英会話　Jon's English page

Recently my wife and I receieved some disappointing news. We had hoped that my parents-in-law were going to come over to the UK, where we were hoping to show them a few places we thought they would have loved.
On the other hand, on Thursday I had my first experience of "shisha", (water pipe) or more colloqially known as "hubbly bubbly". I was a little nervous because I quit smoking over 15 years ago and was worried how it would make me feel. I should't worried because I could barely taste tobacco at all. What I could taste was apple, as this was the flavour I choose to "smoke". Shisha is an important part of Arabic culture associated with socialising with friends and family. It's something I look forward to trying again in the not-too-distant future.  

Please excuse me as I haven't made a blog entry in some time. As the today's title suggests I have some good news. I recently took part in the NIT badminton competition in both the singles and doubles. In the latter I "came up (a little) short" finishing runner-up with my partner (who is also my supervisor), Mr Ahmed Jaleel, from India. In the singles' competition, however, I went "all the way" and became the first college champion. Although being a college player many years ago I certainly did not think I could lift the trophy. Fortunately, I hit a rich vein of form at just the right time-and emerged victorious!
  

  

Yes, it's that time again. this week is officially a week from NIT-and I feel it is well-deserved for everyone both in the English and Technical Departments. And so, after a quiet weekend my wife and went to Al Balat today. I guess one can best describe this area as "old Jeddah". There are lots of old buildings, shops and market stalls. Going during the daytime usually isn't too bad-crowdwise because if you want to visit at night it can best be described as "mayhem". Today we walked past a shop and I was persuaded to try on a Yemeni headscarf. I fell in love with it immediately and so bought it for 30 Riyals (along with a pink headscarf) for my "better half". So, here is a pictute of me with Bader!
  

This is a pastime I have decided not to undertake here in Saudi Arabia. Why you may ask? Well, driving in KSA (well in the cities, at least) semembles a free-for-all. You need "nerves of steel" as basically "anything goes". I can fully understand why there are more car accidents in this country than in any country in the world. Some of my colleagues have bought or rented cars here and describe how you have to completely change your approach to driving here. Defensive driving is definitely "out" here. If you were to drive in this fashion you simply wouldn't get anywhere as you would be "eaten alive" by the locals. You really do have your "heart in your mouth" sometimes when on the roads and there basically seems to be one rule when driving: there are no rules!
  

Last week we entertained our latest houseguest. he is from Canada, but we all share something in common. Can you guess what? Purely by chance we have all lived in Ukraine within the last few years. Wheras we spent an eventful 5 months in Kyiv, my colleague (and friend) spent 4 years on the Black Sea in Odessa. So, we asked him to wear his Ukranian football shirt when he came round for dinner so we could reminisce togerther. And,as usual, my wife was "the hostess with the mostess" as she prpared some delightful Ukranian dishes.

  

My new class are from the Saudi Electricity Company. This time I have 21 students, which is a little more manageable than last time. I will be with them for the next nine weeks, until they hopefully graduate from the English program and head to the "core" (technical) curriculum. Their English level is certainly higher than previous classes I've taught. Once they've graduated from their core studies, they will all split up and go to work at Saudi Electrical offices all over the country/nationwide. I feel that we've already struck-up an excellent working relationship.
  

Yesterday, we finally made it to one of the beaches here in Jeddah. Now, I guess some of you are thinking in such a srict Muslim country how would my wife be able to go to go to a beach? Well, here there a number of "public" and "private" beaches. We went to a private beach yesterday and because I work for the Bin Laden grup, we got a 40% discount. Once inside women are free to take off their abayas. Some don't though, and I saw at least one lady swimming with her abaya on.It was an extremely relaxing day. There are options to go skuba diving, swimming or just relaxing. One of my friends cut himself on some coral when skuba diving but was joking a small shark had taken a bite out of his knee! Strictly speaking taking photos is not allowed, however, we did manage to sneakily get a few shots off.  

Actually it was about 8 days. She left our apartment this morning and I actually shed a little tear. Why did we babysit a cat for a week? Well, her owner, yet another South African colleague of mine, had to return to his native country to bring his son back to Saudi. So, we volunteered to look after Justine as I love cats. At first she was (of course) a little wary of her new surroundings, but it didn't take long for her to get used to us. I am missing her already......
  

Tomorrow is my mother-in-law's birthday.It goes without saying that I am not going to divulge how many years young she is. Unfortunately we haven't heard from her or my father-in-law for some time so we do hope they make an effort to get in touch. I'd just like to wish her a very "happy birthday" and let her know she is very much in our thoughts. I also hope that sometime later this year I will be able to see that embarrassed look when kiss her on the cheek after one of her customary delightful meals.
  

Yes, today I became 39 years young. I noticed a few more grey hairs after getting up this morning (just joking). My wife and I enjoyed a lovely day today as we were entertained by our friend, Lourens. He treated us to some traditional South African cooking. He prepared a dish called "Boboti" and it was beautiful! After lunch we relaxed by watching a thrilling/epic Australian Open tennis semi-final. Finally we took a long stroll around the Nassim area of Jeddah (where my friend lives). All in all, a day to remember!
  

However, all is not "roses and sunshine" when it comes to motoring in Saudi Arabia. Apparently there are more car accidents here than in any country on the planet. You can see wrecked cars everywhere. At times there almost seems to be no road rules whatsoever. you really do need "nerves of steel" to drive here. And just in case you are wondering, no, I have decided not to "get behind the wheel" here.

  

Going to the petrol station here is like stepping back in time. Why? Well, because the price of petrol is so unbelievably cheap. The other day my South African friend filled up his tank for the equivalent of £5! My step-father is always complaing about the price of fuel in the UK, so if he were to come over here I think he would have a heart attack!
  

　Wow, seven weeks has absolutely flown by. Most of the time the best way to describe life at NIT is "organized chaos". This is quite a modern term in English and one that is commonly used these days. Unlike working in Japan, where usually everybody knows what is going on, life working outside of Japan often involves having to be much more flexible. Another accurate way of describing NIT is a "hotchpotch". It certainly isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I like to think (without blowing my own trumpet) I thrive on it. Saying that the chaos does wear you out and now that we have a week off I think it has been well-earned.



  

My lunch boxes are often a topic of conversation at work. Everday, in typical Japanese style, my wife prepares something special for my lunch. Most of this semester I've hardly had time to do anything outside of teaching my class, marking tests and prepaing grade sheets. That's why my lunchbox always comes as a "welcome distraction". It is always one of the highlights of my day as I unpack all my bits and pieces to peek inside to see what she has prepared. Quite often my lunchbox is the "talk of the office".






  

As another stunning sunstes here in Jeddah, my thoughts turn to my father-in-law. It is a case of "many happy returns" as it is his birthday today. I have to be honest in saying I'm not exactly sure how many years "young" he is today. However, I would like him to know that he is in both our thoughts tonight and that he should be extremely proud of his youngest daughter. I know some people doubted whether she could bear/stand living in a country like Saudi Arabia. Well, I have to tell you she has proved a lot of people wrong and adapted amazingly well to life here and supports me to the hilt. To both of my prtents in Japan I have to tell you your "second-born" is a credit to both you and you are extremely fortunate to have her as a daughter. We both look forward to hearing from you again very soon. Happy birthday, papa!  

Being in Saudi, of course, there were no new year celebrations. For me it was "just another day at the office", as we often like to say. That being said, some of my students did wish me "happy new year". I also had a bit of good news today. My mail and newspapers/magazines finally arrived. Saudi is notoriously slow for receiving mail and I had been waiting over a month for mine to arrive. I had developed a routine of popping my head into the photocopy/mail room only for Mr Reda (an Egyptian) to simply shake his head and say, "tomorrow inshallah".
Anyway, I want to wish all of my family (looking forward to hearing from you soon) and friends all the best for the coming year. I look forward to catching up with many of you sometime later in 2012. Also, recently, my thoughts have turned to my first visit to a hot springs on my return. But which one will it be.....?
  

I am the "core" teacher for Section 19 at NIT. There are 31 students in my class, aged around 20. I am currently teaching them for six 50-minute periods a day. I feel I have struck up a good affinity with them already and I really enjoying working with them. All being well I will stay with them until they graduate from the English program. That means I will hopefully be their teacher until May. If so it will be my pleasure
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This is the first time in many years that I have spent Christmas in temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius. Also, unlike Japan, where you can see at least some outward signs of Xmas, here in Saudi you see pretty much nothing. Tomorrow will be a regular workday, however, tomorrow night NIT is going to treat it's native staff to a meal at a Thai restaurant. I know it isn't a traditional Christmas fare of roast turkey and cranberry sauce, but I for one am not complaining!
  

This morning Rob, my colleague, and his wife (here for a three-week trip) took myself and my wife to the National Institute of Technology. Ai was "dying" to see where I work and she looked thrilled to have a quick tour around the building. Friday, of course, is the latter part of the weekend here, and the most important because of Friday praters. So there were very few cars on the road for a change-usually it's chaos!!