Omanis, expats take advantage of long National Day weekend

Energy Sunday 18/November/2018 13:56 PM
By: Times News Service
Omanis, expats take advantage of long National Day weekend

Muscat: Omani nationals and expats have booked time off for the rest of this week, as they look to enjoy the most of a long National Day holiday.
While many nationals in the country have gone to their homes in the interior, expats in the Sultanate have taken advantage of the holidays – which run from 20 to 22 November, with work resuming next Sunday – to enjoy a nine-day weekend from last Friday to the next one.
“Normally, I have a bus service that takes me and many other colleagues to their work places in Muscat,” said one Omani national. “But the bus driver told me this morning that his bus was completely empty, with the exception of myself, so there was no point coming all the way to Al Khoudh to pick me up, and he’d gone home.
“I therefore told my boss that I wouldn’t be able to come in to work this morning and he was actually quite understanding,” she added. “Maybe it’s because today is National Day and he was in a good mood because of it.”
Oman’s 48th National Day has seen many people go back to their hometowns, as a result of which the roads in the Sultanate are deserted. Other nationals also decided to skip work or university to enjoy the long weekend at leisure.
“I think I was one of the few people to actually come to class today because all of my friends and classmates have gone home,” said Mohammed Al Kindi, a student at a university in Oman. “One of my teachers saw that there were only three or four people in the classroom so he let us all go free.
“Maybe the other teachers will also do the same, but my college is deserted this morning,” he added. “I am sure many of them have gone home or travelled abroad to places like Dubai, and maybe it does not make sense to have classes for this week because both teachers and students will not be in the mood to come to college.”
Expats in the country were also of a similar mindset.
Ashok Kumar, an Indian expat in Oman, said he was going home to Delhi to spend time with his family.
“My sister is getting married next week and I was only going to go ahead of her wedding, but when the National Day holidays were announced, I decided to tell my company that I wanted to go and they agreed very quickly,” he said. “Now I can spend all nine days and a little bit more with my sister on what will be a very happy day for all of us.”
Shaukat Hussain, a Pakistani national, added, “my parents don’t know that I am coming home to surprise them for National Day. I am flying to Lahore tonight and one of my friends will pick me up. It has been a while since I have been home so I am really looking forward to seeing my mother and father and my siblings.”