Ready or not, here I come!

Hi msjaydee and welcome to Expat.com!

Have you taken a look at the different threads of the forum? It may help.

Do not hesitate to browse through the articles in our participative guide.
Here's the link > https://www.expat.com/en/guide/middle-east/kuwait/.

Harmonie.

Dear dee

1.Please mention which place you are going to work , so we friends can suggest you the suitable placwe to live in ,and about westerners , there are good places like salwa,salmiya,so please mention about your work place in Kuwait.

2.Appartments : Its upto your budget , it starts from 200 kd to more for single or double in salmiya or other area, so i suggest you try to find a house near your work place ,better for you .

3.Once you enter Kuwait and finishing your visa procedures, you can take a licencse or if you have a international license , you can transfer it to local license, i think for that you need a NOC from your traffice department in your country , better you go through the previous post in expats, and we have lot of friends in this community to help you , i mean ,they will give you the exact details .

4.BB can be unlocked, here we have three cell phone providers, and you can choose the best according to your budget, i preffer , you to take ZAIN connection

5.Ofcourse you can pay your bills through bank, once you join the job , you will be informed from your organization to start a new bank account , so that you can transfer your money from here to your native .

6.You will get all the things from here, but some things that you dont want to miss , please bring that .

7.Dress Code : Normally there is no dress codes,but some companies suggest their employees to wear .but as far as i know ,here people alwayz wear dresess that suits to their body.


regards

sunshine

Hello JD and welcome to EB, and a warm welcome to Kuwait, yes warm, luckily the cold spat we had been enduring is finally over, now its time to cower from the sun in the shade.

good to see someone with clear, concise Qs, so here goes:

1. for apartments near westerners, the areas of choice would be Fintas, Mangaf, Mahboula. For areas closer to the beating heart of the city Salmiya, Salwa. U have to weigh between relatively far off from entertainment and congested. which do u prefer?

2. Furnished apartments are a bit hard to come by from outside of Kuwait, they have ads in the papers tho all the time; the range is around 250-350 depending on amenities, and more importantly location. so settle on a location first, then find a flat there. different areas, different prices.

3. horror stories exist, yes. its more practical to take taxis as u wont have to worry about parking spaces etc. however, taxis also come with their dangers (kidnapping, extortion etc), so its best to find a friendly expat that also avails taxis who has a number of "a guy" they use and have a deal with, and just use the same guy.

4. Viva would probably be best coz they are the newest and have more offers, altho their service is not always reliable in all parts of kuwait. u can have a look at their plans; there are 3 companies to choose from, Viva, Zain and Wataniya. Google em and go nuts.

5. Western Union operates in Kuwait, all banks offer transfers altho they will cost u more than going to an exchange shop. pick your poison.

6. so long as its not alcohol or pork products, u'll relatively find everything u need here. with a contact in the military (make friends thru parties at the embassy) u can get em to find u stuff at the PX, or send for it from back home.

7. skinny jeans wont kill u, u'll find u fit right in with the crowd, be prepared to have men oogle u tho. in their defense, they oogle anyone and everyone. some people are just like that. u'll have to get used to it.

anything else?

Hi msjaydee and welcome to EB

Thank you for the quick responses everyone. It is a pleasure to meet you all.

Harmonie, I will make sure to read the other threads for more answers. I'm sure you guys get the same questions all the time.

Hungrybunny and Moo, thank you for the kind welcome.

Legacy, I appreciate the detailed response. Being an attorney, I tend to be as clear and concise as possible. I got my phone unlocked here just in case I couldn't do it there. As for location, I am still debating on what I would prefer (entertainment or congestion) and of course I have to consider how long it will take me to get to work near Sharq(?). Thank you for warning me about the taxis.

I'm going to go browse the forum before I ask any more questions, but I'm sure I'll be back.

If you're going to be working at or near Sharq....   you might look in the towns of Shaab, Salmiya, possibly Hawalli, or any of the other numerous 'suburbs' of Kuwait City.  Just be prepared for crazy congestion near the start and end times of schools, Thursday and Friday evenings, during Ramadan, or the National/Liberation Day holidays.  I could go on for hours here about specifics...I've lived here over 5 years but, I won't bore you to death.  Best of luck, any other questions, drop me a line!

Allen

born and raised here myself

alrighty, little thing about locations and driving in Kuwait - the earlier u leave, the faster u get there, the road systems in Kuwait are pretty well done, i'll give u a personal example.

i live in hawalli, my office is in shuwaikh, my timing starts at 7am, i wake up by 5:30. if i leave the house at 6:30, i get to work 7 on the dot, if i leave 6:25 or even 6:20, i get to work much earlier, and there is noticeably less traffic in the streets.

distance in kuwait doesnt matter in terms of living area and work place, i know teachers who live in mangaf and teach in hawalli. its all about preparation.

so if i were u, id go with areas like Salmiya, close to the malls etc. it is deadlocked at times, but u will learn the shortcuts soon enough

btw u'll be working in Kuwait City, the heart and soul of Kuwait, the capital, the business center. i worked there for 2 years, my lunch break consisted of just walking on foot and being amazed at the plethora of power that surrounds u.

trust me, u'll love Kuwait City

no housing there tho im afraid :S

Thanks guys. I can't believe I'll be there soon. I think I definitely want to be in Salmiya or Salwa. But I don't want to rush into a decision and I heard most vacancies aren't posted and I should ask around. A new permanent home is a big decision, I want to pick the right place. In the meantime, I am considering apartment hotels. Suggestions?

In Salmeyah there are many good clean apartment hotels,rent start from 250kd to 500KD depend on the location(Sea side or Inside the city).

Make sure to ask if they rent to anybody or only for professional people such as Teachers and Engineers because some apartment hotels are not clean and noisy.

MsJayDee (reference to Scrubs perhaps?)

would it be at all possible for u to request your employer to arrange temporary accommodation in a hotel apartment for you until such time that u get a feel for the country?

most hotel apartments are situated in Bneid Al Gar, an area halfway inbetween sharq (where u'll be working) and Salmiya (where all the fun is, to an extent).

the reason i say this is coz as a company i am sure they get corporate rates on those accommodations, as opposed to usual ones.

once you are here in person, the matter of finding suitable permanent accommodation becomes much easier, a read thru the Al-Waseet newspaper will suffice to enlighten you regarding the availability of furnished accommodations, and you will be able to see them for yourself as opposed to an artists impression on a picturesque website

Nope. Never watched Scrubs (which reminds me, I hope I  will get see my fave shows there!

I can't believe I'll be there by the end of this week!! I'm beyond excited! Legacy, thx for the info but I think I'm just going to try to find a permanent furnished apartment. I have way too much luggage and I doubt I want to live out of my luggage. I need to find a great and unpacked and make it a home. My company booked me into a hotel for 2 weeks hope that's enough time to get situated and find a place. Thanks all!

PS. It's like 80 degrees here. We're having an early surprise summer. I hear it's cold there (by the kuwait's standard).

thats what i meant get in a hotel first, then into ur permanent place, Wes0o just posted somewhere on the forum bout a furnished apartment costing 350KD in his building in Salmiya.

just the other day i was talking to a guy in the running club i join and he was on about this VPN hes subscribed to here that gives him broadband access to HBO and the likes, so yes, u can catch those shows livetime too

its around 20*C. Kuwait uses the metric system, so out with fahrenheit and in with celsius smaller numbers

Here I am!

So, I'm here. I can't wait to get out and see the city.

Funny story, I couldn't figure out where to put the money on the pay phones at the airport. So I asked the bank kiosk for change and how much it costs and it's free for local calls. Well, no wonder I couldn't find a slot to put the money in. Blunder #1.

Blunder #2, as a Canadian, I am very polite and I notice people seem puzzled by it. No pleasantries? Nothing? Dang.

Blunder #3, I didn't understand the money so I almost undertipped the porter who lugged all my luggage for me. I didn't realize I was holding the quarter bill thingies and not dinars. Ha. Good thing I went with my gut and gave him dinars.

Blunder $4. I overtipped the guy who I ordered food from at the hotel.

Live and learn. I'm more than ready to learn.

It's 4am - I'm feeling sleepy again. I woke up, ate Oreos and surfed the web. Have a great weekend all!

Welcome to kuwait

hehe, hilarious MJD

yes, the money does take some getting used to, but u have to think in terms of 1KD = roughly CA$3, and taht the biggest note here is a 20

welcome to K-Town, K-City, The K of Karabas

So after 4 hours of walking around Salmiya looking for vacant apartments, I found 2. One is only 950 and small and one is unfurnished for 450. What in the heck is going in? I might have to consider another area or else I'll be homeless in Kuwait. The real estate agents suck. No one returns calls (ahem-q8realtor), people are rude if you only want to spend less than 600. Fml.

welcome to Kuwait

Tell me What is your budget for rent ?

Thx for the welcome.

My budget is 450KD for a furnished 2 bedroom. Is this unrealistic?

hey msjaydee!!

your budget 450 is enough for your requirements, i advise you to rent unfurnished flat with 300 and you can furnish it as you like which will not cost you much...or u can check also the flats in salwa.

i have a frnd has a furnished flat..new furnishment..he planned to marry next month but he has many problems with his fiancee..i'll check with him n come back to u

Mousa

Thanks Wesso, Mooo and Mousa! I found a place so the search is over. Now I just need to confirm that I want it. Buy furniture. Move in. Feel like a resident of this place and not just a tourist.

You are welcome msjaydee

aaah, the joys of residency ^^,

so, where do we send the housewarming gifts?

J/K j/k

if ur gonna be in the market for furniture, u have two options; either go with the flow and head over to IKEA in the Avenues mall, or do a bit of exploration and check out the dajeej area, its off the airport road (route 55) so u cant miss it,and it is furniture central in Kuwait. it has more variety, and its easier on the purse strings.

just a thought