better to do something I liked and for someone I liked as well.

Most of the students were from Saudi Arabia, one was from Taiwan, and four others were from Korea. The whole idea of the class was to split into groups containing one American teacher each then hold a stimulating conversation on any topic we wanted. I never realized how “American” Saudis are. They are loud, opinionated, forward, proud, religious, very apt to lead in different situations, humorous, and friendly. Ironic, isn’t it?

One student in particular, Khalid, was very intrigued by the fact that Mormons are so similar to Muslims. He loved talking about it and was excited to look at the web addresses I gave him regarding the Mormons. Khalid said that he was in Toronto before he came to Logan and said he was very homesick there, but once in Logan, he felt like he was back in Saudi Arabia because of the standards and similar “rules” the people had to follow here.

Another student, Yagoob (Jacob), was so surprised about what I knew regarding Abraham and his history, that he had me write what I knew about Abraham’s family tree (good thing we had just studied it in church). He gave me some Saudi money as a gift and then as we parted for the last time asked if he could do anything for me (which apparently is a common way to say goodbye in Arabic).

I had so much fun, and paid for a couple of weeks groceries because of it! Now I wish I could change my major…what was I thinking? Business? Hah!