Job Discussion Forums

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Hi Sara,

I too was single, but in my 40's by the time I hit the Gulf. I would have HATED it if I was 24. Laughing

You get the same hassle at my age, but I have had many more years of perfecting my ability to ignore most and punish those who step too far across the line. But I liked the quiet, safe environment of the Gulf.

Places like Egypt, Syria and Morocco are much more fun if you are in your 20's. Still some hassle, but that happens most everywhere to some extent.

VS

Cleopatra · Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 10:36 am Post subject:

I'm going to agree with Sara and - just this once! - sort of disagree with VS.

I don't think whether or not you adapt succesfully to life in the Gulf is a question of age so much as a question of personality. I was 32 when I first moved to Saudi Arabia, but the lack of entertainment/social outlets bothered me no more nor less than they would have bothered me had I been 22 - or, I imagine, 42.

I say this because, even when I was a 19 year old student, I was simply not interested in "nightlife" and "partying". Age had very little to do with it - that's just the way I've always been. Conversely, those people who need a lot of outside distractions are going to find the Gulf - or parts thereof - very challenging, whethere they are in their 20s or their 50s. Sure, having a family makes it easier for you to survive without a wide variety of social outlets, but this is a seperate issue not really related to age.

guty · Joined: 10 Apr 2003 Posts: 365 Location: on holiday

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Gee Guty, I wonder if the censor system here edits out Arabic expletives? Laughing

Since I started in Egypt, they were useful. There are a few young men who learned just how quickly a scrawny middle-aged western female can react and slap you... not to mention demonstrate basic Arabic insults. It really doesn't take much to control these cowardly little twits. And there are always people around to come to your rescue whether you need it or not.

Actually it was rarely needed as long as you avoided the crowded tourist areas. (and the boys schools just as they let out in the afternoons...)

It is much easier in the Gulf where I found it easy to just ignore them and never had any problems at all.

VS
(Hey Cleo... you are not really disagreeing, but I was talking about for the 'average 20-something year old TEFLer' - not you and me. Cool

)

yaramaz · Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 3:49 pm Post subject:

Can I put in a vote for checking out the rest of Turkey? I did the opposite of more EFL teachers arriving in Turkey and went straight to the middle of the country (near cappadocia) and lived there for two years working in a kolej. It is very very very different from Istanbul. Where I lived, the bar scene consisted of, er, men in suits drinking tea and playing tavla in smoky cafes. Headscarves and seljuk tombs everywhere. It was a real eye opener. As well, it was super cheap to live there, with free housing, shorter hours, and lots of holidays. I travelled for every bayram and went back to canada both summers and often flew to Istanbul for weekends and still saved about 15 000 cdn dollars in 2 years (barely 8 teaching months each) without any effort.

Now that I am living in Istanbul I am very thankful that I started my life here the way I did-- I know so many people who have never ventured east of Ankara, if that far at all. It's a big, beautiful country.