The Kingdom's scholarship program has provided opportunities to thousands of male and female students to travel and study abroad. It also has given them a chance to get acquainted with a new life, culture and social traditions, many of which are foreign to them.
Al-Riyadh daily reports on how some students, especially married ones, have encountered numerous challenges adjusting to their new lives abroad. Women find it particularly hard to juggle their education and family responsibilities. The burden on women further increases if they have children or are expecting a child. Despite these difficulties, the majority of Saudi women have succeeded in getting their families to adjust and thrive in a new environment abroad.
A different lifestyle
Amirah and her husband spent five years abroad. When her husband was granted a scholarship to study abroad, he insisted on her going with him. Because they were newly-weds, she was scared of her new life in a foreign country. She told her husband that she did not want to have a child abroad and he agreed. After spending a few months abroad, Amirah started to feel homesick and bored as she spent most of her time at home waiting for her husband to come back from college. To use her time constructively, she decided to enroll in an English-language program so that she could mingle with the local people and learn about the culture.
After completing her English courses, she enrolled in an undergraduate program and began to like her new life as a student and wife. By the time she and her husband were ready to return home, she was pregnant in the first trimester. Her ability to overcome the difficulties she faced abroad gave her the strength to pursue her own studies and support her husband as he completed his program.
Language barriers
Elham Yousef had a somewhat different experience. She was working and taking care of her child when she and her husband decided to travel abroad for higher studies.
“My husband and I agreed that each one of us should take care of himself or herself without being a burden on the other. My language was good and I was able to blend in with the native speakers,” she said.
She noted that most students abroad consider the language barrier the most difficult problem they face. Another problem is intermingling with the native people. For herself, she did not have a problem with it, as she was raised by her family to respect other people, regardless of their religion or nationality, and never judge them on such a basis.
She said most married Saudi couples she met abroad had a language problem that prevented them from intermingling and even then, many couples were not used to mixing of the opposite genders.
“Both spouses often feel jealous of one another when either of them speaks to the opposite sex. Some men can't bear such a situation and they end up preventing their wives from speaking to other men,” she said. Badriya Nasser said Saudi wives should be commended for helping their husbands stay focused on their studies.
“There are many instances of husbands developing drinking habits abroad since alcohol is readily available in most countries. It was Saudi wives who dealt with such situations wisely by convincing their husbands to stop drinking and concentrate on their studies,” she said.
Sacrifices are important
Amal Hassan believes that both men and women should make some sacrifices and concessions when it comes to living abroad together. “Most men are used to traveling abroad but for women it might be something they do for the first time. Women might feel homesick and burdened with responsibilities and things get even more complicated if they get pregnant,” she said while recommending that women listen and learn from the experiences of their fellow female citizens who have lived abroad.
