The International Schools Review Forum

A friend of mine is talking to AISR in Saudi and since I taught overseas for years he is asking my opinion. He is single and figures that he wants to work a couple to 4 years and just make money, read books, and study Arabic then do the culture/travel thing on his holidays. I have never worked in the Middle East. Does anyone have direct experience with this school and will his "disciplined single man plan" of compound living be realistic.
Thanks for any help.

I don't have personal experience with AISR, but I do work in Saudi Arabia. I have friends at AISR.

If your friend genuinely wants to chill out and make money for a few years, then it could be a decent option for him. I've heard that the salary and benefits are good.

The downside for a single guy, of course, is that there's not a lot of nightlife in Saudi. As far as I know, there would not be opportunities for him to date the local women. There are no bars, but people find a way around that. There is a lot of "forbidden" activity that happens every day. He could socialize with other expats, and there are an awful lot of western and Asian expats in Saudi. Flying in and out of Saudi, I see more expats than Saudis/Arabs. Riyadh is a more conservative part of the country, but it's the capital and a huge city. My friends at that school seem to have an active social life. They are always posting pictures of parties. They are happy there. They are couples, though. I don't have single friends there.

There would be things for your friend to do, just maybe not typical "bachelor" activities. If he wants to travel, he's in a decent spot since Riyadh has a big airport with easy access to Europe, Africa, Asia, and of course the Middle East.

If he truly is disciplined enough to just work and be a homebody, then he could bank some serious coin. One aspect about working in SA is that there isnt the visible temptation to spend money. You have to put in effort and energy to access the underground night life. Its not jumping out at you as it is in a place like Bangkok.

Unless he is a specialist, they will try to hire married couples or local hire before hiring singles. He should realize this.

The guy teaches high school math. He has a lot of IB HL and SL math experience as well as A.P. calculus.
Actually, he plans to have his elementary teacher wife join him after his first year in Riyadh.

If they have someone similar whose wife will come now, he won't get hired. Only if they can't find someone as part of a married couple will they bring a single. The school is starting construction of a new campus and doesn't want to take on any extra expenses it doesn't have to.

Is there a compelling reason for his wife to stay behind? It will ring a bell with the school if there isn't...