This week, I had the pleasure of
doing an Interview for InterNations which is an International Online Social
Network for Ex-pats, to talk about life and work in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-
Please tell us a little bit about
yourself. Who you are, where you come from, when you moved to Saudi Arabia,
etc.
My name is Noel Scanlon, I work
as a Project Manager in Riyadh for an Irish Consultancy here, my background is
in Architecture and Business, I come from Ireland, in the west of the country
close to the city of Limerick, I first moved abroad to work in July 2011,
initially to Afghanistan and then to Saudi Arabia in May 2012. It is well known
how the global credit crisis has affected my home country and I am one of many
who have moved abroad to work after working for 17 years back home including
running my own business for 8 years, my family remain back home in Ireland for
the moment.
When and why did you decide to
start blogging about your experiences?
In my first Month in Afghanistan,
it occurred to me that I really needed to record the experience, primarily for
the benefit of my family and friends so they could get a sense of what it was
like working in a challenging environment, and also as a very useful tool to
stay connected to existing colleagues and indeed make new friends, it got great
feedback in my time there and was published a few times also, so when I moved
to Riyadh, I was encouraged to continue with the blog and write
about the experiences of living here so it developed from there….
Do you have any favorite blog
entries of yours?
Yes, and the most popular one on
the site, “Kandahar Airfield….Another world”
, I wrote this after my first few weeks in Afghanistan, after the
culture shock experience of life on a Military Base in Afghanistan and also
after taking a helicopter trip from Kandahar Airfield to Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan
Province.
Also from the Saudi entries, I
really like “Road to Riyadh” which
was written after my first road trip by car from Riyadh to Al Hofuf in the
Eastern Province….
Tell us about the ways your new
life in Saudi Arabia differs from that back home. Did you have trouble getting
used to the new circumstances? Did you experience culture shock?
Obviously Riyadh is a very big
change from rural Ireland , everything from the climate to the culture, to
social norms, yes it was a culture sock but somewhat lessened by my previous
experience in the region, the heat takes some time to get used of, and also
adapting to the social and cultural norms here, as that is obviously very
different than home, the city is expanding at a fast rate and Saudi Arabia is
in a massive growth and development stage both economically but also I feel
socially, it’s a very interesting time to be right now, and obviously being
away from family is tough also…..
Do you think you were fully
prepared for what awaited you in Saudi Arabia? If you could, would you change
some decisions/preparations you made?
As I said previously, I was
better prepared than most given my previous work in the region, and I did
research on the cultural aspects of Saudi, though I guess it still doesn’t
fully prepare you for it, so I was happy enough with the preparation I had, I
also spoke to colleagues of mine who lived and worked in the Kingdom previously
which I found very helpful
Every expat knows that expat life
comes with some hilarious anecdotes and funny experiences. Care to share one
with us?
In my first few weeks in Riyadh,
I and some of my colleagues were staying in a small Hotel in Riyadh (shall
remain nameless), It was, shall we say, basic enough, staff were friendly and
it was clean etc. One morning while we were leaving for work, one of my
colleagues asked the front desk manager in an audible voice? “Can you please
have my room cleaned today?” to which he received a response, “of course not,
we cleaned it yesterday”, added to also having to come down to reception to
acquire toilet tissue which one ran out….
Which three tips would you like
to give future expats before they embark on their new life in Saudi Arabia?
- Do your
research, find out about the culture and social norms as that will help you
adapt in the early days and will help you to remember that it’s you that has to
adapt to Saudi culture, rather than the other way around….
- - Be open
to new experiences and meeting new people, Saudi’s are friendly people and
Riyadh has many different nationalities living here, an open mind will get you
places and win you many friends….
- Learn to
be patient, work and life operate at a different pace here and decisions are
made in a different way, but patience will really help you….
How is the expat community in
Saudi Arabia? Did you have a hard time finding like-minded people or fellow
expats?
There is a very active ex-pat
community in Riyadh in fact, as there are quite a lot of ex-pats living and
working here, in the Health, Education, Finance, Engineering and Construction
Sectors. Riyadh also has a Diplomatic quarter where almost many nations have
their embassies, you need to connect with people to create a network here but
its very open and people are very willing to allow in join their groups and get
involved, there are various social and sporting activities organized through
ex-pat groups and societies and InterNations and similar networks are
developing all the time also, the key is you must seek out these people and
don’t be a stranger…
How would you summarize your
expat life in Saudi Arabia in a single, catchy sentence?
“It’s a long way to go for a sun
tan but it open your mind and you discover a lot about the bigger world out
there and even about yourself and what you are capable of”
Hre's a Link to the Article on
the InterNations Site - http://www.internations.org/guide/saudi-arabia/recommended-expat-blogs-saudi-arabia-15611/noel-a-long-way-to-go-for-a-sun-tan-6
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