Job Discussion Forums

[RiceHiBoy]

I usually stalk these forums and never make a post. But today I have a general question and would like some feedback.

Context: I have experience working in Oman and as a result am comfortable with the culture and speak a little Arabic. I taught in business. So .. I have just been offered a job at the Australian College in Kuwait (ACK). The salary and perks are better, but I do not know what to expect. I liked working in Oman, the students for the most part, were a pleasure to teach and the lifestyle was great (scuba diving, sailing, etc on the weekends).

Question: How does Oman compare to Kuwait, has anybody had experience at ACK? I can see posts about ACK dating back 5 years, but does anybody have a fresh experience?


Thanks in advance,

[desertdawg]

I worked in Oman and Kuwait several years ago.

I much preferred Oman. Better students, more to do, ability to buy the real booze and better road conditions. However I was only in Kuwait for a few months.

Kuwait has the shopping malls and glitzy surface, but away from the main roads it was very rough when I was there. Perhaps things have changed and I was unlucky with students. A friend has just finished a contract there and said even the locals were bored!

[water rat]

Ozzie College in Kuwait!? Now there's an oxymoron for you!
I've never been, but I did do three years in Sweet Araby, and maybe have been to Kuwait's airport. (Can't recall, I may have been pissed)

From what I have read Oman is no more like Kuwait than Australia is Nunavut.

Anyhoo, Kuwait is mentioned on this here thread. Have a gander.

[veiledsentiments]

I'm with the posters on the thread above. I found Kuwait to be a dump. Granted I worked there many years ago, but IMHO its condition was a reflection the Kuwaiti attitude, certainly not a lack of money... and neither of those have changed.

I was teaching the top of the local crop in KU and my students were lovely and hard-working, but not what one will encounter in the most of private universities.

Unless the money/benefits are significantly higher... and money is your only reason for working in the Gulf, I'd take Oman. There really isn't much to do in comparison. One big city in the middle of a flat, rather ugly swath of desert, bordered by significantly polluted water. (even in a nice neighborhood like Salmiya, you can walk the "beach" and view the big pipe pumping raw sewage into the water right next to you... no swimmers, but the sub-continentals would be fishing there... often not far from the bloated body of a goat)

I left Kuwait after one year to return to Oman and it was definitely a relief to get back. If I were you, I'd do the same...

VS

[RiceHiBoy]

Thanks for the replies.

Definitely sensing a common theme.

Will travel over there to have a look for myself and report back.

Any more opinions in the meantime are welcome.

[mashkif]

[caliph]

I'd choose Oman over any other Gulf country,(except Iran), despite the lower salary. If you are enjoying job and life, you can just stay longer before your bucket over flows.

I loved the Scuba in Oman, dive center in Muscat was world class, and Musandam is lovely.

Now, I did have good experiences in SA and Abu D., but the Omani people is what I appreciated the most. Real people doing real jobs.

[RiceHiBoy]

Thanks. Agreed, the Omani people are first class.

ODC and Mussanah are great for Scuba

[MuscatGary]

I've done both and no contest Oman wins hands down. Others have used the right word for Kuwait, it's a dump.

[balqis]

Have worked in both countries. Oman is real. Kuwait is made of artificial stuffing. Thesiger warned discovery of oil would destroy the whole Arab way of life. That he was right you will see when you go to live in Kuwait.

There was an Italian artist, Giovanni Piranesi. Take a look at his Carceri d'invenzione. Most of Kuwait looks nowadays like the infernal images of Piranesi's imagination - kilometers or sea-reclaimed land strewn with high-rises of identical looks and height. Nothing around, just thosuands of such buildings. Desolate desert with mad construction.

And Kuwait, btw, is a small Cairo. In fact most of its inhabitants are Masri, and to rent out their country to Masris must have been the Kuwaiti grand business plan.

balqis

[veiledsentiments]

Before the Masri, it had been run by the Palestinians. But, after Saddam was thrown out, so were the Palestinians because they backed the wrong horse... (apparently they didn't expect Saddam to lose)

VS