大咖福利影院

rajim wrote:

Greetings to all the members.聽 Firstly, let me thank all of you who has made this site so informative and really a platform for engaging with people much earier than actually landing in the country.

I am scheduled to move to Riyadh (from Mumbai, India) in early September.聽 I will be working with the one of the Big 4 tax consultants.聽 I will be moving with my wife and would want to know more about the life in Riyadh.

Based on the information I could gather from the blogs on this site, i understand the following:
1. No liquor
2. No clubs (may be occassional parties in western compounds though)聽
3. No Cinema halls (any restriction on downloading a movie?)
4. Abaya is mandatory for women (outside of a compound)
5. Women cannto drive
6. Women can go out for shopping alone
7. Inside of compound, I can swim with my wife
8. The only entertainment would be malls and dining out
9. Driving around may not be a good option as it is quiet indisciplined (would it be bad from someone from Mumbai too?)

Kindly correct me on the above if I am wrong.聽 Also request your valued inputs on below:

1. Are women allowed to work - If yes then what kind of work and where.聽 My wife is an accountant by profession but has experence in teaching in English medium international schools in Mumbai, India - Would this help? What are the likely work hours and average remuneration?
2. How is the security for expats particulalry for someone from India
3. What the weekends generally have to offer besides staying back home and watching a television
4. Any suggestions for a good compund with studio apartments

Sorry for making it too long but very anxious as the D day getting closer.聽 Would love to meet all of you there once i am there in September.聽 Also, any gatherings for expats, Indian community, ladies (for my wife) would really be good.聽 Also appreciate if you can suggest a goof GYM for me and my wife with modern amenities and swimming pool.

my name is rafique hassan,

dear friend, first of all why you decided to come to riyadh.

in case of money, you have to sacrifice all things you enjoyed in聽 india. here, you can make money but enjoy life like india never think about that.
here weekend means only going to shopping mall. thats it.

so, think once before you come here.
"you can earn money here but cannot enjoy".
what u heard about riyadh that is unfortunately correct. my dear friend.

rafiquehassan7139 wrote:

dear friend, first of all why you decided to come to riyadh.

in case of money, you have to sacrifice all things you enjoyed in聽 india. here, you can make money but enjoy life like india never think about that.
here weekend means only going to shopping mall. thats it.

so, think once before you come here.
"you can earn money here but cannot enjoy".
what u heard about riyadh that is unfortunately correct. my dear friend.

You've got a point but here's the thing: a person has got to come to Saudia with a plan, a goal.聽 For example, 2 years and 'so-much' saved.聽 If you do it that way, working here is a real opportunity to get ahead.聽 You'll be able to make and save more than you ever could have in your native country.

So it comes down to this:聽 are you willing to live a less-than-enjoyable life for a few years in order to benefit the rest of your life?

(BTW, I'm speaking as a single woman on a non-western compound.聽 Married expat women or women on Western compounds apparently have a great time here lol)

Now the danger is getting caught up in life here and forgetting your original plan. It's easy to think, another year and I'll have even more saved so I can get a better house when I go home. Don't do that.聽 Stick to your plan and your sacrifice living here will have been minimal but will benefit you for years to come.

Best of luck.

Britisher wrote:

From what I'm aware, there is a big push from institutes to recruit 'native speakers' - despite others having a better proficiency in English and a greater ability to teach.聽 But 'native' - that is English, Australian, America, Canadian - maybe South African.
Nevertheless; keep a look out on the eslcafe website.

You should be alright driving here.

A big push, at the tertiary level, yes (and btw, there are many highly qualified native speakers who have a better proficiency and greater ability to teach than non-native speakers, so no need to denegrate Brits, Americans, etc.).聽

However, at grade schools and high schools, it's usually the non-native speakers who are hired due to budgetary constraints.聽 As a 'trailing spouse,' your wife's salary wouldn't be very high.

eveningstar wrote:

I think many people who complain about Saudi don't really know much about other countries. I am happy to have BBC and CNN news here. When I lived in China both were banned. Also in China western programms were dubbed into Chinese, so tv here is better than I thought. They also have what seems to be a Christian channel which surprised me and show Jewish actors etc. More liberal than I thought.

Evening Star

Good point! Living in China before coming to Saudia was really beneficial for me, too, and while the system here can be quite trying, I think it was even more so in China (for one who doesn't speak the language).

Alliecat wrote:

rafiquehassan7139 wrote:

dear friend, first of all why you decided to come to riyadh.

in case of money, you have to sacrifice all things you enjoyed in聽 india. here, you can make money but enjoy life like india never think about that.
here weekend means only going to shopping mall. thats it.


so, think once before you come here.
"you can earn money here but cannot enjoy".
what u heard about riyadh that is unfortunately correct. my dear friend.

You've got a point but here's the thing: a person has got to come to Saudia with a plan, a goal.聽 For example, 2 years and 'so-much' saved.聽 If you do it that way, working here is a real opportunity to get ahead.聽 You'll be able to make and save more than you ever could have in your native country.

So it comes down to this:聽 are you willing to live a less-than-enjoyable life for a few years in order to benefit the rest of your life?

(BTW, I'm speaking as a single woman on a non-western compound.聽 Married expat women or women on Western compounds apparently have a great time here lol)

Now the danger is getting caught up in life here and forgetting your original plan. It's easy to think, another year and I'll have even more saved so I can get a better house when I go home. Don't do that.聽 Stick to your plan and your sacrifice living here will have been minimal but will benefit you for years to come.

Best of luck.

wilson_derry wrote:

Can i Borrow some Money you have earned from last 2 years so i can invest for my future

Alliecat wrote:

wilson_derry wrote:

Can i Borrow some Money you have earned from last 2 years so i can invest for my future

Alliecat wrote:

Now the danger is getting caught up in life here and forgetting your original plan. It's easy to think, another year and I'll have even more saved so I can get a better house when I go home. Don't do that.聽 Stick to your plan and your sacrifice living here will have been minimal but will benefit you for years to come.

Best of luck.

Exactly. Diversion from the original plan will just lead to a dead end here. I have seen many south asians staying here for more than 10 years and at the time of their final departure the only gain they have is few million riyals earned on the cost of other worthy factors (i.e. loss of skill, global experiences and past pace corporate culture).

malisohail wrote:

on the cost of other worthy factors (i.e. loss of skill, global experiences and past pace corporate culture).

You've made an excellent point!聽 I know people in the medical profession who at this point can't leave because their skills are so out-dated.

Alliecat wrote:

You've made an excellent point!聽 I know people in the medical profession who at this point can't leave because their skills are so out-dated.

same goes for people associated with progressive technological fields like telecom, IT etc. Corporate management and Process management are not just another as they have been practiced in KSA at a lowest level.

malisohail wrote:

on the cost of other worthy factors (i.e. loss of skill, global experiences and past pace corporate culture).

Spot on! However, I would say so in medical fields other than dentistry. A relative of mine is a dentist and is updated to the latest technology which is frequently brought up in their work space.