Graemek
Introduction
I am from Canada. I was raised in Trenton, Ottawa and Kingston, Ont. and born in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec: a typical Air Force brat. I have lived and worked in Vancouver, the US, Cyprus, Italy. Turkey, Syria, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Oman is definitely my favorite country in the Gulf and Salalah is my favorite city/Dhofar my favorite region - with Muscat a close second. All right, Salalah is low-key compared with Muscat, but that suits me fine. There are lots of trails and roads to explore - a lifetime's worth. You can sail, snorkel/dive, go birding, cycling, horseback riding on the beach. In fact I've never felt so fit and I'm closing in on 58. It isn't paradise - too much traffic for that! - but it's sure nice.
I joined expat.com on 08 February 2015.
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Graemekposted on the thread Dilemma about accepting job
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Graemekposted on the thread Got a Job Offer in College of Applied Sciences
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Graemekposted on the thread pet sitting services in Salalah?
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Graemekposted on the thread Transfer from Doha Qatar to Oman Salalah
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Graemekposted on the thread Transfer from Doha Qatar to Oman Salalah
Pictures by Graemek
Expat experience
I work at one of the Ministry colleges
Salalah is small - pop. about 200,000 - and rural enough with many natural sites to enjoy on a weekend or even an afternoon. All the plantations running through the city make it a very green place to live, despite a dearth of public parks. It is also fairly cheap to shop - although Saudi Arabia is cheaper for imported goods - and eating at low-overhead restaurants is not going to cost you a lot. (Indian. Pak, Filipine, Thai, Turkish, Yemeni, local, Lebanese can all be had at reasonable cost. The city is spread along the coast - just north of the plantations - so as it is aligned east-west, it is not that difficult to get oriented early-on. Th airport is small enough and so close to town I have walked to and from it with my baggage in tow. No place else on earth have I done that. But that is about to change with the opening of the new airport some time later this year.
Driving here esp. after dark is an extreme sport. Be careful and be ready for almost every bone-headed manoeuvre you can imagine. Omanis are ok with Westerners; foreigners, but some can get a bit aggressive (disguised as friendly) with you. Again, note to foreign Western women. I often see some treat Asian guest workers with appalling rudeness. There is a custom here of Omanis driving up to shops and restaurants and honking their horns for service, whereupon an Indian or Pak shopkeeper will then run out and serve them at their car window! Talk about lazy! Trash is thrown around carelessly, which spoils many of the prettier and more popular nature spots. The isolation - 1,000 km from Muscat - can be an inconvenience with respect to obtaining special items or services (e.g. there is no vet for small pets in the city).
English teacher at a school for boys
Safe, generally clean and orderly city. Cost of living is not too expensive.
The influence of Wahabbist Islam is unmistakeable, and can drive some people to distraction. Ramadan or fasting month is particularly difficult if you wish to eat or drink during the day. The segregation of men and women - in shopping districts, at restaurants, public parks, hotels and even on the streets - is challenging. Easier for families as they are allowed to associate. Shops close during prayer times and this can be really inconvenient. And of course the alcohol-free rule can be a hardship for many.
I taught middle and high school Art at the ICARDA International School in Aleppo.
Aleppo is - or was - a very green city (but not in the current sense of being environmentally progressive). From the old, medieval city core and citadel, the streets radiated out in progressively newer quarters to the fringes of the countryside. I lived just across the rail tracks, in a leafy neighbourhood from the 1960s. It was a short walk to downtown with its noisy and interesting street life, where cars, carts, vendors, pedestrians and people on bikes all slugged it out in a friendly match for space on the road. The people are very friendly and helpful if you are lost. Most did not speak much English at all but were keen to practice what little they knew. Aleppo is close to some pretty beautiful and green countryside, to the west, and all those (app. 600!) amazing Dead cities (remains of Byzantine settlements) all within an hours drive of the city.
What is happening now is an ongoing tragedy of the first order. Assad needs to move on, or share the country with its Sunni and rural populations. Syrians need to get a handle on trash - often otherwise charming country views were marred by carelessly thrown piles of trash, and acres of plastic bags caught on the branches of shrubs.
Working as a trainer of English for special purposes to Emiratis at a gas site in the desert.
Abu Dhabi is a very liveable city. It was no;t too crazy or busy, unlike Dubai, when I lived there. Awesome, clean corniche (coastal road and beach) in town. And the public beach is very clean and accessible, just on the edge of town. The corniche is a great place to stroll, people-watch and jog, ride your bike or segway! There are some bargain shops in older malls in town, beside the upmarket malls. If you do not mind Indian and Pak food, restaurants of this order (in town, behind the major streets), are dirt-cheap.
It can get boring if you want to do more than shop or hang out at the beach all day. As the weather gets very hot and humid from April to October, it also limits what you can do outside. Emiratis as a rule are not friendly to foreigners, and can treat Asian ex-pats especially with shocking disdain. If you drive be very careful as locals - the young men in particular - drive extremely fast and take risks. I have ridden with friends doing 140 kph on the highway to Dubai and several cars would pass us at top speed.
Working as a visiting international teacher.
Charleston is a beautiful and historic city on the Atlantic coast, well worth a visit on its own. It is also a short drive to Savannah, Georgia, which makes a pleasant day trip. It is small enough to escape to the countryside, and the roads are safe enough to bicycle around. There are some good bookshops and other shopping as this is a university town as well.
Eating out - other than fast food - can be expensive. You definitely need a car to get around here. There are limited sidewalks, almost none in the suburbs! and public transit is a joke. There is considerable racial segregation as well, even if it is denied or not acknowledged as such - at least to this northerners eyes.
Teacher of Art and English (EFL).
Istanbul is full-on, a conglomeration of several smaller cities or towns within one gigantic mega-city. The rest of the country is beautiful and varied. The people are extremely friendly and hospitable, especially the further into the country you go. A city that straddles two continents, crossed by ferry boats, with that incredible skyline of Sultanhamet (Hagia Sophia, The Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace,etc.). The little fish restaurants lining the shores of the blue Bosphorus. All the little restaurants and what-not shops in Kadikoy.
The crowds, especially the Taksim area and Istiklal Caddesi in particular, can get to you. Also the people can be sly and sneaky with foreigners, esp. in the more touristic areas. Be on your guard with locals who appear over-friendly. This goes double for young ex-pat women.
Worked in a Canadian private college (high school) in Lanciano and in Florence.
Everything!
That I was not able to stay longer...: ? (
I taught Art at an American International School.
For a small island country it is packed with history, archaeology, amazing fauna (including the rare and shy moufflon, which I was lucky to spot in the wild), flora, beaches, night life, good food, varied and beautiful terrain.
I lived in the south and visited the north side several times. The divided status is sad but it slowly seems to be eradicating as younger generations of both sides just get on with life. Locals are not all that friendly with foreigners. This is especially true of the southern, Greek-speaking Cypriots.
I was born and raised in Canada.
It's clean and fairly safe overall, but property crime can be high, esp. in the big cities. Natural beauty sites are largely unspoiled.
Long winters. High cost of eating out and hotels, high taxes on absolutely everything. A country of this size is hard to see all in one visit. I have lived there most of my life and still have many must-see destinations on my list, esp. in the north.
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