Monday, November 8, 2010
Another week...
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The ten day ramble
Monday, October 18, 2010
Shopping for crocs...
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
KiaOra
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Snippets of sukkot
I had three days of work this week before it was time for more holidays. I danced like crazy on simchat torah, ate plenty of food, and killed my legs. I now have a very interesting hobble going.
I discovered a garden, a real garden with trees and plants and bees!!! Now I live in a concrete jungle the highlight of my life is finding a garden...I am tempted to set up a little house somewhere out the back and hope the owner doesn't notice.
In three weeks time I am spending a shabbat in the country which is another big highlight, I will actually be able to look somewhere without seeing a building!!!
I think that's about it for me, I'm not in much of a rambling mood tonight sorry guys.
Monday, September 13, 2010
The amazing pitot
September ponderings
I'm trying to wrack my brains for what has actually happened in the last couple of weeks. For starters it was Rosh HaShanna (Jewish New Year) this weekend. I got to leave half way through the day on Wed and had all of Thurs and Fri off work (all paid!!) From Wed night through to Saturday night I basically just rotated three fantastic activities; shul, eating and sleeping. Sunday I did important things like washing and grocery shopping. Today is Monday, Monday = work so you are now up to date on my last week.
The Sunday before Rosh HaShanna Sapir left. That was tough :( Something I've realised I dislike greatly about moving around is the number of people you have to miss. On one hand I want to be in NZ because of my family and friends there. On the other hand I want to be in Israel to be with my Israeli friends and at the same time I know that leaving here is going to mean leaving a lot of good friends behind.
I haven't been sick since I last posted, which is great except I now have a kg of organic honey which I bought based on the fact I was going through a container every couple of weeks. If I was in NZ this wouldn't be such a problem since NZ honey is awesome, but the aussie stuff has no flavour. It's just this syrup. (I suspect this is not true of all aussie honeys but so far I have not found any that wonderful).
Tomorrow night I'm going to a Shlomo Katz concert, VERY excited. Shabbat is Yom Kippur, again VERY excited! Then I have a half week of work before sukkot, which means piles and piles and piles and piles and piles of eating. Currently I'm trying to organise where I'm going for everything.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Mutterings
On another note my mummy has been in Sydney this week. She managed to leave a couple of children in NZ and she didn't give the one in Melbourne enough warning to come for a visit. Basically, she's on her own! Something she has not done since my little brother was a baby, he's now a teenager. An odd thing about growing up is realising parents are real people. However, it is even odder when they are living a similar life to you! The word mum is supposed to describe someone bogged down by running a taxi service, catering business and cleaning company. Not someone living a nice indepedent life in Sydney. It's left me pondering how far an apple can actually fall from the tree. If you remove the life situation, I don't feel all that different from my mum. Granted, I am more organised, more analytical in my approach to everything. However my mum is more giving of her time, more relaxed, less judgemental (Hmmm perhaps we are quite different now I think of it!!) Really though, if you put us both on a plane and sent us to China (place where we would be as lost as each other!!!) I think we'd go about our days in a very similar way. I might have a list, but Mum could actually remember what she was doing without that list. Neither of us would be able to get on the right train and if you gave us a car we'd both be sure to lose it in the first parking lot we found.
She is returning to NZ tomorrow and back to mum life. There's a good few years till Lizzy moves out of home, so thankfully I won't have to ponder our similarities for a while yet. I am glad my mum didn't get away so much when I was at home! I have a feeling if she'd known what non mum life was like she might have been a little less useful as chauffer, chef and cleaner.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Sick again :(
On the bright side I tried out Mum's 'tea tree oil cures all' theory (somewhat similar to the windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding). I diluted the tea tree and then proceeded to put an undiluted drop of oil on my eye, it stung for a little while and then my eye felt a lot better. Since then I have proceeded with the endeavour, double checking the tea tree is actually diluted first. It does appear to be working, for example now I can actually see for long periods of time without getting a pussy layer covering my eye. Last night I was forever cleaning my glasses because of course they are the only possible reason for blurry vision.
I have discovered something very interesting this weekend as well. As you've probably noticed there are now ads on my blog. No I'm not trying to capitalise on whoever it is that actually reads this blog. I signed up to adsense because I was interested to see how many page views I was getting. I discovered that last week I got more than 100 views. Provided no one realised my research gathering mission, and decided to mess with me by opening my page 50 times, I'm feeling flattered! 100 views sounds like a reasonable audience for my life! In a week not only did I get more than 100 views I also got a few clicks on the ads. I was surprised to log in and discover my income is sitting at just over $8. So it's not exactly the hourly wage, but then I wasn't trying to actually earn money with this. If it keeps up then that is $400 a year for doing nothing. I now understand why people have websites! I am contemplating staring another one geared around making money. Any ideas?
Just before I sign out I thought I'd better make it clear, from the data adsense gathers I don't know who is reading my blog, where they come from or basically anything. All I know is how many people open the page in a day. The whole internet thing creeps me out, I like reading blogs however I don't necessarily want the author to know how many times I read their blog. Particularly howtobeisraeli.blogspot.com, if that woman knew how many times I read her blog she'd think I was obssessed with her! By the way, how to be Israeli is a hilarious blog spot however please don't all run over to it. Give my blog a year and it will be pretty much the same thing, so I don't want you all to get all knowledgeable on Israel before I get there. The idea is what I say is supposed to sound unique :)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Free clothes anyone?
Anyone who saw my clothing in New Zealand knows I had a LOT of clothes. There were clothes under the bed (in suction bag things), clothes in the wardrobe, clothes in the laundry hamper, clothes on the floor and yet there was still no room in my drawers. My aunt can attest to my usage of a wardrobe and 2 chests of draws, and that was after I'd got rid of 3/4's of my clothing!
So, here I did feel a little bereft when I realised I would have to wear the same top about once a week. However over the last few weeks my wardrobe has gone forth and multiplied. I have a theory that the community has got together and organised all this clothing for me to ensure I will stop wearing the less tznius newspaper and garbage bag options. Suddenly all these perfectly sized clothes are flying out of no where. Sapir found a recycling bag of clothing a wee while ago (here those sorts of things are up for grabs), then last week one of the mother's gave me a skirt as a present, then comes the weekend and Sapir announces there are more clothes. Basically in the space of a month I have gone from my meager suitcase of clothing (plus the extras Mum brought over) to a full wardrobe, suitcase and draws. I now cannot remember what clothes I have. Usually I decide my clothes before I get up in the morning, it's my motivation to get up :) However this morning I had to stand at the wardrobe and pull everything out to figure out what clothes I own. I am going to guess I now have about 30 or 40 skirts, and somewhere near 100 tops. The worst news is I can't actually keep them all. My wardrobe is going to have to be carefully sorted and many surrendered in about 6 months time. On the plus side if it continues to multiply I could open a second hand clothing shop in my bedroom.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Dreams are what make the stars sparkle and the moon shine :)
I have now set myself a budget and stuck to it, which means I am saving well. I have so far managed to rangle one extra hour of work, and I'm contemplating (as in hoping something will pop up in the Jewish news) getting some babysitting sometime soon to help me save. However I've realised tonight that this isn't quite enough. It will be great to arrive in Israel with some money to go shopping, and with my small grasp of Hebrew I could probably survive it. But I can only read the block Hebrew writing, and I will need cursive. Also my vocabulary is great if you want to talk about food, colours or numbers however beyond this you may as well speak chinese to me. So with an attempt to be a grown up and think ahead, I am going to begin concerted Hebrew learning! My focus: Vocabulary and cursive hebrew with some handy phrases thrown in for good measure. I think it is finally time to pull the flash cards out of my Hebrew book and use them!!!
I just have to figure out some sort of study programme that I will actually do. I'm contemplating beautiful sticker charts and perhaps employing roomates to help.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Pinch and a punch for the first of the month
Monday, July 26, 2010
Israeli Culture Lesson 1 (or maybe lesson 1278)
As the game progressed I noticed a surprising amount of people knew each others cards. I assumed this was due to extreme attention being paid (the sort I can't be bothered giving to a card game). I naively continued to play and was surprised that people appeared to also know a large amount about my cards. Then as the game was coming to a close I noticed people were actually willingly showing each other their cards and there was no need for subtlety before looking at someones cards. I have never been the best at hiding my cards but I have this innocent expectation that people don't actually try and look at them. The entire game I avoided looking at other peoples cards meanwhile everyone else knew at the very least what the people on either side of them had. Finally after the points had been scored people started to share other information. Not only had everyone looked at each others cards, cards has also been slipped to one another and who knows what else!
I have learned a vital lesson for future card games, cheating is not only allowed but encouraged and if I want to lose every single card game I should continue to be honest. Oy the moral decay has begun! However, really I will hold onto my ideal of cards. It's really not the same when everyone cheats! No one truly wins which is a very disappointing end to the game.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Itchy feet
The little terrified child inside of me wants to go and lie on mum's couch for the rest of my life. The adventurous, dominant version of myself would like to be in Israel already. Of course being a planner I am screaming "THIS WASN'T THE PLAN" but if I could be there already I would be.
I have also just discovered if I go with Korean Airlines I can fly there and back for around AUD$2000, about half the price of the others. I'm really not looking forward to the idea of flying that far, but it's a little shorter than 40 years so I guess I should be happy :) So there's my pondering for the night, whether it materialises into concrete plans remains to be seen but it certainly makes this world a little more interesting. Shabbat Shalom everyone!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Hello again
I think the hardest thing about writing a blog is actually picking a title. You guys don't actually care because the only people reading this are those who care enough about me to want to know I am alive. So really I could just write yes I'm still alive every time and not write anything else. However, for some reason I have this need to sit and ponder the theme of my blog, and the theme of my last week, all just to write a title. Now that I have outlined my dilemma maybe I should actually write a blog :P
This week we have had tisha b'av, which is the day the temple in Yerushalayim was destroyed amidst other things. It's one of those days when I love living in a Jewish community. (I do all the time, but sometimes I REALLY do) We had the day off work and those of us that were going to be fasting were allowed to leave work early the day before. Unfortunately I was sick but had I been well there were various classes to go to and services everywhere. Even better than all of this though; when I walked to my friends to break the fast everyone in the neighbourhood was out and about buying food also. It's so nice to live in an area where every time of joy and every time of sorrow is celebrated communally.
I honestly feel sometimes like I live in a small town, I walk down the street and know most of the people. I know almost everyone in my apartment complex and have a couple of good friends in my apartment complex. I am always being invited everywhere and everyone is in my business. Also, if I am sick about 5 pots of chicken soup will somehow appear on my doorstep. On Shabbat you can walk down the road and greet everyone with Shabbat Shalom. At the time when meals usually finish on Friday night there will be Jew's EVERWHERE. It's a custom not to do washing during the 9 days leading up tisha b'av so suddenly this afternoon the washing lines will be full of everyones washing. On Friday when I go to buy challot the place is full, we have to take numbers and wait for our number to be called. Yet everyone is happy they are preparing for Shabbat. No one cares that they will be waiting for the next half an hour, everyone stands and chats.
I don't think I can convey the joy of living with people like me, people who understand my train of thought, or the problem I am trying to get around. When someone offers me a cup of tea here I don't have to try and figure out if it can be made kosherly, and when someone offers me a cake I can take it. I'm no longer the annoying person at work or uni who has to have specific days off. More importantly everyone know's why it matters. Torah isn't seen as some ancient outdated set of rules that we should give up because we are now 'modern.' I don't have to explain why I do what I do. Everyone understands the beauty of torah to one extent to or another. They intrinsically understand what it means to me, I am respected for the things I am ridiculed for in other groups.
Of course after all my rambling about being in a community I still want to be in Israel. It's great that we have these communities around the world, but it's time to move back to our country. Sapir's ima made my day yesterday and probably my whole week. She said I have a family in Israel and always a room in their house. :D Honestly anyone know a quick way to make money so I can say goodbye to my student loan and get on a plane to ISRAEL? I am currently contemplating becoming an author, however I think that is actually a slow way to make money and I don't actually know if I want to open myself up to so much ridicule. Also, there is cotton picking in summer here which I could always go and do. Sucks as a job and I would have to learn to deal with serious heat, however very very good money. Enough to pay off a reasonable amount of my student loan and go to Israel.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
She came on Thursday night. Sadly my Hebrew had disappeared. I couldn't understand anything. Now I can but I really have to work to understand the conversation. I dreamt in Hebrew on Friday night which was very exciting, well in my dream I spoke Hebrew and everyone else spoke English but still I was speaking in full sentences. Also Shannon came earlier this week, so I have had a big friends week. Shannon has disappeared now but Sapir is here for another two weeks. Apparently according to my awful friends I now have a bit of an australian accent, and with Sapir here I have begun dropping my h. Which makes me want to keep typing ere instead of here.
I will write more later, it is rather difficult to write in english while communicating in Hebrew.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Home time :)
I was expecting the mall to be a bit different from NZ. I must admit it did have a few more stories to it than the chch ones, and the train station at the bottom was a novelty. Beyond that, the shops were pretty much identical. There was even a NZ Natural stall!!!! I honestly felt like I was home. Aus is missing one important red shop...I had to go on a very big walk outside the mall to find an equivalent. Now I truly feel like I have found my feet!
Combined with this I had an amazing Friday! I ran the room in the afternoon, the children didn't get enough sleep and it was a short day...In other words everything should have fallen to pieces but IT DIDN'T! The children were calm and happy, everything got done on time, my mat session went well and they all went home smiling. I even got a hug from my boss at the end of the day!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The zoo aka work
For the last two weeks work has been reasonably calm and relaxing. The two directors of the creche are like extreme balls of energy buzzing around the place. One of these balls is a tad more extreme than the other and she has been in the states for two weeks. Today she came buzzing back in. Suddenly everything needed to be cleaned, systems were changed, jobs were given out. On a normal day this would be ok, on parents visiting day it is insane! The children were late to bed because of their parents and they were so hyped up after all the visitors that each child was another bubbly little energy ball.
After sleep time things appeared calm until the director decided to clean the lizard cage. The poor lizard was left to ammuse itself on the floor. Unfortunately someone (called me) taught the children that you are supposed to scream when you see a lizard. From this point on there was a general chorus of children screaming, teacher's yelling at said children to go back to the table, and then the occasional adult scream as they realised there was a lizard under or near their feet.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Internet addiction
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Update
Other than this I am contemplating moving, I think the guy down the hall may have some serious problems. I know I talk to myself but this guy really does take the cake, he starts at about 6 in the morning and talks about anything and everything for the entire day. He also manages to put approximately 10 wine bottles in the recycling a week which is a tad concerning, and he gets very angry (ammusingly so) when you raise the issue of anything he could do better, and since there are a lot of those it isn't the greatest living situation. I have put a complaint in to the housing people here, unfortunately my landlord can't just kick him out due to his 'rights.' However, I'm hoping my rights and the rights of the other tenant might trump his and I might not have to move.
Failing this I have a couple of friends wanting to move somewhere plus my roomate here, so we can at least fill a four bedroom place somewhere.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
In love
I am also surrounded by a different type of 'love'. The guy down the hall has currently had a different girl over 7 nights in a row. I'm not exactly sure what to say to them when I'm introduced to them, tonight I really was tempted to comment about how I thought she had blonde hair or something of the like.
Anyway now that I'm finished with my whinges I'll tell you about my love. He is absolutely gorgeous, has dark brown hair, a really friendly selection of friends, and he's 2 and a half. In fact I'm in love with all of the children in my group they are all gorgeous. This one made my day on Monday, I'd just got to work, he got off his bed and came over. "Hello, hello. Moreh Margalit, I love you" I can't think of many other jobs when you get hugged just for walking in the door. I've had more hugs in the last two weeks than the rest of my life.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Rain, rain come over here!
On the other hand I am also aware that too much rain is a bit of an issue for my wee country that used to be across the ditch. I was informed this week that you have now been completely submerged and I am officially a refugee. While you are all developing the required gills, scales and fins I am about to begin enjoying the benefits of refugee status.
On another note, I love my work at the creche. The children are fantastic, the bosses are great and I even enjoy nappy changing time. I know most of you can't really see me in a creche environment but I am in my element. I think sleep time may have a little something to do with it, I am paid to sit in a dark room with classical music playing rubbing children's backs for an hour and a half. Of course none of the children understand what I'm saying, if I want to get them to go to their beds I have to say "Go to bad." If I say it properly they look at me like I have three heads and then proceed to ignore me completely.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Helllllloooooooo
The news is I HAVE INTERNET!!!! My new best friend is a white plastic stick, it plugs into my computer and very nicely provides me a connection to the rest of the world. I think it is possible that I am addicted to the internet, the withdrawl symptoms were not nice and I was very quick to return to the habit, however I don't think it's too dangerous so I plan to keep my white stick friend for a very long time!
In other news, I ate the best pizza in the world tonight. I fully recommend Shemesh pizza's and if anyone wants to go out for one with me I will make myself available.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The wonderful world of bureaucracy
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The News
I now have a job at a beautiful creche. They loved me, I loved it so everything is nice. I begin full time in a months time and up until then they will give me part time. Finally I don't have to put unemployed on all the forms. Now I just have to brave all the paperwork and then I have a job!!!
In other news, the Indian girl is grumpy with me becuase the landlord gave me a new matress and she is now planning to move out!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Independence!!!! (I have some)
Once I've finished with all of those questions I get the joy of going home to my Indian neighbour. Apparently it is perfectly acceptable to bang on someones door, loudly and for approximately 5 minutes, at 7 in the morning. It is also acceptable to do the same thing while yelling at midnight. I did begin to think there might be something seriously wrong the first time, so I got up and opened the door. Not stopping to apologise, the girl walks in and begins to chat about nothing. She knew full well I had been up at 2 the night before, if she'd done some simple maths she would have discovered I had not had 8 hours sleep and would not yet be interested in chatting. Bearing in mind I have only known the girl for a day one would expect a certain level of privacy. For example if I tell you I am "Just going out" I am just going out. Where I am going, what time I will be home, the number of people there, the gender of the people there, the religion of the people there, the mode of transport I will be taking, the time this will take and the weather at the time I will be going are all none of your business. If they were some of your business then I would have deemed to answer these questions, as I did not the general response would be "Have a good time" followed by walking into your room and leaving me alone!!! We have had one break through in the last day, she did acknowledge I was indepenent. I am hoping this knowledge will soon transfer into an adjustment of communication. As of yet it has not, my unwillingness to eat her food has now been translated as anorexia. This is now of great concern, while I was sitting eating 2 sandwiches I needed to be questioned on my eating habits. Hello!! I am eating two sandwiches, you saw me cook tea and make breakfast, you also saw me have afternoon tea. All of these meals were larger than a normal persons portion, provided there is no unusual toilet stops and while I am not fat, the general assumption would be I don't have an eating condition. Now that I have finished my whinge I will add a disclaimer, she is a very nice girl living in another country from her family, she is lonely and I am one of the few people she see's outside of work hours. I can't imagine being in her situation, and it must be very hard. She is also learning quickly, she only banged on my door once last night (or morning) my light was still on and she was somewhat quieter in her approach. I am also learning, I told her we would talk in the morning and did not unlock the door.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Independence?
So here is my list of everything everyone has done for me in the space of three days. One woman got me an interview for a job and another with the Beit Din, she decided to make these two appointments right after each other and decided that she would drive me to the second. Next, my friend organised the shul I was going to (something I actually did ask for). This followed by an invitation for the entire shabbat to a Rabbi's place. After this I was invited to a lecture, and a shiur today. At the shiur two women argued over the pros and cons of my social events on Tuesday. Following on from this I was invited back to one of these women's places for a meal, which was the perfect time for her to organise me a new place to live.
Now I am going to apparently a wonderful place for a week. Of course I was actually perfectly happy at my backpackers, and I was actually looking forward to my tea at the backpackers and more to the point I like being independent. I would be happy to live in a backpackers if I could just have the privilege of organising my own life!!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Day 2 and 3
Yesterday I went on a mammoth search for a mall. I found a little underground thing with Mall written on it, (not a mall) and when I finally asked where the mall was I was told I was in it. Apparently Melbournians like to make-believe that streets packed full of black suits and lots of shops I don't want to go into, are malls. I did successfuly find a Target and I bought some very well priced fry-pans, which may actually survive. It still puzzles me why Australia can't use Eftpos more often, everyone pays with cash which means lines are very long, which makes grumpy business men even more grumpy.
After that somewhat successful trip which also involved a successful trip to the bank, I boarded the right train and got off at the right stop. I then walked in the right direction up the right street for approximately 20 minutes before deciding I was walking the wrong way. I then walked in the wrong direction on the right street for about 20 minutes, at which point I realised my mistake. Finally I walked in the right direction on the right street for half an hour bought my groceries and walked all the way back again.
Today I am about to venture out into the big wide world again, find myself some food and then off to the Museum. I haven't really adjusted to the small change in time yet, right now I feel like it should be 3 and my day should be almost gone but no it is only 1 and I have plenty of time left.
Penguins tonight :) Thanks for all the emails and comments on mediums other than this about my blog. I love that I can sit down and babble and people thank me for it!!!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Day 1
The first day in
I survived the mission of getting my very heavy suitcase (it even got an orange label) heavy handbag, heavy laptop case and two coats from the airport to the tram, and then the tram to the back packers. They let me check in 2 hours early which I was very happy about and then I took off to the parade. The parade was awesome, everyone who I know was there almost, plus hundreds of people I don’t know. I was astounded with how many Jews there actually are, and I only saw a very small portion. After the parade we went to the carnival, I had a hamburger and then decided I was too exhausted and it was time to go to bed. Unfortunately I was also too tired to sus out the bus system so instead of sleeping I took myself on a full walking tour of the Jewish suburbs. I now know where almost everything is, and how to get to just about everywhere except my back-packers. The lessons I have learned so far are: Melbourne’s malls require googling to find, if I want to hear Hebrew and find meat Balaclava is the place to go, Melbourne is very big, if you turn left at McDonalds you will not find Coles (nor if you turn right, go straight ahead or anything else for that matter), Caulfield is a long way to walk from St Kilda and finally overseas call centre people get a little titchy when it is the third time you’ve rung them in the space of 20 minutes.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Aus=NZ?
Sooo, landline anyone?
Thursday, April 22, 2010
This blogging thing....
Yes, I have jumped into the world of blogging.
I'm not a huge fan of this blogging concept. I have a theory that no one actually cares what I ate for breakfast or which tooth I brushed first this morning (or the thought process involved in my decision to blog). Buuut I pretty much suck at keeping in touch with people, so this is my solution.
This is my version of bulk emails, so no you will not receive those ginormous things in your inboxes (by the way if you do write me bulk emails, I love them, they are fantastic and I feel so privileged to receive them!) if you want to know what's going on in my life you'll find it here. Oh, I also like phone calls by the way.
Before I go any further, has anyone else noticed I somehow created three of these things? When I go to my profile there are three Megan's World things. I would really like to have only one of these, so if someone understands this blogger thing......???
As far as excitement goes in my life, I have nearly completed selling my life on trademe. I think I have spent more time replying to emails and stupid questions in the last two days than the rest of my life. My ticket is booked to Melbourne, I have to be at the airport at 4 in the morning!!! I'm guessing no sleep Saturday night, that's what you get for making up your mind a week before. However possibly it is the best time to fly, it is my first overseas move, it does deserve at least one sleepless night!
BTW, the plan is a movie/games/I don't really care what we do night, on the Saturday night. Feel free to come visit sometime after 8 and before 3 if you want to say goodbye and possibly leave with some trademe rejects. Send me a text or email if you want my address.
Next question: are you supposed to sign off on blogs? And what is the official ruling on appropriate ways to sign blogs?