insha’allah!

Wednesday, September 28: Insha’allah!  I have heard this word too many times to count since I arrived in Oman 12 days ago.  Insha’allah, meaning “god willing” or “if god wishes,” is used in almost every sentence, especially sentences that have to do with making appointments to get something done.  It always makes me smile when I hear it because I know that it’s a promise made but not necessarily kept, and very likely, the thing promised will NOT happen.  It’s more like a vague intention, something no one should hold you to.  I actually find this attitude quite amusing and feel that if I could carve it into my heart, my life could be blissful and calm, stress-free.

It is a common attitude that Arab people have, and reminds me, as an American, that I must learn to be laid back, and let things happen as they will.  Or as they will NOT.  To go with the flow.  It’s like the Lion King’s Hakuna matata, don’t worry, let go, let the water roll off your back.  No problem.  Things will happen, if God wills them to happen, and if God doesn’t will it, then it will happen in its own good time, or not at all.

It begins on my first day here when Human Resources explains to me that my labor card, also known as the resident’s card, will be issued approximately 10 days after I turn my passport over to them, insha’allah.  At first I think it doesn’t really matter, because I’m here to stay for a while, and I don’t need the card or my passport for a long time.  But of course, as the days roll by, I find in fact that many people ask me for my passport, such as the Nawras people, who provide mobile phones and internet.  With a resident’s card, you can get certain types of monthly post-paid internet plans, without one, you must pay in advance by the day or the week.

Later, I hear that our first and only holiday of any length until next summer is the one week Eid holiday from November 3-11.  Suddenly, I think: I hope they are right about the 10-day turnaround on the resident card, because I might want to travel to Jordan and thus will need my passport by then.  Later on still, I hear that the Public Relations Department will not submit the passport to the proper Ministry until I get a medical exam!  Funny that no one told me this when I turned my passport over to them.  As a matter of fact, I have to actually get the passport back from them just to be able to get the medical exam.

the clinic where i go for my physical so that, insha’allah, i can get my resident card

After the 2 1/2 hour medical exam, where nurses take my blood pressure, my blood, a urine sample and X-ray, after they weigh me and have a doctor consult me, I take all the reports and my passport back to Public Relations.  At that time they tell me, Now you have to wait until we call you to go to the Ministry for another injection, insha’allah.  (By “injection,” I find they actually mean another blood test.  And I can’t help but wonder why on earth I need to have another blood test by the Ministry when I just had one done at the clinic.)   They will not give me any indication of how long this will take.

When I tell them I am concerned about the time, as I might want to go to Jordan on the Eid break, they say, “No problem. Just wait, we will call you, insha’allah.”  I’m still waiting for that call.

insha’allah, someone will clean up the rubble in my courtyard

Another time I meet Insha’allah is in my dealings with the maintenance guy, Sadiq.  I have a list of about 15 things that need fixing in my flat, including a lot of broken drawers and cabinets, a missing toilet seat, and a non-working stove and oven. First Sadiq comes on Tuesday, September 20th.  He tells me he will have to buy the toilet seat and come back.  Of all the things on the list, he fixes 1 thing and puts a new fan in the bathroom (that wasn’t on my list).   Ten minutes after he leaves, I call and tell him my washing machine isn’t working.  He says, “Ok, I will come back Saturday and do everything, insha’allah.”

Saturday we have an appointment at 4:50 but he doesn’t show up until a couple of hours later.  When he comes, he finds the washing machine doesn’t work, as I had told him, and he will have to get a new one.  He will bring one on Sunday, Insha’allah. He has his carpenters fix some of my broken drawers and start to replace some lights (they START but don’t finish).  He has one of his boys put on a toilet seat that sticks up in front at a 45 degree angle.  I say, What is that?  That is not right!  He says he will have to replace the toilet, and will do that tomorrow, on Sunday, along with the new washing machine, insha’allah.

this bathroom is entered through a door in the alcove outside my front door

On Sunday, I get a call on my mobile: “I took out your toilet, but I couldn’t get another one at the store today.  Tonight you will have to use the outdoor toilet!” I have a complete bathroom in the alcove to the left of my front door, which is used when Arab men come to stay in a house where women live.  He adds, “I will put the new one in tomorrow.”  Now here is where I have some hope.  He does not say he will put a new one in tomorrow, Insha’allah.  He says he WILL put it in tomorrow.

The next day, I go home to find the new toilet installed, but there is no lid on the tank. After I take a nap, I run off to the Lulu to get some groceries and when I get home, I turn on the tap to wash some dishes.  Alas, the water is coming out in a trickle and then it stops.  I try all my faucets and no water is coming out of any of them.  By this time it is 9:30 at night.

I call Sadiq.  “Sadiq, I have no water!”  He says, “I’m sorry Miss.  I am at my home now.” I say, “But Sadiq, I have no water!  It is your fault I have no water because you turned it off today to replace the toilet.  I need to have you fix my water.”  He says, don’t worry, miss, I’ll be there tomorrow, insha’allah.”  I say, “No!  I need water tonight and in the morning before work. It is your fault that I have no water and I need you to fix it.”  He says, “Ok, I will come tonight.” While waiting for him, I walk around and around the house looking for the water main, but I can’t find it anywhere.

they will finish installing my toilet tomorrow…insha’allah

An hour later, around 10:30 pm, he shows up at my house with a baby in tow. He looks all around the house and cannot seem to locate the water main himself.  I wonder how he turned it off earlier today if he doesn’t know where it is.  Finally, after a good long time, with both of us circling the house in the dark looking for the water main, he goes outside the gate and finds it on the outside of the courtyard wall!  He turns it on and then says, “Don’t worry miss.  You will have water but you will have to wait one hour, maybe two, insha’allah.”

One hour, or two?? For the water to reach the house from the water main outside the gate?  I don’t understand how this can be.  I don’t want him to leave until he checks to see that the water is working, but obviously he cannot stay for an hour. It is already 10:30 at night and he has his baby.

Later, I keep turning on the faucets to check if the water is on and it isn’t.  I tell myself I must relax.  Insha’allah, I will have water in an hour.  I put on my pajamas, get in bed and read for a long while, determined not to keep getting up and checking the faucets.  At 11:45, Sadiq texts me: “the water is comaing?”  I get up and check the faucets.  At first nothing comes out of the kitchen or the bathroom sinks.  Then I try the bathtub and with a loud spurt, brown water bursts out, like a pent-up bull in a rodeo.  I turn on all the other faucets and the water is coming out of all of them.  I text him back: “yes…just now it started alhamdullilah. thank you so much!”

insha’allah, relax, don’t worry, let it go……….

As of today, Wednesday, September 28, I am still waiting for the washing machine, the remaining repairs, furniture including a desk, chair, coffee table and end table, as well as the call from Public Relations telling me to go to the Ministry for my other “injection.”  Since today is Wednesday, which equals a Friday in the USA, I know that if nothing happens today, it won’t until Saturday, because no one does any work on the weekend (Thursday and Friday in Oman).

Insha’allah, some of these things will be taken care of soon.  Insha’allah, I can keep calm, keep my blood from boiling, learn to take it all in stride.  This year will likely be a good lesson in patience for me.  Insha’allah.

my first floor “villa” behind the shoe store

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Nizwa, Oman

Tuesday, September 20:  I’m now living in a “villa”… in a little town called Firq, Oman, near the town of Nizwa. 🙂  I never imagined I’d be able to say such a thing without moving to a romantic European country and marrying some duke or baron or prince. Or someone rich, anyway.

my “villa” a couple of houses behind al khamis shoes

However, I can say with just a little pride that, here in Oman, my humble dwelling is the ground floor of a 2-story villa. Granted, the definition of villa in Oman is quite different from what one would usually envision.  Mine is full of old world charm, or at least potential charm; it has a kind of Egyptian non-style with fancy chandeliers that look like clusters of pink test tubes and huge blue & brown swirly tiles on the walls of the kitchen that look permanently stained because of the mud-colored blotches.  The villa is full of termites and ants, cracked walls, glittery light blue wallpaper on all the walls, malfunctioning or non-functioning appliances, and big airy gaps under the doors which serve as an open invitation to streams of sunlight, lizards and various other critters; I’ve been warned to be on the lookout for scorpions.

mohammed’s bicycle in my rubble-filled courtyard

It has a small courtyard full of rubble, withering trees, 8th-grader Mohammed’s bicycle (he’s the son of the Indian couple who lives upstairs), and other debris. In the alley between the wall of my courtyard and the one next door are piles of trash and across the narrow street is a stinky garbage bin, reeking of rotten and spoiling food and who knows what else, into which skinny feral cats prowl to feast on breakfast, lunch and dinner.

the al diyar hotel, where i stay my first two nights in nizwa

This is how the “villa” comes to be my place of residence here in Nizwa: Though I don’t check into Al Diyar Hotel in Nizwa until 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, September 18, I am told by my driver I need to be up and ready to catch the bus to the University of Nizwa by 7 a.m.  I am taken aback by this as 1) it is awfully early for someone who just arrived in Oman at such a late hour and 2) I worry I will be thrown into a classroom to begin teaching right away!  Also, my first concern is getting my housing situated as I don’t want to be living out of a suitcase in a hotel for too long.

As it turns out, Cece, a kind and generous colleague who I have been communicating with since early August, has left a note for me at the hotel desk: “Welcome to Nizwa, Cathy!  Call me!” When I call her in the morning, she offers to give me a ride to school at 8:30. Whew! Relief!

my blue and brown swirly kitchen… it’s ugly but b/c of the windows, i actually love it!

Once I get to the University and check in with Human Resources and other administrative people, I am directed to Issa, a young Omani who is responsible for arranging housing for the teachers.  He says he will show me my apartment, and I emphasize that I would really like to see several places.  He seems surprised that I am requesting such a thing, but Cece has already told me that I will be shown a number of accommodations and that I’ll be able to pick the one I like best. Issa takes me straight away to the aforementioned shabby first floor flat in a “villa” which he says is “very nice, especially for me.”  He exclaims that another “doctora, very nice” lives in the top flat.  He keeps referring throughout the morning to the other doctoras at the university and it becomes clear that he thinks I am a doctora as well.  There is no point in trying to correct him as I’m not sure he will understand me anyway.  If he wants to give me more credentials than I actually have, I’ll let him, and reap any benefits of a higher status!

the view of the villa from the uphill corner ~ I have a tree in Oman:-)

I say, with some reservation, okay, but please, can I see some other places?  “You know I am very busy,” he says.  “Many new teachers.” I say, yes, I know,  I’m sure you’re very busy, but I would really like to see a few more apartments.  He takes me to one building with two flats, small, cramped and equally old and run down as the villa.  I weigh my options and consider the villa is the best so far.  He takes me to one other building where there is a flat up 4 flights of stairs.  By the time I get to the top, sweat is pouring off of me and the flat is hot inside.  It’s not bad, but I fear being on the top floor, it will be entirely too warm.  Issa says, “One good for you?” I feel pressured to make a decision, but honestly there hasn’t been much to choose from.  I decide the villa flat, on the ground floor and quite roomy at least, is the best of the options.  I tell him I’ll take the villa.  He sighs, “Ah yes, good, because you know I am very busy.  Many new teachers.  It will be good for you.”

my living room, or what the Omanis call a “lounge”… it needs paint, new furniture, and some warming up:-)

Sunday morning, on our way to school, Cece drives me and my bags to the villa.  At that time I turn on the air conditioners in three of the rooms to full blast, because the house is steamy.  The kitchen surprisingly lacks an A/C unit.  The house is a filthy mess, so at Cece’s suggestion I hire an Indian guy named Raj to do a deep cleaning of the house.  He plans to meet me at the house at 4 pm.

Cece and I leave the university around 2:30 so she can take me to the huge brand-spanking new Lulu Hypermarket, which reminds me of the Carrefour in Cairo.  It’s a sprawling and gleaming store with everything from housewares and appliances to food.  I pick up some essentials to set up my household, but I totally forget to buy a comforter or pillows.  I brought sheets with me, so I at least have something to put on my bed tonight.

the view of the villa with the mountain in the background

When I arrive home a little before 4:00 in the afternoon, the flat is still steamy hot and I realize that one air conditioner doesn’t work at all, and the other two are less than optimal, with medium cool air eking out.  I call an air-conditioning man to come and repair them, which he does pretty quickly.  Thank goodness for that as the temperature here since I arrived has been a steady 105-106 degrees.

Raj and his friend meet me at the flat at 4 pm on Sunday and the two of them work hard for about 4 hours, cleaning every bit of that house (except the walls which will definitely need a new paint job). I’m amazed at what a difference it makes.  The main problem I discover after they leave, however, is that in the bathroom are hundreds of big ant-like critters that appear to have little wings and hop about.  Cece tells me she thinks they are termites.  Since I bought some bug spray at the Lulu, I go on the attack, committing a mass extermination.

my lovely “wet” bathroom, with two toilets, washing machine, bathtub, and lots of termites and ants!!

While all this cleaning activity is going on, my upstairs neighbors, an Indian couple, Fatima and Ali from Udaipur, where I visited this past March, invite me to come up for dinner at around 9 p.m.  They have bought some kind of take-out thing that looks like a cross between a pizza, a calzone and a sandwich.  One has chicken, one has cheese and olives and one has vegetables.  It is nice getting to know my new neighbors a little.  Their son Mohammed is in an Indian school here in Nizwa that has 1,000 students.  The Indian diaspora in Oman is huge and many businesses and schools cater to this community.

At night I sleep under my sheets, but with the air-conditioner going full blast right over my head, I’m freezing all night.  I don’t want to turn it off because then the kitchen will never cool off.  I also must put cushions from the couch into my pillowcases since I forgot to buy pillows.

this room is pretty useless… with a facelift it could be a study??

The next morning, I wake up to find the termites back in force in the bathroom, crawling all around among the ones who died from my spraying the night before.  I attack once again with the spray.  While showering, I take my shower head off the hook and wash them all down the Arab toilet in the floor.  I have two toilets in my bathroom, one a hole in the floor, and one a regular western toilet, but lacking a seat.  It’s lovely in there, really… 🙂 However, one thing I do have, which most other flats in Oman do not, is a bathtub. However, I’m afraid to use it until I get the pest situation resolved. I can’t imagine lying in the bath and worrying about critters crawling into my head.

my lovely bedroom… dig that furniture. And the bedding….well, it was the best of a bad lot:-)

On Monday night, I go back to the Lulu and buy a comforter that’s blue with green dots.  It wouldn’t be a choice I would normally make, but the choices are quite horrible. This one seems the least offensive. I also buy pillows, dish towels, a dish drying rack, and a little food. It’s all too overwhelming and on this day, the jet lag is hitting me hard.  I’m exhausted and don’t have energy to traipse around the larger-than-footfall stadium-size Lulu to find everything I need. Besides, I have to take a taxi home and don’t want to load up with too much stuff.

On Monday evening, my villa feels a little more like home.  I have enough stuff to be almost comfortable.  New furniture, newly painted walls, these are things I dream of, but we will see, with time.  I’m in no rush to spend more money before I even get my first paycheck or even experience the actual teaching at the university. That will come on October 1.

My front door

Tuesday morning, I can no longer impose on Cece to drive me to work, so I catch the university bus to work.  It takes about 20 minutes and isn’t a bad ride.  I get to talk with other teachers on the bus, teachers from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Algeria, Canada, England, America, South Africa, Australia.  You name it, they are here.

To catch the 7 a.m. bus, I walk several houses down toward the main road in Firq, my little hometown near Nizwa, past Al Khamis Shoes on the corner, cross a two-lane access road, cross the main road at great peril, and stand on the opposite side so I can catch the bus heading toward the university.  Coming home at night, I must yell out “Al Khamis Shoes!!” and then hop off the bus.  Quite an experience, and despite being a little disoriented and confused most of the time, I’m loving it so far!

Looking down my street to the main road

getting psyched for adventure in the sultanate of oman

Thursday, September 15: Today, I leave Washington for Oman; I’ll be on a plane from Dulles International Airport (IAD) at 10:50 p.m. on Qatar Airlines.  After a stopover in Doha, I should arrive in Muscat, Oman at 10:30 p.m. Friday evening.  Right now, during daylight savings time, Oman is 9 hours ahead of us, so I will arrive around 1:30 p.m. EST.  It’s about 15 hours of flying time.

the town of Nizwa seen from Nizwa Fort

Since I first got an offer from the university in early July, I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on about Oman.  My friend Ed from the State Department, who is now in Ethiopia for a 2-year stint, told me that when foreign service officers are assigned to the Middle East, they hope for an Oman posting.  He says they consider it the paradise of the Middle East.

On Amazon.com I found a lot of books about Oman, but was especially happy to find two self-published books by Matthew Heines, an English teacher in Sur, Oman from 2001-2003.  These books tell first-hand the life of an American in Oman, teaching English at a university in Sur (not the one where I’ll be of course ~ mine is in Nizwa…) In the first book, he has an intense romance with an Indian woman who teaches at a university in Muscat while trying to navigate through difficult teaching dilemmas with an administration in a privately run college where there is more concern for collecting student tuition rather than providing for a good education.  He tells of snorkeling adventures (apparently there is great snorkeling all over Oman), camping adventures in the mountains and wadis.  He loves his students, especially the women who work especially hard since they now have an opportunity to get an education by the progressive Sultan Qaboos.  Although he encounters many frustrations and hurdles in teaching, overall he has a great experience.

At the end of Matthew’s first book, his Indian girlfriend leaves him for an arranged marriage insisted on by her parents back in India.  This despite assurances she had given Matthew from the beginning that she would never submit to an arranged marriage.

In his second book, Matthew continues to suffer heartbreak from his Indian girlfriend and then begins a clandestine romance with an Omani woman, which really amounts to rarely meeting in private, a lot of intense phone conversations, and meeting “by chance” in the local souq (market). He has more adventures and a slightly more positive teaching experience.  Through it all, he loves his students.  He leaves Oman at the end of his two years, knowing that his Omani girlfriend will ultimately end up in an arranged marriage with her cousin!!

I loved reading these stories because they’re told from an expatriate’s viewpoint and he’s a university English teacher, as I will be.  I really can’t wait to experience Oman for myself and create my own adventures!

Another book I read was Oman – Culture Smart: a quick guide to customs and culture.  This book gave me a good, but brief, overall guide to what I can expect culturally when I get to Oman.

In talking to an English teacher who has been at the university for a year now, she told me that we will be provided a one bedroom apartment with a king-size bed, a living room with couch and TV, and a fully equipped kitchen. She says they will show us several apartments from which we can choose.  She tells me also we should wear long-sleeves or 3/4 sleeve tops, long pants, and will want to wear sandals year-round.  She says there are about 70 English teachers in the university and there are many new ones coming in as enrollment has increased quite a bit this year.  She said she is 62 and that there are lots of teachers there in their 50s and 60s; this makes me very happy after my year in Korea, where I was by far the oldest teacher there!

Oman and UAE and the rest of the Middle East… here I come!

I will be taking a number of other books along with me to Oman, including Lonely Planet guides to Oman, UAE and the Arabian Peninsula, Dubai, and Middle East.  I hope to explore all over Oman, and UAE while there.  One book is about living and working in Oman, which I will begin reading on the plane tonight.

In a nutshell, here are my goals while I’m in Oman:

1. Continue my Arabic studies and try to use it as much as possible wherever I go in the region.  Aim to achieve some degree of fluency.

back to studying arabic… 🙂

2. Make some good Omani friends, as well as fellow expat friends.  Love my students!

3. Save money and pay off debts.

4. Explore Oman’s nooks and crannies, mountains, wadis and beaches.

5. Explore UAE, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

6. Delve deep into the culture and learn to wear it like a second skin.

7. Read the Quran.  Try to learn as much about Islam as possible.

8. Write a lot of blogs.

9. Take a lot of pictures!

10. Take two trips during the year, one to Jordan and one to Greece.

dreaming of greece… and jordan

11. Revise my novel.  Begin working on another book.

12.  Try to learn as much as possible about teaching in an Arab country and add a year of university teaching to my resume. Be the best teacher I can be and establish a great rapport with my students.

These are my goals for the year ahead.  I hope everyone will inspire and encourage me to achieve all these goals.

Off I go!!

Nizwa Souq

korea vs. oman ~ two different & fascinating worlds

On Thursday night, September 15, I’ll be hopping on a plane to teach English for a year in the Sultanate of Oman.  From February 2010 to February 2011, I taught English in the Republic of Korea (ROK).  In this post, I’m going to do a brief comparison of the two countries.  All facts and figures are taken from the CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

The Republic of Korea (ROK), is known by Americans as South Korea.  The flag, known as Taegeukgi (also spelled Taegukgiin convention), has three parts: a white background; a red and blue taegeuk in the center; and four black trigrams, one in each corner of the flag. The general design of the flag also derives from traditional use of the tricolor symbol (red, blue and yellow) by Koreans starting from the early era of Korean history. The white background symbolizes “cleanliness of the people.” The Taegeuk represents the origin of all things in the universe. Together, they represent a continuous movement within infinity, the two merging as one.

In another interpretation of the Korean flag, white is a traditional Korean color and represents peace and purity; the blue section represents the negative cosmic forces of the yin, while the red symbolizes the opposite positive forces of the yang; each trigram (kwae) denotes one of the four universal elements, which together express the principle of movement and harmony.

The national flag of Oman, Arabic علم عمان‎) consists of three stripes (white, green and red) with a red bar on the left that contains the national emblem of Oman. The white stands for peace and prosperity, the green for fertility and the Green Mountains, and the red for battles against foreign invaders. The red is also the color of the former flag of the nation when it was known simply as the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman.

Korea is located in Eastern Asia, on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea. It is smaller than Oman, with an area of 99,720 sq km, slightly larger than the state of Indiana.  It has 2,413 km of coastline.  The South Korean terrain is mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains are in the west and south.  Its climate is temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter.

Korea’s natural resources are coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, and hydro-power potential.  Natural hazards include occasional typhoons that bring high winds and floods; low-level seismic activity is common in the southwest.  It has a strategic location on the Korea Strait.

Oman is in the Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia, between Yemen and UAE.  Its area is 309,500 sq km, or slightly smaller than Kansas.  It has 2,092 km of coastline.  The Oman terrain is central desert plain, with rugged mountains in the north and south.  Its climate is dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in the far south.

Oman’s natural resources are petroleum, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum, and natural gas.  Natural hazards include summer winds that often raise large sandstorms and dust storms in the interior; periodic droughts occur.

Despite the fact that Korea is 1/3 the size of Oman, the population in Korea is almost 49 million compared to 3 million in Oman!  Where the median age in Korea is 39.8 years, the median age in Oman is 22.4 years.  Where Muscat, the capital of Oman, has a population of 634,000, the population in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is nearly 10 million.

The major language in Korea is Korean, with English taught widely in junior high and high school.  Korea spends 4.2% of GDP on education, whereas Oman spends 3.9% of GDP.  The major languages in Oman are Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, and Indian dialects.  The ethnic makeup of Oman is 72% Omanis and 28% expatriate workers and GCC (Gulf Corporation Council) nationals.

The religious makeup of Oman is Ibadhi Muslim 75%, other (includes Sunni Muslim, Shia Muslim, Hindu)  is 25%.  In Korea, 26% are Christian, 23% are Buddhist, and 49% claim no religion.

Korea’s government is a republic with President LEE Myung-bak, serving as head of state since 25 February 2008.  Oman is a hereditary monarchy with Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Said Al-Said (sultan since 23 July 1970 and prime minister since 23 July 1972) at its head; he is both the chief of state and head of government.

In 2004, South Korea joined the trillion-dollar club of world economies, and currently is among the world’s 20 largest economies, rated as 13th largest by GDP.  Oman is a middle-income economy that is heavily dependent on dwindling oil resources. Because of declining reserves, Muscat has actively pursued a development plan that focuses on diversification, industrialization, and privatization, with the objective of reducing the oil sector’s contribution to GDP to 9% by 2020.  Oman is ranked 81st in the world according to GDP.

Korea’s agricultural products include rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit, cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs, and fish and is involved in industries such as electronics, telecommunications, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, and steel.  Oman’s agricultural products are dates, limes, bananas, alfalfa, vegetables, camels, cattle and fish and its major industries include crude oil production and refining, natural and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production; construction, cement, copper, steel, chemicals, and optic fiber.

Korea has a mandatory requirement for military service: 20-30 years of age for compulsory military service, with middle school education required; conscript service obligation – 21 months (Army, Marines), 23 months (Navy), 24 months (Air Force); 18-26 years of age for voluntary military service.  Oman does not have mandatory military service: 18-30 years of age for voluntary military service; there was no conscription as of 2010.

A Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953. There are periodic incidents with North Korea in the Yellow Sea over the Northern Limit Line, which South Korea claims as a maritime boundary.  During my one year in Korea, North Korea attacked South Korea in minor attacks twice.  South Korea and Japan claim Liancourt Rocks (Dok-do/Take-shima), occupied by South Korea since 1954.

A boundary agreement was reportedly signed and ratified with UAE in 2003 for Oman’s entire border, including Oman’s Musandam Peninsula and Al Madhah exclave, but details of the alignment have not been made public.

These two countries seem as different as two countries can possibly be, so I am really excited and privileged to be able to experience both of these cultures close-up!