Job Discussion Forums

[soapdodger]

Thanks Ntropy, all clear now!

[Madman]

Jubail in the north east of Sodding Arabia gets my vote.

Come and breathe in the ammonnia and benzene from the far too close refinieries. Work for incompetent, arrogant and just plain nasty Saudis. Run the gauntlet of hostile locals whilst avoiding the many predatory homosexuals amongst them. Marvel at the luxury apartments you are offered and brace yourself for the experience that is Panda. You won't see many camels but you will see thumb-sized roaches and many ants. Here every day seems to last a week so you will have plenty of time to wonder just why you chose to come here in the first place.

And I haven't even mentioned their 'policies'.

[The_Prodiigy]

Deepest sympathies.

Saudi Arabia is an abysmal place to live even for the shortest time. So much more if you come from a place which offers choices on how to spent your leisure time. To survive you are obliged to adopt a survivor/seige mentality.

Some options to consider :

1.) Pack a hamper with goodies, take a four-wheel drive into the dunes.

2.) Buy one of those rosewood chests. This will be your last chance to buy something from KSA.

3.) Buy a six pack of eggs, divide the yolk and white. Re-sell them separeately at a car boot sale and pocket the profits.

4.) Deliberately get yourself into unique, uncomfortable situations and then record the episodes in your diary to publish at a later date.

5.) Copy what some single male Saudis do. Dial a random number from your mobile, introduce yourself and strike up a relationship (or not)

6.) Take longer strides in the office and classroom then invest the money saved on shoe leather on a Tamagochi.

7.) Set the students a treasure hunt. Tell them to bring back something beginning with each letter of the alphabet.

8.) Set aside ONE FULL EVENING to calculate to the exact second when your next vacation will be.

[Stephen Jones]

Madman has attacked Jubail in three or four separate places so I will attempt to give one reply to all posts.

I lived in Jubail for six years and never had any problems with air quality except for two weeks once when a couple of factories went on standby but still burnt off the surplus gas. It's certainly a lot less polluted than most Asian cities.

I don't understand the point about the locals being hostile. I did meet small outbreaks of hostility, mainly from ex-students who had failed, but that was more than offset by multiple gestures of friendliness and help from other former students, including both those who had passed and failed. Whilst the locals in Jubail may not be effusive, hostile is the last word that springs to mind.

As for nasty bosses, there are dozens of large employers in Jubail, and your comments can only be taken into consideration for your own employer, and I would go so far as to say for your own department.

Roaches and ants are common in hot climates. If you spray the house with insecticides they will go away after a few weeks. To keep them away you need to keep being hygenic and keep spraying.

You are right about the poor quality of single housing in many cases. At JIC they have had this pointed out to them for years, but they still can't get it into their heads that single people are human just like married people and that shoeboxes are for shoes. There are considerable differences even within the same employer though, so get full details.

Jubail is not the place to go if you are young, single, and require external stimulation. That said we had a colleague who used to come from Hafr-Al-Batan to Jubail to pass an exciting weekend, but that says more about Hafr then it does about Jubail.

[scot47]

Some people should not come to Saudi Arabia.

[chollimaspeed]

Yep, I would happily count myself one person who should never go to Saudi. Way too restrictive by the sounds of things. I need my freedom!!!

[middiesm]

I take it that is a joke - Glasgow is a fabulous place - has its good and bad points like everywhere but it is the people who make it a special place.

From a wee Glaswegian lassie
xx

[jwbhomer]

Isn't Glasgow the home of the deep-fried Mars bar? That would be a bad point...
But then there's the Burrell collection, definitely a good point.
As for the people, I suppose Glasgow has bad people and good people like everywhere else, but the problem is no-one can tell the difference because no-one can understand a bl@@dy word they say!

[harry the hobbit]

Harry the hobbit must remind Stephan Jones that he forgot to point out that Madman's criticism of Panda is of the old Panda.Harry the hobbit would like all and sundry to know that there is a brand spanking new Panda but that harry still preferst Giant Store.