Getting to know our neighbours

You know how nowadays people may bump into their neighbours every once in a while but never actually get to know them? Isn't it sad? We decided we had to get to know ours a little better, so we crossed over to their garden, to see if we could find them outside enjoying the sunny afternoon, and indeed that's just what they were doing! We approached them to see what they were like and what they were doing, and they were actually equally curious about us as we were about them. They didn't take any picture of us, though. I hope they didn't get offended by our curiousity... They kind of scared us too, as they were trying to get really close to us, I mean it was supposed to be a mere courtesy visit, nothing to get too excited about, but they seem to have a slightly different notion of social distance than we do. But on the whole, it went pretty well and we'll make sure to visit them again soon!

  

All (commercial) roads lead to Khobar

I already sensed it; a visit to Khobar's newest supermarket only confirmed it: Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province is the one place where all consumption goods convey from all around the globe. German Pumpernickel, an original fake Rollex from India, Dijon mustard, masapan from Venezuela, Scottish shortbread, plastic kitchenware from China, dehydrated mushrooms from the French forests, curry spices, Swedish ready-to-assemble furniture... I dare you to name anything that you can't find around here (even the "forbidden" goods such as alcohol and pork have their black market, though I'm not familiar with it!).
And if it's delicatessens you're after, be sure that the Danube will not let you down!

Danube, the poshest supermarket ever, where peanuts, pasta and bread are displayed as if they were luxury goods (although white truffle oil might be considered as one)

I don't even need to take vacation to France anymore, and can still bring back souvenirs from Brittany! I mean, who needs Pornic when you've got Al-Khobar!

Danube has also got the first self-service checkouts in the Eastern Province (doesn't quite fit the luxury image of the shop, but definitely European, hence better)

Why bother going to London when Hamley's is in Khobar too!

Judging by the big kid on the picture, it does have some of the same magic!

Melody in trouble clef

One month after my second farewell (!), I went back to school to sub this week. It's funny how, for months  now, people are always surprised to still see me around, since I have been supposed to leave for such a long time, and in the end it seems I'll even outlast some of them! Anyway it was really nice to see the kids. I was subbing for Band/Music (if some thought my teaching PE was the most ironic thing in the world, it's because they had overlooked Music in the list of high school subjects!) and the kids had to do an assignment where they had to replace notes with their corresponding letters in order to form words and complete stories. They had a treble clef notes chart on the first page of their packet that they could refer to in order to complete the exercise. 

The packet was composed of many pages so it became tedious to look back and forth all the time. That's when the 3-Graders revealed their true talent as strategists.

• The French strategy - not so practical, yet inherent to our culture
  Consists in turning the page over and over, looking back and forth, while mumbling about how annoying this is.
• The Corean strategy - not so smart, yet hardworking
  Consists in copying the information on every single page of the packet in order to have it at hand while completing the exercises.
• The German strategy - 100% praktisch, quadratisch, gut
  Consists in copying the information on a separate piece of paper that you can put right in front of you and easily refer to.
• The Indian strategy - sloppy, yet practical 
  Consists in ripping off the first page of the stapled packet to have it at hand while completing the rest of the pages.
• The Chinese strategy - copycat, yet proven as efficient as the aboveConsists in copying any of the above (except for the French, I mean, who would ever want to copy the least productive strategy of all?) from a classmate and then pretend it was your own idea in the first place. 

I just find it fascinating to see how young kids interact and find their way around some simple, practical problems, sometimes even much better and quicker than teenagers exposed to the same problem. 

Tomorrow is my last day as a Music teacher, after that, I promise I will respect my restraining order towards any kind of musical instrument!