2007/04/06

Students from Qatar in the US

I found this article, Students from Qatar find time for public service during visit, really interesting. It is always interesting to see how your country is viewed by outsiders; it gives you a chance to see things through fresh eyes.

[In Qatar] needs are great, but there are not enough people with the skills and education to organize the help. "There is community service, but it's not the same," [one of the students] said. "Here everyone has a basic level of education, some basic skills."

"There are a lot of people in need here," Miss Al-Rumaihi, a Qatar native, said. "You watch TV and you don't really see that."

It never fails to amaze me that everyone (and I mean everyone - I have done this myself) seems to think that TV and movies completely misrepresent their country/ethnic group/religion but that it accurately shows others.

Miss Anis said she never really learned to work for herself at home, living a somewhat pampered life. "There we have workers who take care of things," she said, noting that even the community service was done by hired help.

"I don't read to little kids in libraries [in the United Arab Emirates]," she said. "I don't know if they even have libraries there."

I was also glad to see that they thought the people were "very friendly".

1 comment:

Marcus Aurelius said...

I saw that too while in the UAE, the idea that TV represented the USA accurately.

A friend of mine even had a student tell him how anxious he was to get to America for the easy.... When my buddy told his student to forget the TV the student was somewhat disappointed.