Marhaba

Greetings!


This being my first post, I'm not quite sure what I should be talking about just yet. When it comes to this whole concept of eEtiquette [look forward to future posts discussing this btw], there's a whole culture behind what to say, how to say it and how solid you make that point. Let's hope I somewhat master that skill and entertain curious readers as well.


A quick intro as to who I am and why I'm here:


So... I was born and raised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. To many people's surprise, my siblings and I attended Filipino School* for a decent period of time, where we not only improved our English - being of Pakistani** descent - but also picked up Tagalog & Arabic. Now for those of you who are not aware of the culture in Saudi, it's a whole lot different than many other Middle Eastern societies. Women do not drive, for one thing and you have these "Muttawas" who make sure the people are abiding by the basic Islamic society rules - no obscenity, women covered head-to-toe and etc.


My family comprises of Dad, Mom, older bro, me, younger sis, younger bro. Each of us have some form of unique and/or awkward flair when it comes to many aspects of life - education, lifestyle, attitude, career choice and the list goes on... Anyhow, we were all raised back "home" and a LOT of what we do/say now has to do with whatever was embedded in those younger developmental years. Be it good or bad.


Flashforward => Y2K comes around and the family makes a decision. We move to Canada! The migration happened when I was 13, which meant a whole new load of drama coming towards my parents - whether they liked it or not, unfortunately. We were able to adapt to Canadian society fairly easily (thanks to God!), in case you're wondering. Our schooling***, company we kept and the fact that we traveled a LOT in our time might have assisted - not might, DEFINITELY.

Flashforward => To sum it up, I attended Carleton University for my Undergrad in Psychology. You realize later on that unless you actually pick up some trade or a professional diploma, your Arts degree is practically useless unless you add some spaaahkle**** to it. So, low and behold, I picked up Human Resources as my career choice and I hope to thrive in it (iA). I'm 23 and anxious to know how someone with a ridiculous background as myself can own that diversity & experience, make something out of it and help others along the way (and/or whether it's for a few laughs, why not).


I'll leave you with that, which will help you better understand a lot of the perspective in my upcoming blags. Yes, I said blags.

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* International Philippine School in Jeddah

** My mother is Punjabi; my father is half Pakistani/Irani - and they decided not to teach us any other diverse languages asides Urdu and a failed attempt at Punjabi

*** Saudi Arabian International School [aka SAIS, NCS/SCS, AISJ]

**** Meesta Sparkle, Season 8 Episode 22, "In Marge We Trust" - The Simpsons