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Tag: aliya

Homecoming

February 21, 2018February 22, 2018 Posted in Friends, leaving Tel Aviv7 Comments

I wasn’t anxious about crashing, but about landing.

air stewardaliyabreakfastbrothersEnglishestateFamilyfish and chipsFixFriendshomesickInstagramIsraelKennedy’sleavingleaving Tel AvivLondonmoneymotherreturnsolicitorstonesettingTel AvivThe Two BrewersWhitecross Streetwill

In the beginning…

February 15, 2018 Posted in Leaving London3 Comments

I was as nervous as a whippet. Leaving London, leaving England, filled me with fear.

aliyaIsraelleavingLondonMovingNefesh B'NefeshnervousTel Aviv

Nerves

January 18, 2018January 18, 2018 Posted in Friends, gay, Nathan, Olive Korner, Rufina8 Comments

He’s in Israel ‘in case’, and I know that the case he’s most nervous of is Muslims taking over Germany. Israelis, as far as I can see, think that’s something that’s already happened.

aliyaGermanhandsome menIsraellearningMuslimsnervouspassportpeopleSadiq KhanstudentTel Avivteudat oleh

Little Miss Sunshine

December 8, 2017February 6, 2018 Posted in Alberto, Friends, Nathan, Rufina, Shlomit, Ulpan10 Comments

She killed more bees, just so she could fill the tiny bee graves she’d dug.

aliyabeescrushGordon PoolIsraellovepeopleTel AvivUlpan

Telling Gloria

December 6, 2017December 6, 2017 Posted in Family, Leaving London1 Comment

She said she’d visited my father’s grave and told him my news. He was, I understand, thrilled by it.

aliyaFamilyIsraelleavingLondonmotherMovingpeopleTel Avivthe French in Tel Aviv

Last day at the ulpan

November 13, 2017November 13, 2017 Posted in Alberto, Friends, Ludmilla, Nathan, Rufina, Shlomit, Ulpan1 Comment

She danced with Alberto, I don’t know why, the joy and sadness of the occasion, I suppose.

AlexialiyaEnglishfirst day at the ulpanIsraellearningMilenapeoplestudentTel Avivthe French in Tel AvivUlpan

A year ago

November 1, 2017November 1, 2017 Posted in Family, Friends, Leaving London10 Comments

I’ve decided to stop saying goodbye, and start saying hello, instead.

aliyaFamilyhaircuthelloIsraelleavingLondonmotherNefesh B'NefeshOttolenghipeopleTel Aviv

Gone in six seconds

October 23, 2017October 29, 2017 Posted in Friends, gay, leaving Tel Aviv, Nathan, Olive Korner, Rufina, Sex2 Comments

Nathan imagines they’d be caught and, besides, the man may be a serial killer, so suggests the cruising park behind the Hilton instead. Much safer.

aliyacoolcruisingfriendshipgayGordon Poolhandsome menhotIsraellatenessleaving Tel Avivmannerspeoplepick upTel Aviv

My first night in Tel Aviv

September 28, 2017November 15, 2017 Posted in Food, gay, Moving, Shimon5 Comments

We’re drunk and happy, and howl into the night, like wolves in the forest.

aliyaCarmel Marketdatedinnerdrinkfirst nightgayIsraelM25meatMovingnightpeoplerestaurantTel Aviv

A moving story

September 26, 2017 Posted in Dan, Moving, Nahat7 Comments

Israelis, in case you don’t know, aren’t great at customer relations.

aliyaarriving in IsraelbankscheatsIsraellawyersmoney transferMovingpeopleshippingTel Aviv

The Azurs

September 20, 2017November 14, 2017 Posted in Friends, Moving, Uncategorized1 Comment

Tim, infuriated by the sounds of a mother playing with her baby, who wouldn’t be, poured a glass of water onto them from his balcony.

aliyaBelsize Parkdogneighbours

A write-off

September 12, 2017January 29, 2018 Posted in Family, Leaving London, Moving, Uncategorized7 Comments

I discover that doing nothing is more fun than having nothing to do

aliyaBordeauxcar crashCharenteFrancehomesickIsraelLes Grandes HommeslonelypackingpeoplePet Shop BoysquietrestaurantTel Avivthe French in Tel Aviv

Ulpanation

August 30, 2017October 2, 2017 Posted in beach, Ludmilla, Nathan, Rufina, Shlomit, Ulpan, Uncategorized4 Comments

She looked disgusted, as if I’d admitted to a taste for rat, or beetroot, or something.

air stewardAlexialiyabeachfrontdogsIsraellearningLufthansapeoplestudentTel Avivthe French in Tel AvivUlpan

Jenni’s party

August 28, 2017January 29, 2018 Posted in Leaving London, Uncategorized3 Comments

He tells me at length ‘what I should do’, which includes marrying his 48 year old niece. She’s a PE teacher, he says, guaranteeing her attractiveness.

aliyaapartheidIsraelLondonpartypeopleTel Avivtrayf

Joonatan and the Art of War

August 24, 2017October 2, 2017 Posted in Friends, Megan, Ulpan, Uncategorized3 Comments

He carries, at all times, a beautiful modern edition of The Art of War, which he reads during the break.

aliyaarmyDiezengoffFinlandgirlfriendgiving up smokingIsraelIsraeli boysIsraeli girlsmeeting girlspeopleTel AvivThe Art of WarUlpanyoung people

Why are we here?

August 9, 2017February 4, 2022 Posted in Alberto, beach, Friends, Leaving London, Megan, Moving, Nathan, Rufina, Shlomit, Ulpan, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I ask if there’s anything that connects us, the new immigrants. ‘We didn’t fit in at home?’ says Megan, in that way that makes statements sound like questions.

aliyabunk offcoffeehotIsraellearningPurimstudentTel Avivwhy are we here?

My first day at the ulpan

July 31, 2017August 25, 2017 Posted in Alberto, Alvin, Nathan, Shlomit, Ulpan3 Comments

It is my first day at the ulpan, and the first time I spend with people in a common cause since I arrived in November, three months earlier, unless you count queuing at the Ministry of the Interior, that is.

aliyaEnglishfirst day at the ulpanimmigrantsIsraellearninglearning HebrewstudentTel AvivUlpan

Woman with moustache

July 28, 2017August 25, 2017 Posted in Friends, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I am distracted, and slightly repelled, by her moustache, can hardly take my eyes off it, actually…

aliyaBe'er ShevaHatakemahIsraelNeve TzedekpeoplerestaurantTel Avivwoman with moustache

Rabbinical detective work

July 7, 2017August 25, 2017 Posted in Leaving London, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It was so simple to do, I never stopped to think if I really wanted to leave London.

aliyaChief Rabbi’s officedocuments neededIsraelleavingMessianic

My new sort-of passport

June 20, 2017February 4, 2022 Posted in Dan, Din, Food, Nahat, Nathan, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Dan shook my hand and smiled and said, ‘Welcome home,’ and I felt emotional again.

aliyabutcherHatikvaIsraelIsraeli citizenmeatpassportTel Aviv
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A year in Tel Aviv

I arrived in Israel from London in November, slightly dazed. The process of getting here had been smooth, maybe too easy. What would I do here? What would I find? Who would I meet? Would I stay?

This blog is my attempt to answer those questions. The posts aren’t in any sort of chronological order.

White Meat, by the way, is what
Israelis call pork.

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