Saudi: I'm thinking of moving there?

[rapid van cleef]

hey all. There is a possibility tht I will have a job in Saudi, in Riyadh. Does anyone know of any track day providers in Saudi? There is Reen circuit who I have emailed. Qatar is 7 hours away!

Or anyone lived there? Id be keen to chat.

cheers guys

[R650R]

Yes. Get in touch with Al Burka Murka Circa, they do track days for only NZ$89500 per lap and even offer a free beheading service if your mechanic gets your suspension settings wrong.

[jonbuoy]

Honestly mate the only reason to go out there is to earn good money.

There are no "normal" western places to hang out. No Cafe Culture. Very little social scene away from work camps and bases. I don´t need to tell you its a dry country and you can get in serious trouble for drinking, booze is available on the black market - imported and home brewed. Your an infidel and your life is worth less than a Saudi national - accept it. Its not as easy to leave as you think - we needed exit visas to get out of the country which has to be arranged by your "sponsor" so don´t piss them off.

A few expats have managed to stay sane but most of them get a bit tweaked after a few years. Only good thing is the diving. I was only their for 3 months but that was enough. Oh and EVERYTHING shuts for prayer time - if your halfway through doing your shopping at the supermarket and prayer time kicks in you get booted out. You get the hang of timing things eventually. Local internet is heavily censored you have to pass through a "pink" filter which blocks any "pornographic" images - even underwear catalogues are blocked. This same filter also can screw up your internet banking as a lot of HTTPS websites see it as a "man in the middle" attack and you might have problems logging in to check you have been paid. Which is another point - Saudi´s aren´t always great for paying "on time" its not uncommon for people to be 3-4 months behind in wages.

Don´t go thinking its just like Dubai without the booze - its much stricter. Sorry if this isn´t what you wanted to hear but its hard to put a place like that in a good light.

If you do go - don´t flash the bottom of your feet to anyone - its very rude. And don´t look any women - definitely don´t make eye contact - even through the veils. And don´t be surprised to see grown men holding hands - sex before marriage with a women is not accepted but for some reason ass fucking guys is ok.

[Akzle]

culture shock much?

shock fucken horror, you can't get pissed!! what's a kiwi to do??

Honestly mate the only reason to go out there is to earn good money.

There are no "normal" western places to hang out. No Cafe Culture. Very little social scene away from work camps and bases. I don´t need to tell you its a dry country and you can get in serious trouble for drinking, booze is available on the black market - imported and home brewed. Your an infidel and your life is worth less than a Saudi national - accept it. Its not as easy to leave as you think - we needed exit visas to get out of the country which has to be arranged by your "sponsor" so don´t piss them off.

A few expats have managed to stay sane but most of them get a bit tweaked after a few years. Only good thing is the diving. I was only their for 3 months but that was enough. Oh and EVERYTHING shuts for prayer time - if your halfway through doing your shopping at the supermarket and prayer time kicks in you get booted out. You get the hang of timing things eventually. Local internet is heavily censored you have to pass through a "pink" filter which blocks any "pornographic" images - even underwear catalogues are blocked. This same filter also can screw up your internet banking as a lot of HTTPS websites see it as a "man in the middle" attack and you might have problems logging in to check you have been paid. Which is another point - Saudi´s aren´t always great for paying "on time" its not uncommon for people to be 3-4 months behind in wages.

Don´t go thinking its just like Dubai without the booze - its much stricter. Sorry if this isn´t what you wanted to hear but its hard to put a place like that in a good light.

If you do go - don´t flash the bottom of your feet to anyone - its very rude. And don´t look any women - definitely don´t make eye contact - even through the veils. And don´t be surprised to see grown men holding hands - sex before marriage with a women is not accepted but for some reason ass fucking guys is ok.

[awayatc]

Ended up there once on a job..
bombs going off, and other games
white people aren't welcome...
or safe.....
only coz Soddies are lazy are they allowing
others to modify their sandpit..

If you ever want to know how jews must have felt in Germany.....

[pritch]

I went to a talk by an architect who was involved in building a new embassy for NZ. The king had gone for a drive in the desert one day and said something like, "Let's have a new capital here." So all the countries with representatives in Saudi Arabia had to build new embassies near the chosen spot.

The architect was saying there was random stopping of traffic by Police to check for booze in cars. They still have stonings, floggings and lopping off of hands but mostly not of arabs, the victims are usually immigrant workers. Every arab owes allegiance to a sheik, the famiy of the arab criminal will ask the sheik to intecedede and ask for clemency on their behalf. Immigrant workers don't have any connection to a sheik so clemency isn't an available option.

He said there was no way he would be there without a diplomatic passport.

[Laava]

Mate of mine ex RNavy went to the square in Riyhad and watched people having their hands lopped off. Then he left when they brought out the people that were losing their heads that day. Said the hand victims didn't flinch and looked like they were wasted. Also said he would never go back there.

[ellipsis]

...the Ramadan held up paperwork when I was going to go down there and work...best fucking hold up I ever had...found out later how much shit and hassle westerners had... even behind their fences...and the promised money just didn't alleviate the shit...fuck sand and the cunts who eat it...

[Old Steve]

I've been to many Middle East countries, but not Saudi. I had a trip to Saudi planned once, following on from a week in Dubai. The company manager in Bahrain emailed me and asked if I wanted a room overlooking the square. I asked him why that would be important and he said that it was so I could watch the Friday beheadings. Just before I left for my trip the US State Department issued a warning for Americans that they believed some anti-American activity was likely to happen in Saudi and my company cancelled my Saudi visit on the basis that if some terrorist was pointing a gun or throwing a bomb at me then I wouldn't have time to get my passport out and explain that I wasn't an American.

But don't think of riding a bike. If a Westerner is involved in a car accident with a local, then the Westerner is at blame as the accident wouldn't have happened if they had not been there. With that background, and a good dose of Insh Allah, the driving of Saudi locals is a danger to everyone. Give way, no need as it's Insh Allah that I'll get through the intersection or not. Change lanes, Insh Allah. I was in Dubai once, being driven through a coastal fog down from Dubai to the electricity and water authority, we were doing about 40 km/hr on a four lane highway when two Ferraris went passed in the fast lane doing maybe 160 km/hr. My driver just said, "Insh Allah", it was God's will if they had an accident or not.

[varminter]

Ok, ok, I've read all that, but what's the bad things?

[terbang]

Take the contract, you'll enjoy your time there.

[Chooky]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL80yPzAC04

Track day is every Thursday.....

[jasonu]

hey all. There is a possibility tht I will have a job in Saudi, in Riyadh. Does anyone know of any track day providers in Saudi? There is Reen circuit who I have

cheers guys

I think you have better things to be thinking about.

[RDJ]

hey all. There is a possibility tht I will have a job in Saudi, in Riyadh. Does anyone know of any track day providers in Saudi? There is Reen circuit who I have emailed. Qatar is 7 hours away!

Or anyone lived there? Id be keen to chat.

cheers guys

Sincerely, good luck with that choice. I got offered a job there about a decade ago, which as it was 10 years ago, of course means a lot of things may have changed - although based on staying in touch with various colleagues I doubt it - but turned it down point-blank because of the extreme difficulties my wife would have encountered with just daily living. I got to the local interview stage, and decided that the pay was not worth having my wife and children hostage to Saudi customs (small 'c'). If on the other hand you are going there as a bachelor, there is the opportunity obviously, to earn a lot of money in a relatively short time. But bear in mind that you are always at the disposition of your local employer's whims, as they literally hold your passport/exit visa in their keeping...

[pritch]

I don't know if Rapid eventually went to Saudi Arabia or not but this is from today's Guardian newspaper:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-david-cameron