5 Years in Israel.

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.