My Home in Israel

It isn’t the end of the exams, but now it is in site…. The Hubby passed exam number 3 to be certified as a CPA in Israel! This process is more horrible than you could possibly imagine, and to pass three exams where both the course and the exam are not in your native language is very impressive. We only know of a very small handful of people who have recently obtained dual certification. (And they are all cool, awesome people..in case any of you are reading!)

With a quote from Overheard in the Office:

Two Words: Vasectomy, Vasectomy

A man holding a child’s hand meets up with a woman holding another child’s hand.

Man and woman, simultaneously: I thought he was with you!
Man, turning to go back inside: I told you this would happen if you let them outnumber us.

Outside Bloomingdale’s, 59th Street
New York, New York

Overheard by: Kim Siddorn

I remember an occasional survey call in the states…they would ask you one or two questions about a product, or elections and that would be it.

Israeli surveys turned out to be something different altogether. I have received two or three where they said it would take 5 or 10 minutes, and 25 minutes later I’d still be talking to them. You might ask why I would continue, and there are two answers, one is that I’m too polite, and two that I started it because I wanted to improve my Hebrew.

On survey I had got me so disgusted that I promised never to do a product survey again. They asked me about which commerical for hummus or chicken or something I preferred, and I told them I didn’t have a TV. They responded with, “Well, if you did have a TV, which commercial would you preferr!” This continued for several questions, and they didn’t like the answer that the Humus I buy is the one which is on sale.

Today I actually had a survey I appreciated. Apparently the city of Jerusalem is surveying immigrants about the services the city offers, and about how we feel integrated into the city. They asked me if I knew about different department which are supposed to be servicing immigrants. Although I knew of a few of them, I must say there are too many organizations which are not centralized, so it is impossible to get the services you need! They also asked me to rate my Hebrew speaking/reading/writing/comprehension on a level of 1-10. I rated my writing at only a 3 (ten is best) and my speaking at 7. I put my reading at 7 as well and comprehension at 8. I know I probably underestimated my writing, but I still don’t write checks, without asking my husband how the different numbers are spelled, or looking it up in a dictionary!

I know arba has an alef and an ayn..but which is where???

I’ve become involved with a program to get yarn and needles to any location in the north where someone is willing to teach kids/adults how to knit to help pass the time. This is also available for those who are displaced by the current situation as well.

It appears that we have some serious suppliers from the US, I just need people who need and their locations. This can include organizations as well as individuals, but we want to be sure it is getting to the right people. I currently have one person via Rock of Galilee, but any and all are welcome to contact me.

*Yarn snobs not welcome*

A certain unnamed family member from the USA (aren’t they all?) cancelled their trip to Israel because of the current situation. When they called up to ask for a refund, El Al said they could change the date, but there were no refunds for the ticket.

The said family member replied, but there is a war going on. The El Al representative replied, but there is always a war going on.

Two Points El Al….Zero Relative

When things were getting very bad up north, I kept an eye on all the people around me…there are three acquaintances/friends who were about to give birth. I kept saying…we just need some more simchas.

So 1, 2, 3….three new babies in a period of a week. Mazel tov to the parents of the two boys and one girl born. (And thanks to Holy Bagel for catering the two britot!)

Although we are moving to our new home in a few months, we are still renting an apartment until about October. Our landlord just sold the apartment to a young single guy from Ranana. He seems like a nice guy, and he brought his mother both times when he came to look at the apartment.

So, today the doorbell rings. It is the mother. You may ask, what does she want from you? Or if you were paying attention to the paragraph above you will know the answer. She stopped by to see if we knew anyone appropriate for her son. Yup, the Jewish mother is hunting down a spouse for her son. Hubby and I can’t stop laughing. She took our phone number so she could call us to help her find someone!

Note: He is 35 but wants someone only up ’til age 28. (no comment) If anyone is interested in applying (he is cute..) feel free to get in touch with me via this blog.