| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
rigel
Joined: 17 Apr 2009
Posts: 308
|
 Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:01 am Post subject: Back to the beginning (yet again) |
 |
|
After another week of sending files to a Saudi agency that was pushing me to sign, sign, sign a scanty contract, I'm back to the beginning as far as jobs go there. This is my third time back to square one since March. I've been recently offered jobs in other countries in the Middle East, jobs that look awfully good right now, despite the fact I'd be footing my own accommodations. Is it time to just jump on one of these jobs and forget the KSA for now? What do you think? I've got some good coin saved, but I'd like to get back to work soon. Real soon.
Before anyone recommends Korea, I say Korea is looking pretty lean right now. I'm in no mood to get offer after offer for jobs teaching brats. There's a good reason those jobs are open, even when the economy sucks as much as it does now. Uni and college jobs are too hard to find these days, and I don't want to sit around waiting another 6 months on the possibility of landing a good one. I will follow the lead of those who hate crapwons and jobs teaching brats by kindling declining those offers.
China? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:48 am Post subject: |
|
|
***THE ROYAL RIGEL BEAGLE OF THE HEJAZ WROTE: This is my third time back to square one since March
| Quote: |
HEY R., This is my square time back to third one since the Ides, too! Beware! Now if the square of a third is the first time since March, why won't you just succumb, bro, just acquiesce, just go with the flow and head off for some good bux 2 d Land of d Morning Sun?
Dollars are seemin' hard 2 come by in the Hejaz, R., what with all the procrastination (and boy are they pros!) and all. So suck it up and take one of those hakwon offers, and go online at night like me and try to decipher a way out of the quagmire.
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rigel
Joined: 17 Apr 2009
Posts: 308
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 1:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| People keep telling me "Oman. Oman." There are some outfits in Oman, but I've been told one almost NEEDS a car there. No thanks on the car. I had enough of those in the USA. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
I had enough of em there too, but was never allowed to drive em!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
| i think youll find oman a smidge more light, but fewwer and harder to come by. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
desultude
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 614
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 2:58 am Post subject: |
|
|
| rigel wrote: |
| People keep telling me "Oman. Oman." There are some outfits in Oman, but I've been told one almost NEEDS a car there. No thanks on the car. I had enough of those in the USA. |
What kind of American are you?
Seriously, gas is cheap there, and the roads are fantastic and wide open. I spent a couple of weeks there in March, and we had a great road trip. After two years of not being legally allowed to drive, I was thrilled to be able to drive! I can't wait to own one in Oman! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rigel
Joined: 17 Apr 2009
Posts: 308
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
Are the cars in Oman FREE? What about gas, maintenance, and insurance? If all that is free, I'll gladly go out and get a car.
You spend more on a car than its convenience is worth. A car is a waste of money is what I'm saying. Throw in parking issues and the car becomes even more of a sunk cost and an even bigger headache. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
All fine and dandy, Rigel, if one is in an urban area with mass transit... in Cairo I didn't have one because it wasn't needed and parking was impossible. It took nanoseconds to get a taxi and they cost a pittance.
But that does NOT describe Oman... a person without a car is little better than a prisoner when it is 120 degrees and the taxi drivers are all somewhere taking a siesta, but you want or need to get somewhere.
jest sayin'
VS |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rigel
Joined: 17 Apr 2009
Posts: 308
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 7:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I may be going to Oman , swallowing my pride, and buying a car. Those KSA offers I'm getting are just too piss-poor to drag on much longer considering them. My opportunity cost is getting too high to sit around trying to decide which offer I dislike the least. Even when you have a lot of money sitting in the bank, opportunity cost will nip at your heels if you go without working for long. I may need that money when I get old, so it's back to work...even if that means Oman. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
desultude
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 614
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 1:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| rigel wrote: |
| I may be going to Oman , swallowing my pride, and buying a car. Those KSA offers I'm getting are just too piss-poor to drag on much longer considering them. My opportunity cost is getting too high to sit around trying to decide which offer I dislike the least. Even when you have a lot of money sitting in the bank, opportunity cost will nip at your heels if you go without working for long. I may need that money when I get old, so it's back to work...even if that means Oman. |
Consider leasing a car for the first year, and see how it goes.
You are wise to skip KSA. I know some people don't consider Korea to be beautiful, but compared to Saudi Arabia, it is paradise. There are things to do outdoors in Oman, and Oman is quite beautiful.
Saving money isn't everything (and I do try to save as much as possible), and having a car will improve your quality of life considerable. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rigel
Joined: 17 Apr 2009
Posts: 308
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:07 am Post subject: |
|
|
| desultude wrote: |
Consider leasing a car for the first year, and see how it goes.
You are wise to skip KSA. I know some people don't consider Korea to be beautiful, but compared to Saudi Arabia, it is paradise. There are things to do outdoors in Oman, and Oman is quite beautiful.
Saving money isn't everything (and I do try to save as much as possible), and having a car will improve your quality of life considerable. |
Thanks. If I could get an honest agent to offer me a job that he's not also offering to 800 others, plus would allow me to make empowering additions to the contract he gives me, I'd feel much more comfortable going to the KSA.
Renting a car may work in Oman.
I like Korea myself. At least the countryside. I don't like the concrete canyons or the 'face' game, but it's a good place to go if you want to do some traveling around. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
briand
Joined: 24 Aug 2009
Posts: 17
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:46 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I might end up just going travelling again but I have already been off for 7 months. May I ask what other countries in the Middle East have offered u jobs.
I've done the Korea thing enough before and China the money is just too low. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mia Xanthi
Joined: 13 Mar 2008
Posts: 955
Location: why is my heart still in the Middle East while the rest of me isn't?
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| plus would allow me to make empowering additions to the contract |
Rigel, this is a big problem for employers in KSA. They want COMPLIANT teachers above all else. The idea that you might want to fight for your own rights terrifies them.
Somehow, Saudi employers get the impression that they are doing you a favor by inviting you to come to Saudi Arabia and even paying you for this honor. The idea that you would look askance at their "hospitality" puts their noses out of joint, so to speak. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rigel
Joined: 17 Apr 2009
Posts: 308
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:04 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Mia Xanthi wrote: |
..
Rigel, this is a big problem for employers in KSA. They want COMPLIANT teachers above all else. The idea that you might want to fight for your own rights terrifies them.
This is true, absolutely. Such is life in a male-dominated regime.
Somehow, Saudi employers get the impression that they are doing you a favor by inviting you to come to Saudi Arabia and even paying you for this honor. The idea that you would look askance at their "hospitality" puts their noses out of joint, so to speak.
If they think they're doing you a favor, that could be true. It depends on your creds. Some people's getting a job in the KSA would be a huge stroke of good fortune. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
