JIC!

Hi and welcome to the forum!!

There aren't too many people in the forum living in Jubail but if you skim the topics, the ones that apply to living in Riyadh generally apply to life everywhere (except that Riyadh is more conservative so be glad you're not here lol).

And yes, you can shop alone.  I do it all the time   KSA is a safe country but as anywhere, you should practice common sense.

Best of luck!

Thank you so much! Sounds good. Where are you living in the KSA?

Riyadh!  Center of the country, surrounded by miles and miles of nothing but desert.  Jubail is over on the east coast, by Dammam, and is a more liberal place. 

Hopefully you'll be in a big western compound and life will be good

Welcome to the foum, OuttaTowner! I live in Jubail but our compound is in old Jubail, about 20 minutes from JIC. JIC is definitely livelier than old Jubail; there are 2 malls (Fanateer and Huwaylat) and an assortment of restaurants. The Corniche is pretty especially on Friday mornings when there aren't a lot of people; it's also cool enough these days to have a walk along the sea.

Our compound has a bus service that brings us to the malls/grocery stores/Khobar for the bigger shops, so yes, women can go shopping alone and it's safe. As Allie said, I hope too that you live in a Western compound. Friends make life here bearable!

Just for your info, the shops in Fanateer and Huwaylat aren't very inspiring, so you'll probably need to go to Khobar or Dammam if you're looking for specific items

If you have any questions, feel free to send me a PM. I've only been here a month so I may not be an expert in Jubail, but I'm learning Cheers

Hi OuttaTowner and welcome you in JIC, I have been here more than ten years, JIC it is a pretty and quit place, it has nice Corniches Al-Fanateer and Al-Nakeel and two shopping malls, sure it is safe and I think you can go shopping alone unless your employer will not except this. I am sure after 4-6 months you will like it.

Although Jubail is a small town compared to Dammam, Dhahran and Khobar it sure has its flair and flavor. No doubt shopping would certainly be more fruitful in Khobar/Dammam which is about an hours drive. Compound facilities at JIC will certainly be great. The JIC was, at one time, a remote and tiny fishing village on the East Coast which was turned out into one of the worlds largest industrial project ventures by the Saudi Government in the 70's. We still enjoy driving down to Jubail from Riyadh whenever we get a break here.

Thank you guys so much for the info! I really appreciate it.

Hi OuttaTowner, I too am also considering relocating to Jubail and was just wondering what your experiences are to date. Are you still in Jubail and do you like the place.

Also, can anyone give me some advice on a company called Al-Suwaidi?


Cheers,

AbuDhabiDaddy

I have also only recently arrived in JIC, I am really lucky to live in what must be one of the best compounds, its really beautiful, however, i find life very boring and far too insular as most of the people on my compound also work at the same company, so always looking for ladies from other compounds to do stuff with, I am just about to head off for the summer, but would be fun to have a lunch together after summer, by which time you would have unpacked and settled! Anyone who would like to join us for a monthly or even twice monthly get together? I see there has been some initiative from a group in Riyhad to form a social evening, we could also do the same further down the line

Hi Bernex,

How's the pollution? Do you notice it much. I've read several post saying that it's terrible, however i'm from a rather industrial town in England so as long it doesn't adversely affect your health then a bit of smog is OK with me.

It can be very bad and lots of children seem to suffer from Asthma as a result. Its not evident I have to say. I am also from the UK, Im a London girl so also used to a bit of pollution! although many years since i lived there. Why would you want to move here fromAbu dabi??? its so much more fun and liberal there, lots going on etc, or is it a case of a job move?

...it's more money and my work situation is not very stable. I don't particularly want to go to KSA; But i don't mind locking myself away at work and also in a compound. I'm viewing the move as hopefully the closest thing i'll ever get to a prison sentence.

...Working in the middle east has really made me realise how good the UK, even with the bad weather.

Thanks for the advice.

duh sorry of course, i realise now you are a guy!!! so guess you wont want to come to girly lunch and even if you did you will be working, is wife coming with you? Yes, I am looking at it as a purely financial gain, I am so lucky as I can escape on a regular basis, but poor hubby is stuck however we do get lots of holiday so planning trips out is imperative. From here you can easily drive over to bahrain for a couple of nights. Its a great city (lived there for a year) and fantastic restaurants and bars and some cheap hotels and appts. Great water parks, and also several great cinemas.
Great shopping and just generally a good escape to noramality especially for us gals as we can leave the Abaiya at home Yaaaaah. The causeway is known as highway to heaven!
Good luck with your search.

Hi Bernex,
I am planning on going over there alone and just being away from the wife and kids for a sustained period of time. For single status i think the company is offering 3 lots of 15 day holidays, with paid flights, a year plus KSI public holidays.