Never coming back.
April 7th, 2007 by elie
Archive for April, 2007
Some first reactions.
April 6th, 2007 by elie
Why an Australian would make aliyah - if s/he is not religious - is beyond me.
It is true what they say - Australia is so very laid-back (or if you’re Israeli, you’d say “ze ma ze layd beck”). So content, so calm. No worries. None.
People pick up after their picnics. The kids say excuse me. After every commerical transaction there are always a few rounds of “Thanks, mate.” “No worries, love.” “Grouse.”
Australia is America, without the painful politics, ignorant people and bad attitude. Australia is what America could have been if it was truly geographically isolated (as opposed to pretending to be in the later 19th/ early 20th century). Australia is beyond what annoying, stupid ideolistic American punk-teenagers could ever dream to acheive.
I won’t even go on to compare Australia and Israel… All I can say is this: after riding the Great Ocean Road, I can’t begin to imagine what that must look like to a post-army young 20s Israeli who has never left home…
The one problem with Australia is, that if I ever did move there, what the hell would a frazzled, can’t-be-fucked former New Yorker/Israeli do there?
Israeli labor (part 2).
April 2nd, 2007 by elie
To answer my last question: Not only are we Israelis who can work more than our share, but we’re also family which means we’ve been working at the deli since 2 pm on Sunday (here I am, 14 hours later, smelling like gefilte fish and exhaustion).
The Israelis.
April 1st, 2007 by elie
With Pessach right around the corner, it seems every Jew in Melbourne is taking on at least one or two Israelis.
“How are you getting the cleaning done with the kids running around?”
“Oh, no worries, I’ve got myself an Israeli.”
“Who is taking care of the car?”
“My Israeli.”
What a different outlook, eh? An ‘Israeli’ is a post-army Israeli backpacker who has reached Australia in time for the busiest Jewish holiday season: Passover. And as Israeli backpackers, they naturally have no money and will work for Australian dollars throughout their trip here. And the Jewish locals just lap it right up.
My brother-in-law is catering a getaway Pessach in a resort along the Great Ocean Road and hiring about nine. He’s got a few working in the restaurant and and one with the kids. Since I got here, I keep hearing, “So how many Israelis?” “Where’s your Israeli?” “Call the Israeli.”
Hmm… Then is it interesting that the two of us are heading out to help with the chaos as well… and we happen to be Israeli?