End of Week 2

I have been to Israel many times (I think this is time number 7), but never have I been so immersed in the culture.  Yes I studied abroad for a year, but I didn't have kids to register in the schools, a car purchase to manage, and no support in these endeavors.

In contrast, now I am texting the school in Hebrew (however slow it is for me to find the letters), signing bank account forms I can't understand, and trying to drive like an Israeli.

So, I have learned a lot in these few days, and feel like I want to write a guide to help people coming to Israel for only a year and not making aliyah.  This category of people seems to be RARE by the way.  The main obstacle to my life is not having a teudah zehut (Israeli identity card).  This damn card....you wanna buy a coca cola in Israel, and they want your number.  Okay, not really, but almost!  And I have started to just get very snappy about it.  "EIN LI!" (i don't have one!).  This is usually met with a "oh, huh....what do we do without that number....we can't go on.....uh.....let me call a manager....oh wait!  do you have a passport?  yes.  okay, um...maybe we'll put that in".  Really. You can't register your kids for swim lessons without having a discussion about why you don't have this number.  So, in short, consider making aliya because that's easier than coming for a year without a number.

Let me start by talking about communication in Israel.

Email doesn't seem to be a big thing in Israel.  However, whatsapp is the way everyone communicates.  My daughter's fourth grade class has their own whatsapp group.  So before you come to Israel, you want to download whatsapp for sure, although keep in mind it will be connected to your phone number.  So, you'll want to reconnect it to your Israeli number, because people will naturally contact you on this.  That means that you have to give the Americans your Israeli number and have them put a +972before your cell (remove the 0).

If you are unlucky enough to call some organization with a menu, good luck.  You know that american trick of press zero and curse at the phone and you'll eventually move to a human being?  That doesn't seem to work in Israel.

In general, communication in person is different.  Israelis are far more direct.  On the one hand, it seems rude, but once you get used to it, it's sort of refreshing with less time wasted.  What do you want?  Here's what I want.  Conversation over.  Then again, I will also tell you that once you get past the first minute, people often love to talk to you.  They are a curious people.  The other day, I met this delightful woman at the toy store, and once we got talking, I was showing her pictures of my house in New York.  She felt that Americans were "colder" than Israelis.  Yes, once you dig past the surface, I agree--Israelis are sort of like being around family.  You aren't going to get the niceties up front, but then they'll do anything for you once they decide they want to.  

The sign you must learn before coming to Israel is the "wait a minute" sign.  You put your fingertips together.  Palm up.  Often, there are no words.  Just the sign.  Israelis don't like to wait, so storeowners are often impatient with the impatient people.  And be sure to know where you are in line, and defend your territory.  You gotta be a little more assertive in all ways here.  

Okay, now I'll move on to household stuff.

The toilets are so different here.  Not only is your toilet paper often colored, but there is about 1/4 of the amount of water in the toilet as there is in the US. I remember my Israeli cousin saying the American toilets scared her.  Personally, I love our plethora of water.  Keeps our toilets cleaner!  But, Israeli is very environmentally conscious (particularly with water), so they use less.  And often have two different kinds of flushing--for #1 and #2.

Washing machines tend to be more European (they take longer and I have no idea what the machine is actually doing but it sure does a lot of spinning).

Bedding--you have to know your bed in cm.  So do not go shopping for bedding without first knowing your size in cm.   I love the sheet sets here.  In america you get a flat sheet.  In Israel you essentially get a duvet cover kind of sheet.  You put the blanket inside.  Love it.

Water heaters--some heaters are solar, and some are electric, and you have to figure out when you want the water heated or not.  I could never explain how to do this in words.  You have to get an Israeli to help teach you how to use this.  Expect a couple lessons before you finally get it, especially if they are trying to explain it to you in Hebrew.

Israelis put a little trashbag in their sink for clippings and food stuff (no garbage disposal).

You pay for bags at grocery stores, so stock on those cloth bags and bring them everywhere.

First floor in Israel is the second floor in America.  So when you think you are lucky that you are on the 2nd floor with no elevator, remember that's the 3rd floor with no elevator.

Driving

Parking--red and white: not allowed, blue and white: allowed but you have to pay.  How do you pay? With an app?  Guess what, you can't get the app without a teudat zehut.  No color--you can park.

Nearly all cars require you to enter a pin number first before you can start the car.  Overall I'd say there is more security here regarding theft (including the insane amount of passwords I got for my bank account).

Take some anti-anxiety meds before you hit the city streets.  Just kidding.

No right turn on red.

Cars are little so you can often fit in places you aren't used to fitting.  Or you will think you are about to have an accident, but voila! Car is small so you are okay! 

It's actually kind of fun.  Sort of like a video game in these small cars. :)

Shopping

You need to bring a 5 shekel piece with you to deposit to get your shopping cart (you literally deposit it into the shopping cart to unconnect and get it back when you reconnect your cart).

Beware that if you come with a thick American credit card (the kind you can't cut), you will undoubtedly have a conversation about it and you won't blend in.  They also don't use the chip here yet.

What things should be done before you come to Israel

have a place to live

order your sim card so your phone is working when you hit the ground (Israeli cell phone plans are so cheap!!)

have a copy of the lease and arnona if you are going to register children for school 

xerox copies of your passport

preinstall cellopark or pango on your phone if you have a teudat zehut to be able to park on israeli streets.  

preinstall Moovit (amazing app for using buses!)

preinstall whatsapp.

preinstall google translate

get on all Facebook groups for your city.

make sure you have an ATM that doesn't charge foreign fees or other atm fees (Capitalone360 is good) and a credit card that is foreign-friendly (Visa Chase Sapphire or Chase Amazon Prime works).

First two weeks

Carry your passport EVERYWHERE in the first two weeks.

Stock your kitchen

school registration

school supply shopping

school textbooks

get a list of private doctors/dentists

start the visa process if you couldn't do this in America

open a bank account, come back in a couple days to pick up checks and bank card

join pool/chugim/activities

Get a rav card, which is a debit card for public transport.  You can buy anonymous one, but if you have kids, you should get theirs in person, because you get twice as much money on it for what you pay.  Bus station should have a place to buy it.

copy keys to your apartment if you need an extra.

buy bedding/towels etc. that you may need for your apartment.

Hebrew words you will need to pick up on right away:

manoi (membership)--many stores have manois (where you pay something and then get discounts)

tashloomim -- payments.  I'm learning that many Israelis break their bill into payments.  In america, we just pay for stuff on one card once.  You'll get asked this every time you buy something.

When I finally figure out how to get a visa, I will let you know.
I'll let you know how it's gone so far....
NY consulate and embassy refused to answer their phones in America.
I then go to the dept of interior with everything I need here in Israel and wait to stand in line, but they tell me "no, you must first fax a request and we'll call you".
Guess what? They called today! While I was on the phone with my mentor.  When I listened to the voicemail, it essentially in very quick Hebrew said, "Your phone is always busy, so you should resend the request with a phone number that works".  Always busy?  You called 32 and 34 minutes ago and that's it.  Did you leave a number for me to contact you back? NO!  ARGHGHGHGHGHGHGH.
Oh wait, it gets better.  I can register for an appointment online.  Wait, NO I can't because I need an Israeli ID number.