I was hoping that someone who actually lived in Riyadh would answer this, there are a number of Ppruners who have that pleasure! My only visits to that city involved obtaining carnal knowledge of a lovely Ozzie nurse and drinking Guinness on St Patricks Day.
The big thing about Saudi is who are you going to work for. If possible try talking to some of their present expat employees. If its a smaller company, make sure that they have a reputation of paying salaries on time. For the other items I'll try to take them in order based on this side of the country..
Package:
It should include housing, schooling, medical and sufficient return tickets to maintain your sanity.
Housing:
Make sure that you are offered compound housing and not a villa. The standard of compounds ranges from crap to holiday resorts.
Recreation:
Not sure! The people that i knew there didnt seem to have any problems finding social activities. There are numerous satellite channels so you should be able to keep up with EastEnders! At least in Jeddah there are numerous international restaurants ranging from Chillis, Fridays, Applebees, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, Papa Johns, Dominos, McD’s, BurgerKing etc etc. I presume that at least some of these will also have braches in Riyadh.
Cost of Living.
Petrol 9 pence per litre, car insurance 2.5% the value of the car. 3 year old Range Rover Discover is about UK6000. I dont pay for power, water or gas, so i cant comment on these. Price of food really depends on if you want to eat local or international brands. For example, Pepsi canned here is around UK3 per case (24 cans). A US import of Root Beer or Tonic water is around UK12 per case.
Schooling.
UK and US systems, usually considered excellent up to around the age of 13. Then it starts to get expensive.
Political Situation.
Is it a good time to move to this part of the world? Saudi is dramatically changing. They are walking a fine line between religious piety and the desire to move into the 21st century. They are also faced with increasing unemployment of their youth. The country has the ability to go the same way as Yugoslavia, but will it happen, is anyone’s guess. Then of course we have good old Dubya, his actions will have a direct impact on the standard of living around here.
Family.
If you were talking about Jeddah, I would say bring them, they will have a great time. Hopefully someone else will comment on Riyadh.
Check out www.arabnews.com or www.zgrocer.com
Email me if you want more.
Cheers
Mutt
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