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Post by Adventurous Ags on Oct 17, 2011 22:18:52 GMT
First of all, thanks so much to all of the kind people who post on this site. This is my first post, but I have read everything out here for almost a year. (Yes, my husband interviewed last December.) we have accepted and cleared background and medical. We are currently in the visa process, and hope to be in Dhahran by the beginning of December.
The help I need is in deciding what to bring versus buy in kingdom. We have chosen the payment in lieu option and plan to buy most of our furniture once we arrive and settle in. We will also be shipping some items along with our car. We are now trying to decide which items to ship. Sorry if any of my questions are redundant, but most come from the posts I have read or things I've been told. My questions are as follows:
1. Will my TVs (US) work in kingdom or will I need to buy them there? Will the US format work?
2. What items are harder to find or have a more limited selection in kingdom that might be better to buy in the US and ship? (I heard/read that the mattress selection is somewhat limited in kingdom.)
3. Does the Aramco loaner package include a microwave or is there anywhere to rent one until my shipment arrives?
I'll probably ask more questions later as I continue packing, but that's all I can think of.
Thanks so much!
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Rama
Member
Posts: 10
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Post by Rama on Oct 18, 2011 19:32:53 GMT
First, you can purchase essentially anything in Dhahran that you'd find in a medium size town in the US (in terms of household goods). Selection here is adequate for many things...it's just that we don't like most of the selection.
We took cash in lieu and frankly regret it. Before we left we had a gae sale and more or less liquidated our house. We figured we'd just buy new once over here. Well, the $500 BBQ that we almost gave away at the yard sale costs $1100 here. The $40 circular saw we sold for peanuts at the yardsale costs more than $150 here.
Adding everything up we will spend much more money replacing what we had back home.
We were also concerned that, because we were moving to a smaller home, we wouldn't have had space for all our things. We now realize that we should have brought everything over here and had the yard sale in Dhahran. Second-hand items that aren't worth much back home fetch a pretty penny over here.
No loaner microwave that I'm aware of. Plan on spending $20 for cab fare and $150 on arrival for a microwave (rounding way up) and you'll be set.
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Post by desi787 on Oct 18, 2011 19:45:59 GMT
Wow! almost year later. I simply can't understand that. Adventurous could you please elaborate on why it took so long? Thanks
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Post by Adventurous Ags on Oct 19, 2011 5:26:10 GMT
Desi787,
I applied for my job on the Aramco website on September 12, 2010. I did not hear anything from Aramco until January 4, 2011 when they sent me an e-mail asking me to interview on January 12th. Following the video interview on January 12th, I followed up with the Aramco recruiters in Houston for 2 weeks and was told that the interview went well and that they would get back with me if the hiring manager wanted to make an offer.
I did not hear anything until I recieved an e-mail from the recruiter on August 3, 2011 saying that an offer was on the way to me via FedEx. I rejected the initial offer and requested additional compensation and received a revised offer letter, which I accepted on September 1st. It took until October 5th to clear my medical and background checks and I am currently waiting for my / my family's Visas to be approved.
Pending this Visa approval, I just spoke with my Relocation Advisor today and have tentatively scheduled November 29th (14 months and 17 days after I applied for the job) as our departure date from Houston.
Adventurous Ags
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Post by azraeil on Oct 19, 2011 6:33:43 GMT
It just does. Aramco is a huge ship and it takes a long time to make a turn. It took me close to 10 months (interview in February 06, offer letter accepted in March 06 and got myself in Kingdom end of December). During the whole process, I was promoted and got a good pay raise but I still came (since I usually don't change my mind once I decided about things).
With regards to the original poster, I'd recommend bringing your vacuum cleaner. It is extremely difficult to get a good 110v vacuum cleaner (then again, Saudi has started banning 110v appliance from being sold here and there are news that Aramco is starting to fit some of the houses with 220v power point so who knows)
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Post by desi787 on Oct 19, 2011 12:32:58 GMT
I just don't buy the " huge ship" line...there are so many firms bigger than that (people wise not dollar cap) that have a slick HR process. Has anyone suggested how this could be improved to the Saudi management? (okay I can already hear people snickering)....but really? As expats, your collective experiences may exact a change to the agonizing process that is in place now. But then again, they just have to read this blog. Thanks.
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Post by Hadia on Oct 19, 2011 17:40:38 GMT
If you're fussy about decorative items, I recommend you bring some of those with you. Also, bedding and tablecloths, towels. I find the quality in household linens in US stores to be better for the price than here in Arabia. I recommend buying the microwave and shipping it. Vacuum cleaner is a must. I also wish I had brought a floor steamer mop with us and a backup extra vacuum. Patio furnishings and plant pots are good items to ship, too, since everything seems to look the same from one store to the next here. Additionally, I wish I had spent more time clothes shopping for myself before we arrived. I was focused on kids and household stuff, and didn't spend time on myself. The styles in the stores here are not, well, exactly what I was used to seeing in the States, and the prices are higher on basic staple items than what I had expected. The more lightweight layering clothing items you can bring, the better. If you have any special kitchen gear that you like, I highly recommend you bring it. I'm glad we brought our small electric kitchen appliances, since they are familiar to me and work with the 110 voltage. I brought all of that stuff, and am glad I did. Crock pots, blender, sandwich maker, George Foreman, rotisserie, it was worth the hassle of packing. Even if we had decided not to ship our entire household, I definitely would have still shipped the items mentioned.
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Post by vpainter on Oct 19, 2011 20:43:16 GMT
desi878,
You are thinking like where ever you are from. This is Saudi Arabia and a Saudi culture. Things don't move or get done the way they would for example in the U.S.
If you come to Aramco, you are coming to a Saudi company. That does not mean their way is bad, its just different from the way the U.S. company would do it. It may be bad for your expectations though, the expectations of it should be like or more like home are the problem.
To come to work for Aramco takes time and patience. Those who can go through that process get to enjoy the benefits of working for Aramco.
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Post by Adventurous Ags on Oct 19, 2011 21:42:13 GMT
Rama and Hadia, thanks so much for your detailed responses. They are truly helpful.
As for the timing on this process, it has never been a problem for us. We did not put our lives on hold at any point in the process. The kids are getting a little anxious, but that's just because (thankfully) they are both eager to go.
Can anyone tell me if the US format TVs will work in kingdom? I read somewhere that they will only work for the kids video game systems and not for the satelite/cable in kingdom.
Thanks
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Post by desi787 on Oct 19, 2011 22:26:33 GMT
Thanks adventurous (I left a PM for u) and vpainter for the feedback. I guess I will just have to go with the flow. I'm not an impatient person, but won't you agree that 14 months plus is slightly on the ridiculous side. Sorry for going off topic here. People! please help adventurous decide what to ship vs. buy. :wink:
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Buster
Senior Member
Posts: 106
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Post by Buster on Oct 20, 2011 6:09:46 GMT
Hey guys, If you're really attached to something, best to ship it. But, you can pretty much get anything you need here in Saudi saco-ksa.com/English/Home - may give you an idea of some household items, tools etc. www.panda.com.sa/ - one of the big supermarket chains www.jarirbookstore.com/ - books & electronics Most areas of the country also are located reasonably close to some big shopping malls containing all the globalised clothing brands. IKEA is also popular for household goods, Apple have a few stores etc etc. The above are just some links to give you an idea of whats available. Sorry it's not really advice, just a chance to have a browse. I've also seen some comments about the 110/220v items - right now they are available in places like Saco but also in many many small local stores. I really can't see changes happening that quickly Good luck Buster |
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Post by vpainter on Oct 20, 2011 11:00:43 GMT
A user on the forum has said that their U.S. TV works with the satellite TV servers. That may be true today, I personally don't know, they didn't when we came 10+ years ago.
We bought multisystem TV's after we arrived that work with the PAL system and the NTSC system.
Some DVD's we buy in Bahrain will not work on our Multi system DVD player. We had to bring one in from the U.S. to play those.
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Post by GroveWanderer on Oct 28, 2011 10:12:26 GMT
To the best of my knowledge, the only situations where you would have a problem with a US TV would be if you're using a normal, "terrestrial" aerial which offers only a coaxial cable connection, or are you are getting a selection of channels via cable.
So if you're in a non-Aramco compound, where I believe the broadcast signal will normally be in a PAL format, you might have a problem with their cable system
If you buy your own satellite system (as most people do in Saudi Aramco family compounds), all the satellite service provider decoders that I know of: OSN, ADMC Sports, Al Jazeera and MBC, plus generic decoders such as Dreambox, Dansat, Humax etc. offer either HDMI, Component and/or RCA (composite) outputs and if you use those, the signal is not system dependent.
Even for those decoders which offer the coaxial cable route (and the HDMI ones don't even have coax outputs), there is a choice of either PAL or NTSC (US) signal output from their coaxial connectors.
So basically, I know of no satellite setup which would not work with a US TV - so long as you use either the HDMI, Component or RCA connectors, or the set the coax signal output from the decoder to NTSC format.
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Post by Adventurous Ags on Oct 29, 2011 1:35:22 GMT
Thanks, Grove!
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Post by Julz62 on Oct 29, 2011 15:05:39 GMT
Howdy Adventurous Ag!!! Just to let you know there is a large group of Aggies here so look us up when you arrive!!! Always great to have another in Kingdom!! Whoop!
To answer the TV question: We brought all our U.S. tvs and they work. My husband did get a converter in the States before coming. We have a Pal-Secam to NTSC Video Converter by Com World. We also have another brand that does the same thing. We paid about $180 for each but it would cost a few thousand to replace our DLP and Plasma tv's so was worth it. Plus they work with our wii, dvd players, etc. We also have one hooked up to the computer to watch netflix and network shows like CBS. It has to run through our VPN (makes it look like we are in the States) but is worth it! For the computer hook-up you need a HD MI cable. If your computer is new enough it will have a spot to place one. You just plug it into the tv and computer and are done. We actually had bought just a tower in the States for this purpose and then used the tv as the monitor. We have a wireless keyboard and mouse that go with it.
Best of Luck to you!!
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