Job Discussion Forums

ejc · Joined: 08 Aug 2011 Posts: 13

1. Do foreigners get Christmas off?

2. If so, how many days?

3. And what's the protocol for leaving the country from a small city? I don't think the Tabuk airport services many places.. so would i have to travel to Jeddah or Riyadh first?

I want to travel while I'm in Saudi and I'm trying to figure out when/how this will work..

Middle East Beast · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 836 Location: Up a tree

You don't get Christmas off unless it happens to fall on a weekend (i.e. Thu or Fri). As such, there are no scheduled Christmas holidays.

Also, Christmas decorations are illegal, and I wouldn't go around Tabuk caroling. Laughing

Regarding travel, to fly out of KSA I always had to go to one of the big three airports--DMM, RUH, or JED. And I'll tell ya, gettin' from Taif to JED was one hell of a trip. Shocked

MEB

blackwellben · Joined: 06 Nov 2010 Posts: 121 Location: Saudi Arabia

ejc

Before summer vacation, it was rumored Tabuk's airport had a direct flight into Egypt, but the rumor came only days before the vacation, after everyone had booked taxis to Amman's airport to connect elsewhere. Which is preferable (in the opinion of most) to flying out of the country via Jeddah or Riyadh.

I recall a recruitment ad claiming its teachers received time off for Christmas, but I agree with MEB that it's more widely expected (in matters of business) expats forego their cultural traditions for those of their host.

And MEB is right that Christmas (and Valentine's) decorations are illegal, but when we went looking anyway, after perusing a dozen stores, a store manager noticed our discriminating possible surrogates and motioned us, furtively, like a drug-dealer standing by an alley, to shelves along a back and corner wall to reveal more overtly Christmas-y items hidden beneath innocuous stock.

We figured there were enough Asians privately celebrating Christmas in Tabuk to warrant an inventory.

A key word is discretion, in all things.

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

Christmas, Easter, and Sundays are all regular workdays in the Gulf. Keep in mind that in the US, we completely ignore the Muslim holidays and they rarely, if ever, get any time off for their holidays in the vast majority of the country.

Outside of Saudi they are more tolerant of decorations in that they sell them and the stores that cater to Christian expats do decorate. But it is very low key there too.

VS

Middle East Beast · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 836 Location: Up a tree

When I was in Fujairah, UAE, I saw a Christmas display in one of the major department stores with Santa Claus! Very Happy

There were also Christmas parties among the expats w/o fear of the government.

A far cry from KSA. There's absolutely no tolerance there for open displays of Christmas--if you live on a western compound you can get away with it to an extent, though. The high walls shield the locals from viewing them.

MEB

Cool

It's Scary! · Joined: 17 Apr 2011 Posts: 823

They do have the blinking lights in KSA, but they call them something different like "festive lights" or something!

It's ridiculous!

ejc · Joined: 08 Aug 2011 Posts: 13

ZERO days off for Christmas? Very depressing, but I probably should have expected it. I'll have to travel on Islamic holidays then..

@blackwellben - Travelling abroad from Jordan's airport is a good idea - but looking it up, I see it's 250 miles from Tabuk?? Isn't that an expensive taxi ride? (On a side note, Christmas in Egypt sounds pretty cool..)

@MEB - Did you take a taxi from Taif to JED?

The no-decorations thing doesn't bother me much. But I insist on good food at least..!

Middle East Beast · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 836 Location: Up a tree

blackwellben · Joined: 06 Nov 2010 Posts: 121 Location: Saudi Arabia