What i need to pack?

Hello Elisemckerry.

Welcome to Expat.com!

For more visibility, a new thread has been created on the Jeddah forum.

Thank you,
Aurélie

Contact me on my email so I can be able to help you with all you want I'm rarely online here so email would be better [email protected]

Hello amjusthere.

Why don't you share on the forum so that other members may benefit from it?

Thank you,
Aurélie

hi

welcome onboard

first of all u have to be will prepared for the soh weather, i think u only need clothes and your personal stuff, anything else u can get from the market,
ps what is JKS?

Hiya i am also starting in august could you share your advice on what to pack please?

I would appreciate if someone here could really share a lot. Im also moving to jeddah this August 2012. Im excited!

Clothing:

The weather is hot - so don't bother with anything too heavy - maybe a light jacket/jumper, some jeans, couple long sleeved shirts for the "winter evenings". Ladies when you leave the compound you will have the abaya on - so there is no real need to dress up to go out in public - shorts/singlet/tshirt underneath- you will only need "dressy" clothes for any functions that are held on the compounds/embassies and in single company and of course you need work clothes - I'm not sure about JKS, but think conservative, it must have sleeves, not too short (i.e. at least close to knee length or longer). Gentlemen in public you need longer shorts or trousers, your really short sports shorts are only going to be used on the compound or at the gym, ditto for singlets - not in public. There are plenty of clothing shops here and it is reasonably priced so you can always pick up anything you need. Finally - if you have large or wide feet you may find it difficult to get shoes that fit comfortably, likewise, if you are a "well-endowed" lady then you should bring plenty of undergarments as the largest bra size I have seen here is a D cup.

Household gear - look you can get most stuff you need here at a reasonable price - I wouldn't bother bringing anything too much except maybe some specialist things. I haven't seen any 'microwave' dishes here - those specially designed for the microwave - but there is plenty of pyrex/glass etc. It might also depend on what is in your place - the oven in my compound house is dodgy - it has no temperature setting so I needed a thermometer which I couldn't get here - a friend simply solved the problem by buying a small countertop oven/roaster with a temperature setting!

Linen - again it is readily available and pretty cheap - it might be worthwhile packing something so that you don't immediately have to race out to a shop so you can go to bed, although usually there are plenty of people around who will help you out until you can get to a shop. Luckly you can get sheets at all the supermarkets so it isn't hard to find. My husband was here first, so we had at least one set of sheets/towels for the first couple of weeks.

Other essentials - DVDs, you can get them cheap here, but bring as many as you can or download them onto a hard drive because there is not much else to do! Books - again I would bring as many as possible - Jarir has a reasonable collection of Adult English language books with most of the mainstream western authors, but kids books are thin on the ground - so if you teach primary you might like to bring some books with you (I can't speak to what JKS might or might not have or allow). Personal items - you will want to make it "home" so bring a few personal things that remind you of home. Hobbies - there will probably be time - so if you like to knit/craft/draw/scrapbook etc or want to learn then I would bring as much as possible - there are places to get stuff here - but can be hard to find.

Teaching materials - Even at home moving from school to school and state to state I would try to digitise and take with me as much as I possibly could! - ebooks are great - useful websites - scans of pages /activities you like to use. It will depend upon JKS and their resources (I don't know someone else will have to help out there) but I have not seen many specialist things here in shops - so my suggestion is to bring what you can. Stamps and stickers specially for school are hard to find - but all other stationary can be purchased here easily.

Happy packing!

i believe every thing is here . from clothes to accessories , just came safely and enjoy your work , i know everything will be find .

all for the best . ^ ^

For your teaching supplies, all my friends that are teachers, scan it all into the computer, and host it online (dropbox, gdrive, etc) so htey dont have to carry it, and is easily reproducible.


We have already packed the wife even though she isnt going to be here for another month based on what i experienced last time.
If you are an odd size, pack a few more clothes.
if you are a normal size or can wear off the shelf stuff, just buy it here.

H&M, express, gap, etc etc are all here, as well as "local" and international clothing stores from cheap to high end. So no need to go overboard on the clothes.

Like the above said, bring one or two "classy" outfits if you dont want to have to find one here for compound stuff, specially around the holidays.

for household items.
I tell everyone, Bring a projector.  Optoma, viewsonic, and others are a great deal, something under 500 bucks.  Makes hosting movie parties, or even watching whatever more enjoyable.

Bring a computer.  I packed my Imac in the original box with clothes all around it (85% of my total clothes actually were in that box) and checked it. made it no problem, and you dont py overpriced computer prices

Bring a Wireless router.
They are 20-30% more expensive here than other places.

Other than that. Everything is available here for hte most part if you ask around. 
for books, get a kindle and use the kindle store, or an ipad, and use the Barnes and noble, and the kindle store.

Thanks a lot for that!!!!!

Hey, I am also going to be starting at JKS in August.  Super exciting, there seems to be lots of us heading out!! :-)

I recommend bringing shoes.  Sure, you can buy shoes here but it's difficult to find the styles that we consider good leather shoes for work.

True alliecat true - unless of course you like wearing 4inch+ heels to work!

dragonladyoz wrote:

True alliecat true - unless of course you like wearing 4inch+ heels to work!

EGG-zactly!!!!

no argument here if you do lolol

Freshlikesushi wrote:

no argument here if you do lolol

unfortunately, chiropractors are few and far between in KSA lol

hahah. touche

Dont forget your shades

true. Name brands are alot more here. 80USD more for oakleys than in the US for the pair i have!

true. Name brands are alot more here. 80USD more for oakleys than in the US for the pair i have!

Same in Bahrain - Luckily i made 2 trips back and forth before i started here, so i got a pair from UK which was alot cheaper!

@Sapph - if you have time - your best bet is to see what you will need and use on this side of the world. If it works out alot cheaper to purchase things from your home place, then do so, but i guess that will depend on your luggage allowance unless your company will pay for your relocation and so will pay towards shipping some items?

Good luck with your move. hope it goes smoothly..

aaaghh I was hoping to get some new shades out there, as mine current ones are wrecked.  Are they really a lot more expensive over there??

Electronics are waaaaaaaaaay cheaper in the US. 

I would also advise stocking up on your favorite make-up (they have most brands here but more expensive and it's such a P-i-t-a having salesmen at your elbow every second).

aaaghh I was hoping to get some new shades out there, as mine current ones are wrecked.  Are they really a lot more expensive over there??

I know in Bahrain they are expensive, not sure about SA - from Freshlikesushi' comment, it may well be cheaper to source them from UK. Otherwise, see they type of brand you're after, check the price in UK and then mention it here on the forum, maybe someone can tell ou what it costs is SA. This way you will get an accurate reflection of the price.

Electronics are waaaaaaaaaay cheaper in the US.

This is true..
I was surprised to see what a big price difference there was. So well worth bringing over what you can wthin your limits.

so does that go fo an Iphone too?? Or would I be better getting it on contract out there rather than buying it outright here then going pay as you go when I arrive. Sorry for all the questions.

@clairey5 - In fact there was a previous thread on this topic on the SA Forum.
I'll see if i can find it, otherwise just browse through the forums  and you may find it.

For me here in Bahrain it was cheaper to get the iphone from UK and then just find a package here. I'm not entirely sure how the warranty would work, but i mentioned in my previous forums, as long as your careful with the iphone and choose a decent cover for it, incase its dropped, then it will be ok. Look after it and it will last without any problems.Probably check with an apple store in UK about the warrant and they will tell you.

I also found that a white iphone here in Bahrain was much more expensive than a black color one.. in the UK both the colors were the priced the same. This was last year though...

Hope this helps...

iphone outright here costs about SR2500 - thats about 500 euro ...... same price as the new galaxy III as well.....

guess it depends where you come from - most of this stuff is way cheaper in Saudi than it is in Australia!

Hi
What did you pack? out of interest? what items were essential