Job Discussion Forums

jlcozzens · Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Moving

Hello,
I will soon be embarking to Saudi for a few years and have met a few Saudi's here in my hometown in America. They said that sometimes the temperature is around 50 Degrees Centigrade. I wonder how people can survive and if others have had trouble breathing. I am young and in good shape but I worry about the breathing. Also, can it really be 50 or is that not accurate and does it drop significantly at night?

Also, I only want to work a few years in Saudi and then go to China where I have worked before. Is there a lot of Chinese people in Riyadh and also is there langauge schools where foreigners or Saudis can learn Chinese language?
Thank you for your comments.

007

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

50 Celsius and more. When it is that hot you won't be far from an air-conditioner !

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

You find you'll spend most of your life in air-conditioned environments, either the car or the house or work.

Mind you, I don't know if central air conditioning has ever been made to work properly anywhere, but it certainly hasn't anywhere I've worked in Saudi. Hypothermia might not be what you'd expect to suffer from in summer in Saudi, but you'd be surprised!

People love quoting the figures they see on the thermometers in the street, which reflect the heat from the pavement, and thus are many degrees higher than the temperature in the shade, which is what you get in the weather forecasts. In much of Saudi the temperature in the summer is in the 40s. Al Hasa is I believe the hottest inhabited city in the world with a summer maximum of 49.

As for comfort much depends on the humidity. I've walked twenty kilomoters in 42 degree heat in Madrid with no sweat, and often walked shortish distances in Riyadh in the summer. In Jeddah on the other hand the humidity is high, and the same is true of Eastern Province in summer. I've lost a litre of sweat taking a walk at midnight in Jubail in August.

amity · Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 72 Location: central Texas

I lived in Kuwait, not Saudi Arabia, back in the 70s. Even then absolutely everyplace had a super turbo-charged air conditioner that could hang icicles off the end of your nose if you turned it up all the way. We lived in what was called a "rest house" with a company sponsored dining hall in the next building. We would have to get the 10 yards of so from one building to the next under our own steam, and used to hold our breath and run to avoid breathing in the 130-plus heat! Yes, it could be bad enough that you would not particularly want to breathe it in. But that was the only time I was ever out in it if I didn't want to be. Never broke a sweat. Things tend to cool down considerably in the evenings.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Things cool down in that after being 120-130 degrees, 90 degrees feels cool. For long stretches that tends to be the 'low' temp for the 24 hours...

VS

Cleopatra · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:11 am Post subject:

Without wishing to get too involved in the whole sweating issue, in fact degrees of humidity have nothing to do with how much you sweat. What this affects is how quickly the sweat evaporates. So, temperatures being equal, you are sweating just as much in a dry environment as in a humid environment. It's just that it evaporates much more quickly in dry air, which can create the dangerous illusion that you are actually not sweating very much. This can lead to dehydration very quickly in a place such as Riyadh.

OP, I take it you are planning on living in Riyadh? If so, you are right in saying that summer temps can easily reach 50 degrees and more on a regular basis. To those (most of whom have never spent a summer here) who scoff since "Oh, it's just a dry heat", the obvious retort is "So is an oven". Because that is exactly what Riyadh in the summer feels like. Expect to spend the summer months racing from one AC environment to another - the fact that the country is set up for extreme heat makes it bearable, just about. I would advise you to invest in a humidifier as soon as you arrive - the combination of AC and bone dry desert air can be very uncomfortable indeed, leading not only to parched skin, but runny eyes and throat irritations.

Regarding your second question, there are relatively few Chinese people in Riyadh, although there is an embassy. I don't know whether or not they offer language classes, though I'd say it's unlikely as I can't imagine there's much demand for learning Chinese in Riyadh. But you never know.

007 · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:58 am Post subject:

Queen of Sheba · Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 397

Queen of Sheba · Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 397

jlcozzens · Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Moving

Thank you for your help (all who commented). I was worried about the breathing becasue I found that when I was in south China, I was always thinking about it when it became very hot and humid. Since I am only 23 and not fat at all (I play football a lot), I started to wonder if Darwin was right about humans adapting to the enviornment as everyone else seemed to have an easier time breathing. Then one Chinese told me that they have wider noses to make breathing easier and indeed, every Chinese had a wider nose than I did. However, if other people can survive in Riyadh, I am sure I can too. What I wonder and wait to see is those people who work outside in such heat.

As far as Chinese, I will certianly work hard to find a Chinese family or someone who can direct me to learn Chinese. 1/4th of the world is Chinese, I am sure I can find some even in Riyadh.

trapezius · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:19 am Post subject:

About learning Chinese, I remembered an article I read here in Saudi in one of the English language dailies.

It was about Chinese people in China giving 1-on-1 lessons in Chinese language (live, using webcams over the internet) to people all over the world.

It described how it is a win-win situation for everybody involved, as the lessons are far cheaper than what you would pay in your own country, but at the same time, cost far more than if those Chinese people were to give lessons to locals or teach in school.

They even had a story about an American guy taking lessons like that from the US. His teacher (in China) charges $15/hour, as compared with $50-$100 for Chinese lessons in the US. And his teacher earns $15/hour, which is far more than the majority of Chinese people earn in a day.

Look it up on google. I don't know how these Chinese teachers advertise themselves over the internet. Maybe they have webpages, or maybe there is a central webpage where such teachers can list themselves.

All you would need is a high speed internet connection in Riyadh, and you will be golden!

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Bring your own study materials. Textbboks for learning Chinese will be thin on the ground in Riyadh.

007 · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:57 am Post subject:

JonnyB61 · Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 216 Location: Japan

I lived in Hong Kong for many years.
The Chinese have this expression: If its back points to the sky you can eat it.
Just outside Canton there used to be a speciality cat restaurant. Diners would choose the cat they liked the look of from a cage of live specimens. The next time you saw it they were serving it up with ginger and spring onions.

In fact, it's not unknown for them to eat any living creature. Their culture is unaffected by the Bible, the Quran or the Talmud so they don't see why one can eat certain animals but not others.

Whatever floats your boat!