tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66791473993584628122012-01-11T16:46:27.810Z"In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles" - David Ben GurionFrenchienoreply@blogger.comBlogger701100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-28964344423194678772011-02-14T15:06:00.001Z2011-02-22T09:53:38.631Z

This will get updated as I see more things that make me smile. The happy little African refugee employed by the toy shop a few streets away to stand on the pavement and blow bubbles all day. That a rainbow was actually the main item on Israel's evening news the other day. (Yes, yes, the Egyptians are revolting, but look! A rainbow! That never happens!) The sign on Hertzl Street that mistakenly

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-7336751877552032942011-02-07T10:22:00.000Z2011-02-07T10:22:48.624Z

The day-before-yesterday (an ungainly turn of phrase for which many other languages have a single word) was the Other Half and my two-year anniversary. This has been the longest relationship of my life for about 15 months now - a relatively unimpressive fact given my age but moving on... - and the first time I have really found someone I feel I could grow old with without developing homicidal

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-3035370230616657112010-12-02T00:23:00.000Z2010-12-02T00:23:31.246Z

As you may have gathered from Facebook, I have gone and got meself a job so that I can feed myself while writing this thesis. It's basically just customer support for an internet start-up company, nothing glamorous. But they wanted me for my Frenchness so perhaps I get classiness points for that. If you go here you can see the kind of thing I do, and even catch a glimpse of a terrible photo of me

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-92007870563221814442010-10-20T16:09:00.000+01:002010-10-20T16:09:41.145+01:00

I've previously mentioned in passing on this here blog that I consider myself a Zionist, but I've never really gone into what I mean by that. Recent events in this country have got me thinking a lot about the nature of Zionism, so forgive me as I blogasm (in copious amounts) all over your screen. Let's start with what I don't believe. Many of those who call themselves Zionists believe in the

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-56715686140061631482010-10-08T15:56:00.000+01:002010-10-08T15:56:36.012+01:00

The title of this blog, for those of you who haven't noticed, is 'Believing in Miracles'. Originally it was a somewhat optimistic take on the regional conflict, but yesterday I realised its true application. If you have spoken to me or read this blog at any point in the last six months, you will be aware that I have been in the process of applying for a settlement visa in Israel, giving my

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-37807382650652195632010-09-14T22:13:00.000+01:002010-09-14T22:13:16.075+01:00

Just spent a few days visiting my sister at uni in Preston. She's just moved into a new house with 6 other people for her final year, and invited me to join them there for a taste of Freshers' week. Having gone gallivanting abroad to study, I never experienced this cultural phenomenon, so it was an enticing opportunity. The house is a very nice three-storey terrace, with 1.5 kitchens, a lounge,

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-58897293796866214312010-09-05T21:57:00.000+01:002010-09-05T21:57:40.974+01:00

...or indeed not. I'm not actually Welsh at all,* but I think Wales is wonderful. Curiously, I often receive sceptical looks when I say that, which (with a similar regularity) merely demonstrates whether or not my interlocutor has ever visited the lovely little country in question. Welsh people are the cheeriest, most down-to-earth, funniest people I have yet come across in my travels. They have

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-69732690589685820642010-08-01T15:16:00.001+01:002010-08-01T16:49:56.749+01:00

An interview in which Israeli President Shimon Peres called the British anti-semites hit the news today. I'm not entirely sure what brought this about, but I'd rather he hadn't. I'm sort of sick of Israelis screaming anti-semitism every time someone criticises them. I love Israel, despite all my complaining, but for fuck's sake you people can be so bloody infantile. No, Mr. Peres, Britain is not

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-84778655029604201532010-07-27T09:25:00.000+01:002010-07-27T09:25:48.143+01:00

The yearly period of flux and uncertainty, that so many others name Summer, is almost upon us, in a dazzling cacophony of confusion, and unlike many people I feel little love for this season. For half a decade now it has heralded vast, earth-shattering, yet utterly lethargic changes in my life. Not a summer has passed since 2005 in which I have not either moved apartments, or indeed country, and

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-32854743874952177412010-07-22T14:10:00.000+01:002010-07-22T14:10:41.988+01:00

I'm in a good mood today, so rejoice, O ye peoples of the world! Why might that be? you ask. Because today I battled Israeli bureaucracy and it wasn't entirely useless and incompetent, hurrah! Je m'explique (apparently I slip into French when I'm happy, that's interesting). Israel has this tax called arnona, which basically translates as council tax (pour les grenouilles, ça se traduit par taxe

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-43694358887120590362010-07-04T11:52:00.000+01:002010-07-04T11:52:23.183+01:00

So after jumping through multitudinous administrative hoops, including sending perfectly good documents back to the UK in order to receive a fancy piece of paper saying they were ultra-legal rather than just boring old legal, we have finally got a date for our interview. October. Yes, that's right, 3 months from now. Because the Israeli Interior Ministry are so busy, they can't fit us in for a

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-87791307696064833782010-06-25T08:57:00.002+01:002010-06-25T08:57:25.702+01:00

This is why Germany is so cool:

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-55489024679480889272010-06-11T20:03:00.000+01:002010-06-11T20:03:11.903+01:00

Today was ye olde pride parade in Tel Aviv, (not) the jewel of the Mediterranean. It was hopelessly hot, causing a surprising number of young men to wear barely anything at all (see picture). Well, I say surprising, but we gays apparently need no excuse to flaunt our perfect, gym-sculpted bodies... Or something. I need to get me one of those, they look fun. There were more Israeli flags this

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-8781715880311550282010-06-02T19:23:00.000+01:002010-06-02T19:23:07.753+01:00

Dearie me, I have been a grumpy old git the last few posts. Anyone would think I despair for the fate of humanity... In an effort to be more up-beat, let's catch you up with stuff what I 'ave been up to (stuff up to which I have been?). Errrrrm after spending most of this degree attempting to ignore the fact that I have nine 6,000-ish-word seminar papers to research and write, I went crazy in

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-10923638706490195992010-06-02T14:14:00.000+01:002010-06-02T14:14:34.259+01:00

My flatmate and I just had a strange conversation in which he confessed his fear that the current Israeli hoohah will spark another regional war in which hundreds, if not thousands, of missiles will fall on Tel Aviv, and he expressed a desire to leave the country as soon as possible. My only reaction was 'Oh, alright then'. I can't explain it, but I just can't bring myself to worry too much

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-49132722716264305772010-05-31T13:41:00.001+01:002010-05-31T14:48:46.981+01:00

Imagine you're the commander of the so-called 'Freedom Flotilla', allegedly taking aid to Gaza. A message comes over the radio. It's an IDF transmission; "Do not attempt to approach Gaza by sea or we will take all measures necessary to stop you. Proceed to the port of Ashdod and the humanitarian aid will be allowed to enter Gaza by land." What do you do? a) Turn the fuck away from the Israeli

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-18324389015803486972010-05-24T14:05:00.000+01:002010-05-24T14:05:25.627+01:00

Now I'm not saying anything against the idea of helping the people living in Gaza, but this video makes a good point:

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-88688251859481581382010-04-30T10:06:00.000+01:002010-04-30T10:06:08.255+01:00

You know how I always complain (well, perhaps not online) about how the the Palestinian élite do nothing but whine about how mean the Israelis are, and how powerless they are, but how they never actually do anything? Well this man is my new favourite person. Ignore those bloody settlers, ignore the wall, ignore the roadblocks, forget those outrageous claims to sovereignty over all the land

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-70043177152958482622010-04-25T14:16:00.000+01:002010-04-25T14:16:14.278+01:00

This morning I was queuing for the ATM, behind a man in uniform that kept wandering around. Eventually he was standing just behind my right shoulder, looking the other way, when one of the machines became free. I turned around, tapped him on the shoulder, gesticulated to the ATM, and said (in Hebrew), 'You were here before me'. He gave me this look of pure astonishment, that I hadn't simply

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-46660978784636554532010-04-17T05:51:00.000+01:002010-04-17T05:51:20.222+01:00

Excuse me for being a massive gay, but I really love Greece's entry this year. The song starts at 1:28ish after lots of 'artistic' posing. Look out for the dancers, for they are FINE. Also, Israel's entry (version with English transmogrifilation) gets inexplicably stuck in my head.

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-47158610396474267772010-04-11T02:17:00.000+01:002010-04-11T02:17:16.666+01:00

I don't want to speak ill of the recently-deceased, or to belittle the tragedy, but the way I see it is 'one less homophobic bastard in power, several thousand to go'.

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-21882166733596726102010-04-08T08:46:00.001+01:002010-04-11T02:17:48.411+01:00

Looks like a brilliant party. Sorry for the image quality, phone camera...

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-45270807986814187752010-03-25T07:45:00.001Z2010-03-25T07:46:30.548Z

1. An Israeli diplomat is expelled from the United Kingdom in response to Israel's alleged forgery of UK passports and their use in international subterfuge by the Mossad. 2. Several members of the Israeli Knesset react by calling the British 'dogs', and claiming that this is pure anti-semitism disguised as anti-Zionism. 3. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu criticised for allowing

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-17700472805627945502010-03-18T18:05:00.000Z2010-03-18T18:05:40.857Z

...give me homicidal tendencies. I mean that in the nicest way. Especially when they basically say that the Palestinian people don't exist and should be paid to go away. And some of the talkbacks are frankly disgusting, on both sides. Sometimes I can't help thinking that these stubborn racists deserve each other. Then I remember the normal people who don't waste their time polluting cyberspace

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-2457845723357589902010-03-13T17:11:00.001Z2010-03-14T12:26:56.703Z

As most people know, I spent some years studying Japanese language, culture and history, before changing (losing?!) focus somewhat and moving to the Middle East. Conventional wisdom posits that Israelis and Japanese are polar opposites; one is a polite and quiet people with infamously inflexible rules and norms of society, whereas the other is a rude and noisy people who appear to believe that

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-26607515192393024832010-03-09T08:24:00.002Z2010-03-09T08:31:40.089Z

Well, it appears Winter is over. Israel is currently experiencing chamsin - an Arabic word meaning "fifty", because they apparently have fifty of these days a year. The Hebrew word sharav just means "heat-wave", but let me attempt to put the actual experience into English words:Hot-wind-hot-sand-in-your-face-oh-so-much-sweat-heat-sand-everywhere-hazy-choking-hotness.Not currently looking forward

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-74575977642605180042010-03-05T08:52:00.002Z2010-03-05T09:21:13.853Z

So, with any luck, this will be my final semester at TAU. True to form, I have left pretty much all the work to the end, which means I am basically stuck in one long AAAAAAAAAAARRGH until about July. Again, with any luck. If I don't finish this semester I do have another 3 years, but that involves more money so I can use the library, and I don't want to give myself the feeling that I have more

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-87175668498714462692010-01-07T16:18:00.003Z2010-01-07T16:42:57.348Z

The winter 'holiday' period is over, thankfully, which means we can finally all get back to the relentless daily tedium of our unimportant monotonous little lives ... I mean, yes, Happy New Year. My family were over in Israel over Christmas, so we had quite a cosy little celebration amidst their whirlwind tour of the land-that-some-call-holy.I simultaneously adore and loath having guests. I

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-86748144975428563522009-12-18T12:46:00.004Z2010-09-05T22:09:03.064+01:00

Due to the general silliness in the way the gas works in the building I live in, we are currently bereft of gas with which to cook. So I boiled pasta in the kettle. Badass. One an entirely unrelated note, last night I went with my flatmate and the other half to see Avatar. I wanted to see this film for the simple reason that it included floating mountains, blue people and explosions. I was not

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-4909951854015017902009-12-13T07:11:00.002Z2009-12-13T07:15:30.555Z

My friend works in a bar called La Perla, in Florentine, which is an area of Tel Aviv. Last night was the bar's 4th birthday, so we went down to celebrate. There was belly dancing on the bar, strange games to be played, and buy-one-get-one-free beer. Among all this revelry, I was mildly surprised and tremendously overjoyed when the theme tune to Nellie the Elephant came on. Nellie the Elephant!

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-28919040496677570202009-12-06T15:52:00.005Z2010-03-11T14:26:51.433Z

Since coming to Tel Aviv I've been enjoying the classes, but the seminars weren't quite the forums for discussion or thought-provoking sessions I had expected them to be. They were generally interesting, often given by world-famous historians in their respective fields, but my overall impression was that so long as I wrote a decent final paper, it wouldn't matter what I said or did in the

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-22638272023870326162009-12-02T13:57:00.003Z2009-12-03T14:20:41.824Z

Yesterday on the way back from uni I was seated at the back of the bus, totally ignoring the world around me. I was vaguely aware that I was surrounded by other students but in all honesty they could have been yellow parrots in top hats for all I noticed.I gradually became conscious that the students in my immediate vicinity weren't speaking Hebrew, English or Russian (the three most common

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-61828339080771891092009-11-13T12:25:00.002Z2009-11-13T12:40:11.322Z

This Wednesday at 11 o'clock GMT I quietly excused myself from our Arabic class and went and stood outside the classroom for a few minutes.No siren blew like it did on Israel's Remembrance Day, no cars stopped in the streets, and no-one noticed the solitary Englishman standing in the corridor, silently remembering.I thought I'd just share with you my favourite war poem today, which is called 'In

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-85814683338110333412009-11-06T15:07:00.004Z2009-11-12T09:28:37.986Z

I am a self-confessed Zionist; I believe that the Jews as a people have the right to self-determination.I am a pragmatist; I believe that given the current state of affairs, the state of the Jews may as well be geographically situated where it already is: Israel.This is normally where I should start talking about the Palestinians, however they are not directly relevant to what I want to talk

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-72202818760506250962009-08-14T14:25:00.002+01:002009-08-14T14:32:59.825+01:00

This post is named after my plant, who asked to be recognised in some way. I would also like to thank Roger for cooling down my PC, who otherwise is prone to swooning in a Blue Screen of Death-inspired fit, and Theodore for preventing me from sweating all over the sofa.Next time I name an inanimate object perhaps I'll put it up here in the form of a poll.I don't know how many people bother to

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-65457407063780268222009-08-14T13:46:00.002+01:002009-08-14T14:24:52.138+01:00

A lot has been said recently about the attack on the gay community centre in Nachmani Street and the murder of a teenage girl and a young counselor. The attack, defined as a hate crime even by the President of Israel Shimon Peres, may indeed have been ideologically-motivated. The killer may have been inspired by hate-filled vitriol spouted by religious leaders, however I would like to stress one

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-89458200523899503532009-07-09T13:28:00.004+01:002009-07-09T14:51:37.602+01:00

I know I said I'd write about this ages ago, but you know how life has that habit of getting in the way of things? Voilà.The Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade was fun. Started off as a kind of festival in this park in central Tel Aviv, then we all wandered off into the streets in a wonderful kaleidoscope of colour before ending up at some kind of beach party thing. It wasn't life-changing, but it was

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-68111442543275228932009-06-11T19:00:00.005+01:002009-06-11T20:05:22.689+01:00

That title sounds a little post-modern and avant-gardist, doesn't it? The post itself is probably neither of those things. Meh.So tomorrow Iranians go to the polls to decide whether they want to keep the slightly unhinged Ahmadinejad in power, or if they want to go for someone a smidgeon less radical. One good thing about President Crazy is he has made all the other crazies look less... crazy -_-

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-42485518019190169562009-05-30T13:22:00.003+01:002009-05-30T13:49:21.560+01:00

I know, I know, it sounds like something from the Royal Republic of Shmoo right? But I kid you not. The other day was the Jewish festival of Shavuot, which is supposed to be the day God gave Moses the 10 commandments, but somehow it has become a festival of all things dairy, including cheese! If you don't believe me, believe wikipedia.It was also the birthday of one of the girls on my course, the

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-67220171796366024162009-04-21T09:31:00.002+01:002009-04-21T09:38:12.437+01:00

I was on my way to the Hebrew office today to do an exam for which I had been absent, when the wailing tones of a siren cut through the warm morning air.People froze in their tracks at the sound of the siren, cars stopped in the roads, yet this was no air-raid. Those in vehicles exited them and joined us pedestrians in standing to attention for one full minute, in remembrance of those killed in

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-58732414530474666662009-03-11T15:33:00.002Z2009-03-11T15:42:13.776Z

All my life I had gone with only the vaguest knowledge as to what these mysterious 'internet cookie' things are. Thankfully the BBC has come to my aid in a recent article, with a tremendous explanation:"a cookie - a small piece of text that lives inside a web browser"Upon reading that sentence, does anyone else imagine a feral snippet of Shakespeare inhabiting a little room in cyberworld (most

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-55308713775238403622009-03-09T13:15:00.003Z2009-03-09T13:35:05.612Z

Let's see how many of you get that reference.So I've never experienced Purim before. For those of you who don't know what it is, Wikipedia is your friend. It's actually tomorrow, but as I've probably explained before, Jewish holidays actually start at sunset the evening before the actual holiday. Odd, I know.Anyway, there's a saying that all Jewish holidays have the same theme: "Someone tried to

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-27325303560934475542009-02-25T13:00:00.002Z2009-02-25T13:20:20.128Z

It's been an interesting fortnight, I can tell you that. Vienna was beautiful, and snowboarding in Schladming (see above, also in Austria) was fantastic. It snowed every day, and we had a splendid time. The last day I lost all reason and traded my board in for a pair of blades. Bearing in mind that I haven't skied since I was about 14, and these things are quite crazy, I think I did quite well

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-75222131264790639092009-02-12T10:22:00.002Z2009-02-12T10:35:20.244Z

Flying home today, will be in the UK for about 24 hours before flying to Austria with the family (minus Nicole, who doesn't have holidays) for a week of snowboarding in the Alps.The recent elections here really did go out with a whimper. There was very little campaigning that I could see, other than the various posters with their generic slogans. The only one that really stuck in my head was the

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-67865326928084141822009-02-08T14:47:00.003Z2010-06-09T20:28:25.249+01:00

A Kasbah, according to wikipedia, is an Islamic citadel, or walled keep; a sanctuary or haven separate and protected from the crazy world around. It's also the name of the café I will be working in from tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock sharp! We had training today, and I had to learn how to work a coffee machine (aaargh nooo! heresy!!). The other people who work there all seem nice, and luckily I

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-4022541344406144232009-02-06T09:52:00.002Z2009-02-06T10:03:03.430Z

Yup, that's how you know the majority of people on your course are American; you start giving holidays silly names.Not to say that I mind having a month off between semesters 1 and 2, I just can't think of a better name for this 'February Holiday', which is a little frustrating. Back home it's hardly spring (snoooooooow!) but here if I were to go out into the sun at the moment I would soon be

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-36308312439581880652009-02-05T16:09:00.003Z2009-02-05T16:44:18.058Z

I promise this is the last road trip entry, and then I will try to get back to regular updates ok?So from the Dead Sea we drove south to Mitzpe Ramon, which is in the middle of the Negev Desert. Mitzpe is Hebrew for 'look-out', and it's a good name for a little settlement hanging off the edge of a huge crater called Makhtesh Ramon, the biggest crater in the Middle East (or so I'm told...) It's

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-5556577337064729452009-01-08T20:47:00.004Z2009-01-08T21:32:50.188Z

My tardiness in finishing this trip really is execrable. My humblest apologies, and I hope you'll bear with me.After Jerusalem we drove south-east towards the Dead Sea, but stopped just before we got there to camp just off the road next to this little place known as Masada. If you haven't heard of it, Wikipedia is a better teacher than I, but I can tell you that is was the site of the last stand

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-13874788222664496902008-11-29T08:39:00.002Z2008-11-29T09:05:25.670Z

After our escapades at the Kinneret, we drove southwards to Jerusalem. Interestingly, the West Bank wasn't marked on the map. Even more interestingly, we had to drive through it to get to Jerusalem, or else go on a 3-hour detour... Bugger.Surprisingly enough, it's actually quite a nice place. Don't believe all the shiznik you hear about the Palestinians not having jobs and all that; there were

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-19014983052827087832008-11-28T14:39:00.002Z2008-11-28T15:22:15.163Z

Anyone who's ever had anything to do with Christianity will have heard of the Sea of Galilee, mainly because this is where Jesus is supposed to have spent most of his life. He is said to have walked upon its waters, and several of the New Testament's most significant stories are set in the steep hills of its northern coast.Our first day upon arriving at the Kinneret (Hebrew for Sea of Galilee)

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-21376289261247549152008-11-01T13:53:00.006Z2008-11-02T18:23:52.203Z

If you're the type that follows international politics, you will have heard of the Golan Heights. If you look at a map of Israel it's the bit on the top-right, next to Syria. For those of you who've never heard of the Golan, it's a part of Israel that used to be part of Syria until one of the big Arab-Israeli free-for-alls, when Syria, Egypt, Jordan, etc. decided simultaneously to attack the

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-38775605033920130242008-10-28T12:34:00.006Z2008-10-28T13:12:48.350Z

So after hiring the car and filling it with all our stuff, we drove north from Tel Aviv up the coast, passing through Netanya and other seaside towns. We stopped off in Caesaria, a ruined city built by Herod the Great in the Roman style. It was nice to wander round and see the coliseum and the palaces etc.In the evening we arrived in Haifa; a lovely port city and location of the Bahá'í Temple of

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-81358775158988405302008-10-26T06:51:00.002Z2008-10-26T06:54:19.027Z

I'm back in my lovely flat in Tel Aviv again. Road-trip was flippin' awesome; I'll be writing about it in the days to come, spreading it out over a few posts. Pictures will mainly go on facebook.It's good to be home.

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-27037820499459490062008-10-11T10:48:00.003+01:002008-10-11T11:16:52.531+01:00

You know what I miss most about Japan, living in Israel? Public transport.In this country, from about 4pm on Friday to about 6pm Saturday, there are no buses or trains, and taxis cost almost double. That's about 24 hours where, if you live outside the city centre like I do, you cannot get anywhere. And the shops are all closed. I thought Sunday in France was bad enough, but this is just annoying!

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-86441959740800710902008-10-09T15:54:00.003+01:002008-10-09T16:20:42.979+01:00

This picture is of the Ayalon, the main motorway intersecting Tel Aviv from north to south, this morning. Normally it is thronged with cars at all hours of the day and night. So why is it so empty today?Today is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. Traditionally today all Jews fast and refrain from work, spending the day in prayer instead. Theoretically today is all about repenting your sins

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-25913394764924381052008-09-26T20:01:00.004+01:002008-09-26T20:51:05.940+01:00

I've been back home now for about a week, and the most intelligent observation I have to make thus far is this: England is COLD.My brother disagrees with me, obviously, but then of course the hulking brute would. He says it's warm; I say apparently the cold doesn't bite through the blond.He also takes offence at the insinuation that he is, or may be a hulking brute. I won't retract the statement

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-65897557936359874892008-09-18T14:01:00.005+01:002008-09-18T14:47:08.490+01:00

I was in Jordan last weekend. Lovely place. One word can pretty much sum up the country: stunning. I was stunned by the beauty of the scenery, stunned by the friendliness of some of the people, stunned by the stupidity of the border guards, stunned by the sheer history of the place, stunned by... I could go on, but it's getting repetitive, even for me.Crossing the border from Jewish land to Arab

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-44661510470079311612008-09-10T08:14:00.002+01:002008-09-10T08:23:38.995+01:00

We had academic orientation today, which appeared to be a euphemism for "You'll get a booklet explaining everything about the course, and then two graduates of the course, who are your new teaching assistants, will terrify you for two hours."We were treated to a lovely discussion of the sheer amount of work we have to do. Here's one quote from the meeting, uttered by one of the TAs:"I did some

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-32914333407791901002008-09-06T11:51:00.005+01:002008-09-06T18:24:47.999+01:00

Yes indeed, you did read that correctly. Or at least I hope so. Have another look, just to check. Outraged? Go back to America. Think it's hilarious? Welcome to Israel, old chap.C.U.N.T. is the rather fabulous name of the party we (a group of other students from the Ulpan and myself) attended last night. It was sold to me as a night of Brit rock/pop by a lovely young lady from London also

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-15829357059669210862008-08-30T10:01:00.005+01:002008-08-30T10:56:27.521+01:00

I went to a seminar held by the Palestine-Israel Journal in Jerusalem last week. The theme was "Sixty years after independence or the nakba", and speaking were Colette Avital, deputy speaker for the Israeli Knesset (parliament), and Jibril Rajoub, former national security advisor to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, and a current member of Fatah.They were surprisingly conciliatory, and

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-11753378570263460522008-08-27T18:50:00.007+01:002008-08-28T11:10:09.444+01:00

I was on a group trip to Jerusalem recently. The whole dispute aside, it's a lovely place; the Old City is beautiful and full of history, while the newer parts of town are pretty, and have an almost European feel about them. Seriously, in some streets I could have been back in Lyon.We started off the morning on a hill overlooking the city, from whence we could see the Old City and both West and

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-30198054935447884892008-08-18T11:15:00.002+01:002008-08-18T11:41:17.778+01:00

I opened a bank account the other day. It was hilarious. I walked in and told the teller I would like to open an account (in Hebrew). Without looking up, he waves his hand in the general direction of the other side of the room and mutters something about needing to go over there.Following his clear-cut, precise, and helpful directions, I made use of my amazing (read terrible) Hebrew skills and

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-335893729412085752008-08-13T18:08:00.007+01:002008-08-13T18:25:03.872+01:00

Rentrez chez vous!Non mais je vous jure, il y a plus de Français que d'Israëliens dans cette ville. Barrez-vous, franchement! Bon d'accord, je vous laisse la plage du Shératon en tant que colonie, ou bien d'avant-poste si vous le souhaitez mais sinon ça va pas! C'est n'importe quoi, trop c'est trop.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------In other news, a

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-52534452748804555262008-08-05T21:53:00.002+01:002008-12-09T01:07:26.657Z

Seriously, they do. It's quite unnerving.

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-24200257412724231802008-08-05T20:53:00.003+01:002008-12-09T01:07:26.828Z

It's been a while since I last posted, so let me attempt to bring you up to speed: I've been attending intensive Hebrew classes, called ulpan, which hopefully should soon enable me to get by in daily conversation. As I said before, I was put in class 3a, which apparently is somewhere between not even knowing the letters, and being able to read the newspaper over a cup of tea.Yes, I'm feeling in a

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-2163429369992327952008-07-31T16:05:00.002+01:002008-07-31T16:24:16.947+01:00

Yesterday was 'orientation day', which basically meant we wandered aimlessly around the campus a little, sat through a talk by some of the university staff, and had a Hebrew test to decide in which class we'd be in the ulpan (intensive Hebrew course).On the plus side, I got to meet all the other foreign people at the university. They all seem quite nice, and I actually had a few interesting

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-42645546163645680972008-07-31T14:40:00.003+01:002008-08-05T22:00:52.528+01:00

My first full day in the land of milk and honey was quite knackering. In the morning I wandered down to the university to register, get my student card, health insurance card, sim card etc. Then I wandered around Ramat Aviv (the northern suburb of Tel Aviv where I live), awaiting 3 o'clock when the landlord had said he would visit and bring me a key.As promised, him and his wife showed up on time

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-45279647150379493452008-07-29T11:57:00.003+01:002008-12-09T01:07:26.937Z

We soon arrived at the building which with any luck will be my home for the next two years. I paid the driver, unloaded my bags and valiantly carried them up the three flights of stairs to the top floor, where I had to leave them outside the door (not having a key yet...). I then tried to call Shveki, the landlord, but realised I didn't know the international dialling code for Israel.DON'T PANIC!

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-37777351064903058072008-07-29T11:15:00.007+01:002008-12-09T01:07:27.059Z

That's what it said, predictably enough, on the wall in Ben Gurion airport as I staggered past, struggling to balance the stupidly heavy bag on one shoulder, and the saxophone in the other hand. Apparently the dishevelled look is out in Israel (I keep wanting to write Japan, how weird is that?) and a comely young yet terrifying Israeli soldier woman person decided she wanted to pick me out of all

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679147399358462812.post-2499192357524797802008-07-22T16:19:00.003+01:002008-12-09T01:07:27.211Z

It's always nice to receive an acceptance letter; it's like written confirmation of something you already knew: 'Yeah, I'm amazing, you know you want me, now hurry up and accept me'.Or something along those lines.So I was understandably content that Tel Aviv University took the time to write down the obvious; that I absolutely had to attend their university for two years to do a master's degree.

Frenchienoreply@blogger.com2