About journ11

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Female

Currently Lives:

Salwa, Al Ahmadi, Kuwait

Citizen Of:

United States

Some Forum Posts:

Kuwait: Are cookery books censored?:

I too brought in a lot of cookbooks. I didn't have any problems with cookbooks including pork. I do know a friend that had The Three Little Pigs kid's book confiscated.

Kuwait: Tipping:

Kharden is correct. The service charge does not go to the waitstaff. I always tip directly to the waiter/waitress and do it discreetly because once I saw a manager take the tip from my waitress. I try to tip everyone who does any kind of service for me, their pay is usually minimal and often, especially in the case of cleaners, they are not paid on time and in some cases, not at all.

Kuwait: Second week in Kuwait...from US:

I was happy to hear that PF Changs will be opening soon. Please keep us posted! I will spread the news.

Kuwait: Infidelity with american contracted employees:

MikeD has the best answer. I disagree with anon1. They do not all cheat and for anyone to say that is ridiculous. I am an American who has lived here for years and I know plenty of husbands and wives who do not cheat. There are some that do but you can find that in any country. Your daughter should concentrate less on worrying about cheating and more on strengthening her marriage. There are a lot of good books on long distance relationships. She can keep in touch via email, phone, regular mail, etc. If her husband is going to be unfaithful, it can happen at home as easily as it can happen anywhere else. But focusing on the possibilty of cheating is not healthy for any relationship. She should discuss this topic with her husband and then move on. To continually harp on it doesn't do any good. It might be helpful for her to enter therapy and see why this is her only worry about her husband being apart from her and/or talk with some girlfriends about how they handle being apart from their partner. I wish her all the best.

Kuwait: kids sports:

There are sports for children here such as soccer, Little League, swimming, etc. If you contact the British Ladies Society or American Womens League, they can give you more information. Also look at the Arab Times Kuwait or Kuwait Times online, they post events, information on sports and childrens' activities. I don't think there is a travel soccer team for children but there are a lot of activities to keep your children busy. I coached childrens' soccer for years in the U.S. and know how much it means to children to be involved in a sport. I don't think you will have any problems keeping your children involved. If they like Little League, this is a good place to be- I have attended games and have seen how involved the parents- both expats and Kuwaitis- are in their childrens' sports activities. It is well organized , the parents are wonderful and the kids have a lot of fun.

Kuwait: Bullying:

I think that was a rather glib answer to your question. Bullying does happen in every part of the world, here in Kuwait as well. As for being brought to justice, I believe it depends on the people involved. It is foolish to pretend that wasta does not occur here and has not been used in such situations. However, I think if it does occur, you need to become actively involved by informing the teacher, the principal and the parents of the bully. I would make sure that your child knows he/she can come to you and you will help rectify the problem. There are behavior problems with some of the children here and a lot of that problem is due to the lack of discipline from the parents. But this is not unique to Kuwait, it happens everywhere. That said, the school staff will help you. Also, if you state your problem to the parents of the bully with "I feel" rather than "You should" and make them allies rather than adversaries, you may be able to resolve the problem with the parents. The absolutely wrong way to handle bullying and abuse is to pretend that it does not exist. There are numerous sites on the web that can help you be proactive in protecting your child(ren) from this encountering this problem, no matter where you live. Good luck to you.

Kuwait: public library:

q8.books.com has directions to their used bookstore. They have a good selection, you can go through their online catalog and reserve books and they are extremely helpful. You can also find discounted books at Jarir bookstore.

Kuwait: Christmas:

There are quite a few wonderful Christmas bazaars where you can purchase gifts and Christmas items. Most of the bazaars help out charities at the same time. I try to go to all of them and everyone oved the gifts I purchased there. As soon as I have dates and places, I will post them here.

Kuwait: two more germans in Q8 .-):

Hi and welcome, I am an American but I do know that there are Germans here. I just can't remember if there is an expat German club. I'll ask around and get back to you.

Kuwait: Best/cheapest telephone methods to call back to states?:

Hi, We use Vonage through the computer. Very reliable and we can use it anywhere in the world.

Date Joined:

9/17/2006

Total Posts:

26

Posts/Day:

0.01