Job Discussion Forums

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

Actually Scott, I am saving up to buy a place right now....and yep it's in the land of zubrowka. My son lives there and it's a really nice country. Simple.
I don't plan on coming here again. I have found a well-paid, long-term job that will give me 6 holidays a year (18 weeks). Saudi is no place to live in the long run. The teaching isn't challenging, the money isn't all that great, (with the exception of BAe and a few military contracts) and the country is no good for your psyche...just look at all the freaks/teachers/total hermits/Trappist monks/alcoholics you get out here.
As for the monotony...well that's relative too; if you are an insular person who's happy to be single forever...this place just might be acceptable. There is sweet fa in terms of diversity. Nuff said.
However, to focus on such things is only part of the picture. It's more than that because to me the whole place is a veneer, a moral sham if you like and I want no part of it.
Don't turn this into a Britain's krap too thread.....because relatively speaking you'd be confusing diamonds with dung.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

'Jedem das Seine." To each his own. Personally I could not stand living in Poland ! The world is diverse. Some of us even manage to find the positive side of the KofSA.

There are a lot of sad characters here. Maybe I am one of them.

brasscat · Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:59 pm Post subject: Accepting The Challenge

"Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome"

No place is perfect, but you can live within the culture comfortably, if you accept the fact it is a different way of doing things.

True, you can feel sorry for yourself and make yourself miserable, a choice, or you can find new ways to do things and be with others.

Every game, even the game of Life, has rules to go with it. Winning is a matter of knowing those rules and ways to win the game. ESL teaching calls for alot of flexibility. So does living in a foreign culture.

brasscat

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

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

I never turned this into a 'people who stay in Saudi are sad thread'. All I've said is that there isn't much to do here, the teaching isn't challenging and I don't agree with the society's traditions. And VS, flexible people can also be sad people.
Now, from what I've seen people come to Saudi to; a.) save money, b.) to live in the home of Mecca and Medina and c.) to give up drinking. Nobody comes here to enjoy the 'Vegas nights'. Certainly where I am now...nobody plans on staying and everyone is talking about what they plan to do with their savings just as they did in Qatar.
I'm going back to a rotation in an arabic country, working for a European oil company, where they realize that people need to go home regularly and the students are motivated and open to modern learning techniques. The facilities, (working and living) are also state of the art.
It's ok to criticise companies, schools and different teaching gigs, afterall this is TEFL and few employers give a damn but in Saudi it's the country that has a vibe of its own. It's the total lack of willingness to accept, yet alone embrace anything I believe in whilst they ram their beliefs down my throat.
Recently, there was an article in the Saudi Gazette the gist of which stated that we in the west are completely religiously intolerant and we should stop complaining. Well, nobody stops muslims pursuing the 5 pillars in Europe but you try finding a church here or buying a bible. Denial and criticism are big chunks of the mindset here, which, more than anything will get you down because at the end of the day you can always find something to do. So, the answer to the op really depends on what kind of person you are.
Oh yeah... and not having contact with anythone female is simply absurd. I'd just like to put that on record.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

So, Biffo is off to the Libyan Arab People's Jamarahiyya ? Will that be an improvement on KSA ? Ask the Bulgarian Nurses who spent some time on Death Row in Tripoli.

Cleopatra · Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 11:16 am Post subject:

I'm certainly not suggesting that you or anyone else should like life in KSA, much less that you should pretend to do so. However, it's a little bit pathetic to complain that KSA is intolerant and that life here is restrictive. And you were expecting.....?!?

brasscat · Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 12:53 pm Post subject: Life At Oryx Compound

Just checked the map, to make sure I am still in the KSA.

I meet and talk with female colleagues every day. They are a dandy bunch to know and throw some great parties. In the computer room the mixed company is very pleasant.

Given PMU is a private university, the caliber of students is better, so problems tend to be minor.

Tolerance is not a factor in the Eastern Province. The society is generally very comfortable with the presence of western ways.

Outings are no big thing. I will be visiting Petra, Jordan in February.

Yes, there are places like Hail around the KSA. Common sense says, avoid going there.
brasscat

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Brasso

Be careful with these revelations about mixed staff rooms. The bearded ones will be calling on you to point out the error of your ways !

Outsiders should know that PMU is probably the ONLY institution in KSA where this happens !

brasscat · Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 3:22 pm Post subject: Oryx Compound

"What happens on the compound is our business. What happens outside the compound is their business."

A very fine relationship.
brasscat

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I think you have a rather strange interpretation of the way things are in KSA.

How long have you been here ?

brasscat · Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 7:26 pm Post subject: Long enough

2+ years
brasscat

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Then you should know better. Being in a compound does NOT mean that you can ignore the law of the land !

cmp45 · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 1475 Location: KSA

Scott 47 has a point that being on a compound does not mean you are above the "law of the land"... however what I suspect it means is that (in general) people living on compounds can and do get away with alot more as opposed to those of us living within the general local public.

Cleopatra · Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:20 am Post subject:

In my experience, the Saudi authorities normally don't much care what goes on behind high walls - this goes for Saudi family homes as much as it does for expat compounds. The privacy of the home is sacrosanct in Arab culture, and it's rare for those high walls to be breached. Which, of course, is not to say that it never happens. You do occasionally hear of there being 'raids' on compounds - usually as the result of a tip-off, perhaps made by someone with a grudge against the compound (or residents thereof).

So, while you can generally get away with quite a bit in private homes/compounds, you should still follow the golden rule of life in KSA - be discreet.