Working in Saudi Arabia: Is It Worth It?

Working in KSA requires that you make certain sacrifices. It's next to impossible to meet women, doing drugs could get you killed, and you can forget about your rock and roll. What's more, you have to live in a desert, and there is nothing in the way of movie theaters, pool halls, bowling alleys, casinos, or pretty much anything else that is fun. And yet I've been in Rabigh less than a week, and I've met, Germans, Spaniards, Koreans, Japanese, Americans, Brits, Indians, Filipinos, Bangladeshis, all here for work. Why do they come despite the drawbacks? It's the money, baby. In KSA you get paid well...unless you are an unskilled worker from Bangladesh then it's still about the money, but much less of it.

I don't know about other occupations, but teaching ESL here is a much different experience than teaching elsewhere. It's total chaos at work. Here is a list of things that I had to figure out for myself, or am in the process of figuring out: What to teach, when to teach it and how; where my office space is; where to find a desk for my classroom; how to use the courseware; where to find the courseware; where to find a class list; where and how to register attendance; how to use the classroom hardware; where to get a lesson plan; how to fill out a lesson plan to meet the administration's expectations; how to find an apartment; how to get a driver's license and how to recharge my phone...I'm sure there will be others in the days to come. So, why tolerate all of this? Just repeat the mantra: it's all about the Riyals. It's all about the riyals, It's all about the riyals.

Saudi Arabia has the world's largest proven oil reserves, and unlike the reserves in Canada (the world's second largest), it's in the traditional form (instead of a sickening plasma of sand and crude).  And since we've hit peak oil, the price of oil is only going to go up. KSA produces some ten million barrels of oil per day. Yes, ten million, every single day. Gasoline here is cheaper than water and oil accounts for 40% of Saudi's GDP. Guess how they produce energy here. I'll give you a hint--it's not hydro-power. Saudis actually burn oil to power the grid. I'm sure there are coal plants, but they also burn oil on an industrial scale. The big oil dollar coupled with the Saudi's relatively low population means that there is money here to burn.

It's hard to imagine Arabia as verdant and bustling with animal life, but all that oil shows that it must have been at some point. I wonder when the grass started turning to sand...

Anyway, I'm making good money here. All things considered, I'm earning about twice what I did in Korea. Before coming here, I thought that the cost of living might be comparable that of Vancouver. Boy was I wrong. It's pretty much on par with Korea. Granted, I'm living in a rural area, but I can go out for a big meal for the equivalent of seven dollars. Many of the teachers are paying the equivalent of between six and seven hundred dollars per month for accommodation, but if one is willing to split a bigger place, I understand it can be as cheap as three hundred dollars. Added bonus: I can eat breakfast and lunch for free on campus. Oh yeah, and here's the best thing: because of vacation time lining up with national holidays, we're getting two months off in the summer...and it's paid.