Post by almostcheerful on Nov 20, 2012 18:00:50 GMT
Hi All- It’s been a while I was out from this forum but got ADSL connection today and posting my experience. Please read my story below and enjoy:
Nov 04 Calgary 1.30pm
I haven't got direct flight from Calgary to Amsterdam so got flight via Vancouver on West Jet and from Vancouver to Amsterdam and onwards to DMM. I was travelling with 11 Dish barrel boxes (64") (allowed 10) and 7 hand carries along with 2 back packs and two laptop bags. West Jet charged me only $53 for my one extra Dish barrels box and booked it for DMM. I was happy to pay just $53 but on the flip side West Jet didn't allow me to take more than 12KG/hand carry which in my case was 14-15KG on each. West jet Rep asked me to remove extra weight but I ignored the instructions and carry forward with all hand carries and overloaded stuff which I have to put at the plane gate as it was heavy to put inside. I booked the hand carry upon arriving at Vancouver as KLM allows 2 hand carries anyways.
KLM Experience:
KLM usually give gifts which include small model homes which contains liquor. DO NOT bring these model home with you to DMM as Liquor is prohibited in Saudi so we threw away these gifts before departing from Amsterdam to DMM flight.
KLM food sucks and air hostess were not friendly with my kids as one of my kids was kind of noisy initially but slept afterwards.
DMM airport:
We landed in DMM at 10.30 pm. First three left lines are only for new comers so we stayed there until i saw a Saudi custom guy and requested him that I have family waiting on nearby bench so kindly deal us first so he pulled us over and made a separate line for us and other families. It took almost 45 mins to get the custom process done. During this process complete finger print were taken including pictures. After this process we came to luggage area and found that our hand carry which was booked in Vancouver was missed, so we filed a complaint and agent told me we will get it in the next 24 hrs. I hired 3 porters who took all luggages and bring us to arrival area where someone was waiting for us having my name tag on his hand. This man was nothing but a taxi driver so no colleagues of mine came to welcome me..ahhh. Anyway taxi driver took us to Aramco office at airport where they give us temporary Id's and give us orientation package. During this whole time porters were waiting for me to come out and then after that they loaded my luggage on the taxi but one taxi was not enough for my whole luggage and bags. I paid 150 SR to porters as they were not letting me go less than this amount. Taxi guy asked me to hire my own taxi so we arrange (waited 30 mins outside) our own taxi with two additional bags on them and got squeezed sitting arrangement but arrived at RT at 3.00 am in the morning. I paid another 150 SR to taxi driver.
P.S: I got 500 SR with me when I left Canada
RT Home:
Taxi driver took me to Housing for getting keys and after signing some forms i got keys and arrived home by 3.15 am.
Food:
There was egg, bread, juice, milk, some fruits e.g. oranges, apples in the fridge but we were looking for some hot meals as we all were starving, so I requested the taxi driver to take me to nearby commissary for some hot food. I went there and got some pizza (frozen) and some frozen beef burger, French fries etc. there was cooking oil at home but i bought a small bottle as well. The oil at home was not a good quality as i noticed the next morning that left over oil was frozen in the pan.
Utility Water:
After other problems i found that there is no water on the taps at home..kids wana use toilet but there was no water for flushing..nasty.....I try to find the water valves but couldn't. I found two valves inside the gae but they were all on open position; however, after 15 to 20 mins struggle i found that valve inside the cold room and this valve was on closed position which I turned on open position and finally water runs on all taps. Thanks we were able to flush. ewwwe
Home and Stuff at home:
We got 3 BR house with 4th as a study room. House was big enough and one sofa, side tables and dining table and study desk was on the living area. Upstairs there was double mattress with box and two single mattresses with box were waiting for us to sleep. Nice white sheets with blankets were also available. Plenty of towels with Aramco logo, soap, shaving cream, razors, tooth brush, tooth paste, hand soap were also available for use. My AC was not working fully which i have to called the maintenance to fix it by next morning. We went on bed by 4.30 am.
Next Day Nov 06:
I woke up with a phone ring which came for me from my department and someone wana see me? I forgot to bring clock or alarm with me so have no idea what was the time. I asked the calling person and he mentioned that it was 11.00 am. The guy wana meet me by 1.00 pm and i was shocked that why he want to meet me on my jet lag rest day as per my orientation guide Nov 06 day should me a complete rest day for me. The guy meets me at 1.00 pm and i found that the guy is working in HR dept. and wanted to give me orientation on the community. I was half sleep and half wake when he took me around to community and shows me bank , commissary etc. ( which i was not interested at that moment coz of jet lag). He got me my mail box and dropped by my home at 4.00 pm. He showed me how i will catch my bus for next day to work which upon my request he accepted to send someone to pick me up. That night i couldn’t sleep well coz i have no alarm or clock and was afraid to miss my orientation if i fall asleep. DON’T FORGET to bring alarm clock.
Dhahran Orientation Nov 07:
As per my orientation the taxi suppose to pick me up at 7.00 and i was waiting and waiting but nothing happen until 7.15. I called the taxi as the number was mentioned on orientation binder but taxi agency told me that they don't have booking on my name which shocked me. I called the taxi personally for Dhahran and taxi hardly dropped me in Dhahran around 8.30 am. It wasn’t a taxi it was an airplane coz taxi driver knew that i am getting late for my orientation. I got to catch the bus which was about to leave when I arrived and this bust to take all new hires to some other place for orientation. Taxi charged me 150SR. The orientation lady apologised for the mistake on taxi mismanagement and told me that all my money will be reimbursed. She also told me that extra luggage fee will also be reimbursed. Relief!.
On return they got me on a bus instead of Taxi as i was told that my department didn't allow me for taxi at the first place. I noticed all other hires came and went back on taxi's. At the end of Orientation lunch buffet was served at 5 star hotel and blood was drawn for iqama process.
First Day at WorK:
Check post at plant facility refused to let me in at my work place as they didn't accept my temp ID and asked me to provide plant id which is different from temp id. My department got my 3 mths temp id on urgent basis on same day which was then accepted by plant check post. I got my log in ID the very next day and i found that my department was waiting for me with all pending work. There is tons of work for me and so far i don't get a chance to eat my lunch on time which i never skipped in Canada. I am now eating lunch on my desk or sometime skip it coz of stress. I thought I will get some break before starting in full swing, but there is no break and the work i am involved is more stressful as most of the data is not available. I am new to this environment and i am the only expat in my dept. which is another scary thing. My fear is that jobs procedures and standards will take some time but looks like Aramco expect a lot from expats right from the day one. I am working on 3 different assignments right now and running around finding information on tasks I am working on......so my stress level is increasing with the time passes by. I haven’t take any time off from work for the jobs like iqama, dependent schooling etc and my wife is doing all this but fed up and asked me that i should carry on with these tasks but i have no time for this because of work load. I am working like donkeys these days. I used to be team lead in Canada where most of the stuff was done by my team and i was just reviewing their work but here I have to do everything by myself!!!!
Vehicle:
Life is hard without vehicle. Thanks to my neighbor whom we have borrow vehicle to complete task inside the community. We use taxi for outside place like Panada store and other big stores outside community.
Probation:
I was told on the day one that there is 3 mths probation and for some reason it was conveyed to me through different sources as well. I'm hesitant to purchase any vehicle or furniture until i have to clear my probation.
Conclusion:
Not sure yet as I am still struggling to find out that did whether I made a right decision?
My experience only:
Please do not generalize this to everybody as everyone have different experience and all depends where and which dept you are working on. I have two other fellows working on different depts and came almost at the same time as me but there experience is totally different from me. From airport welcoming till job , They are very happy and settled down already with no stress! :?:
Nov 04 Calgary 1.30pm
I haven't got direct flight from Calgary to Amsterdam so got flight via Vancouver on West Jet and from Vancouver to Amsterdam and onwards to DMM. I was travelling with 11 Dish barrel boxes (64") (allowed 10) and 7 hand carries along with 2 back packs and two laptop bags. West Jet charged me only $53 for my one extra Dish barrels box and booked it for DMM. I was happy to pay just $53 but on the flip side West Jet didn't allow me to take more than 12KG/hand carry which in my case was 14-15KG on each. West jet Rep asked me to remove extra weight but I ignored the instructions and carry forward with all hand carries and overloaded stuff which I have to put at the plane gate as it was heavy to put inside. I booked the hand carry upon arriving at Vancouver as KLM allows 2 hand carries anyways.
KLM Experience:
KLM usually give gifts which include small model homes which contains liquor. DO NOT bring these model home with you to DMM as Liquor is prohibited in Saudi so we threw away these gifts before departing from Amsterdam to DMM flight.
KLM food sucks and air hostess were not friendly with my kids as one of my kids was kind of noisy initially but slept afterwards.
DMM airport:
We landed in DMM at 10.30 pm. First three left lines are only for new comers so we stayed there until i saw a Saudi custom guy and requested him that I have family waiting on nearby bench so kindly deal us first so he pulled us over and made a separate line for us and other families. It took almost 45 mins to get the custom process done. During this process complete finger print were taken including pictures. After this process we came to luggage area and found that our hand carry which was booked in Vancouver was missed, so we filed a complaint and agent told me we will get it in the next 24 hrs. I hired 3 porters who took all luggages and bring us to arrival area where someone was waiting for us having my name tag on his hand. This man was nothing but a taxi driver so no colleagues of mine came to welcome me..ahhh. Anyway taxi driver took us to Aramco office at airport where they give us temporary Id's and give us orientation package. During this whole time porters were waiting for me to come out and then after that they loaded my luggage on the taxi but one taxi was not enough for my whole luggage and bags. I paid 150 SR to porters as they were not letting me go less than this amount. Taxi guy asked me to hire my own taxi so we arrange (waited 30 mins outside) our own taxi with two additional bags on them and got squeezed sitting arrangement but arrived at RT at 3.00 am in the morning. I paid another 150 SR to taxi driver.
P.S: I got 500 SR with me when I left Canada
RT Home:
Taxi driver took me to Housing for getting keys and after signing some forms i got keys and arrived home by 3.15 am.
Food:
There was egg, bread, juice, milk, some fruits e.g. oranges, apples in the fridge but we were looking for some hot meals as we all were starving, so I requested the taxi driver to take me to nearby commissary for some hot food. I went there and got some pizza (frozen) and some frozen beef burger, French fries etc. there was cooking oil at home but i bought a small bottle as well. The oil at home was not a good quality as i noticed the next morning that left over oil was frozen in the pan.
Utility Water:
After other problems i found that there is no water on the taps at home..kids wana use toilet but there was no water for flushing..nasty.....I try to find the water valves but couldn't. I found two valves inside the gae but they were all on open position; however, after 15 to 20 mins struggle i found that valve inside the cold room and this valve was on closed position which I turned on open position and finally water runs on all taps. Thanks we were able to flush. ewwwe
Home and Stuff at home:
We got 3 BR house with 4th as a study room. House was big enough and one sofa, side tables and dining table and study desk was on the living area. Upstairs there was double mattress with box and two single mattresses with box were waiting for us to sleep. Nice white sheets with blankets were also available. Plenty of towels with Aramco logo, soap, shaving cream, razors, tooth brush, tooth paste, hand soap were also available for use. My AC was not working fully which i have to called the maintenance to fix it by next morning. We went on bed by 4.30 am.
Next Day Nov 06:
I woke up with a phone ring which came for me from my department and someone wana see me? I forgot to bring clock or alarm with me so have no idea what was the time. I asked the calling person and he mentioned that it was 11.00 am. The guy wana meet me by 1.00 pm and i was shocked that why he want to meet me on my jet lag rest day as per my orientation guide Nov 06 day should me a complete rest day for me. The guy meets me at 1.00 pm and i found that the guy is working in HR dept. and wanted to give me orientation on the community. I was half sleep and half wake when he took me around to community and shows me bank , commissary etc. ( which i was not interested at that moment coz of jet lag). He got me my mail box and dropped by my home at 4.00 pm. He showed me how i will catch my bus for next day to work which upon my request he accepted to send someone to pick me up. That night i couldn’t sleep well coz i have no alarm or clock and was afraid to miss my orientation if i fall asleep. DON’T FORGET to bring alarm clock.
Dhahran Orientation Nov 07:
As per my orientation the taxi suppose to pick me up at 7.00 and i was waiting and waiting but nothing happen until 7.15. I called the taxi as the number was mentioned on orientation binder but taxi agency told me that they don't have booking on my name which shocked me. I called the taxi personally for Dhahran and taxi hardly dropped me in Dhahran around 8.30 am. It wasn’t a taxi it was an airplane coz taxi driver knew that i am getting late for my orientation. I got to catch the bus which was about to leave when I arrived and this bust to take all new hires to some other place for orientation. Taxi charged me 150SR. The orientation lady apologised for the mistake on taxi mismanagement and told me that all my money will be reimbursed. She also told me that extra luggage fee will also be reimbursed. Relief!.
On return they got me on a bus instead of Taxi as i was told that my department didn't allow me for taxi at the first place. I noticed all other hires came and went back on taxi's. At the end of Orientation lunch buffet was served at 5 star hotel and blood was drawn for iqama process.
First Day at WorK:
Check post at plant facility refused to let me in at my work place as they didn't accept my temp ID and asked me to provide plant id which is different from temp id. My department got my 3 mths temp id on urgent basis on same day which was then accepted by plant check post. I got my log in ID the very next day and i found that my department was waiting for me with all pending work. There is tons of work for me and so far i don't get a chance to eat my lunch on time which i never skipped in Canada. I am now eating lunch on my desk or sometime skip it coz of stress. I thought I will get some break before starting in full swing, but there is no break and the work i am involved is more stressful as most of the data is not available. I am new to this environment and i am the only expat in my dept. which is another scary thing. My fear is that jobs procedures and standards will take some time but looks like Aramco expect a lot from expats right from the day one. I am working on 3 different assignments right now and running around finding information on tasks I am working on......so my stress level is increasing with the time passes by. I haven’t take any time off from work for the jobs like iqama, dependent schooling etc and my wife is doing all this but fed up and asked me that i should carry on with these tasks but i have no time for this because of work load. I am working like donkeys these days. I used to be team lead in Canada where most of the stuff was done by my team and i was just reviewing their work but here I have to do everything by myself!!!!
Vehicle:
Life is hard without vehicle. Thanks to my neighbor whom we have borrow vehicle to complete task inside the community. We use taxi for outside place like Panada store and other big stores outside community.
Probation:
I was told on the day one that there is 3 mths probation and for some reason it was conveyed to me through different sources as well. I'm hesitant to purchase any vehicle or furniture until i have to clear my probation.
Conclusion:
Not sure yet as I am still struggling to find out that did whether I made a right decision?
My experience only:
Please do not generalize this to everybody as everyone have different experience and all depends where and which dept you are working on. I have two other fellows working on different depts and came almost at the same time as me but there experience is totally different from me. From airport welcoming till job , They are very happy and settled down already with no stress! :?:
