Caution when vaping in Saudi Arabia!

[Superstargoddess]

Well said Superstargoddess....People may think that nicotine juice is an illegal substance. I carry the instruction manual to my PV in my wallet just in case someone thinks I'm doing something illegal when I vape in public. Did those officers know how to speak and/or read English? Or did they have a translator. I figure it would be worse having a language barrier.

I actually haven't even had the balls to go talk to the local police in my town even yet. Mostly because my grandmother has a police scanner that's always on and I don't want them to call the other police to the station with a "Hey you have to come see this electronic cigarette" type of public announcement. :P She would know right away that it's me and probably freak out about it, ha!

I can only imagine trying to deal with the police in other countries! I would say that they probably knew english pretty well though, since a lot of other countries are required to take english in their schools. Epsecially in countries that have a lot of tourists which makes up a lot of their financial livelyhood.

[chad]

I actually haven't even had the balls to go talk to the local police in my town even yet. Mostly because my grandmother has a police scanner that's always on and I don't want them to call the other police to the station with a "Hey you have to come see this electronic cigarette" type of public announcement. :P She would know right away that it's me and probably freak out about it, ha!

You live in a really small town, don't you?

[chrisl317]

Are you an Afghan or Turk? Notice you didn't fill out your profile.

[Applejackson]

You live in a really small town, don't you?

Haha! I was thinking the same thing.

[Superstargoddess]

You live in a really small town, don't you?

2500 people. And there's another town that connects to ours that also has around 2500 people. Yes, it's a very small town. Sucks living in a small town! It's like six degrees of separation here, only more like three degrees. If you don't know someone, you can bet that a friend or a friend of your friend knows them.

[chad]

2500 people. And there's another town that connects to ours that also has around 2500 people. Yes, it's a very small town. Sucks living in a small town! It's like six degrees of separation here, only more like three degrees. If you don't know someone, you can bet that a friend or a friend of your friend knows them.

Ahhh! I understand you much better now. The area I live in has over 7.4 million people (101 connected cities across nine counties). Guess our perspectives are a little different, huh? At least by a few orders of magnitude, no?

There are probably a couple million "Superstargoddesses" in my area (20% of them are Asian - and nothing wrong with that AFAIC! ). Life is significantly different in one of the wealthiest areas of the nation - a two bedroom townhome costs upwards of $500,000 here. And yeah, there's no such thing as the "local police" really.

[Superstargoddess]

Ahhh! I understand you much better now. The area I live in has over 7.4 million people (101 connected cities across nine counties). Guess our perspectives are a little different, huh? At least by a few orders of magnitude, no?

There are probably a couple million "Superstargoddesses" in my area (20% of them are Asian - and nothing wrong with that AFAIC! ). Life is significantly different in one of the wealthiest areas of the nation - a two bedroom townhome costs upwards of $500,000 here. And yeah, there's no such thing as the "local police" really.

Goodness yeah! I can see why we have a difference in opinion a lot now. :P When you walk down the street, you have a 99.9% chance of not recognizing anyone. When I walk down the street, it's likely that I will know at least one person. Or recognize the police since I have seen them before or went to school with them or something. Small towns are crazy, everyone watches everyone. Where you are from, you could probably walk down the street naked and people would just be like "Eh, whatever." :P

[Sandrita]

Wow that is pretty scary. Good job you had a friend there to help you or might of missed your flight back! Glad it all worked out well for you in the end though!

[revolver]

I can only imagine trying to deal with the police in other countries! I would say that they probably knew english pretty well though, since a lot of other countries are required to take english in their schools. Epsecially in countries that have a lot of tourists which makes up a lot of their financial livelyhood.

Is this ironic?

Because it should be...

Trust me... It should!

Chinese translations are a good example of how good they are, language-wise. Probably not the best example either... It gets scary worse... And then some for many many countries...

Thing is that, for the most part, the EFL-Teaching is not good at all unless you go to a good private language or bilingual school. Many police officers do not have this background. The level to 'Public Schools' is ....ty and even when there is a big tourism front, not many countries invest in the language teaching agenda the way they should, not getting a good infra-structure in return...
I used to asses english language level as representing one International Examination Board in the past in many countries. This board was an alternative educational choice, and a good 'measuring tool' for the cases in question. The overall level was very very poor. The only standards which are to be relied on are Cambridge's (UK) or ETS (US) or a few other "Big Names in the Game", and to a certain degree. The people who work as police officers or such; government level, or who do not have a good salary, do not enter this circuit and the whole exam experience within the "cheap context" could not be very strict or it would end up being counterproductive. This translates into the fact that, in general, english level of people you will mostly deal with in a touristic spot in most countries which practice your language as a foreign one is likely to be very basic. In the cases such as the OP's one, language skills would and should make a difference. But, there you go...

We could have the OP tell us whether this was the case and his experience about this...
Even though, if he is mostly in contact with people working for the private sector and airports, it is likely to expect a good feedback, for obvious reasons...

=)

[Steef]

Sounds pretty typical of how the Saudi Police operate there.... I lived in Saudi Arabia for 15 years..... As long as you don't try to do something strange,,,,, They won't bother you.... Meaning: Most of the lower ranking officers are not educated. They are military police all working for the government...They rule of law is based on the Koran (Sharia Law) Which at times is very open to interpretation. No such thing as Miranda Warnings....Get your point out as fast as you can and get it resolved as quickly as you can...Move on as soon as you can..... The jails there aren't for rehabilitation...... Something as serious at Drugs could get you executed... Jailed at at the very least.... Trip to the local station,,, VERY SCAREY.... As I recall, You had to fill out an entry card before landing and it stated "Death to Drug Traffickers" in Bold Red letters so you got the message!!! The other point I want to make is Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia... Security there is ultra tight and a lot more eyes are watching whats going on all over the place.... Believe it or not,,,, This was the ONLY city I did not feel comfortable being in...

Lots of Culture, Very Nice and Welcoming People as long as you understand they go by a different set of rules and values that we may see as strange......

My 2 Cents

Good Vapes~~~~~~

Steef