Have you wondered just how Israeli elections work? Perhaps you're an Oleh Hadash (עולה חדש), or simply someone following the Israeli news from abroad. I watched all the election coverage, went to the polls, talked to people, and still didn't fully understand. So I did some research, and I'll take you through the process step-by-step.* The … Continue reading How Israeli Elections Work
Category: Language
Well, it's Bibi again. Frankly I'm disappointed that Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's Likud party won the election. I was excited to see what a more liberal leader could have done for the country, a leader like Isaac "Bougie" Herzog or Tzipi Livni, the center-left leaders of the Zionist Union party. The Zionist Union was the Likud party's strongest … Continue reading Election Day
I'm generally an optimistic person. I need to be - I throw myself into new situations all the time. Without optimism I'd quickly give up, because adaptation can be mind-blowingly difficult. New challenges pop up each day, from homesickness, to cancelled bus routes, to bureaucracy mind-melts, to the ever-persistent language barriers. And yet, I still keep … Continue reading Escaping the Rat Race
I want to introduce all of you non-Israelis to some Israeli music. Welcome to Israeli Song of the Day! Today's selection is from 1983. It's called "It's Cold Out There," by the singer Rami Kleinstein. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae3MahlYW3s I dive again into your eyes, I press your hand once more. If only your dreams one day would … Continue reading Song of the Day – קר שם בחוץ (It’s Cold Out There)
The Hebrew Word of the Day is a feature on Haaretz, a major Israeli newspaper. It's all written in English (the Hebrew is transliterated), and traces the history of certain Hebrew words. The words picked by journalists Shoshana Kordova and Elon Gilad are unique, interesting, and quite clever. Many of their journeys begin with Jewish linguists … Continue reading Hebrew Word of the Day – Haaretz
It's been nearly a year since I moved to Israel, and I'm finally receiving compliments on my Hebrew. The past few months have seen a major improvement in my level of speaking, reading, and writing, which I think is due to my immersion in Israeli daily life. In November I started my paramedic course, and … Continue reading Hebrew Language Resources
Once again, absent for a while from the WWW world. This has been because, 1) I'm extremely busy with ulpan, and 2) I'm feeling ambivalent about social media. I'm already a self-critical person, and I'm finally noticing that I doubt myself more when I'm on facebook. And to try to quell that self-doubt, I'm tempted … Continue reading After-Ulpan Plans
I'm on new soil. Planes amaze me - I spend half a day sleeping and watching movies, and when I disembark I'm in another world. I flew out of Chicago, where I visited family for a few days. So in one flight I moved from Polar Vortex Part II (temperatures in the single and negative … Continue reading At Ma’agan Michael
I had a nightmare a few nights ago about Kurdistan. It was a bad one. When I was in Kurdistan, I felt harassed, pushed aside, scapegoated, threatened, and the subject of outright malice. The men were creeps; they often tried to touch me, to corner me, to make gross comments about my body, and at … Continue reading Nightmares
It's impossible to find good books here. I have found a few shops that sell books in English, but I have two issues with them: They are all classics. Dickens, Shakespeare, absolutely nothing published after 1870. A lot of them I've read before, and a lot of them are more effort than they're worth to … Continue reading Books Books Books
In Mutual Weirdness 