im 26yrs old and just been offered a 5yr job contract in Saudi Arabia

Hi Mark,

Firstly congratulations on your offer. I'm of the same age group and to give you a perspective, this place can be a little bland, if as you expressed, your concerns revolve around drinking and dating women, however to give you an up side on this place:

1. Saving potential is tremedous. Given the current financial condition of the rest of the world, the middle east and Saudi to be more specific is much stable. Having said that I would recommend you only take up offers with a multi national corporation, as this would help your transition.

2. Not sure if you are married, but this place does offer you a lot of luxury to spend time with family.

Well these are teh only two things which have struck me at teh moment. However, its not all as rosy, the down side is that

1. The place does impose restriction on you, which can be a put off for many. The only thing that I have faced in the past 4 months here is that day to day activities are restricted due to teh langugage barrier. The taxi cab people don't speak much english (thats my dilemma so far)

2. Which is directly related to my point 2 in the up side, if your wife is a career women, you might face a problem there  as Saudi does not offer you a lot of room for your spouse to pursue a career of her choice.

But yeah my opinion is very personal and could vary from person to person. So I suggest get more feedback before making a decision. Atleast it would be an informed one. Good Luck!

2. The

Hey Mark

You will be suprissed about what you can get in Saudi and how much fun you can have.
But as with anywhere you go there is down falls.
I think a 5 year contract is a big commitment.
Love to chat to you more about saudi (Have been living in saudi for over a year)e-mail and i can be more dirrect about your questions.

Another point to note is that all the Shops will be closed during the Prayer times. There are about 5 prayer sessions each day at regular intervals.
(moderated)

hi mark
firstly you are welcome in KSA and you will have fun here
but you have to know in KSA you can not drink or dating
but if you are in compaoned you can do any thing becouse you wil be fare away from saudi gov:D
i am saudi  can give you more information as soon as possible

and can be friend

Five year contract will fly before u can get 40 winks. Ive been here for 30 now. Go for it young man and make the best. The money is the key. The rest will automatically drop by once you learn how to manage yourself here. Why do you think there are almost 10 million expats working here?