Well another week has passed. I have not been arrested for eating or drinking in public (shock for some I know). I have been getting out quite a lot and am really enjoying my new apartment. I enjoy sitting out on the balcony (7th story) in the 43+ degree dry heat and watching the world go by. The photos are of my new apartment and the view. The last one is an entranceway to the markets we went to on Friday. It’s just a 5 minute walk to the sea which has a walkway arguably as good as the New Plymouth coastal walkway and likewise many kilometres long.

During the week I met my neighbour. He is 28 and from Jordan, although his mother is Mexican/American and he was born in Kuwait. His English is good and we have big chats across our balconies. He has been giving me an insight into Arabic culture and info about the different Gulf countries. After 5 minutes of talking to him he invited me to come with him on holiday to Jordan or Dubai, however our holidays don’t really tie in so we will see. He reprogrammed by satellite tv and I now have over 1400 channels, but only 20 or so are in English. He is single and his father keeps asking him “Why you are not married?”As in his culture you are expected to be married before 26. He is a computer programmer and lives in different countries every year.

More new teachers have joined the school and I now have two other teachers in my apartment building who I have been hanging out with. Both have taught in South Korea recently and say that the apartments and the way the school treats them is so much better. It seems strange that I am now showing them around the place and giving them information. We all went out for dinner on Friday the 28th as it was my birthday. We also went to the ‘Friday Markets’(open air) as the school put on a mini bus for us to take the 20min trip – a very thoughtful gesture. I bought plants, a microwave, ironing board and cutlery and crockery. The size of the markets is hard to fathom. Probably about 10 times the size of The Warehouse in Dunedin or New Plymouth would explain it the easiest. You can buy almost anything there, including goats, and search around or haggle for the best price. I was right in my element. Of course it was about 45 degrees and we were not able to drink so an hour was all we could manage. That barely scratched the surface on what was available. Can’t wait to go back there perhaps in a few months.

School Corner - hayatschool.com
Well had the first day of orientation. There is a huge staff at the school – perhaps 80, as there are now over 600 students right from pre Kindergarten to Grade 5 (Year6). Each class has an assistant teacher (apart from Grade 3 up), plus there are Arabic teachers who teach Arabic and Islamic Studies. There are also 20 maids to help with cleaning, collecting books, shifting furniture, etc. The day was spent going over some of the management/rules of the school, collecting resources and preparing our classes. All of the furniture is new or just a year or two old as is the array of educational material in the Resource Room. Like everywhere in Kuwait the building is air conditioned. Sometimes you even get too cold and unfortunately do not have the ability to adjust the temperature. Will have to make sure I bring a jacket to leave at work. Well that’s all I can think of. Enjoy your weekend.

1st Week

Kiwi in Kuwait
Been here almost a week now. It’s an amazing place, quite different to NZ as you can well imagine. The weather really dictates what you can do as I can only really go out early in the morning or late at night. 45 during the day, so any more than 30 minutes walking around you end up a bit wet. The main problem is my skin goes quite red.
The people here are very helpful and I feel very safe walking the streets night or day. I have learnt a few Arabic phrases which the locals appreciate. Most have only basic English skills. Haven’t actually met a lot of expats around, perhaps they are still on their summer vacations. A Canadian teacher at the school, Amber took me for a drive around so I’ve seen the Kuwait Towers, Grand Mosque and the main shopping area. Hopefully when it cools down or I get to meet more teachers at the school I’ll explore

these locations further.
Living here is relatively cheap. My apartment (paid for of course) is 200KD a month which is about $ NZ 1100. Food and other goods tend to be similar, except some Western foods, like Chicken Tonight - $NZ10 a jar! I have recently done a big shop and was surprised to see NZ lamb and beef available. In fact it made up the majority of the red meat for sale although this is the only supermarket I’ve been to. At about $22Kg for rib eye steak and $8.50Kg for lean mince it’s perhaps even cheaper than you buy back home. The range of food is huge and comes from Kuwait and neighbouring countries. I buy milk made in Kuwait from cows which was quite suprising and it’s about $NZ2 a litre and tastes good. Petrol is dirt cheap at about 50cents a litre but I don’t drive. Not sure if I want to as cars are left hand drive, people drive rather erratically, many roads have no centre lines and the double lane roundabouts are like Russian roulette. It’s great to watch and it all seems to flow rather smoothly. The cars here are fantastic. Everywhere you look there are Mercedes, BMW’s, Lexus and American muscle cars and SUV’s and these are not the basic models, these are top of the range and very new. There are also a number of Corolla’s, Camry’s and Mitsubishi’s, etc.
Things tend to happen quickly here. After a couple of nights in my bed I said to my boss that I could feel the springs (despite being a brand new bed) and the very next day a new mattress was on it. I haven’t got the guts to tell her that this new one is not much better. Perhaps NZ just makes really good beds?
My apartment is very nice, however a new one came available only a minute’s walk from the school so after three days I moved. I said I’d like it and the very next day at 7:30pm arrives about 5 or 6 guys who moved all of the furniture, fridge, oven, tv, washing machine, bed, etc to the new place. All done by 9:00pm. I am the first to live in the apartment. Despite being a little smaller than the previous one, it’s much closer to larger shops and has a nice feel to It so I’m glad I’m here. I have a balcony too and get amazing views. 5 minute walk to the sea also, but 15-20min to a swimming beach.
During the day is rather boring as I’m basically stuck inside. I will hopefully have internet access here in about 9 hours as a man is going to take me to a shop to get it. Actually can’t wait to start work really. We start on the 27th August with Orientation week. The students don’t start until September 6th. Because it is Ramadan we start an hour later at 8:30am and finish an hour earlier at 1:30pm. I now can’t eat or drink in public during the day or else a $500 fine and/or one month in prison if caught. Will be able to tell you more about work when I actually begin.
Well better stop. Next week I’ll have internet access so will be able to keep in touch easier. International phone calls are apparently very expensive so I’ll be skyping when I get it all set up. These photos are of my old apartment and the view. The mosque has megaphone attached and about 5 times a day calls for prayer bleat out very loudly, even at 3am in the morning. My new place has a mosque in view but is further away and does not wake me.

By for now.