Well it’s been a while since I blogged and I can't think of a
better opportunity to blog again, in that today is my 5 years Aliyah
anniversary. October 24, 2011 I stepped onto a plane to Israel and set
out to build a new life. I think in this post, it will be a little look back at
the last 5 years and see what I've accomplished
Well in the 5
years I have been here I've lived in 6 different apartments in 4 different
cities, not sure if that is an accomplishment or just really a sign that I have
not settled... or rents in Israel and Tel Aviv in particular are really high!!
Seriously though I
enjoyed the first 5 months living in Haifa in the dorms, while I took Ulpan and
although my Hebrew isn't still the greatest, I did learn and I can have a
certain level of conversation. Rishon was fun, I don't think I was ready
to live in Tel Aviv at the start, it took having to commute to Tel Aviv, for
work and for meeting up with people to realise that I needed to move here, if I
wanted to get things going. So after my first 18 months I made it to Tel
Aviv and spent 6 months in an apartment, that the dirt was so bad, I think if
the building was destroyed the dirt would not be effected. After that I
moved to Ramat Aviv and shared with my good friend Kylie and eventually the
little devil aka Kiki whom you all know from my statuses 'The diary of Kiki'!
And I was settled there and enjoyed my time, even got the first of living
alone when Kylie moved in with her now husband Yuval, which was both exciting
and strange, as I had been used to having someone around to talk to a lot of
the time. Then I moved on, back into Tel Aviv and lived alone for another
year, it was certainly closer to everything, but with the rent going up at the
end of the 1st year, I chose to move on and here I am now living in Ramat Gan
for the time being. It’s being a variety of different apartments and I've
hosted guests and some of them have kept coming back, so I guess the apartments
are okay.
Onto the work side
of things, I have struggled in this aspect, though mostly settled the past 3
years, in the beginning after Ulpan it wasn't easy and certainly in the 1st
year I job hopped, not able to settle in a role or they didn't feel I was
suited which is tough. After doing the typical sales jobs that Olim seem
to find themselves in and even spending a few weeks as a Paralegal. I was
in a bad position, 5 months without work is bad anywhere in the world, but when
you live in a country where it’s not your native language it feels even harder
and there were times, that maybe I could have gone back and I don't think
anyone would have blamed me for doing so. But I stayed and kept going,
eventually shortly after moving to Tel Aviv found a 10 week contracted position
and it was good, got me started again and I got to hang out with a friend from
Ulpan during that time so it was good. Then I moved onto a position in
Binyamina and since January last year I've been in the same role at a law
office as an English Typist. So I think I've managed the job market here okay,
but I'm still looking for the job to settle in that I can be really, really
happy with.
Socially, I'm not
sure if my life is better than it was in England, I am getting out and about,
if not as much as I would like, but I have made some good friends here, whom I
can count on, if I need help or even to go for Rosh Hashanah :-). But I
do often feel a bit left out and I see pictures of my friends having a good
time and I haven't been asked to join them. Otherwise social wise it’s
all good I think.
I think I've
covered everything that's mainly happened in the last 5 years. I could
mention that I have appeared on Israeli TV, in a segment about Aliyah, I've
also appeared in an article that was done on someone else about their business
in a newspaper. So I've had that happen to me.
But after all
that, I think the main thing I've accomplished is, that I'm still here... A lot
of people I came with and was on Ulpan with have gone back, so that I am still
in Israel, still working to build a life it an achievement. So all I can
say is, here's to the next 5 years.
