As I've said I'm trying to blog a lot more than I have and after my post from last week which got more views than I had ever previously and I want to thank all those who viewed and read and enjoyed it. So I've decided to continue with the momentum and fire off a new post.
Well since that post, I've been on a brief break to Eilat. I have to say that in all the time I've been living here and been on holiday, until last week I had never been to Eilat before. I was fortunate to go with someone and for them to drive down as I think that added to the adventure of going there. While there is a lot of greenery here in Israel, the trip to Eilat certainly showed it is very much still a desert and probably you could get lost around there. Still it has it charms and the views on the road to and from are certainly amazing.
As for Eilat itself, very much a beach resort town, plenty of shopping to be done with several malls, the beach of course, the Dolphin Reef as well (didn't have chance to go, but next time I will). And hotels of course to lay by the pool. To be fair I didn't want to do much, been a while since I've had a mini-break and had the opportunity to relax, as I said to my companion, I am not sure I actually know the meaning of the word!!! Still it was nice to get away for a few days... I did pick up a few souvenirs a couple of new tops and sunburn LOL.
Anyway back to the reality of job hunting and working. I was delighted on the way to Eilat to know I had an interview to prepare for when I came back, although sometimes all the preparation in the world for an interview and you can still walk in and go blank when they ask you what do you know about the company, I've had it happen to me on more than one occasion, but now these days I feel more prepared and I'm at least able to show I've checked out my potential employers. So I had the interview and I felt it went well, now its a case of waiting and I really hate waiting. Something I have noticed is that it seems like here in Israel in most cases there is no rush for them to let you know if you were successful in the interview or not successful, which is very frustrating as I would rather have a 'no thank you' than never actually have a response or have to chase for a response. Still I suppose this is part and parcel of job hunting, getting responses, or not getting responses.
While I'm talking about jobs and work, I just want to wish my colleague Samantha who is leaving at the end of the coming week :-( the best of luck. She is moving on to a new challenge and I'm happy for her, but also very sad as I'm going to miss my fellow English Typist, after all she taught me about this job, she has always supported me, been there to back me up during work and I'm going to miss that support as you have been the best person I have ever had the pleasure to work alongside.
This is actually the first job where I've had someone working in the same role, same office and had to work together as most of my previous jobs it has just been me filling the role and not had another person to rely on. So working with the new person is going to take some getting used to, unless I get this job and then I'm out of there myself. But yeah Sam, I'm going to miss you, I know you'll do great in the new role and stay in touch :-).
What else has been going on, well I had my first party at my new apartment. I decided that having moved into a new place and it was better suited to have a gathering and I hope everyone who attended had a great time, I think I will do another one as I'm reliably told I must celebrate my birthday which is coming up in just under 5 weeks now.
Ooh I sold the Fridge/Freezer finally yay. I didn't get what I wanted for it, but in some ways I'm so happy to have it out of the apartment that I am not that bothered. But I now have more space and my friend Rachel, who helped me find the apartment is coming to help me decorate and make it look more homey.
Okay I think that is all for now... oh wait I bought myself a ticket to see Queen + Adam Lambert... very looking forward to it :-).
Seriously that's everything, hope you enjoy reading and we'll all see/speak soon.
Adam
Saturday, 9 July 2016
Wednesday, 29 June 2016
Looking for work in Israel
Well hello there weary blog reader, welcome to my humble blog. Now you might be asking who is this person greeting you, well I'll tell you... I'm Batman..... okay I'm not really my name is Adam Pearlman originally from the UK, but now a settled resident living in Ramat Gan in Israel. If your still reading perhaps I'll tell you something about me, that way you can keep reading :-). I'm a Oleh Hadash having been here in Israel since October 2011, where I came to build a new life for myself.
So you could say I'm adaptable, after all moving to Israel and uprooting myself from everything I knew is a heck of a change, I'm also hardworking, I would like to think that I'm willing to put everything into the job I'm in, determined to succeed at the tasks I'm given and I think that is both relevant to me as a job and as a person here in Israel. You need to be adaptable, you need to be determined and you need to ready to work hard to make it work.
I've brought with me experience in administration from working here in Israel and before in the UK for many years, in all that time I've found myself interacting with Owners, Managers and people of all levels, even managed to form personal relationships with some of them as well as professional relationships. I've worked on projects as part of my experiences and even myself following from the beginning to end and seen my work become an official standard as part of the company.
Through my working experience and even before that I've always liked to write, even a few short stories and spent time in work experience at newspapers and radio stations and finally I translated that into this very blog you are now reading.. well I hope you are still reading.
Anyway that's enough about me, I hope I've intrigued you enough that perhaps you would like to get in touch, learn more about me, but now I want to focus on the title of my blog. Looking for work in Israel is a tough experience, as I know others will attest to, just as they probably found it hard in their countries of origin. To take your experience from working and move to another country and expecting that just a click of the fingers you will find your way into a job similar to what you were doing.
Experience here has taught me that its tough and sometimes even if you have everything they need, you might lack one thing. For instance my Hebrew is functional but not fluent even though I work to improve it and I have found that has counted against me in job hunting when they want someone with a near native command of Hebrew, I'm fortunate in my current role my English is very needed as a Typist at an Intellectual Property Law Firm. Apart from my duties of preparing emails, I am often called upon by other members of staff to check their English and correct as necessary or aid them in writing emails. Its also handy for me to help other departments with their workload and even on occasion deal with incoming phone calls from the UK or other English speaking countries.
I've done a lot of different things since I came to Israel, my main roles as with England has been administration, whether its working on legal emails and such documentation in Bnei Brak or working in Binyamina and doing data entry and preparing sales quotes and invoices. To working for a company where I monitored game servers and tested them to see that they worked correctly and that was fun, especially for someone like me who enjoys playing computers. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to be asked to spend 10 days playing a game to test it for bugs, I can only say that the amount of computer generated money I had at the start was doubled by the time I finished this project... if only it had been real and they had let me keep it LMAO.
And finally my other position in my time in Israel, a sales representative for Checkpoint. It was a short term thing and in some ways I'm glad as it was not for me. I do consider that I am a sales person, but I'm not a phone sales person, I'm a people person and I much prefer chatting with someone face to face than over the telephone, which is probably I enjoyed my two years of working at Toys R Us back in the UK after Middlesex University where I graduated with a B.A. Joint Honours in Media and Cultural Studies with Film Studies, learning such things as script writing and research methodologies.
Of course I worked before coming to Israel, for 6 years I was the Controlled Publication Distributor for Network Rail, dealing with 1500 people and over, interacting with members of staff across the country, and at all levels. Okay I better explain what the job title is as people are probably wonder what that is. Well, its Document Control, working in such an industry as the rail, there are rules and regulations for the safety of working, so my responsibility was to make sure everyone had the necessary information to do their job correctly. I also acted as the administrator of the in-house database... meaning I had the power LOL. Seriously though I was the main point of call for people using the database, assisting people with technical issues and helping people learn to use it. Eventually I moved on and it always sticks in my mind that when my Manager found out I was leaving that he was sad to see me go as he knew I knew the job and didn't need to be managed by him, He knew that I could get on with it and manage myself without him needing to micro-manage me and only come to him with problems that I needed someone senior to handle.
I've also found here in Israel that computer skills are very good to have with Israel being a big hub of activity for companies such as Google, IBM and many others. I've had a computer at home as long as I can remember and used so many versions of Microsoft Office that I would consider myself experienced in all the programs that are part of the package. Of course I'm a tech geek, I'm never off the Internet and active in social media, not just here on my blog, but Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. I also find myself having learnt new skills through my work, like how to use a web based database and find search engines for finding people to add to work databases. So I believe I have good computers skills that have served me well in the past and will continue to do so.
I honestly believe that if there is one thing I have learnt from work experience is that I can adapt and continue to learn new things, after all we never really stop learning, even if we have left School/University and that's what I want to do, show some new employer that I've got what it takes, that I can help their company grow and expand as much as I can grow and expand my horizons.
Thank you for reading.
So you could say I'm adaptable, after all moving to Israel and uprooting myself from everything I knew is a heck of a change, I'm also hardworking, I would like to think that I'm willing to put everything into the job I'm in, determined to succeed at the tasks I'm given and I think that is both relevant to me as a job and as a person here in Israel. You need to be adaptable, you need to be determined and you need to ready to work hard to make it work.
I've brought with me experience in administration from working here in Israel and before in the UK for many years, in all that time I've found myself interacting with Owners, Managers and people of all levels, even managed to form personal relationships with some of them as well as professional relationships. I've worked on projects as part of my experiences and even myself following from the beginning to end and seen my work become an official standard as part of the company.
Through my working experience and even before that I've always liked to write, even a few short stories and spent time in work experience at newspapers and radio stations and finally I translated that into this very blog you are now reading.. well I hope you are still reading.
Anyway that's enough about me, I hope I've intrigued you enough that perhaps you would like to get in touch, learn more about me, but now I want to focus on the title of my blog. Looking for work in Israel is a tough experience, as I know others will attest to, just as they probably found it hard in their countries of origin. To take your experience from working and move to another country and expecting that just a click of the fingers you will find your way into a job similar to what you were doing.
Experience here has taught me that its tough and sometimes even if you have everything they need, you might lack one thing. For instance my Hebrew is functional but not fluent even though I work to improve it and I have found that has counted against me in job hunting when they want someone with a near native command of Hebrew, I'm fortunate in my current role my English is very needed as a Typist at an Intellectual Property Law Firm. Apart from my duties of preparing emails, I am often called upon by other members of staff to check their English and correct as necessary or aid them in writing emails. Its also handy for me to help other departments with their workload and even on occasion deal with incoming phone calls from the UK or other English speaking countries.
I've done a lot of different things since I came to Israel, my main roles as with England has been administration, whether its working on legal emails and such documentation in Bnei Brak or working in Binyamina and doing data entry and preparing sales quotes and invoices. To working for a company where I monitored game servers and tested them to see that they worked correctly and that was fun, especially for someone like me who enjoys playing computers. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to be asked to spend 10 days playing a game to test it for bugs, I can only say that the amount of computer generated money I had at the start was doubled by the time I finished this project... if only it had been real and they had let me keep it LMAO.
And finally my other position in my time in Israel, a sales representative for Checkpoint. It was a short term thing and in some ways I'm glad as it was not for me. I do consider that I am a sales person, but I'm not a phone sales person, I'm a people person and I much prefer chatting with someone face to face than over the telephone, which is probably I enjoyed my two years of working at Toys R Us back in the UK after Middlesex University where I graduated with a B.A. Joint Honours in Media and Cultural Studies with Film Studies, learning such things as script writing and research methodologies.
Of course I worked before coming to Israel, for 6 years I was the Controlled Publication Distributor for Network Rail, dealing with 1500 people and over, interacting with members of staff across the country, and at all levels. Okay I better explain what the job title is as people are probably wonder what that is. Well, its Document Control, working in such an industry as the rail, there are rules and regulations for the safety of working, so my responsibility was to make sure everyone had the necessary information to do their job correctly. I also acted as the administrator of the in-house database... meaning I had the power LOL. Seriously though I was the main point of call for people using the database, assisting people with technical issues and helping people learn to use it. Eventually I moved on and it always sticks in my mind that when my Manager found out I was leaving that he was sad to see me go as he knew I knew the job and didn't need to be managed by him, He knew that I could get on with it and manage myself without him needing to micro-manage me and only come to him with problems that I needed someone senior to handle.
I've also found here in Israel that computer skills are very good to have with Israel being a big hub of activity for companies such as Google, IBM and many others. I've had a computer at home as long as I can remember and used so many versions of Microsoft Office that I would consider myself experienced in all the programs that are part of the package. Of course I'm a tech geek, I'm never off the Internet and active in social media, not just here on my blog, but Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. I also find myself having learnt new skills through my work, like how to use a web based database and find search engines for finding people to add to work databases. So I believe I have good computers skills that have served me well in the past and will continue to do so.
I honestly believe that if there is one thing I have learnt from work experience is that I can adapt and continue to learn new things, after all we never really stop learning, even if we have left School/University and that's what I want to do, show some new employer that I've got what it takes, that I can help their company grow and expand as much as I can grow and expand my horizons.
Thank you for reading.
Saturday, 28 May 2016
Emotions running all over the place
Well its 10:15pm here in Israel, the weekend is over and as a Hull City fan the season 2015/2016 is officially over and I can happily say Hull City are Premier League once again.
Its been a season of high tension and drama and in a season which I believed we would go straight back up after last seasons relegation from the Premier League, I never thought it would go to Wembley having been in such a good position early in the year. They talk about the curse of the Manager of the Month award and I think its true as the moment Steve Bruce was awarded that and Abel Hernandez received player of the month, it seems our form became inconsistent and poor and having been top of the Championship we slipped into the play offs. A position I can say I would not want to be in as it comes down to 3 more games if your lucky.
Lucky we were a 3-0 win in the first leg against Derby meant by all rights we were safely heading to the final, but an inconsistent and quite frankly dreadful performance put City fans on edge and certainly kept everyone on the edge of their seats. But we pulled through and Wembley we are there.
And today, I spent the 90 minutes sat in a bar in Tel Aviv watch the television, sadly not even able to be in the country to watch my team fight to get back to where we belong. Its a hard thing watching and not being able to do anything, so many emotions going through my mind as I felt and played every kick in my mind. When the 72 minute happened and we scored what would be the winning goal I celebrated and then sagged in relief. To be a football fan is not easy and I can honestly say the moment the final whistle blew I shed a tear of relief and joy.
In some ways the emotion of today in a football game is how I feel with my own life at the moment, a lot of frustration going on, with the direction of my life, but I feel a sense of hope and a little happiness that this move on Tuesday to Ramat Gan is a new start, a new chapter. So just like Hull City soon to be starting a new chapter in the Premier League, my move is a new chapter of a book that is still be written.
Its been a season of high tension and drama and in a season which I believed we would go straight back up after last seasons relegation from the Premier League, I never thought it would go to Wembley having been in such a good position early in the year. They talk about the curse of the Manager of the Month award and I think its true as the moment Steve Bruce was awarded that and Abel Hernandez received player of the month, it seems our form became inconsistent and poor and having been top of the Championship we slipped into the play offs. A position I can say I would not want to be in as it comes down to 3 more games if your lucky.
Lucky we were a 3-0 win in the first leg against Derby meant by all rights we were safely heading to the final, but an inconsistent and quite frankly dreadful performance put City fans on edge and certainly kept everyone on the edge of their seats. But we pulled through and Wembley we are there.
And today, I spent the 90 minutes sat in a bar in Tel Aviv watch the television, sadly not even able to be in the country to watch my team fight to get back to where we belong. Its a hard thing watching and not being able to do anything, so many emotions going through my mind as I felt and played every kick in my mind. When the 72 minute happened and we scored what would be the winning goal I celebrated and then sagged in relief. To be a football fan is not easy and I can honestly say the moment the final whistle blew I shed a tear of relief and joy.
In some ways the emotion of today in a football game is how I feel with my own life at the moment, a lot of frustration going on, with the direction of my life, but I feel a sense of hope and a little happiness that this move on Tuesday to Ramat Gan is a new start, a new chapter. So just like Hull City soon to be starting a new chapter in the Premier League, my move is a new chapter of a book that is still be written.
Saturday, 21 May 2016
Why am I here
Its an interesting question Why am I here? in this case and this time it refers to why am I in Israel. I think I've answered that question over my time here, usually in Interviews its the first question I have been asked. But have I fully ever explained to people, to my friends why I am here. I am going to try and do that now, I hope it makes sense.
My decision actually came about after a conversation with my Mum about 7 years ago, Network Rail who I was working for at the time in 2009 and had decided to build a new office in Milton Keynes and close a lot of the offices in London. As a result staff were being expected to journey there every day. Obviously I did not want to move closer to Milton Keynes, living where I was, I was in a Jewish area, surrounded by friends and places I liked to go to. I could see the possibility of being made redundant from my job and during that time it was very difficult to get a job. So after job hunting without success for a while, a weekend visit to my parents I chatted with my parents and they said 'What about Israel'?
What about Israel, that's the question, I knew people that were already living in Israel, but had I considered making aliyah, giving up everything to move to a different country to start again. However, the idea must have been in my head because the more I thought about it, the more I looked into it, the more it seemed like something I wanted to do. I had been to Israel on family holiday and two summers in-between University and it must have always been in my head because I started the process.
Anyway time progressed and we got closer to when I would come to Israel, but even in my head I still had the idea that I probably would stay in England if the right job came along, with good prospects, money etc. But June/July 2011 my Managers at Network Rail gave me the catalyst to turn round and say I'm coming to Israel and I know it will be hard and maybe I won't make it, but at least I if that happens I can come back saying I wanted to do it, I did it and okay didn't work out, but I tried and stepped out of my comfort zone.
I came to Israel because I'm proud to be Jewish, proud of this country I live in and everything it has achieved. Do I believe I will make it here. I know recently those who read my blog last week and seen my Facebook posts are probably wondering if I am doing okay, all I know is I'm being challenged and maybe I've bent a little on the weight of the challenges, but I'm not broken and I will make it here.
My decision actually came about after a conversation with my Mum about 7 years ago, Network Rail who I was working for at the time in 2009 and had decided to build a new office in Milton Keynes and close a lot of the offices in London. As a result staff were being expected to journey there every day. Obviously I did not want to move closer to Milton Keynes, living where I was, I was in a Jewish area, surrounded by friends and places I liked to go to. I could see the possibility of being made redundant from my job and during that time it was very difficult to get a job. So after job hunting without success for a while, a weekend visit to my parents I chatted with my parents and they said 'What about Israel'?
What about Israel, that's the question, I knew people that were already living in Israel, but had I considered making aliyah, giving up everything to move to a different country to start again. However, the idea must have been in my head because the more I thought about it, the more I looked into it, the more it seemed like something I wanted to do. I had been to Israel on family holiday and two summers in-between University and it must have always been in my head because I started the process.
Anyway time progressed and we got closer to when I would come to Israel, but even in my head I still had the idea that I probably would stay in England if the right job came along, with good prospects, money etc. But June/July 2011 my Managers at Network Rail gave me the catalyst to turn round and say I'm coming to Israel and I know it will be hard and maybe I won't make it, but at least I if that happens I can come back saying I wanted to do it, I did it and okay didn't work out, but I tried and stepped out of my comfort zone.
I came to Israel because I'm proud to be Jewish, proud of this country I live in and everything it has achieved. Do I believe I will make it here. I know recently those who read my blog last week and seen my Facebook posts are probably wondering if I am doing okay, all I know is I'm being challenged and maybe I've bent a little on the weight of the challenges, but I'm not broken and I will make it here.
Saturday, 14 May 2016
Feeling the heat and frustration
Well following on from my post a few weeks, I'm going to say things have not totally going my way lately and its being tough. I should apologise and to anyone concerned after my mini meltdown on Facebook at the beginning of the week, I am okay just tired and a little frustrated with things at the moment. They always say its darkest before the dawn, but for the moment I can't seem to see the dawn for me.
As some of you know I've been looking for a new job as the current position which I have been in for nearly 16 months... actually my longest position ever in a job in Israel so go me.... Is rapidly becoming a place I loathe and detest going.... yep I could say that about most jobs after a while. But my place of work is a special place and while most of the people are generally good people and nice to talk to, there are certain people who make the environment not nice and I have really had enough of being there. I am looking for a new job and I have had interviews a plenty since I started looking, its just I seem to always fall at that hurdle, mostly the reasons being 'we decided to go in a different direction' or 'we wanted someone with more experience' In response to that, how do you get experience if no-one will give you the job. Still I keep persevering and hoping that someone will eventually see I have the potential to be good and do a good job at their firm.
The 2nd frustration was the thought of having to search and move home again, but that is actually less of a frustration now and more of a nearly past the post. Thanks to a work colleague and friend I saw an apartment on Monday and then met the neighbour the following day and all being well I will have signed the contract by tomorrow or Monday and will be as of June 1st a resident of Ramat Gan. I am certainly getting around the area, having lived in North, South and the Center of Tel Aviv. Maybe one day I will find a place to settle down permanently, but for now here I am.
3rd frustration is my social life, which probably ties into frustration number 1, as with the job although I have set hours, it seems like more often than not I don't work those hours and then I'm there longer and I miss out on events and meeting people, seeing friends and its tough seeing friends having fun on Facebook and me having missed out because I had to work an extra hour or so... I also feel like sometimes my friends forget about me because maybe I don't make enough noise, but there are times when I feel excluded and its sad to think my life is work, home, work, home and repeat.
I don't know maybe tomorrow will be the day everything changes, I live in hope that one day I will have everything I am searching for. On the happy side I'm delighted for my friends Catherine and James who welcomed their first child Scarlett Rose Angel into the world a couple of weeks ago. I know you two will be great parents and I hope I can get over to the UK soon enough to see and meet her. Oh and there is the matter of Hull City, being 90 minutes away from Wembley again and 180 minutes away from being back in the Premier League. Come on City.
Anyway I've rambled on for a bit, voiced my frustrations... I'm hungry, going to make dinner. Speak soon.
As some of you know I've been looking for a new job as the current position which I have been in for nearly 16 months... actually my longest position ever in a job in Israel so go me.... Is rapidly becoming a place I loathe and detest going.... yep I could say that about most jobs after a while. But my place of work is a special place and while most of the people are generally good people and nice to talk to, there are certain people who make the environment not nice and I have really had enough of being there. I am looking for a new job and I have had interviews a plenty since I started looking, its just I seem to always fall at that hurdle, mostly the reasons being 'we decided to go in a different direction' or 'we wanted someone with more experience' In response to that, how do you get experience if no-one will give you the job. Still I keep persevering and hoping that someone will eventually see I have the potential to be good and do a good job at their firm.
The 2nd frustration was the thought of having to search and move home again, but that is actually less of a frustration now and more of a nearly past the post. Thanks to a work colleague and friend I saw an apartment on Monday and then met the neighbour the following day and all being well I will have signed the contract by tomorrow or Monday and will be as of June 1st a resident of Ramat Gan. I am certainly getting around the area, having lived in North, South and the Center of Tel Aviv. Maybe one day I will find a place to settle down permanently, but for now here I am.
3rd frustration is my social life, which probably ties into frustration number 1, as with the job although I have set hours, it seems like more often than not I don't work those hours and then I'm there longer and I miss out on events and meeting people, seeing friends and its tough seeing friends having fun on Facebook and me having missed out because I had to work an extra hour or so... I also feel like sometimes my friends forget about me because maybe I don't make enough noise, but there are times when I feel excluded and its sad to think my life is work, home, work, home and repeat.
I don't know maybe tomorrow will be the day everything changes, I live in hope that one day I will have everything I am searching for. On the happy side I'm delighted for my friends Catherine and James who welcomed their first child Scarlett Rose Angel into the world a couple of weeks ago. I know you two will be great parents and I hope I can get over to the UK soon enough to see and meet her. Oh and there is the matter of Hull City, being 90 minutes away from Wembley again and 180 minutes away from being back in the Premier League. Come on City.
Anyway I've rambled on for a bit, voiced my frustrations... I'm hungry, going to make dinner. Speak soon.
Saturday, 30 April 2016
Passover, personal anniversary's and life in general.
I recently made myself a promise that I would blog more, I haven't done so for age and I feel like I should, even if its a bit of nonsense.
Anyway we've reached the end of Passover here in Israel, because of the way it fell though instead of 7 days which is the normal for Israel, we had 8 days like in Diaspora, so just like everyone back in England, I'm stuck eating crumbling cardboard for another day. However if you don't care about the holiday and have done the bare minimum, its back to normal food from last night or even before. Most stores here in Israel during this week have cabinets and shelves taped off because they won't sell the normal stuff and only Kosher for Passover, but out of curiosity last night while walking home I popped into AM:PM and unsurprisingly all the cabinets are back in business and people were buying bread.
I don't have an issue with anyone who doesn't observe or keep the Chaggim, its your own choice, for me while I'm not the perfect Jews, I still want to do the right thing. So for the last 8 days, I've used plastic knives and forks, plastic plates and instead of my usual dinners, gotten slightly creative and also buried Matzoh in anything I could find to get rid of the bad taste. Matzoh it looks like crackers, tastes like cardboard and goes everywhere. I think after every meal I've had to sweep up the remains of my dinner because it goes all over the place.
Usually I go to England for Passover, spend time with the family and take a break from Israel for 10 days, this time I'm here and its been okay, I've taken time away from work and relaxed. Also managed to enjoy a meal or two in Kosher for Passover places which I have gone too when its not Passover, nice to have a menu catering for this week. Mikes Place nearest me went Kosher a few months ago and I was delighted when I was in the area last Tuesday to be able to go in and have a Burger and Chips Kosher for Passover... sadly no Beer to wash it down... not available because of Passover.
Anyway Passover is done for another year and moving on, I've had a couple of personal anniversaries in the last week. Last Sunday was 4 and a half years since I made Aliyah, and yes some things still have not gone my way and I'm still working on things but I'm getting there slowly, but surely. I'm also celebrating over 15 months in my current job, which is the longest I've been in a job and also a hell of an achievement, (people who know me, know what my office is like will understand why its an achievement).
Otherwise I haven't had much chance to socialize as a result of busy work life. Hoping that will change and I'm also having to plan for moving in a months time as my year is up and I want to move as the rent is going up and I don't want to have to pay the increase, so I'm on the hunt for a new place, hopefully big enough that I can have visitors over to hangout and my Parents to stay.
Its all going good at the moment for the most part, hope to catch up with you all soon, in the meantime I bid you שבוע טוב.
Anyway we've reached the end of Passover here in Israel, because of the way it fell though instead of 7 days which is the normal for Israel, we had 8 days like in Diaspora, so just like everyone back in England, I'm stuck eating crumbling cardboard for another day. However if you don't care about the holiday and have done the bare minimum, its back to normal food from last night or even before. Most stores here in Israel during this week have cabinets and shelves taped off because they won't sell the normal stuff and only Kosher for Passover, but out of curiosity last night while walking home I popped into AM:PM and unsurprisingly all the cabinets are back in business and people were buying bread.
I don't have an issue with anyone who doesn't observe or keep the Chaggim, its your own choice, for me while I'm not the perfect Jews, I still want to do the right thing. So for the last 8 days, I've used plastic knives and forks, plastic plates and instead of my usual dinners, gotten slightly creative and also buried Matzoh in anything I could find to get rid of the bad taste. Matzoh it looks like crackers, tastes like cardboard and goes everywhere. I think after every meal I've had to sweep up the remains of my dinner because it goes all over the place.
Usually I go to England for Passover, spend time with the family and take a break from Israel for 10 days, this time I'm here and its been okay, I've taken time away from work and relaxed. Also managed to enjoy a meal or two in Kosher for Passover places which I have gone too when its not Passover, nice to have a menu catering for this week. Mikes Place nearest me went Kosher a few months ago and I was delighted when I was in the area last Tuesday to be able to go in and have a Burger and Chips Kosher for Passover... sadly no Beer to wash it down... not available because of Passover.
Anyway Passover is done for another year and moving on, I've had a couple of personal anniversaries in the last week. Last Sunday was 4 and a half years since I made Aliyah, and yes some things still have not gone my way and I'm still working on things but I'm getting there slowly, but surely. I'm also celebrating over 15 months in my current job, which is the longest I've been in a job and also a hell of an achievement, (people who know me, know what my office is like will understand why its an achievement).
Otherwise I haven't had much chance to socialize as a result of busy work life. Hoping that will change and I'm also having to plan for moving in a months time as my year is up and I want to move as the rent is going up and I don't want to have to pay the increase, so I'm on the hunt for a new place, hopefully big enough that I can have visitors over to hangout and my Parents to stay.
Its all going good at the moment for the most part, hope to catch up with you all soon, in the meantime I bid you שבוע טוב.
Monday, 28 March 2016
House guests, parents visit and everyday life
Well its been a while since I blogged and I apologize for that, been distracted by other things of late. But I am here now and its been a busy few months for me.
I shall start with work, for the most part nothing has really changed there, did have a 3 week period where I was pretty much the sole person in my department, which meant I was doing a lot of extra hours and not having much of a life outside the office which wasn't fun. Still maybe my pay packet will reflect the hard work :-).
My apartment has seen two guests staying with me for the last month and now it feels very quiet here. Although not having to make sure one of the guests has food and water, is entertained and taken out around Tel Aviv is nice and the other is Kiki... (sorry Dad). Seriously though its been a nice change of pace looking after Kiki for 3 and a half weeks for Kylie while she was on her honeymoon and certainly having the company whilst been extremely busy at work was great.
My Dad stayed with me for a few nights as my parents and sister have been here in Israel for 10 days and due to the nature of how they ended up visiting for ten days, my Dad had to stay with me for the first 3 days of their trip, before they moved onto Jerusalem and then to Netanya to stay with my Uncle Edward and Auntie Laurette. They've had a good time and are now at the airport waiting for their flight back to the UK and Storm Katie (or whatever its called). I will miss them as I don't know the next time I will get to the UK but I will speak to them soon.
Apart from all of that, I've had time to hang out with friends and see people so its been pretty good time, just continuing to go along with the flow of life. Anyway I hope to blog more than I have lately and speak to you all soon.
I shall start with work, for the most part nothing has really changed there, did have a 3 week period where I was pretty much the sole person in my department, which meant I was doing a lot of extra hours and not having much of a life outside the office which wasn't fun. Still maybe my pay packet will reflect the hard work :-).
My apartment has seen two guests staying with me for the last month and now it feels very quiet here. Although not having to make sure one of the guests has food and water, is entertained and taken out around Tel Aviv is nice and the other is Kiki... (sorry Dad). Seriously though its been a nice change of pace looking after Kiki for 3 and a half weeks for Kylie while she was on her honeymoon and certainly having the company whilst been extremely busy at work was great.
My Dad stayed with me for a few nights as my parents and sister have been here in Israel for 10 days and due to the nature of how they ended up visiting for ten days, my Dad had to stay with me for the first 3 days of their trip, before they moved onto Jerusalem and then to Netanya to stay with my Uncle Edward and Auntie Laurette. They've had a good time and are now at the airport waiting for their flight back to the UK and Storm Katie (or whatever its called). I will miss them as I don't know the next time I will get to the UK but I will speak to them soon.
Apart from all of that, I've had time to hang out with friends and see people so its been pretty good time, just continuing to go along with the flow of life. Anyway I hope to blog more than I have lately and speak to you all soon.
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