Sunday 9 February 2014

At a Private University in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia.


After working for 7 years in Mirpur University of Science and Technology, Mirpur Azad Kashmir as lecturer Mathematics I shifted to Jeddah , Saudi Arabia with my husband.  You can get the details about my first experience when I reached Jeddah in my previous blog about arrival to Jeddah.
I decided to stay at home as house wife, I was feeling tired of a hard routine in last 7 years and I also had few months old daughter with me.
Earlier I was very happy with my decision but when time passed I started feeling very bored and depressed, I had nothing to do all day , that really made  my life miserable . I had no social circle at all. It was just like killing me every day. Then I decided to start working again . I searched few universities of Saudi Arabia in Google.com and applied where I saw some vacancy for female Mathematics Lecturer.
After an effort of one week I got an email from  a private university for interview. I replied them and finalized my interview schedule with university via email. They told me to have an interview on skype and I was ready to answer the questions J.
Dr. AR head of department took my interview. After usual introduction he asked about my previous experience and showed me a book and asked , if I have taught that book.
I worked for different departments in last 7 years of my service;including  agriculture Department of University of Poonch , Rawalakot Azad Kashmir , then I joined Department of Computer Science in Azad Kashmir University and finally I went to Department of Mathematics and Engineering in Mirpur University Of Science and Technology , Mirpur Azad Kashmir . I taught all the courses that were offered by university and followed different text books for each subject. I told all this to Dr. AR , and assure him on basis of my experience, it will not be hard for me!!! He also showed me syllabus on university website that seemed easy for me as it was an introductory course..
I found Dr. AR very cooperative , nice , polite and kind hearted person. He heard me patiently and answered all my questions as well. He told me that the university is situated in heart of Riyadh, so certainly I will n’t face any kind of problem  .
Finally after few weeks of interview I got offer letter from university. I took final exit from my husband visa and went back to Pakistan to come back on university visa. I then applied for visa in Saudi Arabian Embassy in Islamabad and I was extremely happy that everyone was very helpful and cooperative in embassy. I got visa for myself and afterwards for my daughter in few days.
University sent me ticket for 26th Sept. Finally the day arrived when I was ready to fly for Riyadh , Saudi Arabia. In last 2 years of my stay in Jeddah I travelled a lot with my husband but we never visited this place, it was my first experience .
I was very excited having little traces and mist of depression in my mind. After almost 5 hour flight I reached Riyadh International Airport, Saudi Arabia. University representatives received me from airport and brought me directly to university for joining.
On my way to university I was happy to see many sign boards which were directing towards university on main high way. After an half hour drive from airport , I reached my destination. The building of University ,was very beautiful and modern in its structure. After joining I was informed about my teaching schedule.
I started taking classes very next day as classes actually started on 8th of Sept. and I joined on 26th Sept. This was a different experience for me as I was going to teach a class full of girls of different age group. In my last 7 years of service I taught in co-education and also I taught to boys in engineering department , with not a single female in Civil Engineering class.
Unfortunately , I was going to teach Mathematics to these fragile girls , who were really scared of it .
Now that I am working here from last two years and what experience I had , what I have learnt in these years ,what I have felt after being here is another story. But I have variety of experiences, by living in diversity of cultures , as people here are all from around the world. I learned a lot with each passing day , no matter big or small. I enjoyed different food , festivals , customs , costumes , behaviors above all language etc. I will write about details in upcoming article.

I have not mentioned names of places or any person , just to keep the privacy .

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