Ignorance, ignorance, ignorance
Something that I'd always noticed but never thought about was the lack of knowledge expats (young and old alike) have of their host country. It hit me today when my Economics teacher said something along the lines of "the president... Sheikh what's-his-name". The truth is that for some reason, expats generally do not have a good knowledge of the UAE, nor do they know anything about it. They copy and paste their lifestyles from their home countries and live in their native bubbles but a lot of them do not care to find out about the country or its people. Ask any expat any of the following 9 questions and I can almost guarantee that you will be met with a blank face.
1) What are the names of the 7 emirates?
2) What is the name of the UAE president?
3) What exactly is Sheikh Mohammed's position?
4) What does FNC stand for?
5) What is the capital city of the UAE? (yes, a lot of people still believe it is Dubai)
6) What is the proper name for 'locals'?
7) What does the UAE national flag look like?
8) Which is the largest emirate in terms of population?
9) Which is the largest emirate in terms of size?
posted by FreshDubai at 1:36 AM
6 Comments:
1) Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah
2) Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan
3) (assumine you mean Mo bin Rash al Mak) Ruler of Dubai and No 2 in the UAE, among others
4) Federal National Council
5) Abu Dhabi
6) Emiratis
7) Red, green black and white
8) Abu Dhabi
9) Abu Dhabi
This was without cheating. So I probably made some errors. I'm off to check now ;)
2:48 AM
Having lived in Dubai (on and off) from 1984 - 2004, it pains me to admit that I had no idea what FNC stood for (until reading secret dubai's answers!) and I would have guessed number 8 to now be Dubai - oops. The rest I know well, thanks to Mrs. Martin's General Studies class at Dubai College many moons ago!
First time i've dropped in on your blog, looks good, so i'm off to read some of your other posts!
4:19 PM
I agree with the thrust of your post, that expats really should learn something about the host country, wherever they are. But you're being unfair to say "ask any expat", that's far too all-encompassing. Some couldn't answer all of your questions, some maybe couldn't answer any, but many of us can correctly answer all or most.
5:18 PM
I agree with seabee....you really have to stop being so presumptous.
-I was born in Dubai.
-I learnt Arabic till the ninth grade.
-I can recite the UAE national anthem.
-I've known the names of the 7 emirates and their respective rulers for as long as I can remember.
-My father speaks arabic better than most of the young locals these days, owing to the fact that he's been living in the UAE for almost four decades.
How can you account for the "ignorance" of all the expats in the country?
Did you take a survey?
9:06 AM
Ok I agree, maybe I am being a little too presumptous, but the general 90% of the expat population (especially Westerners) do not have a clue.
And in answer to your question breatimplants (nice name by the way), no, I did not take a survey, but when I ask school colleagues any of those questions they look at me totally blankly.
Thanks for your comments desert lady, seabee and SD.
3:06 PM
Well, I agree with you to some extent. A lot of young people are pretty clueless about the UAE; still doesn't account for the entire expat population.
I spent most of my formidable high school years in Abu Dhabi (where UAE Social Studies was a mandatory subject). Our teacher was a large Egyptian woman who ruled the class with an iron first (and a very painful steel ruler).
Still, despite the steel ruler, it was an interesting class.
11:07 AM
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