Well, I have arrived at KAUST! After 2 days of travel and 21 hours of flying - SLC to LA to Dubai to Jeddah - I am now securely ensconced on the campus. I have been set up in temporary accommodations which is a very large 3-bedroom townhouse, permanent location TBD sometime in December. Just so you know, customs at Jeddah was a breeze, no questions asked, no luggage searched - nothing. In-and-out in less than 45 minutes. I was then whisked away to campus, turned over to the Housing Department, and escorted to my townhouse - done!
Speaking of KAUST, it really is a very dramatic location with fantastic buildings set against the backdrop of the Red Sea to the west and the coastal plains to the east (aka "desert"). So what have I done for the last 3 days you ask? Well, I have spent most of the days walking the length and breadth of the campus - which is roughly 9,000 acres or 4 miles E-W and 3 miles N-S, but the actual portion that is currently developed is only about 1/3 of the total campus. Nonetheless, I have probably covered some 10 miles since I do not have any other means of transportation as we are still waiting for our air shipment to arrive, which includes bikes. It is also VERY quiet here ("dead"?) since it is the Eid holiday. Everything is closed and I would guess about 95% of the campus inhabitants are off on vacation because there is no one here. So, I have meandered through the academic/research buildings, and walked, hung out at Discovery Square, and walked, visited the health club and pool, and walked, been to the beach and strolled around the Island district. I have yet to get to the golf course or Raquet Club but I did find my way yesterday to the Yacht Club in order check out the scuba diving operations. I was introduced to Jonathan Dixon, a Canadian, who oversees the program - such as it is. After two days, it was sooo good to talk with someone and he was very friendly and quite helpful with all of my questions. So I am guessing that there will be a lot of scuba diving in our future especially when they move to their new location which will include a full service dive shop, retail, outdoor pool, training/certifications and a new marina dedicated for this activity.
Tomorrow (Saturday) is the first day of the work week and I am told that with the conclusion of the Eid holiday all of the departments "should" re-open, or maybe by Sunday or Monday. In any case, I am going to wander over the Administrative Building tomorrow morning and try to locate the HR department in order to begin the "new employee" process. However, I am told you need to have an appointment, which I do not of course, so we will see what happens. Luckily, I did find out from Jonathan (scuba guy) that his wife is a manager in the HR department, so I may have an in if there are any problems. Assuming that all works out, I then need to locate Mr. Abdullah Mannaa, the gentleman for whom I will be working. I have not had any contact with him for several weeks and I have no idea where he may be located, so hopefully, someone will be able to point me in the right direction. Should be an interesting day!
I could go on and on about all of the funny and quirky things I have seen and heard the last couple of days – especially the “argument” I had with Pilipino kid who was acting as security for check-in at the beach – but I will save that for another time. So for now, I am off to the pool and then plan to catch the afternoon bus to Jeddah and visit the Red Sea Mall for some quality shopping and people-watching.
