Job Discussion Forums

leez

cryin' uncle today. can not wait any longer for a visa or let's say, do not want to wait. this hiring process is in its 5th month...this isn't a rocket science top secret job for crying' out loud, it's to teach!

i have enjoyed reading and learning vicariously. perhaps i would not have been able to stand the working/living conditions, who knows? maybe asia next spring, who knows?

for all of you still waiting for the elusive pass to the good life, best wishes as you persevere and best wishes on your kingdom experience.

regards,
leez
xo Very Happy

trapezius · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:02 pm Post subject:

Sorry to hear that. Appropos avatar!

Middle East Beast · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 836 Location: Up a tree

Try the UAE or Oman.

You'll be better off.

Hell is never a good place.

007 · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:44 pm Post subject:

johnslat · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:44 pm Post subject:

Dear leez,
Awww - you Sisy-phus, you.

Seriously - very sorry to hear that. All the best in the future.

Regards,
John

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:02 pm Post subject:

leez · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:42 pm Post subject:

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 4:21 pm Post subject:

leez: You were (are still?) by far the more classier new poster. I think that all of the older posters feel for you...probably the most as you never got nasty with us.

I can only send laughing smileys to those who have been nasty posters/PMers and still are waitin'...always waitin'...

Good luck in the future...try not to make it the kop...

NCTBA

Didah · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:27 pm Post subject:

Hi Leez,

I wish you the best of luck and commend you on your wise choice and sanity-saving move to wave off the Tragic Kingdom. Like you, I have been in this visa Theater of the Absurd to get back into the Tragic Kingdom for about six months. Yes, you are right, the D.C. embassy is closed today. I was supposed to hear about the visa last Friday, however, the visa processing service was closed for a four-day-weekend so my future former employer in the KSA could not get any information.

You are so right about how ridiculous the bureaucratic hoops are that we have to jump through. The draconian physical is my personal favorite. Like you said, it isn't rocket science. Come to think of it, it's not really teaching either (in my experience). That got me thinking. I have spent a lot of time in the KSA with a couple of good gigs with American companies. In looking back, it has to be one of the least pleasant places I ever lived and worked. I was lucky to live on compounds and within reach of Bahrain or a quick trip to another country in the region. The one thing that struck me living in Islamic Paradise is that for all the forced imposed praying they do, it is the least spiritual place I have been to in my travels on this earth. Yet, I am ready to go back there because the money is great and I have some insulation with a foreign company and the benefits that go with it.

By the way, I see that you are looking at Japan as an option. Before I had my lobotomy and ended up in the Tragic Kingdom I lived in Japan for many years. It is a great place to live and work. I don't think you will have any problems finding work there. You may also want to consider Korea. Lots of jobs with housing. Although, I think Japan has a better quality of life.

I wish you well and the best of luck.

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:04 pm Post subject:

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:08 pm Post subject:

'ear, 'ear...

NCTBA

Didah · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:55 pm Post subject:

Hi Mia,

Your point is well said and well taken. Your right about the lack of substance. I always chalked it up to the perception is reality school. The Tragic Kingdom can be a hard place because it is filled with hard people. No offense meant to any Saudis, Muslims or apologists out there. Its just the way it is and no amount of propaganda can sugarcoat that fact. I am happy for all the people who post how they never had any problems in the KSA. I think for the rest of us unwashed it comes down to how much one can tolerate or withstand along with a healthy dose of what we can wave off. In my case working for a foreign company with all the trappings that insulation brings with it works for me.

Good luck

eclectic · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 1122

wow so you guys r saying the same thing Im thinking about being in a certain country over here in the Far East. No substance. Hmmmmm, seems to be a common complaint about EVERYWHERE in the world these days. Hell in a handbasket, from the looks of it.

I too declined my KAAU offer due to visa labyrinths on the order of a Jorge Luis Borges story.

Sheikh Abdullah · Joined: 07 Mar 2009 Posts: 54 Location: California, USA

That can be said about every place in the world. Do not look at the way Muslim's practice Islam, but look at how Islam is supposed to be practiced.

Didah · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:42 am Post subject:

Hi Sheikh Abdullah,

I don't know of any other country that outlaws all religions but Islam. I remember during Desert Shield/Desert Storm -- read the first Gulf War -- that the Saudi government had more concerns that Christianity was going to be practiced by the American military at bases outside Damman than of the threat from Iraq -- which was about to annex the Eastern Province oil fields. The great thing is that in the Western world, you can practice your religion while non-Muslims in the KSA can not. So you practice Islam any way you want by leave the explosives at home.