Q & A

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I feel reluctant visiting this country as I feel that it somehow still is a bit hostile, when I say hostile I mean that it seems not to be too "foreigner friendly".

  I think that you will 'feel fine' once you arrive into Saudi and meet some of the men that you will be working with. The Saudi's are a friendly and hospitable people and will try to help you any way that they can. The foreign press does not report the good only the controversial about Saudi!!!!

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There is not much information available about what type of TV programs are telecasted there?

  The local TV stations are not much for watching, they are so heavily censored that a 90 minute movie is cut to 60 minutes and the majority of their programs are religion related.

  But you do have the option to get cable with a good selection of movies, sitcoms and entertainment, the most popular right now is Showtime and it's basic 12 channels are plenty for anyone! Most likely your company will provide some sort of cable in your housing, the most important two stations, CNN and BBC will be included in most cable programming.

  UPDATE

Tip: MBC2 and OneTv are both free, all English channels and with a good variety of movies and sitcoms, but you need a dish for reception.

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What songs are broadcasted?

  There is a local English FM station that's not too bad but again it has many religious programs, music cassette stores do a good business here! The cable TV stations usually have radio program channels too.

  You might be able to get one or more of the FM AFRTS stations, this is the Armed Forces Radio and Television Station for the American military and it reaches certain areas near their bases in the kingdom. In Jeddah I do get two of their FM stations and the music is great, Dahran must have areas that will get these stations as well.

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How do foreign bachelors live there?

   As any person lives here, once you meet and gain a few friends then you will learn about where to go and what's available. Dahran has a very large foreign community and I'm pretty sure that they have a very good social life together.

  There is a bulletin board online for foreigners living in Jeddah, do a search, online for 'bulletin board Dahran' you might find one and be able to find and join one then can ask any questions you might have.

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Are there any discount stores there such as the Dollar stores like we have here in Toronto.

Oh yes! We have stores with signs '5-10-15-20' as their name, That equals US$ $1.33-2.66-etc" I'm pretty sure that these stores are now all over the world!

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Are there any places available where one can buy second hand electronic items such as an iron, iron board, vcr, DVD, TV, Computer (preferably with either flat screen or a Notebook), any English movie DVD's or songs CD's etc.

   I do know that second hand computers are available in computer stores and every movie or music DVD can be bought here, both original and 'copies' from street corners! You buy the 'copies' as cheap as us$2.66!

 All 'copies' of the latest movies get here within a week of it's release, sometimes you see people getting up and down and hear laughing in those 'copies, but they are here! Many groups of people will buy and trade with each other any video/DVD's they have, keeping their buying costs down.

   I know that many places, grocery stores for example will have a bulletin board with notices of house hold furniture for sale (as well as local newspapers) but I don't know about places where you can buy second hand small appliances. You'll just have to ask around once you get here.

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What Volts of electricity do they use.

  In Saudi BOTH 110 and 220 volts are available, be careful when plugging something into a socket before you know what the voltage is!!!! Many electrical things bought here are now dual voltage, that is, automatic and will adapt when plugged into any outlet.

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Do they have TV and Radio like we know it here...?

  Ah, I say, Saudi is not caveman country, you will be very surprised as we have the latest technology here and most people will buy the best TV, radio or computer to take home when they leave. Much cheaper here too as long as it is not the newest item.

  There are three tv stations, two in Arabic and the other in English. There are several radio stations including FM.

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Can we get to see Harry Potter movies there or not?

   You can see any movie you like, but not in a movie house, no such thing here, except within Embassies or Consulates.

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Can I Lease a car there for a short period of time and then upon my tenure's completion return it?

  Yes, car lease is available on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, there is long term lease to buy as well.

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Are there any Gyms in Daharan?

  Most definitely there are gyms here, maybe in the larger hotels, that you might have to buy a subscription for, ask around, you'll find one!!! The easiest of exercising, walking and jogging, can be done anywhere so don't fret it!!

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Is there free e-mail and internet or is it under scrutiny?

  All forms of outside contact, telephone, letters, internet are all under surveillance but if you have nothing to hide you don't mind!! You just keep your opinions to yourself, so you won't cause a ruckus or you learn to talk and write in code  ha ha.

  The internet is monitored and certain pages or web sites are 'Forbidden' and you get a page saying just that!! You can fill in a form if you think that page or web site should be opened, this gets the monitors to check the page and consider their control over it. At one point Bluemountain Cards was 'Forbidden' but like me I guess many filled out the form to unlock the page because it's now open.

   A point to consider, you must buy a subscription to the internet, there are internet cards now on the market with hours or months by hours or 'open hours'. BUT you are also charged for your online time by the phone company, so you pay twice.

  You learn to find shortcuts to minimize your on line time. You can use phone programs or MSN's or Yahoo's messenger with phone connection, to phone outside Saudi at a fraction of the phone charges, calls to the US are now sr4 US$1.06 per minute but via the computer it's only about us$0.05 per minute! The reception on most part is not that great and there is sometimes a time delay, learn to say 'Over' to prevent overlaps in conversation. Also the messenger's video phone works ok and you get to see your family or friends when they too, use the video phone.

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What do people do there for fun, especially Canadian expatriates?

   This I can not answer for you but I do know that once you meet some of the foreign community you will enjoy what is available. I do know that there is a lot of desert trekking, from info that I've gotten from the web.

  If there is a Canadian Consulate in Dahran then they will have many activities for their citizens and will allow you to join their club's, their movie house too. See if you can find an online web site for Canadian's in Dahran, any site will give you information and perhaps bulletin boards to join.

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