The following is a composite of extracts from articles about Omani teachers’ observation visit to John Paul International College on 3 August, 2010 by John Paul International College students, David Chen, Jennifer Kang, Tiffany Lin, Sandy Lin, Hannah Luo, Robert Tak, Tiffany Yoo.
A group of Omani teachers came to JPIC to observe the general study of international students. Actually, they had been in Australia for six weeks studying in Queensland University, which will be part of their major in education. Therefore, they came to JPIC to observe how the teachers were teaching, as well as interacting with students. Tiffany
During our lesson, four Omanis joined our group activity. There were three gentlemen and a young lady. First, they introduced themselves and Oman. Oman is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Certainly, it is a Muslim country. We rarely meet someone who is from the Middle East and we don’t know very much about the cultures, I think it is a good opportunity to know about a different culture. Secondly, they joined each group of our class, shared information about the topic with all of us. The gentleman who joined my group was a talkative person and the topic that we discussed was the coming of age of the country we belong to. He told us the coming of age in Oman is eighteen years old. After eighteen, people can do anything they want, except drink because drinking in Muslim countries is not acceptable.
Next, the young lady joined our group. She was really kind. We were interested in her scarf and we asked about that. She said it shows respect to Allah and women have to wear it when they go out of the home. However, Oman is not so strict to women compared with other Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia. In those countries, women can just show their eyes to others and need to cover all their skin. Hannah
Firstly, when people turn 19, they become adults in Korea. They hold big parties, and enjoy that they become adults with their family and friends. Adults can also smoke or drink alcohol in Korea. Also, when people turn 19, they can vote and obtain resident cards. Normally, they stand on their own two feet at 25. Koreans usually stay with their parents before getting married.
In Oman, when people turn 18 they become adult. Most of the people follow Islam. Women have to put scarves on their head when they go out, if they are older than 18. Oman is also one of the hot countries in the world with the highest temperature reaching 50 degrees centigrade. Also, Oman is made up of a big desert. Iraq, Yemen and Saudi Arabia are around Oman. Oman has plenty of oil. Jennifer
In my group we were discussing our own country cultures. For instance, Taiwanese people over eighteen can smoke, drink or drive. Chinese people are the same as Taiwanese people and Korean people over nineteen have to go into the army. The Omani teacher told us in their country a man can marry four women. It was amazing when the boys knew this. Nonetheless, Omanis can’t eat pork because it is dirty for them. The females have to wear a scarf to cover their hair because of their religion. Sandy
And then, we transferred to the aspect of education. The Omani teacher said they only had two phases of education before they went to university: primary school and middle school. They didn’t have high school in their country. That was quite distinct from China and Korea. We have three phases of education before we go to university. On the other hand, they needn’t to pay any money for their education in Oman as it is all free. Jenny said it was the same in Korea. Compared to China, education problems still exist. The government just covers one section of the education fee and we have to pay the rest of the education fee by ourselves. Tiffany
Then, he introduced his country. He said Oman is an Arabic country which is a very rich country. Oman produces a lot of oil and natural gas. They also export them to many other different countries. He told us about the culture in Oman as well. For example, he said the women in Oman have to wear a hijab everyday. What’s more, he told us some of them used their hands to eat, but he usually used knives and forks to eat.
Next, we talked about the receiving of gifts in our own countries. First, I said when we get something from the others or give something to the others, we should use our two hands because it is polite. I also told him we can just use one hand as well because we didn’t mind it. But the Omani visitor said they can’t use the left hand to pass something or give something because it means you don’t respect him or her. I thought it was different from China because actually we usually use one hand no matter which hand we use if we know each other, but they have to pay attention that which hand they are using. David
It was a wonderful and interesting discussion in class. It gave me a good chance to communicate with different people who came from different countries, as well as acquire the knowledge of culture in different countries. I have got a lot of benefit from interacting with the Omani teachers and my friends. Tiffany
Today, Omani teachers talked about themselves. I was very surprised because they could speak English very well and pronunciation was really good. Thus, I could understand them easily and I could concentrate easily. We divided into 5 groups and then we talked about the diversity of the country with the Omani teachers. Omanis are the same as Koreans because they can have as many children as they like. Omani females always cover their faces with scarves because they have to protect their body. They can drink and drive when they are 18 years old. Robert
Moreover, it is little bit hard to get good jobs in Oman. Especially students who are studying English because, many Omanis want to work in school so there isn’t always enough any space for new teachers. Oman is also a very small area so they have only one big public university. However, the biggest surprising things are tuition is free, school give a salary to students. But it is also really hard to receive admission to a school. Tiffany Y