Does it matter???

Yeah, way too personal, jervis.

Smokey... I am not going to debate this here. I believe in GOD. The same GOD as everyone else reading this, unless they have more than one GOD, in which case this does not apply. End of religious debate from my side.

TB if you believe in GOD then you must belong to some religious sect. For every religion has a God to worship or there is no religion.

What religion does God follow?

Pathetic to ask such personal questions to a stranger! It's like asking:" Who did you sleep with last night!"

Ok I have been asked what religion I am once since coming to Qatar.

The answer is: I have no formal religious affiliation. I believe in God and Love, but in my own way.

TB what religion are you?

I don't think I have ever been asked what religion I am. Well not in Qatar anyway.

You certainly can’t change cultural traits with a post or even a website in such a short time!

Cultural traits do evolve with time and other factors but not as you may wish.

Try to understand the several groups that surround you here and be prepared to handle them with grace.

Not everybody is alike ;)

Today I was asked about my religion only twice... I hope many people read Qatar living and at least some of them will be aware that certain questions are just too sensitive to be be asked. Inshallah!

it's not a Filipino trait!

I aM fr0m philiPpiNes & I l00k liKe a filiPino & ppl sTil aSk whEre aM I fr0m?

Yes this question asked many times. I generally give a long philosophical answer if I am in one of my moods or just say Hindu and turn away if I want to avoid any more conversation.

Nursery classes only so that i can come ack to home with my daughter only.she is in DPS and just started her nursery.. :)

Right said Nic...some people might pose these questions just to extend a friendly hand and not to hurt anyone.In that case a polite answer to them is not bad at all.But if someone is posing these questions in a nasty way thinking you belong to some alien planet then I think the answer should also be the same way.Some Q's are really in a casual manner.....

Do it now Britexpat...I m starving for good night sleep for few days and moreover getting taxi and searching for job with a small daughter in hand is sickening for me a lot... :( I m going into post delivery depression now a days.... :(

How right you are and how saddened I am by your plight..

Perhaps I can send a few boys round to "talk" to your husband..

lolzz

The type of questions, quantity and how personal they are, vary with the culture and education level of the one who is questioning.

Western cultures tend to maintain a certain distance (from personal issues) in first encounters, as eastern cultures generally tend to get into personal questions right at first encounters. This is seen by them not as being nosy and lack of tact but as a means to show that they care for you.

For the religion question, it’s a regional thing as religion (in general) does play a greater role in people's lives in this region when compared to elsewhere in the world.

The best way to deal with these questions is to avoid being arrogant or ironic (as the other person may be totally unprepared to receive this reaction to their "friendly" and "caring" approach.

Remember that living in a multicultural country is not the same as living in a mono-culture country (such as Qatar) with many nationalities.

If you feel uncomfortable with the question and don’t want to answer it, politely explain that in your culture the questioned asked is considered private and personal.

Fist i was daily get scolded by husband for not doing a job.than i got scoled for giving birth to a baby girl.OK..Now after giving birth to one more baby girl my office is forcefully stopped.now again pressure and scolding for me that a talented software engineer should join a school as a nursery teacher so that i can keep earning and takig care of kids.For last few days my little daughter is restless in nights and now in sleepy mode i m wondering from school to school to get anursery teacher job..now imagine my condition and compare yourself..I hope you will get few smiles...

"Goodbye to the smiles"... not necessarily as it depends what you want for yourself from this place...if you stay focused at the purpose you are here and try not to live a life as you have lived in your country or attempt to change things to your liking but consider it as an opportunity to experience something different, the smile would never fade.

Forget about showing the indicator, some of them show you the indicator like its their birth right to just show it and cut in front of you no matter how close you are to them! Almost got run off the this morning by a Effing school bus!

Kiwiii,

Once you get here, you may say goodbye to the smiles.

And as for not using the indicator, the gods will punish you as almost nobody here uses it and you'll never know where they will turn to!

I am coming to Qatar in a couple of months time. Never been there yet. But I look forward to that.

Where I now live people would ask the same questions, maybe in a different manner, but they will try to get as much info as they can on you.

When I take my kids to the sports I find out that most of the people who I thought I never saw before know me. Thanks to my wife's good social nature. With time I got to start accepting that. People reach out to build relationships. Personally, I don't talk much and keep to myself. However, I have a feeling that everyone knows everything about everyone else in this city of mine. Therefore, I don't even bother to use the indicator when I turn left or right on my way home after work. Everybody knows where everybody else lives and they will predict your route changes.

Another thing in this small city of mine is that everyone smiles to everyone else. Friendly people I guess. I learned to smile to people too. I finally understood that a smile is contagious. So, overcome your worries, smile to people and have fun.

cabbage - are these questions asked by Indians? :)

as an ex-pat wife - the questions I am asked:

Who does your husband work for?

Where do your kids go to school?

What is your husbands package?

I answer:

My husband works for one the one biggest people over here and he earns at least a zillion pounds per month plue a gazillion pound bonus every 3 months at least.

My kids go to the best school in Doha - you pick it - they will go there!

My husbands package - ermmmmmmmm, satisfies me - oh you mean what he earns and what he gets?

I answer - he earns billions per year - we live in an ex Palace - our children are eduacted by Private Tutors - who fly in first class - we have cooks, chefs, butlers, Nannys- we have it all!

There you go - or could it be - we get given the house we live in - we have some money paid towards our kids education but we stump up the rest and we have nothing to be snobby about and neither have the women that ask such a *erking rude question?

Non of us are better than anybody else. We are all here to make a living.

I am From Syria.

Geez..get over it, man! :P

My Cuban Shotputter was never mistaken for being Japanese even though I called her my little Geisha..

one shot, that was in response to Klara saying that people believe, albeit her clearly not looking like it, that she is Japanese.

One_shot, you have a point, probably he/she is just trying to avoid any offending comments/topics especially when it comes to religion, because this topic is kinda sensitive. :) and i was shocked as well when someone asked me if i am chinese despite the fact that i got big round eyes and brown skin. :)

LOL at one_shot, i was shocked also when someone asked me if i am chinese... with my brown skin and round eyes., yeah i am.. lol :)

Come on nomerci , what state of mind you are talking about?

i have another view of point if we want to be serious:

some people prefer to know the nationality because their mind doesn't want to discover the other person so they tend to explore more with the easy way by patterns in their minds "stereotyping" . that is why they ask about the nationality.

and asking about the religion "in most of the cases is not offending ", actually u can consider it as a polite question so they will not do mistakes infront of you could hurt your feelings regarding what u believe and what they believe.

regarding the age issue , i think it is the last card "when u have nothing to say" .

and regarding this issue please accept my gift to you

i remember it when i typed my last words in this coment

yes, you are right

I will just have to wait and see if I become less emotional about all these over time

Well Klara, that then clearly tells you their state of mind.

nomerci - I tried answering that I am japanese too (and i also don't look like), but what is strange - some people seriously believe! ))

Klara, when I got those questions I said "I am Japanese( I OBVIOUSLY am not, lol) and I don

't know " is my answer to the religion question (.throws them totally off...lol)

can you add with it , your account bank number :P

seeing a therapist after looking at the picture is not free you know ;) lol

LOL

one_shot - oh, here we go again... I will post my picture here and guess yourself. make sure you take some tranquilizers before you look at it.

btw klara

where are you from??

and if it not bother you...r u Christian ?

and can i know how old of you??

hope my questions didn't bother you :P

The people need to think before they ask certain questions to people they see for the first time in their life. We might not be comfortable answering particular questions.

ghazalz - "how old are you" question doesn't surprise me anymore as well.

I am thinking to make a board with all the answers and hang it on my neck.

no one asked me before about my religion ??

nationality yes a lot...i reply with what do u think??

i receive answers like egyption, lebaneese , qatari(rare) but the funniest one was "chinese "

Fathimah...got asked that many times..why don't you have more kids?? and my answer I can only handle so much :)

It's nice to know that I am not the only one who faces this kind of questions. And I am not the only who gets irritated by this.

Doha Knight - I will try to answer the same way next time)) I am sure it will be tomorrow!

FathimaH - yes, some people really try to put their nose into very private aspects of your life. You see the person for the first time (and may be the last) and he/she (usually "he" though) asks you not only about nationality, religion, but also why you are not married and so on.

Saler575 - I answer I am from Zimbabwe even though I am not from there as well)) Antarktika sounds even better!

Comments Can Make A Person And Comments Can Break A Person, So Be Careful And Ethical While Giving Comments For Someone ...

In addition to FathimaH...some familiar questions are; what your salary is and how old are you...

Yep, when I came here first I hated this as well...I always gave those people funny looks when they asked me where im from and said, Antartica lol

it could b ur name that leaves peeps confused..

They ask the craziest questions.The joke is when people(women who I meet in the malls,hospitals etc) ask me if I am a Muslim...Oh and did they think my niqaab was my sunscreen? lol. My pet hate question is "why don't you have more kids?" Er....awkward!

Some people try to get under the skin of others. If someone asked me such questions, I would curtly say 'How is it going to help you'? or 'Why do you ask'?

never afced that "immediate" second question.

Nevertheless and evem thoguh the people I deal witrh know my religion I have never been disrespected or less respected that onther.

And I respect all the same way.

Regards!!