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Living on the Coast of the Red Sea

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Whether it’s moving intercity, interstate or overseas – what’s the first thing we do? Research the location! This is what you need to know about the sunshine-filled coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The Facts

Population: 4 million people

Location: Coast of the Red Sea

Size: Second largest city in Saudi Arabia

Motto: “Jeddah Ghair” – Jeddah is different

Known as the most open city in Saudi

The Beach and Diving

There’s a reason Jeddah is known as the most open city in the Kingdom. Everyone knows that those who live on the beach live a very relaxed life and that’s exactly what Jeddah promotes: relaxation! There’s a number of beaches you can hit on your days off or take a day trip out to the red sea to do some snorkelling, diving, fishing or swimming!

 

Entertainment

Jeddah has always been quite modern for its time. In the 1970s and 80s there was a big push to bring art into all public areas of Jeddah making the city one of the largest open-air galleries in the world. It’s home to the world’s tallest fountain and most recently they’ve hosted a variety of events including concerts by Mariah Carey and Sean Paul.

Historic Jeddah

You can’t live in Jeddah and not visit the UNESCO listed heritage site of Al Balad which dates back to the 7th Century AD. Wander down narrow alleyways, meet the friendly locals, smell the vibrant spices and hauntingly beautiful calls to prayer.

Food & Dining

Jeddah has always been a port for trade and as such is a very multicultural city. The cuisine reflects this – you’ll be able to find anything from Eastern, Western, African you name it! Being a coastal city it is of course famous for its seafood! A lot of these beautiful restaurants are located right long the Corniche by the waterfront so you can enjoy those cooing sea breezes while you watch that Western sunset.

The Climate

It’s a coastal city so think tropical Queensland. Summers are steamy hitting 43 degrees while winters remain warm at 15-28 degrees. All the more reason to hit the beach and do some diving!  

 

If you are interested in working in Jeddah, we have Information & Interview sessions coming up in June

Email info@ccmrecruitment.com.au OR Click here to register

AUS Freephone: 1800 818 844

NZ Freephone: 0800 700 839

The Ultimate Guide To Nursing and Allied Health Jobs Overseas – Join Our Open Days- See Where You Can Go?

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CCM are back on the road again with our FREE Information Sessions! We will be hosting open days throughout Ireland and the UK throughout May & June 2019.

Midwifery, Neonatal, Paediatric and Adult Nurses – Registered Nurses (All specialities), Educators & Managers, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech & Language Therapists & More! All Nursing & Allied Health Professionals are welcome.

Has the thought of sampling the exotic delights of Saudi Arabia, Dubai/Abu Dhabi, jumping across the pond to the UK or living the American Dream crossed your mind. Ready for a change or a chance to see the world while enhancing and developing your career in some of the most prestigious hospitals around the globe, then this information evening is for YOU!

Where do you place?

 For over 30 years CCM Recruitment International has been helping nurses launch their international careers. Find out how you can nurse in:

 

America (Brand New Opportunity!!) – UK – Ireland – Dubai/Abu Dhabi – Saudi Arabia – Qatar

Events will be held this May & June on the evenings of:

  • Belfast 5th June. Click here to reserve your spot.
  • London 10th June. Click here to reserve your spot.
  • Manchester 11th June. Click here to reserve your spot.
  • Edinburgh 12th June. Click here to reserve your spot.
  • Newcastle- 13th June. Click here to reserve your spot.
  • Galway 30th May. Click here to reserve your spot.
  • Dublin 28th May. Click here to reserve your spot.
  • Dublin 18th June. Click here to reserve your spot.
  • Cork 29th May. Click here to reserve your spot.
  • Limerick 6th June. Click here to reserve your spot.

The beauty of CCM Recruitment is that all our recruiters have lived and worked overseas as nurses and know exactly what it’s like to be in your shoes. We’ll be talking about:

The Application Process

Overseas Registration and Licensing

Hospitals and Relocation Packages

Visas, Sponsorship & Accommodation

What you can expect when living and nursing overseas

Do your research and make an informed decision about where you want to take your career.  Come meet us and ask us about our own experiences.  We’ll tell you what it’s really like to live and work overseas – the highs, the lows and everything in between!

Register Today and Book Your Free Place Today

Fun Facts About Easter!

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While the exact origins of the word Easter name are unknown, some sources claim the word Easter is derived from Eostre, a Germanic goddess of spring and fertility. http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter. Her symbols were the hare and egg and she was celebrated around the spring equinox. As Christianity spread throughout Europe, missionaries merged the festival of Eostre and the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection, as they did with many other pagan festivals and traditions…so Easter was born.

The idea of the Easter Bunny can be traced back to Germany and Oschter Haws. Oschter Haws was a rabbit who would lay a nest of coloured eggs for good children on the night before Easter. In the 1700’s German emigrants brought the legend to America, as well as Oshter Haws pastries, the origin of the chocolate rabbit. As the legend and popularity of Oshter Haws spread, he soon became the Easter Bunny. http://www.irishwhiskeymuseum.ie/news/origins-easter-bunny/

In 1847, chocolate maker and inventor Joseph Fry discovered he could create a chocolate paste that was mouldable by mixing cocoa powder, sugar and melted cocoa butter. http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/easter-treats-the-history-behind-your-chocolate-eggs-1.2584588. Fry would go on to make the first chocolate Easter Egg in the UK in 1873. https://www.lovefood.com/news/56494/the-history-of-easter-eggs 

Did You Know?

  1. The tallest chocolate Easter egg ever was made in Italy in 2011. At 10.39 metres in height and 7,200 kg in weight, it was taller than a giraffe and heavier than an elephant! https://www.uselessdaily.com/news/50-amazing-facts-about-easter-list/#ixzz5lRI9vm8E
  2. In America, over 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made each year!! http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter
  3. Decorated ostrich eggs, estimated to be up to 5,000 years old, were found in the tombs of ancient Sumerians and Egyptians http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/easter-treats-the-history-behind-your-chocolate-eggs-1.2584588
  4. Easter is the second best-selling candy holiday in America, after Halloween http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols
  5. The Fabergé eggs are likely the most famous decorative eggs, made in 1885 to 1917 by the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé for Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II. They commissioned roughly 50 eggs in that time, with 43 still surviving. http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/easter-treats-the-history-behind-your-chocolate-eggs-1.2584588

Thanksgiving- Did You Know?

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Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast. That feast is today acknowledged as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

In September 1620, a small ship the “Mayflower” left Plymouth, England, with 102 passengers. The first winter most of the colonists remained on board the ship.  They suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the survivors moved ashore. They were visited by an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, who was a member of the Pawtuxet tribe. Squanto had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery. He escaped and returned to his homeland. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, who had been weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to survive. He also helped them forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe.

In November 1621, to celebrate the Pilgrims’ first successful corn harvest Governor William Bradford organised a feast. He invited a group of the colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit.  The festival lasted for three days.

In 1827, Sarah Josepha Hale a noted magazine editor and writer launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday.  For 36 years she published editorials and sent letters to governors, senators, presidents and other politicians.  It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

For some scholars, whether the feast at Plymouth actually constituted the first Thanksgiving in the United States is in doubt. Other ceremonies of “thanks” performed by European settlers in North America have been recorded. They predate the Pilgrims’ celebration. Historians have also noted that Native Americans had a rich tradition of commemorating the fall harvest with feasting and celebration long before Europeans arrived.( https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving)

 Did you know?

  1. Lobster, seal and swans were on the Pilgrims’ menu
  2. In 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States.
  3. In 1817, New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday.
  4. Sarah Josepha Hale who campaigned for Thanksgiving to be a national holiday is most well-known for the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”
  5. New York City’s Thanksgiving Day parade is the largest and most famous, attracting some 2 to 3 million spectators along its 2.5-mile route. It’s been presented by Macy’s department store since 1924.
  6. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to encourage retail sales during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s plan was known as “Franksgiving”. It was met with fierce opposition, and in 1941 the president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November.

 

Did you know? 8 Amazing Halloween Facts

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The roots of Halloween’s dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts lived 2,000 years ago in Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. They celebrated their new year on November 1st. It marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the winter.

They believed on the eve of the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.  So, on October 31, they celebrated Samhain, the night when ghosts and spirits returned to earth. The returned spirits would cause trouble and damage crops.  The belief was the presence of the spirits made it easier for the Druids to make predictions about the future.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires. People gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, costumes were worn, usually made up of animal heads and skins. After the celebration, the hearth fires they had extinguished earlier were re-lit. They were re-lit from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a day to honour all saints and martyrs. It’s commonly known as All Saints’ Day and incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into the event characterised by child-friendly activities like trick-or-treating. http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween

Some fun facts about Halloween:

  1. The jack-o’-lantern is from Irish folklore. According to folklore, Stingy Jack was having a drink with the Devil. Jack convinced him to turn himself into a coin so he could for pay for the drinks. When the Devil turned into a coin Jack put him into his pocket. In his pocket was a silver cross, which kept the Devil from transforming back. Stuck, the Devil made a deal. In return for his freedom the Devil promised not to bother Jack for a year and if he died, he would never claim Jack’s soul. Jack tricked the Devil again a year later.  As Jack walked home the Devil come to him, Jack agreed to go with him but only if the Devil would pick a piece of fruit off a tree. As the Devil climbed the tree, Jack carved a cross into the bark, trapping the Devil in the branches. In return, for his freedom, he would leave Jack alone for 10 years. When Jack finally died, he arrived at the gates of heaven but God wouldn’t let him enter. Jack went down to hell, but the Devil had promised never to claim his soul.  Instead he sent Jack off to roam Earth with only a burning coal for light. He put the coal into a turnip as a lantern, and Stingy Jack became “Jack of the Lantern” or “Jack o’ Lantern.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/24/halloween-weird-facts_n_5948456.html
  2. The first Jack O’Lanterns were actually made from turnips, beets and potatoes. The Irish carved scary faces into them to scare away Stingy Jack or any other spirits of the night. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/24/halloween-weird-facts_n_5948456.html
  3. Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas in America.
  4. An intense and persistent fear of Halloween is called Samhnainophobia
  5. Black and orange are typically associated with Halloween. Orange is a symbol of strength and endurance and, along with brown and gold, stands for the harvest and autumn. Black is typically a symbol of death and darkness and acts as a reminder that Halloween once was a festival that marked the boundaries between life and death.
  6. Halloween has variously been called All Hallows’ Eve, Witches Night, Lamswool, Snap-Apple Night, Samhain, and Summer’s End.
  7. During the pre-Halloween celebration of Samhain, bonfires were lit to ensure the sun would return after the long, hard winter. Often Druid priests would throw the bones of cattle into the flames and, hence, “bone fire” became “bonfire.”
  8. Dressing up as ghouls and other spooks originated from the ancient Celtic tradition of townspeople disguising themselves as demons and spirits. They believed that disguising themselves this way would allow them to escape the notice of the real spirits wandering the streets during Samhain.
    http://facts.randomhistory.com/halloween-facts.html

Easter & Easter Eggs- Did you know?

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While the exact origins of the word Easter name are unknown, some sources claim the word Easter is derived from Eostre, a Germanic goddess of spring and fertility. http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter. Eostre’s, symbols were the hare and egg and she was celebrated around the spring equinox. As Christianity spread throughout Europe, missionaries merged the festival of Eostre and the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection, as they did with many other pagan festivals and traditions…and so Easter was born.

The image of the rabbit was changed into Oschter Haws by the Germans. Oschter Haws was a rabbit who would lay a nest of coloured eggs for good children on the night before Easter. In the 1700s German emigrants to American brought the legend with them, they are also responsible for the chocolate rabbit as they would make Oshter Haws pastries. As the legend and popularity of Oshter Haws spread, he soon became the Easter Bunny.

http://www.irishwhiskeymuseum.ie/news/origins-easter-bunny/

The Fabergé eggs are likely the most famous decorative eggs, made in 1885 to 1917 by the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé for Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II. The Eggs were  given as Easter gifts. Roughly 50 eggs were commissioned in that time, with 43 still surviving. An additional two Faberge eggs were planned for Easter 1918 but delivery was prevented by the Russian Revolution.

In 1847, chocolate maker and inventor Joseph Fry discovered he could create a chocolate paste that was mould-able by mixing cocoa powder, sugar and melted cocoa butter. http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/easter-treats-the-history-behind-your-chocolate-eggs-1.2584588  Fry produced the UK’s first chocolate Easter egg in 1873. http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/easter-2017-why-eggs-celebrate-6997696?service=responsive

 

Did You Know?

  1. Over 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made each year, in America alone!! http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter
  2. Decorated ostrich eggs, estimated to be up to 5,000 years old, were found in the tombs of ancient Sumerians and Egyptians http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/easter-treats-the-history-behind-your-chocolate-eggs-1.2584588
  3. Easter is the second best-selling candy holiday in America, after Halloween http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols

Valentines Day- Did You Know?

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Valentine’s Day, the day where we shower each other with chocolates, flowers, cards and presents. Well, only if you not single 🙂 So, who started Valentine’s day and who was St. Valentine. There are at least three different saints named Valentine/Valentinus. Weirder still, all were martyred; stranger still, all were martyred on the 14th February. (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/valentinesdayhistory.html#ixzz2Km36zsDe)

The most common legend of Valentine’s day; is that during the third century in Rome Valentine was a priest serving during Emperor Claudius II reign. Claudius II is said to have decided that single men were better soldiers than their counterparts who had married and family. Deciding he wanted better soldiers, he banned marriage for young men. Valentine thinking it cruel and unjust defied Claudius. He began performing marriage ceremonies in secret. When Claudius found out; Valentine was arrested and sentenced to death. http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day

Some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated on 14th to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death others believe it was celebrated in the middle of February to “Christianise” the Roman Pagan Festival of Lupercalia(the festival of the she-wolf and fertility) which was celebrated 13-15th February. Lupercalia involved animal sacrifice and the hides of the slaughtered animals were taken into the streets by an order of Roman Priests who would gently slap roman women with the hides for fertility in the coming year. http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day Personally, I think I’ll stick with the legend of couples marrying in secret rather than getting hit with bloody animal skins!!

Just for fun here’s a little more Valentine’s Day Trivia:

  • Many believe the X symbol became synonymous with the kiss in medieval times. People who couldn’t write their names signed in front of a witness with an X. They kissed the X to show their sincerity.
  • In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They’d pinned the name onto their sleeves for one week for everyone to see. This was the origin of the expression “to wear your heart on your sleeve.”  (http://www.sheknows.com/holidays-and-seasons/articles/807655/fun-facts-about-valentine-s-day)