Job Discussion Forums

[edallbutt]

I'm hoping this will reach at any U.K EFL teachers in KSA right now....

I think I may be teaching in Saudi soon (with AETG). Even if I don't accept the offer I have now, I'm pretty
determined to start with someone there sometime this year.

I would really appreciate any information from teachers currentyy in KSA which
can help me answer any of the following questions.

1. What are the cost of basic groceries in comparison to the Uk.

2.Can I read UK newspaper websites ( Guardian, Economist, etc ).

4.What are the gyms like? Is it possible to buy gym equipment like dumbells and related stuff like protein powder etc.

3.Can you easily order things online from amazon and sites like it. If so, how expensive is this and can you rely on things arriving
and arriving within a fairly decent time frame from the US and/or UK?

Any help would be really appreciated.

regards

Ed

[edallbutt]

Also, if you take one of the three months business visas, how difficult and expensive is this to renew?

I'd be ridiculously grateful for any answers help, especially from UK teachers out there

ed

[posh]

1. Cheaper.
2. Yes, although The Sun gets blocked, or at least the photos do.
4. Gyms are very good. Go in mid-afternoon and they're mostly empty. Evenings are chaos. They have many specialist sports shops selling anything from dumbells to snooker tables to fishing rods.
3. You can buy online. Amazon will tell you delivery costs. Whatever arrives by post will certainly be looked at.
My mother still writes letters and from the stamps I can see that it takes 4 or 5 days from the UK to Riyadh then 3 weeks to where I am.

Business visas will be up to you employer/contractor to renew, but shouldn't be a problem.

[edallbutt]

that's all very reassuring, thanks very much.

The company however claims that they can't renew the short term visa--the one that lets you work for 3 months--themselves, and that I have renew it in person in a another country. I'm inclined to believe them, as a lot of other teachers in KSA talk about having to do this on other forums.

Also any info on youtube and BBCiplayer (oh God please let BBCiplayer work over there) would be lovely.

[veiledsentiments]

With the business visas you have to do visa runs. What you should demand at the very least is that the employer pays for these short trips to Bahrain or Dubai or wherever...

What posh means is that they should do the arrangements and pay any costs.

VS

[Fernwood]

[sirius black]

Are online porn sites blocked at your residence?

[edallbutt]

Really, they're expected to pay for the visa run? I guess my company must be so mean or strapped for cash that they offer me this sub-standard deal.

They told me they didn't offer iqamas because they cost �600 + loads of irritating admin work for them, and that in the past a there were a lot of employees who left for korea etc half way thru the year and so lost them a s@&*load of money. Even if this is the case, they should still offer to pay for the flights once the employee is back in saudi and working, providing the flight was a real cheapie to a bordering country. That way they'd never lose money on visas for employees who do a runner at some point, they'd probably spend less money on each visa over the course of the year than the �600 for an iqama, and potential employees wouldn't be put off, and current employees pissed off, by paying the cost of their own visa runs.
So I guess the reason is they want the employee to pay for the visa, and not that they're worried about wasted investments on iqamas.
I will tell myself this is because they're poor after all the money they spent on teacher training and support, big libraries of resources etc

[edallbutt]

as for porn, I really don't think it's worth the risk of getting found out. Unless the risk makes it work better for you.

[edallbutt]

also is there still a site called naqatube running. I heard about it from about a year ago. It's youtube but only with non-corrupting clips selected by teams of mutatawwi'un who sit watching hundreds of youtube for hours on end. It sounded like a fantastic scam for them to have their cake and eat it.

[edallbutt]

http://www.naqatube.com/ مقاطع الفيديو : 85170 can you imagine how much filth those guys must have sifted through to pull out that many videos? And believe me there is PLENTY of filth posted in arabic on youtube.

[Mysterious]

[BretHarte]

On business visa runs, it depends on your employer. At my school, some had their visas renewed without leaving the country but most were told to overstay their visa. The school worked something out when they were sent out of the country to get a normal work visa.

There's plenty of benefits for having a business visa. You can leave when you want without asking for permission. If your contract screws you too much or if the school is badly run, you can simply leave. That is a gift. There are schools that will make you pay them back for the ticket in before they'll grant you an exit visa if you don't finish your contract.

You get paid in cash.

You can drive with an international drivers license. Rental places will rent with those.

For the family, there's no hope of doing the Saudi divorce. Bringing the wife and kids here and leaving without them. I read a story in the Canadian news about a man who did that. The wife and kids are stuck. The Saudi government won't intervene and let them return to Canada. There's a special place in hell for that guy. He'll probably be stuck next to the Saudis who hammer nails into their maids as punishment.

[veiledsentiments]

I don't know if the business visa can be renewed once in country. That may depend on the employer's wasta, but I know that the KAUST teachers (and wouldn't there be some wasta there?) had to go every three months or whatever the time frame was.

[edallbutt]

just out of interest how expensive is the cheapest flight out of riyad to a bordering country. Also are there buses and intercity taxis, and is it feasible, affordable and not too horrible use them for really long trips?