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Is Living In A Compound Typical For ESL Teachers In KSA?
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JRCash



Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 91

PostPosted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, I'll certainly have a look.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 7:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Saving can be tricky if you have a family and there is only one earner. Shopping malls, consumer goods and long vacations !
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Gamajorba



Joined: 03 May 2015
Posts: 357

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

JRCash wrote:
I have the same safety expectations I have had all my life. Western cities aren't completely safe and I frequent them a lot. Having a significant chance of being caught up in a terrorist attack though isn't on my to do list so if that's a significant likelihood in KSA then it would be a no-no. If there is a chance someone would jump me, well, that could happen in any city in the world but any elevated chance of anything more serious wouldn't be for me I'm afraid. I'm not trying to be offensive, its just personal safety for me is important particularly as my wife and young son would be travelling with me. Which other Gulf states do you recommend for saving money as you seem to be suggesting that KSA isn't exactly the best spot for me


KSA is never the best spot for anyone from the West, period...

But seriously, I lived in a terrible backwater town for the last year and never once felt threatened there or in Riyadh, and we were housed in what were effectively hotel apartment blocks. Let's not forget that despite what the media says, KSA is actually very safe along with the rest of the GCC countries. If there really was a danger of being jumped, do you think there would still be people going out there to work?
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54321



Joined: 11 Jun 2015
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gamajorba wrote:

If there really was a danger of being jumped, do you think there would still be people going out there to work?


Yeah I do, some people are weird and/or desperate for anything they can get. There's people teaching in Mexico for $4 USD an hour, there's construction workers begging to be sent to Qatar despite all the widely publicised migrant abuse there, there's people who tolerate the UK for $10 USD an hour pre-tax (minimum wage). You've got people who join the army back home for similar entry level salaries to KSA...like I say, some people are weird or desperate.

I'd be less worried about 'getting jumped' (though it's a risk) and more concerned about the lack of anything to do. How many expats jump from their apartment roof each year out of despair? I'd be interested to see the figures.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not many suicides in KSA. A good few slowly drink themselves to death. I knew quite a few who managed that.
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johnslat



Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For some, at least - perhaps more than some - Saudi might be called a "near-life experience." Very Happy

Regards,
John
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dragonpiwo



Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin

PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 11:51 am    Post subject: JR Reply with quote

You have a PGCE, much better than an MA. For some reason Americans seem to grow MAs on trees. One guy I work with has 2! This MA will not make you a better teacher and there are plenty of jobs in the Middle East that don't require 1. Military gigs and oil companies pay more than the unis anyway.

What does your wife do? Does she teach?

I came to the ME with a wife and young son. Was in Qatar then, never had a problem. The UAE is safe too for sure. Kuwait was a bit of a hole but safe. I never had a problem in Saudi either. A family I know were at KFUPM and with the overtime did OK. Not sure that BAe are keen on recruiting married folk these days as every married guy I know has been rejected recently and the single guys I know have all got something.

Security is pretty tight in some of these countries. My wife gets no hassle at all in the UAE and she's stunning.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 12:57 pm    Post subject: Re: JR Reply with quote

dragonpiwo wrote:
You have a PGCE.
....

Not sure that BAe are keen on recruiting married folk these days as every married guy I know has been rejected recently and the single guys I know have all got something.

A lot of employers only provide single status (bachelor) visas, which is unsuitable for the OP. Regardless, KSA isn't a good choice for him given his safety concerns and expectation of top-end compound living. I suggested he look into the requirements for k-12 or international school positions elsewhere in the Gulf. Otherwise, there's China.


Last edited by nomad soul on Fri Jun 26, 2015 1:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 1:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BAe was always a bit reluctant to offer married status.
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dragonpiwo



Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin

PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 7:40 am    Post subject: try Reply with quote

Try Astute Education in the UAE. They recruit primary teachers. Your PGCE is probably exactly what they are looking for. They have an ad on the net now. I'm in the UAE and you'll be fine.
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Ladyinthesand



Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Posts: 7
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you don't live in a compound, where else would you live?
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

An apartment ?

there are also serviced apartments, rather like a hotel

A villa in the suburbs
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Gamajorba



Joined: 03 May 2015
Posts: 357

PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

scot47 wrote:
An apartment ?

there are also serviced apartments, rather like a hotel


Which are rather hit and miss, and usually staff speak barely any English...which kind of makes you think if they know they permanently have a bunch of native English speakers LIVING in them!

But then maybe I'm just being xenophobic as someone here once put it.
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