Being an Expat Guy in Saudi Arabia | Expats Everywhere
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- ExpatsEverywhere talks to Josh about living and working in Saudi Arabia. He explains about teaching at a university and life on a compound. Want to work there and save? Find out how much you can make and how much you can save. Are you already planning to go there but don't know what to pack, what you can buy there, if it is safe, or just what to expect in general? Check out what Josh has to say.
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What if I'm a European "westerner" but I'm a muslim revert and want to make hijra. I don't care for the semantics, this is all Gods land
Are you asking if that's okay?
@@ExpatsEverywhere I'm asking if this means I have some brownie points with the locals and if it will make going there any easier
@@brandontraviss1655 It's really hard to know what earns you brownie points. From our experience, Saudis are nice and welcoming to Westerns, and ones that have a connection to western countries like Canada, UK, and US will be curious about where you're from. No idea about intersex/transgender perceptions in Saudi. Hopefully someone else can comment on that. Saudi viewers, please help with this one.
As long as you keep your political views, religious beliefs and sexual preferences to yourself, you will be ok. This goes for both Saudis and expacts.
You're a convert. You can't 'revert' to something you haven't been before.
Finally a video on Saudi I don't feel I need to defend.
It's like someone on PRs desk interviewing for a job
Yes in Saudi Arabia we don't pay taxes I'm Turkish and I live in Saudi and my mom is Saudi .
Bander Boz ma shallah gozal
May I come and visit with you? I will wash the dishes, OK.
Wooowwww😍😍
how is that bro, I thought by law over there, outsiders aren't allowed to marry Saudi women?
@@muhammadaidid9771 Who told you that? There are a lot of Saudi women who got married from abroad.
This guy is positive, and I guess positivity is very important here. Don't travel or work abroard if u r not ready to be open, positive, patient, accepting, ... Planet earth is not all like USA or Europe, it rather contains mind blowing cultures.
I am from Saudi. Many things have changed here; but it is definitely still a very different country to explore & experience. Be ready for a fantastic culture shock 😍😍🇸🇦💚
Thanks, Ali. I appreciate that my positivity transmitted because I am a positive person for sure. Blessings to you and yours in Saudi. We hope to be back at some point in the future to see the changes ourselves. Stay well, sir. - Josh
For weather, it’s hot in almost all of the regions in Saudi the majority of the year. Except for the south region.
In winter, the very low temperatures are rare in the west region and it is adaptable in Riyadh in the middle and other eastern areas.
In the south, it is extremely cold, rainy and foggy for at least 6 months of the year and the rest months, temperature goes between 12c at night to 32c maximum during the noon .
He spoke eloquently and was very thorough.
Thank you for the feedback. Let us know what other videos/countries you're interested in.
People commenting on "irregardless". I would say most native speakers use either incorrect, informal and/or debated language as a part of their natural everyday speech. Qualifying as a teacher of English as a second language doesn't instantly erase 20-30 years of native/cultural programming and/or habits. Add to this that he is speaking on the fly and on camera, he will also do this. As long as you can bring the awareness to your students that native speakers (including teachers) use either informal or even "incorrect" language and also make mistakes you are doing your job.
my left ear hurts me
I'm happy sir you are honest! More people from west should listen to this video to open their minds !
Thank you. We'll pass your kind message to Josh.
Question? What the best way to wire transfer money from Saudi to USA. At SABB Bank I have only a limited amount of banks I can send to. In the UAE it was very easy. Thanks.
I like the video, hahahaha "wasta" hahahaha. I'm Saudi, and I do agree with what he says, tho the internet speed is probably an issue in your compound because homes here support fiber optics. I have a 200mgbps speed in our home.
Tho that "wasta" made me laugh so much 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Thanks, M Lunar. We can definitely confirm that the Internet was not fiber optics on this particular compound. We appreciate your input!
Ask your compound to give you 4G interned speed. My speed is 50 mgb per second and I play Netflix with no shuttering
My left ear enjoyed this
AF omg and i thought my earphones were broken
No lie, thought I was having a stroke lol
Relatively accurate observations/reactions based on his 8-yrs living and working in KSA. Closely similar to my 11-yrs living and working in KSA as an expat. I loved my 11-yrs of living and working in Saudi Arabia. Oh dear, i miss that country, its culture, and their citizens.
ORLANDO JR SUASI Thanks for the comment. How long have you been gone?
Expats Everywhere I’ve exited Saudi Arabia for the past 2-yrs and 11-months now.
ORLANDO JR SUASI 😳 wow. Where are you now? Are you going to go back to Saudi? 🇸🇦
Expats Everywhere I’m currently back in the Philippines. Have plans of going back to work as expat again in Saudi Arabia. However, due to COVID-19 global pandemic, the plan/arrangements have somehow taken a backseat for the time being. Insha’llah everything gets settled by Q1 next year, so things get finalized then.
ORLANDO JR SUASI If you do, please let us know. We’d love to do an interview with you.
you welcome
The growing a beard part really cracked me up LMAO
He is pretty much on the ball as far as I'm concerned. Good interview! Thanks ExpatsEverywhere!
Thank you. When are you ready for your interview? ;-)
@@ExpatsEverywhere Is there a way to PM you? I would be happy to do an interview but have a couple of issues I would need to talk to you about first.
@@ameritas2 Sure, you can email us at expatseverywhere@gmail.com
Also the internet speed is fully dependent on the area you live in. Usually, compounds are little far and closed that’s maybe why.
Nice interview. However, I didn't really get the "security" risk that was mentioned at the beginning of this video. I have lived in the U.S for more than five years, and I have met many foreign workers who have lived in Saudi Arabia for a long time; all of us agree that Saudi Arabia is much safer than the U.S. Next, I agree that the Internet speed is not as good as it should be, especially the LTE. However, usually, the "home" internet speed is pretty good. Moreover, making $3,200 a month was a surprise for me. I expected at least $5,000. Regarding the beard, I am from a family that is considered a little bit conservative and religous, but shaving a beard has never been an issue either from religion or social prospectives. Finally, a new interview should be done now since there are a lot of changes that are happening those days.
Thanks Abdullah,
There is a new interview with Stu from Scotland that lives in Riyadh. You should check it out. ua-cam.com/video/dlGFJ2s1ZP4/v-deo.html
Regarding the pay, wage packages are changing a lot in KSA and those +5k jobs are getting harder and harder to find. $3,200 is definitely low on the spectrum. Considering the work demands, it's fair.
Regarding safety, personal safety from robbery or murder is certainly not an issue. Personal feelings of anti-American or anti-Western sentiment is hard to quantify but it's something that immigrants or expats living in a place where their ethnicity could be discriminated is sometimes an internal struggle (because they live in that place and never have a problem but fear there could be) and then there are the times when it's external because the problems actually arise to them. Have you felt that being a Saudi living in the US? The one comment we hear time and time again about Saudi safety is the driving.
We've been told the internet on this particular compound in Al-Ahsa has gotten a lot better.
وش التغيرات اللي حاصله يا حسره الضرايب والرقص والطبل هههههههه
There are many jobs in SA, not just in education (ESL).
Almost all industries have positions.
That's very true. There's oil and gas, civil engineering, medical, food and beverage (service industry), au pair, hospitality...Unfortunately, we haven't met anyone in those industries that wants to do an interview. If you know someone, send them our way.
Also “Wasta” or clout is not for reach people only unfortunately. If you are close to someone in a leading position then you are safe. It’s not all about money it’s sometimes the fear of their social status. A lot of royal family members are associated with other students and you cannot even notice a difference, and sometimes some will make their family names your worst nightmare 😂💔.
what company did he use to get a job in saudi arabia?
Contact us at expatseverywhere@gmail.com for more information.
Thank you for this info. What age group did Josh work with?
University students.
Arsenal fan 😍
Did he say "irregardles" at minute 2:52???? ?????
Unlike foreigner teachers who are paid alot here in KSA Saudi teachers who teach English in Saudi will get only $1200 per month:) Living expenses are high it’s not like what you imagine
I dont think having a beard would make any difference
i dunno if this 'beard' thin,g is white people thing but 13 years in saudi i never heard this kind a thing, i am asian my co-worker also from asia: india, srilangka, bangladesh, philippine and i'm indonesian. for us, philippinos and indonesians, growing beard is 'too hard', most of us cannot grow beard, jst like other east asian. philippinos are christian, in the job there also some saudis and lebonese, thye do not care about beard. i can grows little mustache, but every time i went to barbershop i always ask my mustache to be remove and there was never any bad comment ab out my request.
Muath Alhendi You're right. As long as one's isn't a Saudi nor a Muslim it doesn't really matter at all whether he grows a bread/mustache !!!
BTW Americans always know the least of there people's cultures even if they live among them for a while (they just don't have it in them)!
Yeah, I am saudi and I found that ridiclous!
Is vlogging is prohibited is saudi?(In case of outdoors)
As far as we know, no, it's not prohibited.
@@ExpatsEverywhere Thank you for quick response
@@mohammadejaz3523 You're welcome! Thanks for engaging with us. If you like our stuff, please support by subscribing.
Also, here's a resource that we have found regarding Saudi bloggers. www.mysalaam.com/en/story/meet-the-top-8-saudi-vloggers-who-made-youtube-their-career/SALAAM17072017051132
Which company did you work for?
Shabaka Training was the company that he worked for. Pay structure has changed and management is changing. Let us know if you have more questions. Email us at expatseverywhere@gmail.com
come on! we have a great fiber optics here!
Their compound wasn't wired for it.
this video is from 2017, and his experience probably before that for a while, since 2017 Saudi Gov Spent more than 60 B$ To Provide fiber Optical to all KSA, i received my fiber optics 3 months ago, also a friend of mine from a different city had it in the same time. so yeah this problem is getting excluded in my opinion.
You're exactly right! He had been away from Saudi for one year before speaking about his experience there. The compound had plans to be wired for fiber optics but at the time it wasn't and all of the people on the compound complained of internet speeds. They had to buy boxes with data cards through the two major providers in the town they were in. Thanks for the comment and helping clear things up for people.
How much data cost around for a month with some good speed enough to stream online ?
I wanted to ask about one thing, honestly, with no negativity or anger. I would like to hear whether the expats who shifted to KSA are suffering from anxiety ? And how are they coping with it ? Would like to know, as I am considering shifting there and I do suffer from anxiety, was working in Qatar previously.
Thanks for the question. No negativity or anger coming from us. In our experience and on our compounds, we absolutely had people that suffered mentally. How much of that was due to the compound life, the city we were in, Saudi Arabia, or their own head? We really don't know. But it's a thing and certainly based the percentage of people has suffered with it compared to the other countries we've lived, it's a concern.
Positive ways to deal with it? People that didn't tend to suffer all had hobbies and a greater "Why?" as to why they were in Saudi Arabia. The why probably needs to be bigger than "to make a lot of money".
Hope that helps. Thanks for the question again. - Josh
@@ExpatsEverywhere Thanks. It helped me a lot. Was thinking if I could survive it, but also the current COVID-19 situation tends to make it a "yes" for a year ;) Would be more than happy to share my experiences in a few months if you would be interested. All the best !
V.good vid
Thank you, CJ X
hey josh did know told you, you look like ronaldo btw welcome to saudi arabia
That's a first! Thank you. We're actually living in Portugal now! 😁 - Josh
Did he just there are no taxes in Saudi Arabia.
When this video was shot a couple of months ago, no taxes. However, the Kingdom has published something about wanting to charge taxes for foreigners.
TAX
www.indiatimes.com/news/world/many-foreign-workers-are-leaving-saudi-arabia-because-the-kingdom-will-demand-tax-from-them-272199.html
NO TAX
www.thenational.ae/business/economy/saudi-arabia-says-no-tax-being-introduced-on-expat-remittances
foreigners stile don't pay taxes noting changed
We only pay taxes on cigarettes & soft drinks
Yeah, but there will be next year😑
Note that Americans have to pay USA tax regardless where they live
What uni did he teach in ?
King Faisal University
www.kfu.edu.sa/Sites/Home/en/
My Internet speed is
Download 200Mbps/ Upload 70Mbps
How's that slow?!
there is no voice in the video
Hi, we've checked from our personal accounts and we can hear the audio for all voices just fine. Could you elaborate on the problem and maybe we can help?
his voice is very low then at the end a HIGH AF sound blasted my ears
We'll look into that. The audio should be stable the whole way through. Thanks for the feedback.
Whats his name ??
Josh...you're so handsome 😗😜💝💝💝💝💟💙❤🤑
I have a BA in Political Sci + CELTA but 0 teaching experience and I’m 24, what are my chances of getting employed as an ESL teacher
In Saudi, pretty good with a university's English program.
Expats Everywhere can you direct me to any sites where I can apply to Saudi Universities? Thank you
Expats Everywhere I’m really surprised that I can get employment with 0 experience
@@mohammeda6719 It might not be a good university, but it might be one desperate for employees. As you might know, not everyone in the world is willing to move to Saudi Arabia.
@@mohammeda6719 Dave's ESL tend to have their share of Saudi Jobs, higheredjobs.com isn't just ESL but try there, and glassdoor.com is worth a shout.
Why teach in Saudi Arabia for $3200 when you can work in China for $2600 and work a few more hours a week at a 2nd school and earn $3200-5,500 per month? I'm at $4300 currently.
Sure in the Middle East is tax free, but in China the effective tax rate for expats is at only 8% and also the school will many times cover your rent, utilities, food, and sometimes travel. And even so, I don't have to worry about relatively austere environments. I can talk and go out with women and drink freely.
I can only see myself teaching in Saudi Arabia for the experience or if I'm getting paid 8k a month.
are you still in Saudi Arabia
No, Josh has since moved on.
Where is he now if you know?
Which company in US would you recommend to become an ESL teacher for oversea Expat?
We're not exactly sure that we understand your question here. Are you asking about getting certified as an ESL teacher, as in what company you should go through or are you asking about a specific company to help you find a job? Get back with us on which you're referring to and we'll continue the conversation. Thanks.
@@ExpatsEverywhereI'm sorry that I wasn't clear. I meant which company or agency you would recommend to find a job in Jubail.
@@JM4Me It's okay. Thank you for clarifying. Asking about work in Jubail, Saudi Arabia is highly specific. We don't have a solid recommendation for Jubail but there are some universities (JIC and JUC) there, which hire foreign English teachers. Dave's ESL cafe also has job posts from Saudi but the bad thing there is the site is archaic and you'll have to do some sifting. The English Language Institute and New Vision English Center might do some direct hiring but you'll need to contact them directly.
@@ExpatsEverywhere Thank you for your information!
@@JM4Me You're very welcome. All the best. Jubail is a beautiful city if you still like desert type of landscape and climate.
I lost my shit when he said "Wasta" 😂😂😭💔 oh and for the poor internet connection.. it's only bad in compounds! You also forgot 1 pro! You can illegally download movies and no one would care... lol
& songs as well😂
you're lying any person who actually spent time in saudi knows that the internet is extremely bad
The internet is really fast here in Saudi
What should a cybersecurity engineer be getting with 5+ experience.
A cybersecurity engineer asking on UA-cam how much they should be making with 5+ years experience in a comment on a video that is completely unrelated to the subject of the question should be earning $0.00 from the cybersecurity career field as they obviously do not know how to use the internet, much less protect any devices from the perils of danger found within.
5ubzer really! So how did I watched this video if we don’t know internet ? 🙂
5ubzer
You’re funny ,please dun be such a fool
you mustn’t believes the media ,Ok?
This guy must have worked here several years ago. It's all different now
Where do you work? Would you like to interview with us?
ESL teacher ... says "irregardless"
Its actually a word. You may want to do some research before criticizing him. It makes you look foolish.
It drives me almost insane to hear "irregardless." Goes to show the quality and content of their education. It is simply, "regardless."
Your comment is ignorant. Irregardless is a real word. Yes, in fact, it is ;-) Its used for emphasis as to shut down debate. Look it up.
I was shocked too
Irregardless IS a word. Look it up!!!
my right ear feel a little left out ...
نو گود
What do you mean?
He's a teacher and he just said "irregardless". Done with video.
fukallogy also said flights to Asia he's already in that continent,where he should have said flights to the Far East.
Does all of that make a difference 🤔 correct me if I’m wrong
Jumanah Bukari well he's supposed to be a bloody teacher!
Irregardless is a damn word. Looks it up lmao
@@rippingale100 "also said flights to Asia he's already in that continent,where he should have said flights to the Far East"
I think you're missing the point... many many English speakers (most of the ones I know) refer to the Far East as "Asia". If you said "Far East" you'd sound strange. Also, many people use "irregardless" and it is considered a less-formal synonym of "regardless".
If you really want to teach communicative English, you have to use the English that people actually use. It doesn't hurt to refer to the Far East as "Asia" or use regardless and irregardless interchangeably. People not only might understand them the same, they might understand them BETTER.
"Perfect" English and actual English are not the same thing... just like any dialect...
Did he just say "irregardless"? OMG
He did! Can you believe he said that in an (extemporaneous) interview?! 🤦♂️🤷♂️
I'm not agree with you about internet speed.. Totally wrong
Hi Anas, check out the pinned comment. Thanks
wow...he is alive & no jizyah...
Bartimaeus Nathaniel jizyah lol
Bartimaeus Nathaniel
You’re ignorant !
Abeer Alenazi I concur.
one cons for expats is there is no night life and alchohols , lately we have cinemas
ESL teacher @02:56 : irregardless
If this guy is American he may want to double check what he said about 'tax exempt' status....
Tax exempt doesn't mean that you don't have to file taxes. American citizens living abroad are still required to file taxes, however, there is a foreign earned income exclusion. "Citizens and residents living and working outside the U.S. may be entitled to a foreign earned income exclusion that reduces taxable income. For 2017, the maximum exclusion is $102,100 per taxpayer, $104,100 for 2018 (future years indexed for inflation)." Some jobs in Saudi can pay that much or more and at the time of this interview expats were exempt from paying local taxes (taxes in Saudi). As of 2018, there is an expat tax in Saudi, however, it's pretty low and generally paid by the employer.
im saudi and idont have beard! i even shave my mustach , cuz i have a baby face! did not notice any diffrent. thats weird to hear that really 😂
He is cute. Does he have a facebook?
Yes, he does.
فرعون
Thanks for GOD almost everything in my country in Saudi Arabia and the other three Arabic gulf union countries Qatar UAE and Kuwait is for free for citizens like education hospitals universities electricity water internet and when someone gets married he gets 200000 dollars and a house from the government for free because marriages here are very expensive and we have the highest monthly payments but sometimes it is not fair enough because women workers gets more monthly payments than men but the other things is perfect the second richest man the Saudi prince al-waleed donates more than half his money to charity in the ending of 2017
Hahahahahaha growing a beard changes nothing dude 😂😂😂😅
A M S do you live in saudi?
Jay Mansouri yup in Jeddah ✨
Awesome, I have a few friends from there. Did you live in a compound or in the mainland? Have you met any hispanic expats there?
Jay Mansouri yes I’ve met lots of hispanic expats i was educated in a private school and I’ve noticed some of them were discriminated due to there differences in religion but tbh Ive never seen someone grew a beard in order to get respect
Many of them are catholic (christian) by tradition. It's interesting you say that because many americans are traditionally christian as well. Hehe a lot of hispanics have beards--many of us have distant maghrebi ancestry. That's funny the guy in the video said that though HHHHHHHHHHH. I'm hispanic american, hopefully I get the opportunity to teach in saudi.
Wasta 😂😂😂😂
My poor right ear
You taught English there? "Irregardless" is not a word.
We've heard this before about this video. We googled it and it's technically a word that means "regardless". It's a word that cropped up mid 19th century and is probably one of those that just keep happening to the point it became accepted. At any rate, these are interviews and a lot of times we can't edit our speech so mistakes will be made.
Wow... really? There's no justification here. "Irregardless" isn't an official word found in the OED and isn't accepted anywhere, it's just that in the middle of speech no one is going to jump in and interrupt a person for incorrectly saying one word and then completely change the subject to explain to them their mistakes - that wouldn't be very colloquial. However, even looking at it, one should be able to tell it's an incorrect word with the double negation "i-" and "-less"... Good thing it's a video on the internet, otherwise I'd have just looked at him weirdly and chuckled while he spoke. I bet he's the type of English teacher that would also say and accept "The Saudis bought alot of grammer books from she and I."
You can find it in the Cambridge dictionary. dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/irregardless
Question is, did you intentionally type "alot" when you meant "a lot"?
I use that word. It may not be official but where I live, in central USA it's very common.
Wel,l what do you expect? He's an American!
British English Language teachers are the ones to learn from.
English teacher uses irregardless
:-) That's definitely been said before, check the comment section. Thanks for watching and commenting though. We appreciate you keeping it civil in your critic. Some people can't. Let us know what you think in the post below.
Thanks for all your videos. Double negatives are just a pet peeve of mine, particularly when uttered by an English teacher. It's not a big deal at the end of the day. This interview actually made me feel much better about my gig in China! @@ExpatsEverywhere
@@carbonfibercrypto2919 You're most certainly welcome. Regarding the double negatives, we completely understand. It's interesting though, in the 100+ interviews that we've done, we always find oral mistakes and some can be edited out and others can't. Even really articulate people will speak differently when you get them on camera. It's an odd phenomenon. With that being said, are you currently in China, and would you like to do an interview? We're really glad that you've found our resources useful. Let us know how we can help you moving forward. Thank you for being a positive contributor in our "Expat" community.
Saudi is in asia
james rippingale
Nope , Saudi Arabia is in meddle East ! not in Asia
World Destroyer
Saudi Arabia is in Asia and it’s one of the middle east countries
Alachol wasn't mentioned l have met so many people that worked in Saudi and left with a drink problem.
Abeer Alenzi . The Middle East isn't a continent,Saudi Arabia is IN Asia.
james rippingale
Right ,but I meant Saudi Arabia is one of the middle east countries +it’s located in Asia continent.
honestly, 3200$ a month is pretty low for a us citizen. not worth working abroad
Very true. The draw here at this particular company is how easy the work load is and the location means there isn't a whole lot you would spend money on, which means bigger savings. What is your wage experience there?
He leaved in a compound, every thing is facilitated there! 12000﷼ is a treasure for him.
In average, how much would a US citizen doing the same job in US paid? because he did mention that in Saudi he is provided housing and utilities.
It completely depends on the region of the country. However, the major difference is the amount that can be saved. On $3,200 per month, everyone was saving $2000-2,500 per month assuming they didn't go crazy on traveling. So that's $24,000-30,000 per year in savings. Another reason those higher paying jobs in Saudi Arabia can be so coveted.
www.cnbc.com/2017/07/14/the-5-highest-and-lowest-paying-states-for-teachers-in-the-us.html
most Americans are provided housing to reduce the cost of insurance (not supposed to say that) . specialized teachers (math , physics, academic English) usually make between 6500-10000 based on their years of experience or higher degrees. engineers start at 12 and can go up above 20k. but, most companies require 10 years experience in the same field for engineers. hope this helps
No good
Irregardless?
عيال وش يقول يسب ؟
irregardless....
There are no human rights for exptrates in Saudi Arabia.