SteveThaiBinh

This is secondhand info as I've yet to live through it myself, but I've been told that during Ramadan people break their fast with a little snack just before heading off for sunset prayer, and when they return they have a huge meal. This is supposed to make up for the fasting during the day, but of course if you've switched day and night it's a massive breakfast and then you can eat normally for the rest of the night. Apparently, Saudis tend to put on weight during the month of Ramadan, which seems to be rather against the spirit of the thing, but there you go. After the end of Ramadan, it's the Eid holidays, but I don't know what happens then. With everything here so focused around Islam, it's difficult as a non-Muslim just to go along and join in things.

Not that I saw, no. That would be even cooler, but they're pretty cool as it is.

I've been in Saudi Arabia for five months now, and I wanted to share a few impressions. It's only now that I'm about to leave (only for a short break in the UK) that I can get my head together and write something. Warning: It will meander and be long. I love my students, and I really enjoy working with them, though it was weird at first teaching only men (mixed education is illegal, even for adults). They're also pretty much the only Saudis I come into contact with regularly, and they're not a particularly representative cross-section of the population, so I try not to generalise from them too much. They're middle-class professionals and sons of middle-class professionals, often with family or friends in the US or Europe. They bear the scars of an attrocious public education system that's left them with no study skills and the idea that success can be achieved without effort. But they're friendly, trusting, respectful towards teachers (which is always nice if you can get it - I've taught in places where teachers rank somewhere below trolleybus drivers :D ) and occasionally even hard-working. Most of them have seen countless Hollywood movies, though they're sometimes reluctant to admit that in front of others. They're also amazingly enthusiastic about, and knowledgable about, technology, and it's given me hope then when the oil finally does run out (as one day it must) Saudi Arabia will continue to do very well in an age of technology and information. That said, I just spent 90 minutes standing in the bank because the guy at the counter couldn't get the Telex machine to work. I don't think China or the US need be shaking in their shoes just yet. :D Jeddah (where I live) has the reputation of being a more liberal city than Riyadh or cities to the east, and a friend who's lived all over the place confirms this. They're even planning to open a cinema here sometime in the next year or so, though I imagine there'll be a concrete wall between the women's and men's sections, and I wonder what that will do to acoustics. I've never had any trouble walking around, and people in the street are pretty friendly. There's a nice mix of nationalities - lots of Saudis of course, but also lots of Sudanese, Lebanese, Pakistanis, Egyptians and others. Despite the government's plan to 'saudi-ize' the economy as soon as possible, a lot of jobs are still done almost entirely by foreign labour. I was warned before I came here that I'd be stopped a lot by the religious police, but nothing yet. I hear they used to be much stricter - there was the famous case where fifteen girls died in a school fire because the religious police (mutaween) wouldn't let them leave the building without proper clothing. But that all changed when terrorism became a problem here. The first few terrorist attacks were blamed on foreign gangs fighting turf wars over illegal alcohol production, because it was 'impossible' that Saudis could be involved in terrorism. When the government finally woke up to the extremism in their midst, they cracked down on all forms of extremism, and that included the religious police. The official mutaween were reigned in, and I don't think I've encountered a single one since I've been here. But there were always the unofficial mutaween as well: any holier-than-thou busybody could get himself a stick and go around the malls beating women who showed slightly more of their face than he thought appropriate. That's pretty much a thing of the past now, it seems. This is the first foreign country where I've lived in a compound for foreigners rather than surrounded by locals. I don't like it, but I can see the security reasons behind it. What makes me laugh ( :ph34r: ) is how poorly protected our compound actually is - it's surrounded by much taller buildings, and a very easy target for snipers. Our guards are really nice guys, but I don't think they'd lay down their lives to protect me from an approaching mob and I wouldn

More than likely. No matter, though. This time Friday I'll be back in the firewall-free UK for a holiday and finally able to see all the youtube links everyone's been posting in WoT. :D

The Broken Sword 4 demo is out. (w00t) I wish I didn't keep getting corrupted downloads. Then I'd be able to play it.

I just updated. I really like the cloaks. We're getting these in NWN2 as well, right?

Wow. Mine all looked like they had a really serious rash above their upper lip, whether I had facial hair turned up or turned down. How did you get rid of that? I ask because I'll be playing again next week, I hope. My characters' faces always looked OK in the gloom of the dungeon, but once in the sunlight...

Oh, great. How am I going to get to the bank today? I'll have to look out my old mountaineering equipment. Unless someone can prove gravity exists in the next hour or so.

Mine's a kind of red/blonde again, after all these months in the sun. A few weeks in England should see it heading back towards brown, though. Eddo, if you read about Asian hair being red somewhere online, I'd appreciate the link. I think my students might find it funny.

Some people are naturally competitive, and that's no bad thing. I guess the best that schools can do is help them develop a sense of fairplay to go along with it, and a properly-run sports programme can do that. Some aren't all that competitive by nature, but they'll become competitive if that's what is expected of them. Kids need to learn how to operate in a competitive environment even if it's not to their tastes, if that's the prevailing culture in their part of the world. I agree that they don't need to have it rammed down their throats constantly, though, and I've seen the consequences of that at first hand. It's about finding a balance that works.

I'll bite. How is Asian hair red? Other than with the aid of some rather garish dyes I've seen.

I doubt Cantousent has a detailed knowledge of European footballs fans and hooligans (and the terminology of the subject), any more than I knew what a Nascar Dad was before reading this very informative thread. That is why you fail. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Really? I was wondering... Or a more starwarsy retort, perhaps? ...and why I am more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

So who is this Skeeter person anyway? I know he's a character from Fallout, not sure if it's 1 or 2, but beyond that, nothing.

I believe they did say that, yes. So it's within the realms of possibility that PNJ's not the first game to come from that IP. If the first game was a long time ago, or a different genre, or unsuccessful, they might want to produce another game while signalling clearly that it wasn't a sequel to the first. Only time and/or Obsidian can tell for sure.

Did your friend give you some context about what had happened in that community in the past? Maybe they had a particular problem with over-eager parents, more than most places I mean, which would make it a very sensitive subject. It's possible that the parents behind you were just a bit over-zealous, of course. I thought the point of any game wasn't to win, but to take part and do your best.

See, there's nothing to worry about: And as we all know, mods are never wrong. :D

As a point of interest, how long before a game's official release date does it usually 'go gold'?

Most likely it's 'Project Georgia', a game they're developing for SEGA. Possibly it's 'Project New Jersey', a game they supposedly signed with a publisher over a year ago, but which seems to be in jeopardy now. Either way, nothing new here. They're always hiring, according to the main page.

The site is very nicely presented and uses the language of empowerment, choices and rights. I don't believe a word of it, but everyone has a right to read this material and make their own choice. My own view is that they are perpetuating the falsehood that homosexuality is a 'condition' that can be cured. Look at their language - 'same sex attraction' is now SSA, like SARS or MS, an acronymed condition awaiting their intervention. It's still harder these days in most communities to be openly gay than to be heterosexual. I'd like to see that change, and for gay people to be genuinely accepted rather than either discriminated against or merely tolerated. When and where that happens, I don't think the message this site is peddling will get many takers.

You bought Lionheart twice?

This is depressing. I prefer to believe that Mr. Saunders wanted to hone his forum moderating skills on an active site before the imminent launch of the spectacular new PNJ forums for which he will be responsible.

Pretty. The interior looks a lot less soulless than in NWN1. I'm warming to the character portraits (or lack thereof) as well.

But then, it might not mean anything at all. Maybe Obsidian's flexible and people move around between projects and share projects all the time. This kind of rumour's pretty much inevitable if they don't release any information at all for so long.

It was all because of the train timetables. That's why I never touch them, and only check train times on-line. :ph34r:

Get the Crazy Frog ringtone and send people fleeing in horror in all directions .