Job Discussion Forums

[Richeire]

Thank you.

[scot47]

One of my brighter students today asked me,"Why are you working here ? Why don't you work in your own country ?"

A good question. Can anyone answer it for me ?

He was not being rude or offensive. I think he is genuinely puzzled that someone should leave that paradise, that sceptred isle of Albion, and come to KSA !

[31]

pay and conditions

[veiledsentiments]

But Scot... what did you tell him?

I always pointed out to students that at home they didn't really need many people to teach English... so there were not enough jobs for all of us who wanted to teach it.

(not to mention that it tends to be pretty much a job for someone who has a spouse with a REAL job so that one of you gets a liveable wage and benefits.)

VS

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[globalnomad2]

Put it this way: After five minutes in Tahiti, Fletcher Christian and most of the Bounty crew said who the h*** wants to return to that sceptered isle?

[scot47]

In the UK a doctor murdered at least 250 of his patients before anyone noticed. Would you want to live in a society like that ?

[grahamb]

Other reasons for abandoning the land of Her Satanic Majesty:
rampant consumerism
the nightmare on Downing Street aka Mr Tory B liar
Jack McConman, Mr Bliar's puppet in Edinburgh
axe-wielding thicko racist killers
so-called "reality" TV programmes featuring assorted thickoes seeking their fifteen minutes of fame
Other "reality" TV programmes featuring so-called "celebrities"
alcohol and/or drug-fuelled thickoes wreaking havoc on the streets at night
the aggressive antics (alcohol/drug-fuelled or otherwise) of the offspring of other alcohol/drug-fuelled thickoes
trigger-happy plain clothes thickoes shooting people who look like suspected suicide bombers

[Hector_Lector]

And The Imperial�s closed down.

[scot47]

You mean The Imperial at the top of Leith Walk ? A sad loss to world culture !

The Tylos in Bahrain reminds me of it although they do not have the old aircraft seat in the bar that The Imperial used to have.

[Bebsi]

NCTBA, Scot47 and GrahamB, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Althought I am Irish, let's face it, Ireland and the UK are pretty much the one cultural entity and I grew up with British TV. Now, I express my eternal gratitude to the above named gentlemen for adding to a long list of reasons for being in KSA and not the less-than-sunny British isles, and making me feel even better for being in what I and a few others affectionately call KSA.

Yes, NCTBA, the British taxpayer has been forced to bankroll the Blair and Bush election campaigns in Iraq.

Scot, not only did a doctor kill 250 of his patients before anyone noticed, but how many people really cared? OK, it was great for print media-sales for a while, but like all other serious problems that have afflicted recent UK history, once the media found something else to boost sales, previous issues were instantly forgotten.

The UK (and other parts of the urban west) has become a society where genuine humanity has to a worrying extent been superceded by a media-manufactured collective conscience that can be moulded at will by various political and economic forces. While the recent attacks in London were indeed abominable, what has far more serious long-term implications for Britain is the inherently racist, state-sponsored anti-minority backlash that has been spawned, in tandem with the erosion of human rights that is now taking place with new legislation and other measures. The hate and paranoia that the media are endeavouring to apread are frightening.

What you comment on, GrahamB, ties in with this "New Britain". I would be far more concerned about an axe wielding thug deciding to open my cranium for a bit of a laugh, on the upstairs of a bus or outside a takeaway, than I would about being the victim of a terrorist attack. I wonder how long it will be before "reality" TV goes out with a bunch of murderous thugs some saturday night to film a live whim-killing? If they gave the killer a name and told us a few personal things about him, the public would probably identify with him and he would become a hero. An apocalyptic view, I know, but how far away are we from that Armageddon?

On my own list for being in Saudi, are just a few modest things such as:

-good salary that is tax-free ( I get to spend it on myself and Mrs B as opposed to somebody else's Charvet shirts, Cayman-Islands-funds or bloody election campaigns);

-excellent standard of living, courtesy of much lower prices, good benefits such as accom, healthcare etc;

-long holidays and lots of free time to pursue other projects;

-a place that is actually pretty much free of crime, reatively speaking;

-last but not least, all that lovely sunshine

(or as 31 simply put it, pay and conditions)

Regarding GN2's reference to the Bounty, I have often thought of that ship sailing out from Portsmouth, bound for the South Seas, while looking down briefly at the patchwork fields of Kent just before my 12.30 to Riyadh lost itself in dense cloud. Invariably, as I would gaze down at the blue of the eastern Med three hours later, any trace feelings of sentimentality had long since dissipated, and I would start to feel like Fletcher Christian did when he once again spotted the shores of Tahiti across the blue ocean.

Mind you, the expat community in Saudi sometimes behaves as those early settlers on Pitcairn did, sadly. They themselves, I sometimes think, are the greatest threat to their own Bounty.

Speaking of Bounties, I am now, as I have mentioned on another thread, on Honeymoon in France, and Mrs B at this moment beckons.

[rogan]

Bebsi,

I am also currently in France and Mrs R has already beckoned,

however - your comments have me eagerly awaiting my early departure for the KSA (but not the separation from Mrs R)

[grahamb]

Aye, Hector, the demise of the "Impie" was a heavy blow.
No, Scot47, Hector was referring to the Imperial in Elgin. Alas, the doors are closed and the regulars have found new watering-holes.
Leith Walk doesn't sound like the most salubrious place in Auld Reekie. I preferred the Last Drop. Do they still have that carpet with the macabre pattern?
I agree with Bebsi regarding the apparently endless downward spiral of the UK. As for for the killer(s) of that boy in Liverpool, I'd like to see him/them receive a liberal dose of Saudi-style punishment. Wait and see, though, it'll be "life imprisonment", ie fifteen years maximum.

[Ace Teacher]

In addition to all the above reasons colleagues mentioned.... I would like to add to the list grahmb presented to us .....


1. Don't fancy being in a place where the latest horrific crimes included a man putting his son in boiling water and this week of two men who tied up a young mother at her home and set it on fire knowing that a baby is still inside it!

This is not to mention that - on the same day of the latter incident - Two teenage boys barged into a family christening party holding guns, robbed and terrorised 100 guests of that christening and to finish it all off, they shot dead a woman holding a baby!!!!!.... previously in the news a school boy was found dead.... man shot a two year old baby in Glasgow....etc !!!!


2. Enjoy the luxury of FREE accommodation and relatively large one as well!

3. Respect - generally - to teachers/lecturers is more apparent and valued

4. Don't have to pay or even burden yourself to reach the gym or pool.... they are next door to where I live here in the KSA!

5. Generosity of the majority of the Saudi People is consiedered in my opinion second to none

[dmb]