Category: 400 thoughts
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…But money can buy morale.
I’m in New York. I found a two-way ticket for $499. Actually, the ticket found me, and just in time. No shock that I’ve been feeling jaded and weary lately. I don’t know if it’s aliyah fatigue or general Israeli fatigue. It’s not easy living here, even if you do have food to eat and…
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Alive and, well…
I couldn’t stomach the Simple Life so instead I switched to a special about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. That sentence could have a deeper meaning, couldn’t it? Since moving here, I try not to drown myself in Israeli or Palestinian sorrows too often. It’s hard, but I’ve become better at not reading beyond the…
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Mediator-love goes 'round.
Part 1 Wow, I got blown away this morning when I checked my email to find a message from Geoff Sharp, a commercial mediator in New Zealand. First of all, his name sounds so familiar and I’m fairly sure I’ve come across it in my mediation studies several times. Second of all, a big fancy…
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Game theory.
I left work early for the central bus station to get to school at a leisurely pace. Because of that, I was able to enjoy a stroll through the metal detectors and only a slight trot past the airport-security style bag scan. And to match my leisurely walking pace, my mind slowly wandered from class…
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No cold feet here.
It’s the days that start off gray and cloudy and dark and like all hell is about to break loose that I really feel like a permanent resident here. Maybe this is a bit terrible, but it’s kind of like that I feel when the weather is bad, there’s nothing I can do about it;…
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Gaining experience.
Sometimes it feels as though everyday is another humbling experience.
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Down-lowing drivers.
Here’s the DL on Israeli drivers. Not so DL, really. When you heard those pro-touring-Israel slogans, ‘you have more of a chance of getting killed in a car accident than a suicide bombing’ (rosy campaign, yes) – IT’S ABSOLUTELY TRUE. In fact, it’s, I daresay, TERRORFYING. On the way to university I had a lift…
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Derech eretz kadma l'?
I took the sheirut from Bar Ilan to Geula, where it ends, instead of getting off earlier at Binyani HaUma because I decided to experiment with the timing of that route and meanwhile get a little tour of Geula.As we (the driver, 6 charedis, and me) were driving through Geula, (which for your reference looks…
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Nation observation.
Some nation observations: 1. One of the professors I have, an American who has been here for 20+ years, teaches us fundamentals in Conflict Management and Negotiation. I’d say he himself is a bit short with us, a bit impatient. He’s always shhing the students and snapping at them when they’re questions seem dumb to…
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Freedom of spee-
…And now for something completely different: At public lectures in the States, one would get shot down for using Q&A time for making comments and objections AT the speaker, as opposed to posing a question in front of the audience for the speaker to answer in a formal fashion. At an Israeli public lecture, people…