Anyone have any experiences regarding Kuwait?  I have gotten a job offer for an obscene amount of money to work there.  Good, bad, ugly or otherwise, all are welcomed.

I heard from a friend in the Air Farce that they hate Americans. Thats what we get for saving their ungrateful asses. Go figure.

SOP for liberated countries.

i saw a show once about americians in kuwait. the ywent there cause they could live a rich liflestyle, kuwait being a very rich country. they described it as a paradise. that was untill the invasion. they had to escape through the desert in stolen land rovers

i had a teacher that was a electrical engineer.
he worked for the military. well he went to work
for the aribics: you have to eat with the left hand only. the aribics are always right you always wrong. example: if your driving a car and a aribic hits you even if its his fault its your mistake not his. NO drinking; at all booze
is forbidden. oh if they have a death penaly(a
beheading) if you are american, and you go see it they well stick you right in the front of the whole thing; you will be so close that you will leave with blood on you. the money is great
but the country sucks!

I don't think Kuwait is as hard core as Saudi Arabia. Perhaps it would be wise to search the web for information regarding their culture, customs, laws, and cost of living. It's great to make a lot of money, but if a studio apartment cost $5000 a month you need to take that into consideration. Also, don't go if you can't stand hot weather. :)

I've been Ali Al Salem Air Base near Kuwait City. I spent 4 days of R&R in Kuwait City. I found the people to be very friendly and the city very modern and totally rebuilt since the Gulf War. There were a lot of things to see and do. Gasoline is cheap, it was free for the  military. Security on Base was extremely tight as there was a terrorist threat to the military from non-Kuwaiti outsiders. The Kuwaiti's drive large expensive American made cars, for example Suburbans. I saw Corvettes and Mustangs, I even saw a gun shop that advertised Winchester rifles.  Just about every fast food restaurant you can think of is there in Kuwait City. I ate at Appleby's while there.  I talked to several Americans who worked for contracters in Kuwait City.  They loved it.  Living accomidations were luxurious and inexpensive. Some of them had been there with their wives for quite some time. It is true there is no alcohol or pornography allowed.  On the Air Base there I found a Russian made machine gun that appeared to be .50 cal in shootable condition. Kuwait has a subtropical desert climate with two distinct seasons.  Summer, May thru Oct. with peak high temperature of 119F and low of 57F.  Winter, Nov. thru Apr. with a peak high temp of 103F and low of 33F.  With a .2 to 1 inch annual precipitation.  Obviously it is a very dry climate.  Personally I would take a job there.

That's reason enough not to go. :)

"Eat with the left hand only"??

The RIGHT hand is for eating/shaking/whatever, the LEFT hand is for wiping.

And as far as Arabs hating Americans, I've found them to hate "ugly Americans" -- but tolerant, open-minded Americans are as welcome as any other people (at least among the Lebanese and Iranians;  I can't speak for other countries).

No booze?  If it matters to you, then don't go. [>]:)]

Oh -- the "thumbs up" gesture is what they use for "fuck you", at least in Iran.  (I knew a US Marine embassy guard who got the crap beat out of him for hitchhiking, his first night there. [:)])

You might want to see if the company has a mini-class on the local culture, so that you don't run afoul of such things.

T-Man is THE ONLY respondent so far that seems to know anything about Kuwait.

I lived there 6 months in '99. Got back in the US just before Christmas. Missed out on all the Y2K hype back in the states.

Anyway, Death_By_AR15: Your friend in the Air Force either lived on Ali Al Saleem or Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base. Odds are he rarely, if ever, interacted with Kuwaitis. His opinion was probably the same when he left as it was when he arrived - thats the difiniton of a bigoted, closed mind.

T-Man's experiences were very similar to mine. I worked and interracted with Kuwaitis every day. I was in town (Kuwait City or Fahaheel) nearly every week. The people there loved to meet Americans. The children loved to Say "hello" when they saw you were American. They have a POW Museum that is heartbreaking. The curator there tells stories about how people were kidnapped months preceeding the invasion, and of Iraqi agents who had long before infiltrated Kuwaiti society (his family's mechanic down the street turned out to be a Iraqi Major).

I also worked with many American contractors and met many American oil industry types. They all loved the way they lived and all lived in nealry luxuriious accomadations. Their pay was also incredible - which is what drew them there.
Liquor is available - once you get settled there you find it is a lot like America must have been during prohibition. Nearly everybody has it - no one talks about it. Many soldiers arrived back for "Thanksgiving with American Families in Kuwait" program highly intoxicated (I had to talk their platoon leader out of considering punishment - I would have done the same thing in their shoes!).

You can eat with whatever hand you want, women can dress however they want - though they might frowm upon obviously obscent clothing. I think MG_ME is confusing Kuwait with Saudu Arabia or some other place - NOT ALL ARAB COUNTRIES ARE THE SAME. That would be like me saying, DAMN CHRISTIANS, THEY TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND PRACTICE ETHNIC CLEANSING (BTW, Nazis considered themselves Christian).

cont....

The downside:

No bars, no nightlife to speak of (though some restaurants stay open late). Very expensive shopping areas (The main mall in Kuwait City is AMAZING - with a parking area for BOATS!! - but EXPENSIVE - I paid 80 dollars for a damn shirt) or 3rd world knockoff clothes type - I never could find any in-between.

Weapons are PROHIBIDO! A rentacop try to confiscate a friend's LEATHERMAN!!! If we hadn't been with a real Kuwaiti cop (was showing us around) he probably would have never seen it again. Asked the cop later about it - cop explained it made him look like a crook.

Argued it was tool. Cop said that even carrying tools makes you look like a crook - that an honest man need not carry tools around unless he worked as handyman. Cop said if he found someone walking arounf with a screwdriver he would confiscate it - likely the guy was planning on breaking in to a shop! So much for liberty - made me appreciate the US as being built on the principle of indivisual liberty. Kuwait is a police state, despite its beauty and friendliness of its people.

No porno either. I also can't tell you about how the women are - never dated any and the Civilians I knew had wives they brought along. I would be a bit concerned about how their families would take to a girl having pre-marital sex with( or heck, even dating) an American. That concern alone would make me not want to live their long term.

Well, thats my story. In summary, nice place, nice people (despite waht others who have know only what they "heard" say)- but I wouldn't want to live there. Money, though, is a powerful motivator. Your situation may vary - hell - if I was married that difference alone would sway my opinion.


Adam

Oh yeah - they do have gun stores (you pretty much have to order - no inventory), in fact they even held a shotgun world cup while I was there - so there is shooting sports. Selection seemed to be limited to Australia type rules (no semi-auto, etc.) As for whether foreigners can buy / shoot - I don't know. After the leatherman incident, I can assure you  there is no CCW!

I forgot to mention that all money earned in Kuwait is tax free.  One of the most impressive places I visited was the "Scientific Center" in Kuwait City. The Kuwait Towers is another must see. At the base of the Towers there was a paintball park. Believe it or not they have a drive-in theater! Also gold sold in 18k or 22k.  It seems to me at the time I was there it was about $11 and $12 a gram, which is a bargain. I brought back several gold necklaces and rings for my wife & kids. See if the contractor can put you in touch with some of their employees that are already working there. It might be a very nice temporary diversion to live and work there for a year or two.  My wife is asking me to consider taking a job with a contractor there when I retire here.

When you say "tax free", do you mean no Kuwaiti taxes, no American taxes, or both?

First of all, the correct term is "Arab", not "aribic".  Your assessment of Kuwait is extremely inaccurate.  That's all I will say about that, because it has already been addressed in this thread.  I have spent a lot of time in the Middle East (not on military bases surrounded by Americans), I find that many Americans I run across (especially military personel, no offense intended) tend to be complete assholes when they deal with the locals...hence the poor reception.  They walk around acting like they own the place. However, those who go in with an open mind, eager to learn about another culture are treated very well.

Matt VDW: As far as the taxes go, you are exempt from Kuwaiti taxes (they don't have income tax), and you do not have to pay US tax up to a certain amount of income.  I believe it is somewhere around 80k but I'm not sure.

Oh and by the way, there are many Kuwaiti children named George Bush...they are thankful.

tax free? I mean NO TAXES! Kuwait or US.

tax free? I mean NO TAXES! Kuwait or US. All the money you make is yours to keep!

dmuldrew
Hi, As I type this I am sitting at the Kuwait City Airport.(military side)
What kind of job is it? Will you be working for the military or Kuwaites?
I am active duty Air Force but I work with  US civilian contract workers and thay say it's not that bad. The US money they get paid IS tax free.Most of the kuwaites do not work at anything that requiers manual labor, they pay other people to do it. mostly Indian, Pakastian,Banglidesh or Thai.
It is starting to get hot here 110-115 during the day, For July and Augest expect 120-140 degrees. If you like sand it's gourgous! There is no drinking allowed in country but if you can get to Baharian which isn't too far you can drink all you want.  
If you have anymore questions please let me know.
Cajun