Dates, not that kind of dates and not the ones you can eat, can be confusing in Saudi Arabia because we use two calendars: the Hijri and the Gregorian. Since our country boasts itself as the bastion of Islam, the official calendar used by the government is the Hijri calendar. But since the Hijri calendar is lunar and the religious establishment here refuses to accept any other mean of moon sighting except the naked eye, this has led to some unpredictability and controversy over the years, especially when it comes to announcing the start of Ramadhan, Eid or Hajj.
Writer Mohammed Hasan Alwan captured this duality in his latest novel, where one of the characters complained: “That’s what makes time passing heavier on us, to live in a country that uses two calendars to audit its accounts. Why? A Hiri year, and a Gregorian year, and the year ends twice, and life ends twice.” The new Hijri calendar introduced by Google might not solve the problem of Mohammed Hasan Alwan’s character, but it should help the rest of us to avoid some confusion when it comes to organizing our life around two calendars. You can enable the Hijri calendar by going to the calendar settings and select the desired calendar from the drop down box next to “Alternate calendar”.
Saudi Jeans 
I’ll keep my calender as it is, Gregorian!
To stay organized better than messing up my life with TWO dates, dates that won’t change my life that much.
my college is using the Gregorian
my sister’s school calender is the Hijri
my mom always use the Hijri in every thing & that makes us confusing while dealing with each other all the time.. but it’s not a big deal.
for me the Gregorian is much more easier and flexible nowadays.
I’m trying to live with the two but it seems much harder than I thought.
& finally I appreciate and respect the Hijri and all of Muslims know why, but we should try to fix it as possible.
I agree Mr. Alwan it’s like living twice on the earth o la la!
that should makes us more thankful :P
just Take it easy ..
عمر الحياة يقاس بالزمن السعيد -فاروق جويدة :)
& finally that’s the point for me
By Royal Decree, the official calendar of the country is Hijri … except for the National Day (Sept. 23 “I think”) and the National Budget.
In the academic field, the term Gregorian is substituted for Current Era (CE or BCE) due to Western-Christiane connotation of Gregorian.
One thing for sure …. Ramadan for me is certain reflect 2 things …. Tash ma Tash and the annual debate on visual or calculated determination of the moon’s cycle.
One more thing … uncertainty in Saudi appointments comes from the Hijri calendar and the misuse of “inshallah”.
I usually use Gregorian. But I often use the Hijri Calander too – for remembering important Islamic Dates, Important Islamic Incidents, Birthdays, Anniversaries and so on.
Intriguing and a useful innovation.
Also intriguing was the underlying article that mentioned that there is a Hebrew calendar.
I had not heard of such a thing.
Japan uses two calenders, why so serious?
Anyways, I think the Hijri calender is great, and so should you.
You know the money you get from goverment each month, the $235 you -Ahmet- get. well that is based on the Hijri calender, which is %3 less then the other. So you stand to lose %3 of your income (as well as every other Saudi) if the goverment switches to the other calender. Which is what private companies are doing, not for effeciency and synergy with the world, but to cut that %3 from the payroll
Interesting, as the Hebrew calendar, also a lunar calendar, uses very similar methodology for its important holy days.