About cactusgirl

Currently Lives:

North America, North America, Canada

Citizen of:

Canada

Some Forum Posts:

Kuwait: Housing in Kuwait?:

hi, I'd love to have the contact information for that real estate agent you mentioned. If you don't want to post it publicly I think we can post messages privately to one person on here.

Kuwait: New to Kuwait:

Hey there, I'm a Canadian teaching in Kuwait and thought I'd tell you what I know to give you a better idea. First thing is if you're working for an oil company ya, you get a lot of perks and will virtually have everything given to you for you to live more than a comfortable lifestyle. So I need to know more about the company you will be working for to direct you better, you can email those details if you want to in a private email on this site, or just take the general advice. Kuwait is expensive to live in. Socially it depends on if your a guy or girl and your personality and where you work (if they are all in the same situation. and hang out together). Kuwait for men especially white men is very safe on a day to day basis. Payment at least at the school I work at is done through direct deposit into a local kuwaiti bank account in kuwait dinars once a month. Your company should help you set up bank accounts, drivers licences, residency visas etc. (but ask, to make sure because administrative things are very difficult to deal with without their help). Okay, this is a biggie. You will not be taking the bus, it just isn't done here by the western expats for various reasons. Most people get a car asap, and you can either buy, lease or rent with lots of pros and cons for each. But that and driving in Kuwait (extremely dangerous and frustrating) is a whole other email. Where to live depends largely on where you are going to be working, and maybe which health club you would like to join (that's what most of us do as a social, and relax thing since there are no bars). The most popular health clubs are the palms, the hilton, the crown plaza, and the sas. Areas that are nice are Salawa, Salmiya, Mabouhla, that foreigners live in. Specific complexes I'm not sure. About your passport, in order to get your residency visa, and civil ID done they do take your passport, but make sure you get it back after (about 1-2 months) and keep a couple copies of your passport as you need them to send money home, join health clubs and so on. Until you have your residency visa and civil ID you can not leave Kuwait, without having to restart the entire process all over again. So don't plan on travelling for a couple months after arriving. Since you will be in a car either taxi or your own you definitely need health insurance! My school supplies mine, and you want to ask your company about that. You should not use government hospitals (only the poor do, because they don't have a choice) but most expats use hospitals in Kuwait for at least the simple health problems, a popular one is the international clinic. Most Kuwaitis leave the country for surgeries but they have lots of money, and will only get the very best. US embassy, I'm not sure. Costs depend on how much you like to go out and where you go, if you like Indiana food there's lots and it's cheap. Arabic food can be inexpensive too, but I'm not too sure about the prices of the above because I don't eat them much. If you want a taxi it depends of course where you go but count on 2 KD each way unless you get and use the same guy all the type and make a deal with him. Then say you go to Marina Mall / Marina Cresent to hang out, have supper it's about 1.5 KD for your starbucks coffee, and say 5 KD for a steak at Applebees. One thing about Kuwait is you pay everything in advance, no month to month memberships here! Health club membership approximately 600 KD! Internet at home if it's not included in your building can vary in price but can be like 250 KD I think for wireless/ highspeed. I can't remember everything, but the first month or two hurt because you have to pay everything at once, at or for the majority of places/services. Ah, cell phone, if you have a quad band (4) bring it, as you have to buy one at full price here, and that is between 50 to 200 KD! Hope this helps, feel free to keep in touch.

Kuwait: anyone else worried?:

Hey everyone, I was just wondering if anyone in Kuwait is worried, or has reason to believe that Kuwait will be affected by the new war in Lebanon and Israel---do you think / have you heard if Iran, Iraq, or Saudi might become involved? I am Canadian and have not been to the Middle East before and am due to move to Kuwait at the end of August.

Kuwait: private tutoring?:

Hi there Anna, I'm also moving to kuwait in a couple months feel free to email me at cactusgirl_kuwait@hotmail.com. I'll definitely be looking to make some friends over there! What things do you like to do?

Kuwait: Wanted!:

hey there, so are you in Kuwait now? How do you like it? I'll be coming later this summer, if you want to email me my email is cactusgirl_kuwait@hotmail.com, I'm hoping to make some good friends to past the time outside of work with. I like most the usual stuff, not a big shopping type girl.

Date Joined:

3/19/2006

Total Posts:

10

Posts/Day:

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