Lots of questions from expat newbie.

- Social life -apart from clubbing / drinking / going to the movies- rocks in Saudi, if you are coming with ur family there is no place in earth will give u the time to spend with ur family and ur friends' specially if u pick a nice compound to live in - most propably u'll do..by the way u can get latest ''pirated'' movies DVDs at cheap prices and watch them in ur own home surround if u'd like..one agony releaved..
- UK TV channels are partly available among cable/subscription networks which offer very nice collection that u'd love namely Showtime/Orbit, also u can still view all free to watch hot bird channels..
- Internt service providers now are plenty..pick ur choice ADSL / WI MAX / satellite...all at affordable prices, speakinf of communications with UK mobile calls rates are amazing compared to EU...guess u might give up Skype given the crazy offers mobile operators provide...
So over all apart from the beverage thing & ladies obligation to wear black Abayaur experience here might be very enjoyable..try it & u'll see

Cheers for that speedy reply.
Its all a bit scarey but exciting at the moment ;  the prospect of living out in Riyadh fulltime away from family & friends.   Yes thats right ,i will be there on a single status basis; my kids will remain in the UK.
It looks to me that a key issue is the accommodation & compound where i will be based ; dont have details of this as yet from the company who are employing me. They will probably finalise this when i hit the ground out there immediately after Ramadan. im going to ask around to see which compounds would be best for me.  Need a gym & pool ideally.

Hi me61ok, Try and find out which compound you will be on before you land in Riyadh. Before we landed in Riyadh we searched the net and saw all the lovely compounds and expected to stay in one exactly like we had seen on the internet, well we were in for quite a surprise when we landed. No swimming pool, no gym, no restaurant no nothing. Just a compound with 8 houses. The accommodation was good, fully equipped house etc, but it gets very boring when you don't have extra mural activities.

Yes good advice thanks.This is why i am pushing the new employer who is providing accommodation as part of the package for details  ; i suspect  i will not get any details till i get out there , like you did.Still worth trying nonetheless.

On different note , how easy is it to get a bank account set up in Riyadh?  Going to need one for my salary.

you will need to wait for a week at least depending on how fast your company pushes your paperwork to get you the residence permit, after that opening an account can take from one hour to a whole week depending on the bank and your connections, I recommend the HSBC related bank, its called SABB here.

ps.
if your company goes easy on your residence permit a.k.a IQAMA, it might take upto a month, so be demanding, in a polite way ofcourse.

Salman

As for accomodatuon, there are compounds and compounds in Riyadh with rents ramging from SR 400K per annum all the way down to SR 50K. The facilities, sports and other entertainment available within them is based on the nprice. hence you get what you pay for only.

As for keeping oneself occupied socially and physically there are many opportunities of joining small groups who indulge in various activities within these compounds based on their interests. On the other hand there are gyms, horse ridind facilities, golf, tennis, and other more serious pastimes available at a more open and public level. Everything comes at a price of course.

Theres no such thing sas a free lunch.

The most beautiful thing about having lived in this neck of the desert for 30 years is meeting and knowing people from every corner of the globe. I have found some of the best friends I have ever known here in the desert. Its been fun for 3 decades. Mind you, I, initially came on a 2 year contract.

I rest my case.

Quite impressive achievement to have been out there 30 years . Mind you Im  a Kiwi who has been living in UK for some 20 years but Im guessing its not quite the same thing.

me61ok, once you come and live n work here and get used to this way of life it becomes kinda difficult to move back to your home nation. I believe its a nkind of addiction in a way. Lfes good here, in many ways.

I can understand what you mean . I intend to be in the Middle East not just Saudi necessarily for the next few years , especially when work prospects in the UK are so iffy and will remain so for some time.  I am seeing the move as an adventure mostly , with the added benefit of good work prospects.Even more so than living in the UK I know i will need to make special efforts to meet new people and make new friends.This seems to be a positive thing and what i need right now.

here here