I get a lot of questions from my readers like how is *your* life there, how do *you* have fun, what is *your* accommodation like and such, here are some of the answers
The accommodations are different:
if you're VIP, you get a house with sea-view
if you're IP (so not a director or such), you get a house in the Gardens (I've never been but probably it has something to do with vegetation)
Master students and visitors can either stay in Kaust-inn (which is like a hotel) or they get shared apartments.
Once you are a PhD student at KAUST, you get your own flat for singles.
View of the University
So, I'm in the shared 2 storey flat with 2 other flatmates. The common spaces (kitchen, living and dining room) are huge and the rooms are quite big as well. When you move in, you get all the basic supplies (towels, linens, cutlery etc) and there's a laundry room in each flat.
In fact, there is an extra little apartment within the apartment with a separate entrance and bathroom, so completely autonomous- I was told it is for the male person, if the flat is inhabited by a family. That got me thinking what it must be like if you indeed have a family in this country- you have the infrastructure which enables you to lead completely separate lives from your spouse: you do not share the bed, the bedroom or bathroom.
Common rooms
We have a huge balcony overlooking the main campus mosque and the canal (the building is technically on an island), unfortunately, we do not use it at all because it is just too hot. (Our house on the left, mosque on the right)
Typical "street" in KAUST
The accommodations are different:
if you're VIP, you get a house with sea-view
if you're IP (so not a director or such), you get a house in the Gardens (I've never been but probably it has something to do with vegetation)
Master students and visitors can either stay in Kaust-inn (which is like a hotel) or they get shared apartments.
Once you are a PhD student at KAUST, you get your own flat for singles.
View of the University
So, I'm in the shared 2 storey flat with 2 other flatmates. The common spaces (kitchen, living and dining room) are huge and the rooms are quite big as well. When you move in, you get all the basic supplies (towels, linens, cutlery etc) and there's a laundry room in each flat.
In fact, there is an extra little apartment within the apartment with a separate entrance and bathroom, so completely autonomous- I was told it is for the male person, if the flat is inhabited by a family. That got me thinking what it must be like if you indeed have a family in this country- you have the infrastructure which enables you to lead completely separate lives from your spouse: you do not share the bed, the bedroom or bathroom.
Common rooms
We have a huge balcony overlooking the main campus mosque and the canal (the building is technically on an island), unfortunately, we do not use it at all because it is just too hot. (Our house on the left, mosque on the right)
Most of the buildings are separated by gender, only a few host both sexes, but not in the same unit. The only way to share an actual *flat* with a person of the other gender is by marriage.
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