It is a real pleasure to see my country through the eyes of someone who has never been to the United States. We continue to have a family member with us during our short time back in the USA who had never been to the States before. His impressions began from our arrival at the airport when he observed customers being picked up by a female limo driver. Not only was this woman driving an oversize passenger van but she was also assisting in loading everyone’s luggage into the vehicle. My relative turned to me with a look of such surprise asking if it was legal what she was doing! I assured him it certainly was. He continued to watch with keen interest as she eventually got behind the wheel and drove off with her passengers.
Well the next surprise in store was him being driven by a woman – me! My husband even chose to sit in the back seat so he could sit up front and get the best view. He acknowledged that he never thought in his life he’d be driven by a female. I hope that my driving did not frighten him and perhaps he now has a better impression of women and driving!
Other observations he shared with me was the distinction in the grocery stores. First, he noticed that the shopping malls in the States did not have a major supermarket at one end or the other of the mall but instead were located independently by themselves. I told him I was not aware of any major shopping malls in the US which also had a grocery store within the mall like Saudi Arabia. He also noticed that while the grocery stores in Saudi Arabia do offer quality products and choices, the number of choices in the grocery stores in the States were more plentiful, particularly when it came to salad dressings for example. And of course he was surprised to find several 
aisles of the grocery store dedicated to selections of beer and wine. I explained to him though that not everyone could just come into a grocery store and buy beer or wine. All purchases required proof of identification to ensure that one had met the legal drinking age.
Another fascination was with the railroad tracks and trains. For those not aware, Saudi Arabia at present only has a minimal railway system with train service running between Riyadh and Damman. Therefore to see multiple railway crossings as well as passenger trains and freight trains was a new experience. He was also quite surprised by the number of cars and how much time passed waiting at a railway crossing for the train to pass.
Last but not least what he shared he was enjoying the most and appreciating was the openness and friendliness of the American people. He better understands why Americans are more laid back and relaxed also noting that he felt much more relaxed and “free” in America. He thoroughly enjoyed how the majority of Americans spontaneously say “hello” and engage in chit-chat whether in an elevator or in line at a store. He also overcame his own shyness to now say ‘hi’ first and is confident that therecipient will respond positively in turn.
I will likely be sharing more observations and experiences. I am pleased that my family member is having a positive and enjoyable experience while he is in the United States.
Filed under: America, Food, Freedoms, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, Saudi Living, shopping, travel Tagged: | America, culture, culture shock, customs, Saudi, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, travel
[...] Go here to read the rest: Continued Observations of a 1st time Saudi to the USA [...]
I’m glad he is enjoying the states and you are enjoying seeing it through his eyes. There are things that every society takes for granted, and until we lose that and experience something else, we just don’t have the appreciation that we should. It would be nice to have another man on the pro-women drivers side when he comes back!
Oh, I loved reading this as I always find these cultural things quite interesting! My Arab friend was excited to see Damascus through American eyes when we visited Syria earlier this year. I can understand how it is special for you to see the USA through your Saudi family member’s eyes. It’s cute to read of his reaction when the female limo driver was loading luggage. Sooooo cool that he got to experience American Bedu at the wheel!
Also I love that he is now saying “hello” first to people in elevators and so forth. This post made me smile. Thank you for sharing and please do share more things if you are up to it.
Thanks for the post
Sadly many saudi’s (who havent travelled) dont know the good side of the American people. All we see are wars and threats here and there.
It is a good experince to meet people of different cultures. More and more saudi’s are starting to learn this and the governments scholarship program which has sent tens of thousands of saudi’s overseas for education, aims not only to educate Saudi’s about sciences but also about understanding other cultures.
This post has reminded me of a verse from the Quran: “We have created you from male and female and made you into tribes and nations so that you may know one another”
This post makes me homesick for salad dressing, elevator music, and browsing the concoctions at the LCBO. It also makes me miss driving.
And for some odd reason the wave of nostalgia I was feeling suddenly made me miss watching firefighters go by in firetrucks. Where are the firetrucks in Riyadh? How come I haven’t seen any?
The little things that are different, for me, at the things that make traveling and living abroad so much fun.
Having moved so much since I was young I get bored sitting in one place too long. I enjoy things and people that are different than I am.
Differences that are appreciated are the spice of life!
I had assumed the Saudis were more familiar with the US than your relative seems to be.
Otherwise I am interested in observations from foreigners. It is good to see our country through different eyes.
It is so wonderful to be able to view one’s country through the eyes of a first-time visiting family member, and so lucky for yours he has such a bicultural guide.
Sorry, can’t resist this–did Lawrence permanently blow up the railways of Arabia?
salam
I would like to tell anyone thinking that the saudis hate the american puplic or have false ideas or a negative atittude, that he is mistaken.Even the worest people here “in Saudi” and I mean the worst in having a simple knowledge about USA differnciate between the US Government and the American people.Plainly, I hate US government, however, does that make me a hater of the American people.I feel depressed every time I read this “representing the saudis as Ignorants”, even from a Saudi themselves.To be fair the Mutawa as you call them here, I never heard one say the American people and I am surrounded by them .my uncles (more than 30s) the amm and the khal. Unfortunately, some Saudis are in shame of themselves thanks to the US media.If we dig in every nation searching for negative habits, we will find what we want to humiliate them and score our goals in this culture conflict trend.
my bottom line , everyone represent himself
I agree with Saudi Bedu.
“”I explained to him though that not everyone could just come into a grocery store and buy beer or wine. All purchases required proof of identification to ensure that one had met the legal drinking age.||
That’s according to the LAW. The reality is quite different. My peers have bought alcohol sine Elementary school. It’s nothing to cut school and have a smoke out with all the drugs and alcohol you want and let’s not talk about college where you can order kegs of beer with no id required no questions asked. Worse case scenario you just get your parents or friends parents to buy it for you.
@ Chiara,
there used to be railroad tracks between madina and Damscus during the Ottoma Empire period. Many of thoese were destroyed by lawrence and his band of arab raiders.
Current Saudi Arabia was founded in a time when cars were around so they werent very desperate for trains. There is a train that goes between Riyadh and Dammam but thats it.
There are plans to enhance the public transportation system in saudi, they are currently in the process of constructing an advanced railway system between jeddah-makkah-madina to ease travel for pilgrims.
[...] dearkimmie.com added an interesting post on Continued Observations of a 1st time Saudi to the USAHere’s a small excerpt…culture, Saudi customs, Saudi Living, shopping, travel Tagged: America, culture, culture shock, customs, Saudi, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture… [...]
nice observation by a saudi
write more about his observation and reaction on cultural issues
to know the usage of railways, one should come to mumbai
1 local behind another – running for more than 20 hours a day with full capacity
This is funny because I have an American friend that has come to Bahrain a few times this past year…and she is seeing Bahrain through new eyes…meanwhile I have been here 23 years…so while Im tired of this or fed up with that…shes like…oh how interesting…thats so neat…
Im like…yeah…ok…lol.
Its always nice to get a fresh perspective.
I don’t mean to sound rude but your relative seems to be……very ignorant of the outside world.
Is he your fater in law by the way ??
I remember a friend of mine (Saudi) who went with his family to Egypt. His wife was Egyptian and her sister was waiting for them in the airport with her car. My friend joked that it was a completely new experience for him. A female driver, his wife in the front seat (so she can chat with her sister), and him riding in the back with the kids!
Lovelyu post, fasciniting how you can experience an new outlook of accustomed places merely by having a compagnion to whom it is all new.
I remember us telling that we don’t have windmills all over the Netherlands, and that’s just something freigners made up, and our foreign friends started pointing at windmills, and we had to acknowlege there actually are quite a few dotted about: we just don’t notice them!
What’s this obsession with women and driving? Why did he think ”He would never be driven around by a woman”???
Women are better drivers than men, everybody knows that, so why the shock?
Not true Aafke
My psychology prof says that men are better in measuring distance than women, and hence a highest percentage of women drivers make car accidents. He proved it with studies of course
lash the prof please
Good Night
Sorry Khalid, you live in a country where men are particularly biased against women driving, and will be happy to twist and turn ”science” to ”prove” women can’t drive. Your prof may theorise all he likes: Statistics in the real world (where lots of women drive in public) show clearly that it’s men who are responsible for most and also, the worst accidents.
Has, for example your professor taken into account the devistating effect testosterone has on driving? The bizarre male delusion that for them traffic rules don’t count?
That is also why I, as a woman, get cheaper insurance: the insurance companies know that I am far less likely to cause a serious accident as when I was burdened with testosterone.
I am amazed that somebody who lives in KSA can still believe men are responsible drivers….
Have you read my post on men and driving cars???
PS, will love to drive you around if you come to the Netherlands
American Bedu, I am so happy for your family’s positive experience–no one can “know ” a country except by being there. I lived in the UAE for 5 years and none of my siblings or friends would visit–and no matter how many glossy coffee table books and pictures of upscale urban life we showed them they still refused to believe we didn’t live in a barbed wire enclosure on a sand dune–sigh. Seattle is a very friendly city-so to your family a warm hello from Seattle!
I don’t generally believe women are better or worse than men when it comes to driving, Aafke.
Carol,
Take him to I HOP or Bob Evans for breakfast and you’ll have fun trying to keep a straight face when they ask him how he wants with his eggs (scrambled, over easy, etc.) at break-neck speed. (AND —Would you like white, wheat or rye bread, a muffin or bagel with that? Would you like it toasted or untoasted? Buttered or unbuttered?
My husband also had a friend that didn’t eat meat who went to a burger place and ordered a big Mac, double cheese, and told them to hold the meat!
And a Saudi friend of his would want order a large coke, but no snow! (instead of ice of course)
Too funny.
It is one thing for an individual to read and hear about a place never visited but when it actually comes time as in this case, for a Saudi to visit a western democratic country for the first time, it is very interesting and refreshing to see and hear the first-time observations. it may sound naive but again I stress once one is in those shoes, reactions and observations will come forth spontaneously.
Saudi Bedu–I agree that media portrayals are usually biased to the negative in a society, and always recommend to North Americans that they watch CNN (let alone Fox News), and then decide based on its portrayal of Americans if they would ever want to marry an average American male, who seems only to be able to kill his pregnant wife, or wife and children, when he isn’t shooting someone else.
Simple Saudi–Thanks for the overview and update. Somehow, although I am well aware of the “artistic licence” of David Lean’s film, and have read alotof reliable information on Saudi and on Lawrence, the image of a railway in Saudi, conjures up scenes of exploding rail-lines and unhappy Turks! Even more than Canada, Saudi probably has an easier time with cars and highways, than passenger trains (ours purport to run on time between Quebec-Montreal-Toronto-Windsor, but it is a myth).
Khalid–testosterone/estradial ratios play an important role in ways of spatial cognition, resulting in different navigational strategies and spatial perceptions of men and women (gay men navigate like straight women, lesbians talk like straight men). All observations are based on reliable PhD psychology neuroscience out of England and Canada (Jean Choi of Alberta being one)
So men probably do know that they are better at zigzaging at speed in traffic–as they crash into the guardrail before the exit ramp! 
Chiara, looove your last sentence… }:)
I don’t know how it is in other countries, but in the US women have been driving for several generations. Women my mother’s age usually learned to drive, it at all, in the 30′s and 40′s. My mother was an ok driver. Todays US women have driven all their adult lives. As others here have already said, women in the US are probably safer drivers than men.
Aafke
Considering women arent even given the chance to drive in Saudi…and yet the papers scream about horrific accidents every damn day…then one has to wonder just where that professor got his statistics from concerning females are worse drivers…not in Saudi they arent…
and as Aafke said…males are worse drivers…statistically male teen drivers are the absolute worst on the planet..no comparing.
Chiara–what do post-menopausal women who refuse to take
estrogen drive like? ( a strictly academic question of course!)
Wow this is beginning to sound like the debate page–!
American Bedu–is your family member comfortable with
casual chit chat with the women he meets out and about?
Sirius–Like testosterone driven ( pun intended ) men–overconfident risk takers who won’t ask for directions, but navigate by (poor) visual memory, and won’t stop for bathroom breaks. No, siriusly!!!
BTW: the research blurb above is true (if badly edited: “estradiol”)!
Chiara–are you sure about the bathroom breaks? (there’s not an emoticon for–aargh! what do you mean 92 miles to the next rest stop!!!!) and does eating tofu make me a better driver?
Postmenopausal women are, at least theoretically, less in need of bathroom breaks, and even if their genitourinary tract is compromised by childbirth (enough said, you follow I’m sure), all that unopposed testosterone bathing the brain would override any signal to stop before “we make good time”, “at least 200 miles/320 kms”. No amount of tofu consumed estrogen can possibly compete, but may result in bathroom breaks at 150 miles/240 kms but only if “we’re making good time”
Sirius = my family member has not engaged in any casual chit chat other than the hello or how are you doing in a restaurant or elevator. but to answer your question, he is at ease and realizes it is not a come on or anything!
I’ve never found it strange to see a woman sitting behind the wheel — I love it to be driven around
Why cannot women excel in formula 1? Why don’t we have a female opponent to Schumacher
Let’s move to acquiring languages
P.S. The following is just my own observation: I don’t believe in the nonsense that a certain gender is better than the other one in any field. I believe the way parents raise their children has an influence in unconsciously deciding the interest of both male & female children. LOL, now this is going off topic — sorry for teasing you, Aafke
“I told him I was not aware of any major shopping malls in the US which also had a grocery store within the mall like Saudi Arabia. ”
Walmart superstores sell grocery too. Although, you could say that they act as stand alone unit rather than part of a mall.
Khalid–agreed. The research I mentioned showed that men and women navigate, and perceive space differently, not better or worse. Lesbians talk like men in that they are more terse, and use fewer words than straight women. All grosso modo, of course, some of my best friends are linguistically superior straight men.
5 women have started in Formula 1–the rest are repressed by one of the last bastions of machismo where men are men (and drive fast) and women are women (and revere them)
Its not so much a debate over whose better…but of whose worse
“the majority of Americans spontaneously say “hello” and engage in chit-chat whether in an elevator or in line at a store.”
LOL, that’s barely true in the North East!
BTW, the discussion on railways brought back memories of the ride between Dammam and Riyadh, which I think I probably only took once.
@Chiara: re. “Lesbians talk like men in that they are more terse, and use fewer words than straight women”
Uhmm, my lesbian best friend is easily one of the most talkative people I know!
Rawi–agreed, these are all statistical findings, and we all know people who defy them.
True, stores such as Walmart and Target will have grocery sections but again, unlike Saudi Arabia, they will usually not be within a big mall. In Saudi it is not unusual to see one walking in the mall pushing a grocery cart full of groceries as they head back to the exit closest to their vehicle.
Having a grocery store in Malls makes good business sense since it bring foot traffic in the Mall.
I’m not sure Saudi man if it really brings that much foot traffic to the mall since shopping is a national pasttime in Saudi. I’d say that the mall brings more traffic to the grocery store!
Just a thought….can the grocery store be a mechanism for guys not accompanied by families to be able to get inside the malls?