Job Discussion Forums

[ellanvannin]

Thanks for the replies. The isolation won't bother me too much, as I've lived in small towns abroad before, and I grew up on an island off the coast of Scotland.

It's the feeling of going to a place where I will not be welcomed which gives me the most apprehension.

[MiloZ]

There are between 40 to 50 English teachers currently teaching at colleges and universities around Nizwa.
The university seems to be continuing with its teething problems and teachers are either accepting this or banging their heads against their desks.
There are benefits to living in Nizwa - if you are into 4x4ing or hiking it is very close to many wadis and jabals that just beg to be explored.

[SandyMan]

Hi,

We are 34 teachers teaching English at Nizwa College of Applied Science (formerly of Education) at the moment, and there are quite a few at Nizwa University as well, though I don't know how many. I think there are English teachers at the College of Technology as well.

SandyMan

[jumpingpete]

I thought I'd update the information about Nizwa, after completing my year's contract at Nizwa College of Technology... (I am actually the guy who initiated this thread on Nizwa- before I knew anything about it)

I absolutely loved my stay in Oman- both proffesionally and personally. CECN were completely true to their word... On arrival to Oman, I spent a couple of days in Muscat sorting out the paperwork, CECN paid for my stay in a hotel on the main beach in Muscat which is a beautiful long beach with palm trees...

Nizwa College has an expatriate staff of about 50 - mixed nationalities mostly canadians, also Indians, English, South Africans, one Ecuadorian! Theres also about 50 expat staff in Nizwa University, and about 20 in the College of Education (I think). So no shortage of English speaking people.

Nizwa is much cheaper than the capitol Muscat, and most of my colleagues out there weren't interested in transfering to another Omani town/ city. It only takes an hour to get into central Muscat where the shops and entertainment outclasses Nizwa no question.

Nizwa is in my opinion is located in a more beautiful part of the country than Muscat- its in the mountains which have got an amazing amount of unexplored secrets to offer- Jebel Shams (the grand canyon of the gulf), Jebel Akhdar which is where all fruits and veg and most drinking water come from in Oman. The whole Al Hamra region cannot be exhausted. It contains wadis, gorges and running water (cold running water which is such a blessing in the Summer). I don't want to give away all the secrets because part of their beauty is that they have not been ruined by tourists.

Omani people are probably the most gentle, friendly, welcoming people I have ever met in my life, and to become a good friend of an Omani ususally only takes an open mind, and to accept an invitaion to join them for a coffee and some dates! I met locals who I want to stay in contact with for my whole life.

Nizwa is relatively small (I went directly from London) but its so peaceful. There is enough of a social group to keep the weeks interesting (time went so quickly for me). I religously left every weekend either to Dubai (4 hours drive) or to Muscat, or into the country in a 4WD. I think the countryside is amongst the most beautiful on earth.

The expats out there are also incredibly welcoming, it took less than 24 hours after my arrival to feel like a part of the group. I became good friends with people out there whom I sadly would not usually have made the effort to get to know. By this I mean the teachers vary in age from 23 up to about 60. But the 50+ year olds are extremely adventurous, as is everyone out there.

Oman is rapidly changing, and there is actually a very good night club recently opened at the Shangri la hotel complex. Theres a lot of extremely memorable characters I met there. In a country with a population of about 3 million, everyone knows everyone. the chances are, everyone you see will know someone you know.

To try to be objective, I will try to mention some negative aspects too... There's not many cinemas... and not many art galleries... I didn't hear any local bands perform, music is considered haram by some ie a sin!. Saying that, Omani's do not force their customs on expats, they completely tolerate our ways, some even adhere to some of our customs... foreign bands perform at the bars and hotels, and they're pretty good.

I am not returning to Oman this coming academic year because I am a travel motivated teacher- not aspiring to make a career of it. But when I left Oman, I was so certain that I will return that I didn't feel too sad.

I'll be happy to answer any other questions.

My advice is one hundred percent go for it. I know CECN is recruiting for Nizwa College of Technology as I write this!

[Pikgitina]

Just want to echo everything that jumpingpete said about Nizwa, Oman and Omanis in general. There is usually some good advice out there on the place, albeit a bit dated. Nizwa has come a long way in the last three years or so. I worked there for two years at the same technical college and would have gladly returned had it not been for other plans. I might still do. If you are adventurous, open-minded and ready to deal with at least a couple of headaches at work - you'll be FINE. Basically, once you close your classroom door all issues you might have disappear momentarily as you can really have a great time with some of the best students on the planet - in terms of personality, charm and every now and then, the interest they show in learning English . Nizwa IS small yes. It IS conservative yes. It is also very welcoming and Muscat, Wahiba Sands, endless wadis and if you must, Dubai/Abu Dhabi, are all very doable weekend options. The expat community (of English teachers) is laid-back and varied. Some come and go. Many stay for more than just a year or two. One poster said about a year ago that this "project" at the technical and former education colleges should come with a big UNDER CONSTRUCTION sign attached to it. I echo that too. Every year is better. And year one was pretty damn good. I love Oman. I might just be in love with it too. So, seeing that this is becoming more than just a bit sentimental, I'll leave you to decide...

[SandyMan]

I came to Nizwa six weeks ago and I really like it here. I was recruited by CfBT and I work at the College of Applied Science (Education). We are 16 new teachers at the college this year and as we spent about a week together in Muscat before we came over to Nizwa, we already knew each other a bit when we arrived.

I can't really say that much about the rest of the TELF community here in Nizwa yet as most teachers seem to be hibernating throughout Ramadan (The Falaj Daris Hotel is deserted). However, I've bumped into teachers from the College of Technology and Nizwa University from time to time and most of them seem pretty friendly (everybody at Nizwa University is complaining about the fact that 50 of them are all crammed into one single teachers' room).

Compared to Saudi Arabia, I find the students very easy to work with. Many are keen and hard-working, though the girls are way ahead of the guys in one of my groups. We are using decent course books, we've got good facilities for photocopying, we've all got our own desks and we've all got CD-players - though not everybody has got their own computer yet. The classrooms are huge and the A/Cs work well in most classroom. The Internet connection is very slow but otherwise the computer labs have got good PCs.

CfBT has provided amazing housing - all well-equipped brand new flats - though many of the flats are so new, they were not ready when we arrived. Out of 16 new teachers, 14 of us now live in our own flats (many of us had to double up when we arrived).

Nizwa is a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains and lots of interesting places to explore. However, there are no cinemas, no decent cafes, no music/CD shops and only one Western chain outlet - PizzaHut. There are two large supermarkets and quite a few TV shops. You can get broadband if you live within 5 km from Nizwa centre and dial-up Internet is quite fast. The two main hotels have got small gyms, but nothing to write home about.

The reason why so few teachers from Nizwa are posting here might be that most of them live outside the boundary line for broadband and therefore hardly have time for other things than replying to the odd email.