Lizrael Update

Lizrael Update: babbling about the expat life since 2004

  • Sharing means staring.

    Holidays are nearly over… One more day for us, two more for everyone else in these parts. That’s including Easter Monday (remember Christian holidays?). I can’t stop staring, so instead of being rude, I’ll share:

  • Nightlife for the good life.

    Just got back from a tour of Melbournian weekend nightlife. My Aussie companions were pleased to see that I, the unhumble New Yorker, was quite impressed. In fact, I’d daresay it was full of the stuff I love about New York – and cities in general – and lacking the stuff I despise. – Great…

  • Never coming back.

  • Some first reactions.

    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…

  • Israeli labor (part 2).

    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.

    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’…

  • Matilda, I'm home.

    Hey, I’m all the way down here. We left Israel on Tuesday night, stopped in Hong Kong and landed in Melbourne on Thursday morning. I don’t know if Wednesday even existed at all. I certainly don’t know how many sleepless hours I spent on two long flights. Here is my experience up until I landed,…

  • Happy Burnout-avoidance Month.

    So the Nesher just called telling us that we have a few more minutes until they arrive to take us to the airport; that’s impressive since Nesher is the only Israeli establishment that does anything early (especially when you’re running late). We’re off to Australia for the next month. It’s a badly needed life-vacation/ nationality-break/…

  • Israeli Pet Peeve #143: Elevator bitch.

    I don’t get it. If I’m standing in the elevator when it lands at my destination (say, the fourth floor) and you are waiting to get in to go to your floor, why do you stand at the door, and start pushing your way into it before I get out? Wouldn’t it be a lot…

  • Yerushalmi.

    I realized today, somewhere in Tel Aviv, between riding the Dan bus line – walking on Dizengoff – and getting served in a bakery-cafe – that I must be categorized as Yerushalmi. There is such an enormous difference between Tel Avivians and Yerushalmis. It’s like the difference between Brooklynites and Manhattanites: the view, the pace,…

  • Israel to hold nationwide missile attack drill.

    FYI: Security forces, rescue services to participate Tuesday in massive drill simulating conventional and unconventional terror attacks across country, in order to implement lessons learned from war in Lebanon. Siren to be sounded in south, center of Israel at 2 p.m. –YNet; click for more info…

  • The haircut.

    I haven’t gotten a proper haircut in over a year and with sfira approaching, it was definitely time. There’s a small, modest hair salon run by two guys down the block from my apartment. I got off the bus from work, after a long, painful day, and walked straight in, told the waiting hairdresser what…

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