AUD

School is coming to an end, and finals suck as usual. I only have one left, though!

I think you guys would laugh if you could see how much students get away with here. They complain ten times more than we do (which is saying a lot) and they do less work. I know it's the summer session, so that may factor in to how much the students care about work, but still. Grades are also extremely inflated here, and none of the teachers are willing to fail their students. Which reminds me: professors are not called "professor" here, he or she is either sir or ma'am, respectively. It took me a while to get used to that--it sounds really formal at first.

I'm not sure anymore because I've been here too long, but I think that paper is bigger here. As in, I don't think they use 8 1/2 x 11 sheets, but something slightly larger.

Most students commute from Abu Dhabi or Sharjah (each about an 1 hour away without traffic). There's also an American University in Sharjah, which I've never heard of before, but they have classes that are separate for girls and boys. At AUD, they acclimate the students to the "american" environment so that they get used to taking classes in mixed company. The students themselves aren't that different from students at home, except that many of the girls here are already married. One of the Iranian girls I met in my Arabic class got married at 17 to an older man. They are in love (according to the gossip grapevine at AUD). Another girl (Indian) is engaged to be married next year, but she wants to get her MBA so that her fiance can say she has an MBA. However, she won't actually ever use that MBA because in her culture, it reflects poorly on the husbands ability to provide if the wife works.

Please tell me if I'm boring you with these random details. For now, I must go study for my Finance exam....wish me luck!