The First Months

My dad moved to Muscat in December 2009 due to his job as sales and marketing manager in Jotun Oman, while my mom, sister and I moved in June 2010, because my mom had to finish her studies. A couple days after moving I remember my mom, sister and I went with a norwegian woman named Torill to pick up her daughters Kristin, who is one year older than me and her baby sister Mia. Then, we all went to a beautiful restaurant called Darcy´s Kitchen, where we ate lunch with all the norwegian TAISM students. It felt great to be a part of this norwegian expat community that fast, while at the same time feeling foreign because everyone had been at the restaurant a billion times, knowing exactly what to order, and of course writing in each others yearbooks. At least, I was now an expat just like everyone else around the table.

The next day, Torill, her girls, and Birte (another norwegian woman) picked us (my mother, sister and I) up at home. We lived in a beautiful three level house with a large balcony on the roof with seaview. However, we had to move later on because of a really bad smell from the sewage. Anyway, we drove to the souq, which is in the Muttrah, the old town. From MQ where we lived it takes about twenty minutes to drive. I remember driving past beautiful trees and flowers, taken care of by indian workers, small shops now and then, and  being astonished by the huge highways that stretches throughout the entire capital. Another thing that astonished me was that Torill, Birte and the girls all wore long jeans. Note, it was june, which means that the temperature was between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius. Of course, I wore lose pants that covered my knees, but I couldn´t understand how they could walk around with tight jeans in that temperature. The funny thing though, is that only a couple weeks later I did the exact same thing, and it was no problem at all. That feeling of gradually adapting to the culture and climate felt amazing.

In July, we went back to Norway for a few weeks, because you don´t stay in Oman during that month as an expat if you don´t have to. It is way too hot and humid. However, in August we went back. I had already visited the shool during Easter Break, but I was now officially a TAISM student. During the registration day, I spoke with the Middle School principle, whom I thought seemed very nice, which turned out to be a correct assumption. I received my calendar, bought the uniforms I needed and took the picture for the identity card. There was also some orientation for new students. It was great seeing with my own eyes that I wasn´t the only new and insecure kid. Lastly, I went to check out my locker, and tried ro understand how the lock worked, which was quite hard. Fortunately, my Language Arts teacher was in her classroom right next to my locker, so she helped me out. The rest of the afternoon was spent buying binders and other school stuff, as well as practicing on opening my lock.

The next day, my mom dropped me off at school. The walk from the car to the classroom felt awfully long. I was feeling terrified and exhilarated at the same time. Luckily, I had Language Arts during first block, which ment that Ms. Jensen, whom I met the day before, was my first teacher of the day. What a relief! I slowly opened the door to the classroom and stepped in. A few students was already seated. I spotted a table with two girls, and asked if I could join them. Phew! Then, my next worry, Physical Education next block. There was no way I could find the gym by myself. So, after repeating the same sentence in my head at least five times I dared to ask if they had PE next block as well. Then, if we please could walk together. From then on, everything went easier for every hour that passed. I spoke to more and more people, got to know the school building, passed my first tests. I went to birthday parties, hung out at the beach playing volleyball, went to the cinema.

However, it took some time. The language barrier made it hard to socialize in the same way as I would in Norway. At school and around friends I had to concentrate to understand what people were saying and  I repeated everything at least three times in my head before I dared to say it. Moreover, this as everything else improved for everyday that passed, and by Christmas I didn´t need to think when listening or speaking, it just happened. At that point I even started to forget Norwegian words. Up until then I had smiled because of what a gift it was to live in this country, and I had cried becuase I missed home. These feelings came and went even after that first Christmas, but as time went by, the smiling increased, while the crying decreased.

"16 Reasons Why Living In Muscat Ruins Life For You"

I was searching the web and checking social media, when I came across a link my previous Social Studies teacher had shared about Oman, which I found to be surprisingly true and somewhat funny. Therefore, I decided that I had to share it. Click on the link, scroll down the page and enjoy the beautiful pictures: 16 Reasons Why Living In Muscat Ruins Life For You.

I´m going to write a post about my first months in Oman one of the upcoming days. Please let me know if there is anything in particular you are interested in reading about. Have a great weekend!

The American International School of Muscat

"The American International School of Muscat (TAISM) is a private, non-profit college preparatory, co-educational day school. The school is designed to afford expatriate children of all nationalities the best possible educational program within the context of an English language, American-based curriculum," according to the TAISM Parent Handbook of 2010-2011. It also states that: "The mission of The American International School of Muscat is to pursue academic excellence for students in their international community through an American-based education that develops ethical, responsible, and globally conscious life-long learners."

Middle and high school follow a six-day schedule. Any day of the week will have a number, 1-6, indicating the schedule to be followed. The odd numbered days have the same classes, while the even days have four different classes. In seventh grade I studied language arts, english language learning, science, social studies, physical education, math, art, information technology, band, choir and drama. While, in eight grade I studied language arts, social studies, science, algebra 1, health, band, choir, physical education and spanish.

One of the highlights of the school year is the Discover Oman program. This week-long trip provides students with unique cultural, personal, interpersonal and environmental experiences by exploring our host country, the Sultanate of Oman. In February 2011 we went to Wahiba Sands, where we rode camels far into the desert and slept in bedouin tents for two nights. We even got to meet a bedouin family living in the desert. In addition, we went to a beautiful wadi, called Wadi Bani Khaled, and went to the turtle beach Tiwi, where we saw sea turtles. This trip truly strengthened the bond between students, as well as the bond to the teachers. It was an amazing trip.

Taism has a dress code that is respectful of Oman´s culture. As a girl, I had to wear the TAISM polo shirt, which was or still is, available in red, white or blue. My skirt, pants or shorts had to be dark blue or khaki, and knee-length or longer. Athletic pants were not allowed for daily wear. During PE the TAISM t-shirt and shorts for PE had to be worn. Reusable water bottles and hats were obligatory when PE classes were held outdoors. During swimming a one-piece swimsuit had to be worn. Only TAISM sweatshirts were allowed.

Middle school students were eligible to participate in after school activities. During fall season swimming and volleyball were played. I played volleyball. During winter I played soccer, and during the spring season basketball. Track and field was also a option during spring. The teams met at 15.40 most days to practice, and played against other schools once in a while. The most important school to beat was the American British Academy (ABA), that was also a tough match, no matter what sport. Playing matches was always a lot of fun, and we won quite a lot with the all-star team.

The teachers at the school were extremely passionate about teaching, and a strong bond was made between the teacher and the students. Some explanation of this bond might be the connection of everyone being expats, which is something special, but their passion and international view also made the students exceptionally interested in learning. We were graded from A to F, as well as an effort grade in each subject from Excellent to Needs Improvement. In addition, getting the Highest Honors roll was always great to keep the motivation going.

TAISM was and is an amazing school. My family and I visited last year, and we were greeted by the principals, teachers and students like we had never left. The atmosphere and the spirit of the school will always stay close to my heart. "Once an Eagle, always an Eagle."

Dinner in an Omani Home

Omanis are well known for their hospitality, as a result being invited to an Omani home equals tons of food. Upon arrival you´ll be seated on the floor around a plastic tablecloth. They will then usually serve coffee, called kahwa, which is a strong, bitter drink flavored with cardamom, and dates, called halwa. After a short while, dish after dish is placed on the floor. Rice with chicken or lamb marinated with special spices, like qabuli and djaj foug el eish, fish, seafood, hummus (dip made of chickpeas), bread and salads. The Omani cuisine borrows Asian flavors and incorporates them into typical Omani dishes, making the taste of the food unique. Then, it´s time to eat all of this food, and you are expected to eat quite a lot. After having switched sitting positions multiple times and eaten excessively much food, both delicious and unaccustomed, you are filled up and tired, but most of all feeling grateful for having this experience. However, the meal isn´t done yet. The dishes (which in no way are emptied) are at this point taken away, and soon the dessert appears. This may be lemon bars, which is a cake made of butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and lemon. Another Omani dessert is the sako, which is a sweet caramelized tapioca pudding, made of saffron, sugar, rosewater (from Jebel Al Akhdar), ginger, cinnamon and cardamom. Nuts, such as pistachios or walnut, are sometimes chopped into the pudding as well. At this point, you´re more or less finished with the dinner. Furthermore, one usually stays for a little while longer just to talk, before heading home.

It is important to note that Omanis usually bring generous gifts to both the adults and the children when visiting others. Bringing a gift is in no way obligatory, but it is a way of showing gratitude, and by doing so you won´t end up feeling bad when they visit your house with beautiful gifts.

Comparing Cultures

As written previously on the blog, the modernization in Oman keeps increasing. Moreover, there are still many differences comparing the Omani and the Norwegian culture.

Factors	Oman	Norway
Family	Extended family, nuclear family	Nuclear family
Major religions	Islam (generally more religious)	Christianity
Holidays	Ramadan, Eid Fitr and Eid al Adha, New Year (Al Hijra) October 25.	Christmas, Easter
Music	Arab music	Modern European and American inspired music.
Climate	Hot and humid (often leads to hospitable people)	Cold and dry (reserved people)
Clothes	Dishdash and abaya (modern clothes under)	Different clothes, modern
Economy	Oil. Good infrastructure in the large cities, worse in rural areas, relatively good education system, not banks everywhere, corruption, on its way to become a welfare state.	Oil. Good economy, education system, infrastructure, health and so on. Welfare state.
Language	Arabic, English	Norwegian

 

First, in Oman it´s still common to live in an extended family, however, more and more people decide to live in the nuclear family, as in Norway. Men having more than one wife still happens, but that is also changing as the years go by. Second, the majority of the population in Oman are practicing Muslims. While, the majority in Norway are Christians, but a lot are only members of the Norwegian Church, not practicing Christians. Due to different religions, the two countries celebrate different holidays. Omanis celebrate Ramadan (fasting month), Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, and New Year (Al Hijra), which is October 25. Furthermore, the music is quite different in the two countries. By listening to Omani radio channels, you´ll hear that Arab music is the most popular in the country. Norwegians, on the other hand, tend to listen to modern European and American inspired music. The climate in Oman is hot and humid, which often, according to many researchers, lead to hospitable personalities. On the contrary, the climate in Norway is cold and dry, which some people believe is the reason why Norwegians often are considered as reserved. In Oman most women wear their abayas and men their dishdashes. Most Norwegians wear all types of western clothes. Similarly, most Omani women wear modern western clothes under their abaya. The economy of Oman is quite good, particularly because of the oil. The infrastructure is excellent in the large cities, moreover, worse in rural areas, they have a relatively good education system, but not banks everywhere, corruption does happen, however Oman is on its way to become a welfare state. Norway, on the other hand is a welfare state, which has a lot to do with the oil. The official languages in Oman are Arabic and English, while in Norway Norwegian is spoken. To conclude, Oman and Norway are two very different countries in many ways, however, there are some similarities as well.

Religion

What is the main religion in Oman, and how does it affect the culture?

In Oman approximately 88% of the population are Muslims (75% Ibadi Muslims and 25% Sunni and Shia, according to snl.no) Other religious groups are Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists. However, most of these are expatriates.

Islam is a monotheistic religion. It is the youngest of the five world religions; moreover, it is the second largest in the world. The religion is currently increasing worldwide.  

Religious meetings are not allowed in private homes, and teaching is obligatory in elementary, middle and high school; however, non-Muslims may apply for exemption.                                                  

The religion affects the culture in many different ways. First, Muslims are expected to pray five times during the day. Second, it says something about how one should dress (abaya and dishdash). Third, Muslims are not allowed to eat pork, because the meat is believed to be dirty. This belief comes from a time when a dangerous parasite, called trichinella existed. According to Muslims, the pig has a bad appetite as well, it eats its own and other animal´s excrement, and due to lack of sweat glands, the pig´s sweat end up in the meat. Other animals can be eaten only if slaughtered by halal method. The religion affects society´s view on women as well. In the Quran, men are highly valued and women are supposed to serve the man. Moreover, this view has changed drastically during the last decades. Women today have the rights to an education, a lot choose to work and it is one´s own choice to wear abaya or not. However, most still do, because of old traditions. 

To conclude, Islam has a great impact on the culture of Oman; however, a gradual modernization of the country and its views has taken place during the last decades. 

Useful Information About The Country And Its People

Oman is a country that a lot of people haven´t heard of. Therefore, I decided to share some useful information about the country and its people.

Arabic is the official language in Oman. However, English is now widely spoken as well, especially when it comes to business. More or less all signs and menus are written in both Arabic and English. The official religion is Islam, where Ibadi Muslims make up the majority. Oman´s form of government, absolute monarchy is governed by Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The currency in the country is Rial (OMR).

Omanis have a reputation for hospitality, which is well deserved, because they do welcome visitors and expatriates with open arms. “We visited Oman last year, for the first time after moving back to Norway, and by the time we had landed in Muscat we had gotten so many dinner invitations from our local friends that we sadly had to turn down a few.” This really illustrates how warm and friendly most Omanis are. Those we went to served as usual traditional Omani food, with the typical ingredients, lamb, chicken or seafood, rice, dates, yogurt and spices. For example, shuwa, lamb cooked in banana peel in the ground, and hummus, a dip made of chickpeas. It is also quite usual for Omanis to bring generous gifts when visiting friends´ houses.

Oman is also distinctive among many Gulf countries for its tolerance. It`s a Muslim country steeped in tradition; however, the culture is progressive as illustrated by a modern infrastructure and acceptance of religious differences and social habits. Take for instance, the public beaches. When we moved to Oman you did not ever see a tourist relaxing on the local beach in their bikinis. Probably because they were told not to do so, and if they did they would end up with a bunch up people staring at them because of their disrespect. Only a year and a half later, we saw five to ten tourists sunbathing on the local beach every weekend and most Omanis seemed to approve of it. I even spoke to a few of my dad´s colleagues about it and they thought it was great that Muscat keeps becoming more open to Western civilization.


The religion Islam is central in the Omani culture. Five times a day the mosques chime all over the country, calling in for prayer. However, foreigners are free to practice their own
religion; there are for example a few churches in Muscat. When it comes to alcohol, it´s served in major hotels and restaurants, because Muslims, do not drink, or, they´re not supposed to drink. Moreover, a lot of them do. Especially, when their spouses are not around.

While the Omani women living in urban areas wear their abayas and those in rural areas usually wear burkas, and men their dishdashes, expats and tourists are free to wear their own clothes. However, out of respect one should cover shoulders and knees. You won´t end up in jail for not covering those body parts, but people will stare, even more than they already do because of your western looks. Especially during the month of Ramadan it`s important to be extra observant and not drink or eat in public. Because of the fasting during this month, you could legally be arrested for doing so. Even in the car, I remember we had to bend over and hide in order to eat or drink.

Today, women in Oman are not only able to drive and go out in public unescorted, they are a significant part of Oman´s workforce, and even populate Ministry and Consultative Council positions in the government. However, it hasn´t always been such a modern and tolerant country. Under Sultan Said bin Taimur, who came to power in 1932, Oman experienced decades of international isolation, a society run along feudal lines and internal rebellion. However, after deposing his father in 1970, Sultan Qaboos Bin Said opened up the country, embarked on economic reforms and boosted spending on health, education and welfare. He has by no doubt opened up the country. His nephew was in my class at TAISM, which in itself, by sending him to an international school, shows that the Al-Said family is concerned about a continued modernization of the country, while of course at the same time preserving its remarkable past, with its UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Grand Mosque, forts, sea turtles, dolphins, wadis, wahiba sands and Khaluf.

Flooding

Posted on September 6, 2015

On Friday September 4th heavy rain caused flooding in Northern Oman. The floods claimed 4 lives, including a young boy, his brother, mother and housemaid. Furthermore, the authorities are searching for a man who went missing in the Muttrah area (video: People risking their lives in Muttrah area in Muscat). The floods caused chaos in central Muscat, and made a large damage to businesses, including Muscat Grand Mall, where the ceiling collapsed.

But, why does this happen? More or less every time the rain falls the wadis and roads in Oman overflow and people die or get injured, because the rainwater is not channeled safely. Averagely, flooding kills 70 people every year in Oman, destroys more than 600 homes, and damages about 1,500 private businesses, according to Shaibany (Times of Oman). Furthermore, it destroys civil infrastructure and disrupts electricity, water supplies and telecommunication networks. Since 2010, the total average cost is above OMR1.2 billion (NOK25.9 billion) annually.

All around the world, innovations in flood control are happening, and in my opinion it needs to happen in Oman as well. According to environmentalists, half of the damage during heavy rain is caused by accumulation of water in the basins of mountains. After a few hours, gallons of water flow down the rocks to crack up roads. Then, the wadis overflow and residential areas are damaged and people injured. In addition, I believe government offices should be more strict with building permits, and other approvals. So that, ceilings such as the one in the Muscat Grand Mall, won´t collapse due to rain in the future.

Flood control is expensive and considering the sparseness of rain in Oman, one may argue that it is not necessary. However, in my opinion one can´t put a price tag on    people´s lives and livelihoods. During my time in Oman people did die due to floods and it suddenly feels extremely close when you see it with your own eyes, and even learn about the mourning process because one of your dad´s colleagues just lost her family. To sum up, if the country had had flood control, the family who perished on Friday, as well as hundreds of others might still have been alive.

Video illustrating damages: MORNING MINUTE – Muscat Flooding News

Blog Introduction

Posted on August 28, 2015

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The Sultanate of Oman is situated in the southeastern quarter of the Arabian Peninsula, bordered by Saudi Arabia to the west, Yemen to the southwest, and the United Arab Emirates to the northwest. It is a country of diverse landscapes, including mountains, oases, lagoons, and farmland. About 1700 km of coastline stretches from Musandam in the north  to the tropical greenery of the Dhofar region in the south. The temperature varies from 20 to 50 degrees Celsius,depending on the season. The majority of the population are Ibadi Muslims, however other religions are tolerated as well. The capital city, Muscat, is home to 10% of Oman’s total population of 3,500,000, of whom approximately 76% are Omanis and 24% are expatriates.

In Muscat my family and I lived in Madinat Sultan Qaboos  in an apartment in a complex, with two pools on the roof and a gym. My sister and I went to an American international school, called The American International School of Muscat (TAISM). School started at 8.30 am and ended at 3.30 pm. However, most days we went to afterschool activities, like soccer, basketball and volleyball. A friend of mine and I played tennis outside of school as well. Anyway, we usually got picked up at school at 5pm. Then the 10 to 15 minutes’ drive home, before homework. Because of the long distances and highways we had to drive almost everywhere. There was only this small area with a grocery store, starbucks and a couple of restaurants that we could walk to. In the weekends, my friends and I often went to the beach, hang out by a pool, went to the mall, a party and so on. Speaking about weekends, our weekend was Thursday and Friday, because Friday is the holy day for Muslims. However, just last year they changed the weekend to Friday and Saturday in other to make business with the outside world easier. Once in a while, friends and family from Norway visited, and it was nice to share a tiny bit of our world and experience with them. And to get some Norwegian chocolate. In February, that would be 2011, I went on Discover Oman with my school. It was a week-long trip where we traveled to different parts of Oman to gain a greater understanding of the culture. We went to Wahiba Sands (the desert), rode camels and slept in Bedouin tents. We went to the turtle beach, Tiwi where we saw sea turtles and their babies. And we went to a beautiful wadi (a valley). On days like May 17th all the Norwegians gathered in a hotel and ate Norwegian food. In December the Scandinavians gathered for a Christmas party with Scandinavian food and Christmas songs in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Finnish. On Christmas Eve we walked on the beach and celebrated with a plastic tree. We celebrated New Years Eve with some of our friends from France, Sweden and Norway. So, our lives went by pretty much the same way as it does in Norway: school, friends, sports etc. Moreover, everything was at the same time indescribably different, and that´s exactly why I´ve made this blog. In the upcoming weeks I´m going to share past experiences from my time in Oman, share som information about the culture in the country, as well as sharing some of my thoughts and feelings about all of this.

Comments from previous blog:

Anonymous on September 3, 2015 at 11:19 am said:Edit

Looks interesting.
Having travelled the world all my life I have a problem settling anywhere now. Do you feel that your time abroad has given you itchy feet? could you imagine yourself living permanently abroad? or did you carry enough of your Norwegian family habits with you to keep the link while away?
As you went to an International school why didn’t you go into the IB system here in Norway?

Reply ↓

• Vildeon September 3, 2015 at 5:24 pm said:Edit

  First, to answer your last question, I have to say that I really considered going into the IB system, however I ended up not to, because of the subjects. I wanted to study subjects such as politics and human rights, psychology and law, and none of those were possible in the IB. Honestly, I have to say though, that I miss having all my subjects in English.
  Second, I do feel my time abroad has given me itchy feet. However, Norway is still what I view as home, because I have lived here most of my life. Moreover, I´m a completely different person than I was before I moved. People who knew me before and after probably noticed quite a bit of a change, however, I believe the crucial change is in my personal thinking. For a lot of expats I think that the following sentence applies: “once an expat, always an expat”. At least for me it does. Before I moved, I was one person living in a tiny world in Norway. Now, I`m like two distinct people, having close relationships to people all over the world. I think that no matter where I live on this Earth, I´m going to permanently miss the people I love, I´m going to miss the nature, the culture, the language and, well, I´m going to miss almost everything about the country I´m not currently in. Moreover, I wouldn´t exchange this longing for anything, because the experience and insight one gets when living abroad is truly amazing. I can´t wait to move abroad somewhere after high school, and to answer your second question; yes, I could absolutely imagine myself living abroad permanently, because for me Adam Gopnik´s saying fits perfectly, ”The loneliness of the expatriate is of an odd and complicated kind, for it is inseparable from the feeling of being free, of having escaped.”