Job Discussion Forums

[run-jp]

Hi all,

except for buying mucho hummus and some tasty grape leaves etc. still need some things for the home for the next 10 onths (TV, etc.)
also must say that my compounds phone line situation is quite poor and wanna look into
Matawa-less wireless web..any leads?

by the way...you folfs are so right bout the roads here!!!!

too busy watching for multi-lane gobbling Bozo drivers to watch for Al qaeda type guys!

Yokel in a Yukon

[scot47]

Wireless web is possible. Initial costs are about SR15,000 but then there is a monthly charge. I understand that you can also use this to watch TV.

Like satellite TV it is technically illegal but.........................

we had thought about getting some people together to do it collectively

[ohman]

Hope this isn't too far off topic, but how wide spread is DSL in Saudi? With person-to-person file sharing, a high speed download (and shakey ethics) you can collect uncensored first-run films, TV shows, a lot of music etc This can cancel out the need for decent satellite service. If you spring for a large storage capacity Email or web harddrive, friends on the "outside" can send you DVD and music files. If your ethics are on solider ground than mine, there are now pay person-to-person share services which will send you what you want ala an online Blockbuster video outlet.

As an example, last year while in another gulf country, I had an 80 gig hardrive and using the Kazaa person to person sharing program I nicked Chicago (while it was still in theatres), every Southpark and Simpsons I'd missed over the years and more.

But you really need to have a high speed connection and access to a free or fee based file sharing program.

(Are there still older timers out there--EFL teachers from the 60s and 70s-- who recall the days when finding an English daily that was less than a week old or when being able to pick up BBC on shortwave constituted "keeping up" or have they all retired to one of the Ko's off the Thai coast?)

[scot47]

I was in Saudi in 1970 when the BBC Shortwave was our main source of info. We were elated when we found "Newsweek" on sale and even the Beirut "Daily Star" was a triumph. Books were in short supply and I spent mucho dinero on excess baggage brining in paperbacks.

The young guys and gals who complain now cannot imagine what it was like. Personally I would send them to Lagos for a month to let them see what a diffcult posting is like.

[veiledsentiments]

It was like this even in Oman during the Gulf War in 1990. I remember sitting in my bathroom (room with best reception) with the shortwave to my ear most of the day and we had to drive to the embassy to get TV coverage from their satellite.

The summer before when Iraq invaded, it was just a footnote in the nightly 15 minute English news report of what the Sultan had done that day and films of whom he had met with. Sort of - oh by the way - Iraq invaded and took over Kuwait today --- and the weather today was 47 in Thumrait, 48 in Muscat, etc etc ---

It wasn't until I went to the Emirates in '92 that I had CNN and BBC on the old Star Satellite system back when it was free.

Here in the land of the daily news overload, I actually look back to that deprivation with nostalgia --- maybe I'll go to Lagos --- well, maybe not

VS

[Stephen Jones]

DSL coverage is patchy and incredibly expensive. Think about $150 a month for 256kbs up and downstream.

as for downloading movies, think that 20KB a second broadband will get you about 1MB a minute. As the average DVD has about 4GB of data you will be abotuy two days downloading one movie.

Consoder paying $5 for the couple of pirated VCD's.

[Mark100]

Best advice i can give is to buy cheap DVD's in Thailand or China and get yourself hooked up to a satellite provider in KSA.
Do a course when you are in KSA and take up a sport.
That should keep you reasonably entertained.
The demons will still haunt you but will be easier to handle.

[scot47]

Mark is right. The demons do not go away, but you can keep them at bay.

Avoid the professional doom merchants who haunt every staffroom in the Middle east. they are vexatious to the spirit.

Think positively and concentarte on what brought you here in the first place. Do not forget to spoil yourself. Focus on your intermediate goals.

And this can be a good place to do some Distance Learning.

The Demons that are haunting me at the moment are a result of being here without the missus and kids. Bad news !

[titanicman]

Has anyone ever attempted to do a PhD by distance learning? I've seen a PhD in TESOL at U of Birmingham offered partially by distance. Part of it needs to be taken on campus. PhD requires a lot of research, hence libraries. Are there enough English-language books, journals, etc. in KSA libraries to complete a PhD?

Thanks. Titanicman

[Mark100]

Of course it is possible to do a Phd in KSA.
In fact it would be a very good way to pass the time.
You should do something on Arabic speakers to make it more relevant.
With the internet and a good tutor you should be able to get around the issue of lack of materials.
My tutor for socioliguistics wanted me to do a Phd but i declined as i am not really interested in adding more quals and paying even more money for a field which doesn't really financially reward you.

[scot47]

What would be the purpose of doing a Ph.D in the pseudo subject of Applied Linguistics ? You don't need it to get a job in the ME. Would a distance doctorate help you to get a job anywhere ? Comments are welcome. i would love someone to prove me wrong - just this once !

[ohman]

Polemics aside!!

There is now and will be for years to come a need for English/Arabic intepreters who are both Muslim and non-Muslim working with government agencies and private enterprise. Defense contractors would probably prefer non-Muslim.
What sort of qualifications and credentials other than fluency in Arabic and English will put me on the call back/interview list as a sub-contractor interpretor for say McDonald's or Starbuck's?

[titanicman]

A PhD would allow an English Teacher to teach in the English Department of a university located in the US or Canada. Sure, teachers can teach in many IEPs but to get tenure, they'll need a PhD. They could teach in ME or Asia (Korea, Japan, etc.) but for how long?

Would you prefer to teach English in an overseas university (ME/Asia) or in the US/Canada?

Thanks. Titanicman

[shebab]

Getting a Phd does not automatically mean you will get a job in North America, and definitely does not mean you will get tenure. From what I understand, tenure is an arduous, politically charged process involving lots of networking and PR work with the important people in one's department. It also means you will spend many years proving yourself fit to be made full professor, and that you are passionate and serious about pursuing original research in your field before you are actually given tenure.

On the other hand, I doubt very much that having a Phd and teaching in the Middle East involves such a "publish or perish" mentality, given the obviously lower academic standards in Gulf universities. One also gets a tax free salary and all that paid vacation as well. Furthermore, Phd level classes in the Gulf usually are free of the unmotivated and undisciplined students that usually populate IEPs. Having a Phd in the Gulf would allow me to teach classes in literature or economics to students who are actually taking my class to learn something, rather than those who have been stuck there because of a low TOEFL score.

I guess it all depends on people's perspectives...

[run-jp]

see I generated some chatter bout banned videos and getting Phd's but no answer to my question.

It happens that I am doing a masters (M Ed) and i am tired of the crappy bit rate, I get at this compound.
(only possible advantage on the 007 driver training you get slaloming the Jerseys evry day and the chance to buy genuine Texas pork rinds (...don't forget access to the Grill during Ramadan.

someone here (Riyadh)may have answered my Q bout satellites. says that compounds can get them, too expensive for individuals. abit of moot point as we will move (insha Allah) this winter and have better access there.

still interested in a used TV, boom box (Bahta special, new, seems broken after one week), and ma sallema sales.

Also, is there any fun to be had at the embassy bars
on wednesday nights?

thanks much