trying to prepare for my move to Kuwait

Lil BiT! Welcome trust me there are salons every where Haha so you might even find better products and there are a lot of women her to make friends I am sure so you will be okay and you will learn from the culture and they will learn from you too so enjoy the grest Kuwait!

Hi Elizabeth.  Welcome to the forum and Kuwait.  I too moved from the Nashville last year.  It's a big change from the Music City, but I think you'll enjoy it.

Cheers!

Hii elizabeth, u r welcome
I'll try to answer some of ur questions as best as I can.
First of all, It's a very big change in culture and way of living and u need to be prepared for it.
The wheather here in summer is baking hot,but if u r moving to kuwait these days, just prepare some winter clothes, it is not too cold here,average temp is bet 10-20 in cold days.
Most of American goods are easily available, u r not going to miss it.
The country is very safe, you don't need to worry about working late or so. it's completely safe here.
The place to stay depends on you and yor needs, every thing is available and easy to find.
It is may not be easy to socialise at the beginning but with time u will get used to it and love it.
Best luck

Welcome to the forum !

First since ur a girl this country might be good for ya ? it's all shopping malls endless they finish one another one pops up

As for my places to stay out there is a ton of them but it's better to live in an area where's it's full of English like i live in salwa b12 it's full of american's English  u know foreigners

As for friend's when u get 1 friend u get to meet his/her friends   and so on ! as for places to meet people nah if u want u can walk in a mall and i'll walk up to ya and say hey ur cute and hi my name is steven want to have a cup of coffe  ? " i hate coffe " 

as for having fun if ur a gamer then i cant say anything since i game 24 hours pc-console-portable gaming anime everything digital i tend try to do it as for rock-metal concerts there has not been one in a couple of years, as for parties it's hard since it's kinda illegal ? booz are banned

There is paint ball war, a new one also started i think it's called mislim or something paint ball but reality weapons and cloth ! HELL YA <3 and if u like arcade gaming there is an arcade place here in Kuwait to play fighting games u know like the old days but with modern games and some people here in kuwait started cosplaying

As for Sports, u can walk jog or get a bike and what not on beach best be in places like marina beach or something since there is a lot of people there for safety reasons, there is also bowling in Kuwait, ice skating hmmm what else entertainment city ? also a comedy club is opening up in Kuwait


over all it's fun at ANY place in the world as long as u have people that are welling to have fun

and  if u want a cheap taxi office number that wont hassle u to take ur money i'll give u a number , since u wont be speaking arabic tend to watch out with price's alot of people scam the non arab people XD well they also scam the arab people but it's easier to scam non arab

which come's the sad part for my part of my life all the people i know just sit in shisha cafe's  all day!  which leads to am alawys alone 24hours XD even when i go out

hope i helped ya out

UPDATE--
Holy shit i wrote alot.. am that bored been gaming 5hours straight hmm i need a social life XD

and ps people reading this check out my blog
www.ksalue.blogspot.com

Tell me what u think i'll accept advice no matter how harsh it dont worry i'll cuss back

oh oh since ur a girl u might get ALOT of PM of people talking to u telling u to meet and giving u there number.

people find chicks something rare :S will i know that fact because it happens to me " they think am a chick-girl " well am NOT i'm a dude ( i start being nice to people and giving advice's via PM then they go like are a girl well u send me ur pic )

then i never reply so if ur reading this u PM people HA am a dude

simple guide to forum:

if anyone bothers u, flag 'em. where it says report right next to the little yellow triangle.

the admins on this site respond very quickly, and said abuser will be "put to sleep" real quick

as for socialising, head on over to abcq8.com, sign up for that newsletter (EEK! magazine - expat magazine in kuwait) and be made aware of every social event going on.

its not chicago, and its also not as safe as we would all like, so take precautions (not mase coz thats illegal here) by having a gal-pal or a guy-friend attend any gatherings with u, atleast initially, until u scope out the people.

Let me begin by saying thank you to everyone for all of your helpful information! It is great to hear so many positive things about my soon to be home. I believe that I have finally decided on living in the Salwa area.
Tracey1222 I would be extremely excited to have coffee with you when I finally arrive.  Just out of curiosity where are you a manager at?
Nomad12 I am pretty sure I will enjoy Kuwait even if it is lacking the wonderful cowboy boot shops and honkytonk bars like tootsies. However I will be teaching people how to line dance while I'm there. I guess the song has it right "you can take the girl out of the honkytonk but you can't take the honkytonk outta the girl" lol
Salue thanks for all of the advise.  I do jot think that the no booze law will be an issue since i can't even drink alcohol in America...lol. And as for the odd fascination with American women I am really good at ignoring people that act in that manner so I do not for see that being a big problem for me.
And finally Legacy thank you so much for all of you help.  He has been reported so hopefully that issue will be resolved quickly.

I just arrived from the US.  My company provided an apartment, so I am lucky.  From what little I have seen, you will be able to purchase items here.  However, its cheaper in the US from what I am told.  You can ship yourself stuff too.  I will be shopping today, so I will see what they have.  Good luck.

Just Come and don't worry much. Its by far a much safer place once u know about this place and its culture slowly and steadily. Yes, Extreme climates especially summer might bother u initially but u will slowly adjust to it and the people around u. This country homes a lot of nationalities around the world forming a workforce for building their future developemnts and creating opportunity. ur Welcome.

guys guys guys & gals (Tracey & ABF )

in ur rush to make our new friend feel welcomed u missed one of her Qs! and that is about finding residence near the avenues.

the closest living areas to the avenues would be yarmouk (its a q80 residential area, so u'll have to find an apartment to be leased from a family in their villa), Omariya (same as yarmouk, q80 area, no apartment buildings), farwaniya (residential area, very hectic and busy), and riqqai (residential area, also hectic and busy).

what we tend to tell most western expats is that the best places to rent would be salwa, jabriya or salmiya. jabriya and salmiya are on the 4th ring road which leads to the avenues, salwa is near the 5th which also leads to the avenues.

rental depends on ur budget, and of course, availability, once u get here im hoping ur company will put u up in a hotel at least initially, as it is easier to scour the ads journals for rental places (and check them out too) when u are here, then u can go with what u like the most.

as far as shipping is concerned, and this is for all of u, i work for a shipping company with branches all over the world - in the US i believe our agent is in cranford, if u wish i can put in a word for u and get u a quote on the price of shipping your stuff from there to here. altho i would discourage that, as most people just buy their furniture here (its cheap), theres an area called Al-Dajeej, right by the airport, that caters to furniture. its sort of like a furniture city. plus theres also ikea which for some reason all people go gaga over, despite their prices not being very competitive.

welcome lil bit,

Hi Lil Bit,

I just moved here almost a month ago, so I know where you're coming from. Salwa is a great place if you have a car or transportation available. I wanted to be able to walk so I moved to the outskirts of Salmiya. But you should decide once you get here. The pictures of apartments online aren't exactly accurate. Have a list of a few areas and check them out.

As for clothes, I was worried about that but I notice that the locals dress less modestly than I do. Just yesterday I chose not to wear a pair of jeans because they were a bit tight then I went out and saw a lady with jeans that must have been painted on. Get something you'd be comfortable in but not too revealing. It's really not as big of a deal as you'd think unless you normally dress like you're at the beach.

They have a lot of shops and cosmetics etc. and everyone told me this, but what they didn't tell me is how expensive shit is here compared to back home. So stock up if you can on everything - clothes, accessories, makeup etc. I wish I had stocked up on my MAC cosmetics - I'm running out of concealer and I refuse to pay double the price for it here!

Also, message me if you have other questions. All these issues are fresh in my mind. We can also meet up once you get here. See? You're already meeting people and you're not even here!