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Nashledanou
Joined: 14 Apr 2007
Posts: 64
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 Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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| veiledsentiments wrote: |
So, our poverty stricken ESL teachers who have to share can at least rent a bigger house now. 
VS |
Is it only my impression, or this forum is full of elitists? People who cannot stand the idea of sharing a house with someone else and think you are desperate because you are more sociable and tolerant, high-powered professionals that must have such spankingly huge salaries as to make Bill Gates green with envy, serious career professors as opposed to us poor slaves, poverty-stricken part-time TEFLers...
Nice, really. Very educational. |
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bigbadsuzie
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 265
Location: Turkish privatesector
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| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="Nashledanou"]
| bigbadsuzie wrote: |
quote]
I can add the Industrial Academy on my resum�; insignificant though it may be, universities elsewhere in the area seem to appreciate previous experience with Arab students, and I am now being offered some interesting jobs even though I only have little more than one year's experience under my belt. In addition to that, I have this crazy idea that a salary of 36000 SAR that I can almost entirely save is not bad for a three-month job.
With regard to the "desperately hopeless sad men", maybe you should consider meeting me in person to see for yourself how sad I am, and in case repeat that in my face. But somehow, I am sure you won't oblige. |
If you can arrange the visa I would love to visit. Can you arrange accomodation at the Intercon because I am not sharing with you and your chums.
Everybody will know that the IA is what it is and counts for nothing. Three month job is right and you are working illegally. Enjoying doing your shopping at Giant Store are you? |
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Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
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| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Stephen Jones wrote: |
| In most of California it takes 8-12 times median annual salary to buy a median house (in other words you can't). |
Where in the world do you get this stuff, Stephen??  Here are two facts:
March 2007
The minimum annual household income first-time buyers need to purchase a median-priced home (at $472,000) in San Diego is about $100,000....San Diego�s high housing prices, coupled with its relatively low wages, make it the 6th least affordable major metropolitan area in the country.
http://www.sdhc.net/giaboutus2.shtml
March 2007
The 2007 median income (family of four) in San Diego County is $69,400.
http://www.sdhc.net/pdfdocs/AreaMedianIncome.pdf
And let's not forget that there are plenty of decent homes available in San Diego County (and elsewhere in California) UNDER the median price. That's just simple math. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Nashledanou wrote: |
| veiledsentiments wrote: |
So, our poverty stricken ESL teachers who have to share can at least rent a bigger house now.
VS |
Is it only my impression, or this forum is full of elitists? People who cannot stand the idea of sharing a house with someone else and think you are desperate because you are more sociable and tolerant, high-powered professionals that must have such spankingly huge salaries as to make Bill Gates green with envy, serious career professors as opposed to us poor slaves, poverty-stricken part-time TEFLers...
Nice, really. Very educational. |
TEFL teachers can't afford to be elitists... even in the Gulf. But at least they can get paid enough to live by themselves... as the vast majority of mature adults choose to do if they can.
The key here is choice...
Not for ten times the salary would I share a place with any number of people that I had never met.
VS |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Where in the world do you get this stuff, Stephen?? Question Here are two facts: |
I posted the link in a further post.
I'll give it again, together with an excerpt from the paper in case you've got arthritis of the finger :)
www.demographia.com/dhi-ix2005q3.pdf
25 Most Unaffordable Housing Markets
# Nation Market Median
Multiple
# Nation Market Median
Multiple
1 United States Los Angeles-Orange County, CA
2 United States San Diego, CA 10.5
3 United States Honolulu, HI 10.3
4 United States San Francisco, CA 10.1
5 United States Ventura County, CA 9.4
6 United States Stockton, CA 8.6
7 Australia Sydney 8.5
8 United States San Jose, CA 8.4
9 United Kingdom London (GLA) 8.3
10 United Kingdom Bournemouth-Dorset 8.2
11 Australia Perth 8.0
12 United States Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 7.9
The figure of $67,000 for median household income in San Diego is a little strange. Most figures given are considerably lower. The median house price at present is $485,000.
Remember that although half the houses are cheaper (although only 25% of houses are below &365,000) also half the incomes are below the median. So a median income person can buy a house in the cheapest 10% but that means those well below the median don't buy anything, or get hit by sub-prime loan sharks.
The standard measure of affordability is three times annual income. After that serious problems arise. There are still plenty of places in the States that are that cheap, though none in New Zealand, and almost none in Australia or the UK. |
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Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
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| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Stephen, I'm not going to wade through a 46-page PDF (based on data that's over a year old). Where did you get the figure of 8 to 10 times the median income for a median-price home? Do you have any idea what that means? My first link puts the nonsense to such numbers. |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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I got the figure from the link I gave, which you can't be bothered to read. Your post did not give the lie to mine; it merely gave two controversial statistics that are not backed up by any other authority I can find.
Here are the up-to-date figures for San Diego. As you can see they are $75,000 to $90,000 higher than the figure you quote.
There are conflicting figures for median household income. It is possible that the survey I referred to took figures adjusted for inflation back to 1999 dollars; these figures appear to be the most quoted. Even then we're still talking about an impossibly high ratio of more than eight times annual income. As I said before, two to three times annual income has been the ratio that has held standard for most of the last century. The present ratio is unsustainable. |
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Cleopatra
Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago
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| Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:20 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| People who cannot stand the idea of sharing a house with someone else and think you are desperate because you are more sociable and tolerant |
You seem to be getting a little defensive here.
As VS said, the fact of the matter is that most ESL jobs in the Gulf provide single accommodation, and most adults, given the choice, prefer to live alone rather than share with strangers. I don't think you are 'desperate' because you are sharing, but the reality is that having to share accommodation would be considered unacceptable by many, if not most, ESL teachers in KSA. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:49 am Post subject: |
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| Check out the 500 Club posts for tips on how to save on unnecessary expenditure. Many of our colleagues aim to save ALL their salary. |
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Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
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| Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Stephen Jones wrote: |
| Here are the up-to-date figures for San Diego. As you can see they are $75,000 to $90,000 higher than the figure you quote. |
Where? Source, please? It's good practice to check your posts while (Preview) and after (Submit) you write them! 
Let's not forget your original claim: One cannot afford to purchase a median-priced California "house" (undefined) unless one earns 8 to 12 times the median California income. That claim was crazy then; it's still crazy now.
For the record: I don't earn anywhere near 8 to 12 times the median Alameda County income ($69,000 to $89,000, depending on the source), which is higher than the statewide median income. Yet I'm able to afford a median-priced home in Alameda County ($590,000), which is likewise higher than the statewide median price. Can you show otherwise?
Here are additional current figures for San Diego County, where the median "home" price (as in almost all such statistics) includes new and used flats, condos, lofts, semidetached houses, and detached houses. Please show that an income of at least $500,000 to $750,000 is required to buy such real estate. You might first want to show how many San Diego County residents earn $500,000 to $750,000.
http://www.housingtracker.net/old_housingtracker/location/California/SanDiego/
San Diego County (09/21/2007)
Median price: $465,000
Inventory: 15,195
Median prices slowly dropping
09/14/2007 $465,000
09/07/2007 $469,000
09/01/2007 $469,900
08/28/2007 $474,900
08/21/2007 $475,000
08/14/2007 $475,000
08/07/2007 $475,000
08/01/2007 $479,000
07/28/2007 $479,000
07/21/2007 $479,000
07/14/2007 $480,000
07/07/2007 $480,000
07/01/2007 $485,000
06/28/2007 $485,000
06/21/2007 $489,000
06/14/2007 $489,000
06/07/2007 $489,000
06/01/2007 $489,000
05/28/2007 $489,000
05/21/2007 $490,000
05/14/2007 $490,000
05/07/2007 $495,000 |
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Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
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| Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Other readers: I apologize for contributing to the derailing of this thread. I invite Stephen to PM me to continue the discussion. The homeownership market in California is not nearly as dire as he believes it to be. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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| This may be a shocking thing to say but I do not give a d*** about the plight of would-be homeowners in California ! |
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Robski
Joined: 18 Feb 2007
Posts: 50
Location: Middle Europe
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| Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:33 am Post subject: In J(ub)ail for Langsols. |
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| What is interesting here is that you are working for Langsols, but sent to the Industrial College to teach -- humm! This is a new way to hire teachers for those colleges that those in the know avoid. Jubail Industrial College and University College Jubail have had so many teachers who don't stay. Some do the Bahrain run, others don't come back form holidays, others get fired -- they do like to fire people in Jubail and that's another way out. The Jubail colleges have such a reputation for treating the staff soooo badly -- especialy at the Industrial College -- that they cannot get the staff anymore. It is interesting they are now getting people like Langsols to find the teachers for them and that Langsols are not telling their teachers where they will be working. |
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bigbadsuzie
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 265
Location: Turkish privatesector
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| Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:24 am Post subject: |
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| No you have it all wrong. Know it alls here have Lang Sols and its local mill the Industrial Academy confused with JIC and UCJ. The latter two may be poor but pale in insignificence with Lang Sols and IA. |
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Nashledanou
Joined: 14 Apr 2007
Posts: 64
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| Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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| bigbadsuzie wrote: |
If you can arrange the visa I would love to visit. Can you arrange accomodation at the Intercon because I am not sharing with you and your chums.
Everybody will know that the IA is what it is and counts for nothing. Three month job is right and you are working illegally. Enjoying doing your shopping at Giant Store are you? |
What? I need to arrange the visa FOR YOU?  And I also have to take care of accommodation?
I mean, I knew that Your Excellency would not be willing to mix with the rabble and would wish to stay in a superstar hotel, but I expected some kind of hotshot sultan's friend, who would be able to go in and out of the country on a private jet and a permanent Visa signed by the King in person.
Bah. What a disappointment  |
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