My personal thoughts on the people of Saudi

Let me start by saying that these thoughts are based on my 5 years of living, travelling, and working here in Saudi Arabia.

Almost without exception I have found Saudi people to be warm, friendly, engaging, curious, hospitable, understanding and accepting of other cultures.

This is a very conservative country. It is changing slowly (history will judge if it is for better or worse). The conservatism of the country underlies a lot of the interaction that takes place between individuals.

It is also important to point out that Saudi only "really" started interacting with what we would call the "real" outside world 60 years ago when oil was discovered. This is an important point because they have only had 60 years to adapt to and interact with the modus operandi, norms, and cultures of other countries.

Almost without exception everyone from middle management level and above speaks relatively good to excellent English. I have found that Saudi women usually have a better command of English than the men.

They are not terrorists!! Unfortunately a very small handful of crazies has given an entire country a bad name.

The people place children on a pedestal and so it is very safe for women and children to walk around anywhere, anytime, and be left alone.

They are a night time people, something I have never fully adapted to. I think it is because the weather is so harsh here that social interaction really gets into full swing at night time when it is cooler. It is one of those rare countries where traffic gets worse as the night goes on. In fact many people only consider having dinner at 9pm, 10pm, 11pm, or even later.

Saudis love to go out and eat. They also love to entertain their international friends. The only proviso is that women will more often than not be present at these outings. We may not be used to such arrangements but it is their country and we choose freely to live there, so is seems fair that we do so under their terms.

Their driving is dreadful. I am sorry but it is true. More peole die on the roads here than anywhere else in the world. Something for the authorities to fix asap!!!

In other posts I will discuss doing business in Saudi, making contacts, what to do and not do socially and in business, the role of women in social and business contexts, as well as how we expats live and amuse ourselves.

It is easy to judge a country and its people via the media. It is wiser to meet them and judge for yourself.