Year in Review

With Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Years) right around the corner, now seems to be a good enough time to wrap up my last year and a little bit.  I returned to Toronto after finishing my IDF service in late June of 2011.  I was in Toronto for a little over a year before I moved to Israel and became a citizen on July 12, 2012. So I'm going to recap the last year and 3 months or so.  Last new years I spent with my family in Toronto for the first time since returning from my army service in Israel.  The previous 2 new years were spent in Israel, one of them in the army itself, and the second with relatives.  Over the year I managed to spend quality time with family and friends before making aliyah and moving to Israel. I held two different jobs, the second one providing me the opportunity to travel around some of the US and Canada.

I enjoyed the things I missed out on while living in Israel for the previous 2 years.  I played a lot of hockey and squash; both these sports are hard to come by in Israel.  I ran a half marathon (21.1 km or 13.1 miles for my friends who don't know what a meter is) for the first time with minimal training.  I crossed the finish line at a time of 2:01:30 which I think was very good considering I had never ran more than 10km in my life). I was able to follow the blue jays and maple leafs, which both had unsurprisingly disappointing seasons.  I was able to attend many games over the past year.  Some of the more noteworthy ones were Roberto Alomar's number 12 being retired by the Blue Jays, the Blue Jays hope opener, a leafs game in Buffalo, a baseball game in Houston, and the homecoming football game at Michigan State University versus Wisconsin, which was probably the best and most exciting football game I will ever witness live or on TV.

Last year I traveled to Orlando for the 98th annual AEPi convention, and remained connected to the fraternity during the year helping to build the alumni club in Toronto.

The most noteworthy thing of the last year was obviously my aliyah.  On July 11th I arrived at JFK airport in New York with over 200 other people who like me decided to leave their lives in North America and start new as Israeli citizens.  I boarded the plane with a new name, Yitzchak, and was ecstatic to start my new life.  The following day I deplaned as a full Israeli citizen!  The feeling was great, definitely a dream come true.  Since then I have been studying hebrew at ulpan with other people who are also new immigrants.  I have made tons of new friends, and I have had to opportunity to reunite with old friends and relatives that I hadn't seen since leaving Israel after my army service.

With a new start here in Israel, the next year certainly will be exciting and full of new adventures.  Make sure to keep following Kaldor's Korner!

I wish all my friends family and readers a happy and sweet new year filled with good health, happiness and success.

Bus in Israel wishing you a happy new year (shana tova)

2 month aliyah-versary

Another month has gone by, so I feel that I am due for another blog post.  It is almost Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) which means that the summer is coming to an end.  In Jerusalem you can feel a slight drop in temperature due to the nice breeze in the evenings.  With the end of summer comes the end of the summer festivals.  There were tons of festivals and concerts in Jerusalem, and the one that I went to this past month was an arts and crafts festival (yes, you did read that properly).  I took more interest in the food stands than the arts themselves, but the real reason for my attendance was a concert of Shalom Chanoch which capped off the evening.  The concert was great and the location was amazing.  It took place in the Sultan's Pool.  It is located in the valley just to the east of the old city.  In ancient times, the area was made into a pool for some sultan.  Now they have grand stands set up there for the many concerts they hold each year.

I finally managed to do some touring around Israel this month.  For the most part I have only been In Jerusalem with a couple of stops in Tel Aviv.  As one of our 2 main trips with the ulpan they took us for the day up north to several places that I hadn't visited yet.  We went to Zichron Yaakov, a town just south of Haifa.  They took us to a garden where we learned about Baron De Rothchild who in the early 1900s funded the establishment of many villages in Israel (including Zichron Yaakov), many of which have grown to become towns and cities.  At the beginning he was known in Israel as the 'Known Benefactor' due to his quiet involvement in the helping of building Jewish life in Israel.  Upon his death, Israel held a huge funeral for him which included sending a navy ship to France in order to bring his body and his wife's to Israel where he was buried in the gardens we were at.  Aside from the towns that he founded who's names are connected to the Rothchild Family, he himself has a street named after him in just about every city in the country.

From the gardens, we went to the town of Zichron Yaakov itself where we were told about the story of Nili and the Aaronson family.  During the Turkish rule over the land, the Aaronsons founded a group called Nili that operated as a spy ring callecting information on the Turkish troops.  Sarah Aaronson, who was one of the founders of the organization who was caught up in a very sad love story during the course of her life, was captured by the Turkish and tortured for days as they tried to extract from her information about Nili's operations.  As they were taking her to be hanged, she asked to stop at her house to take a shower.  There she took a gun and killed herself.  The Turkish investigation into Nili stopped as they had no further leads, which shows that Sarah did not give up any info during her torture.

Our next stop was in Atlit to visit the detention center.  Before the establishment of the State of Israel, the British limited the number of immigrants into Israel to 1000 per month.  With tens of thousands of refugees fleeing from Europe after the holocaust, the British set up this camp to hold Jews before they received permits to enter the country.  The camp was not big enough so they set up a much larger camp in Cyprus.  If the British caught the boats prior to reaching Israel, they would escort them to Cyprus.  Possibly the most famous story related to this topic is that of the Exodus.  The British guarded the camp in Atlit, however there were Jewish Agency workers inside the camp teaching people Hebrew, and helping them get accustomed to life in Israel - very similar to what this ulpan is doing for us almost 70 years later.

In a few hours it will be Rosh Hashanah and the start of many holidays in the upcoming several weeks.  This means that the better part of the country goes on holidays.  For the new year, I am in the middle of a 5 day weekend, and next week I will be off from ulpan for just over 2 weeks!  I don't have any plans yet, but I hope to spend the time travelling a bit and I will be able to provide more interesting blog posts.

Thank you to all my readers and I wish you a happy and healthy new year!
שנה טובה

Becoming more Israeli: One month aliya-versary

As of August 12th, I have been one month in Israel as an oleh chadash - new immigrant, so I suppose now is as good a time as ever to make another blog post.  A lot has been going on, but nothing too interesting to compel me to write a blog post about it.  Here is a summary of the notable things that have been going on in my first month in Israel as a new immigrant.

The Hebrew classes continue and there are parts that I enjoy, and parts that I don't.  Our class has grown by 4 more people to 13, and has become more diverse, which I wasn't sure if it was possible.  Our class is represented by people originating from Canada (me), USA (2), Australia (3), Mexico, Uruguay, Latvia, Sweden, France, Russia and Gibraltar.  We improve our Hebrew by listening to the news and reading the newspapers and having discussions and debates.  This aspect is interesting because we actually have meaningful discussions about current events.  The only bad thing is that we start every day off about talking about the news.  Listening to the news and flipping through the newspapers here is like a competition in how much bad news they can fit into a one minute radio clip or 30 pages of a newspaper.  All the news is about Iran, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Hezbollah, etc. (If your not on top of these subject, there isn't really anything good to say about them).  The domestic news isn't much better talking about raising taxes, messy politics, and all sorts of other social problems in this country.  Even the weather forecast is rarely favourable.  I'd say the best news in the last few weeks has been Israel's disappointing performance at the summer olympics, where we didn't win single medal.

The food has remained of the same quality, which is getting old and doesn't fit my usual diet.  My diet is heavily based around meat, chicken, cakes and other types of dessert. Here I get one serving of meat or chicken per day and the closest thing that we get that comes to a dessert is a piece of fruit on occasion.  They did however surprise us with a special meal of good pasta.  The only problem is that we only get surprised once a month, so now I have to count down from 60 meals (2 per day) until I get another meal I can look forward to.

In the afternoons, there is a lot of free time.  Its often too hot to be outside, but once it stops being scorching hot outside, I try and go for regular runs and stay in shape. The neighbourhood of Jerusalem that I live in is very hilly so when I go running I get a great workout going up the hills. There is also a soccer field just outside the ulpan, and a ping pong table inside.  Some might consider Shesh Besh (Backgammon) a sport in this country, and I spend a fair amount of time playing that as well.

Many people have celebrated birthdays in the last couple of weeks.  I was the first one in the group here to celebrate my first birthday as an Israeli.  Many of us went to the Jerusalem Wine Festival, which was a ton of fun.  There were what seemed like 40+ different wineries where you could taste all the wine you could handle.

Yesterday I went with a few people to go get a free souvenir that they were handing out to all Israelis.  I'll get to what it is later, but on the way back to the ulpan we had a funny encounter with a middle aged man on the bus.  He saw the 'souvenir' that we had got and asked what we need it for.  One of the girls with me said that she thought it was important to have.  To which the man said to his wife "see, the new immigrants are smarter than we are".  I made a joke and said that I went to get it because it was free, to which he said "even we (native Israelis) don't care enough to get it because its free".  He then asked me if I knew who Doris Day is.  When we didn't know who she was, the man to sing "que sera sera, whatever will be, will be...".  Immediately I recognized the tune and started to laugh.

So what was the free souvenir? My own personal gas mask!  Yep, only in Israel does everyone get a free gas mask (assuming you want to spend the time getting one).  I feel that the attitude "whatever will be, will be" its quite representative of the situation in Israel and how people feel about constant threat of war.  I went to the mall where they were handing them out, and all I had to show was my ID card and they gave one to me.  I already knew how to put one on from my days in the army, but the people that were handing them out saw that we were new immigrants and said bruchim haba'im (welcome) and said jokingly now we are more Israeli because we now own and know how to use a gas mask (they did show us how to use it).  The mask came in a box with a carrying strap with the following instructions written in Hebrew, English, Arabic, and Russian:

"DO NOT OPEN!

Opening this kit may reduce its effectiveness!

Storage instructions:

1. Keep in a cool, dry place away from sunlight

2. Keep away from children.

Open this kit only under clear instructions for the rear command."

The box my gas mask came in

First week of Ulpan

On Sunday the ulpan officially began and it was the start of 5 months of Hebrew classes 5 days a week 5 hours a day starting at 830AM.  The only good thing about that is that my classroom happens to be exactly 37 steps away from my room.  We had a bunch of introductory exercises to meet other people in the ulpan.  They broke us into groups based on our native languages and we did some icebreaking games in order to learn people`s names and meet a lot of people.  They said that there are about 150 people in this program, and we represent 25 different countries from around the world.  The first thing we did was write a Hebrew test so that they can place us in an appropriate class.  I was placed in the highest class level and we have a class of 9 people.  This class consists of 2 people from the US, 2 from Australia, and then one person from Canada (me), Mexico, Uruguay, Latvia and Sweden.

Its going to take a while to get used to sitting in a classroom everyday learning for 5 hours a day.  On top of that its going to be very difficult to get used to doing homework. These things I haven't done since university (and how much learning and homework I did then is still up for debate).  In class we are working on listening to the news on the radio and reading from the newspapers.  These are the two things that give me problems with the language and I would like to better understand whats going on in the news, so it looks like the Hebrew classes will be quite good for me and that I will learn a lot from them.  We also work on all aspects of learning the language from reading, writing, speaking, grammar, etc.

After the class day ends at 1245PM, we have the rest of the day off.  We get lunch and dinner everyday.  For those who know me or have read this blog extensively you might have noticed a frequently occurring theme of "food" that I talked a lot about in the blog.  Note that the word food is in quotations because a lot of the time that I was in the army the things they fed us were often difficult to classify as real food.  At the ulpan, the food is what I expected.  The food is similar to what one might find on a kibbutz. The best part of it is convenience, and not necessarily the taste.  I'm on the first floor so I only have to walk down one flight of stairs to get to the lunch room.  All in all, the food is descent and I will be able to live with it for the next five months.  You also don't have to worry, there is plenty of food to satisfy my appetite - I won't starve to death here.

The rest of the afternoons have been doing important things like opening a bank account, picking up my ID card, getting health insurance, and other important things that involve waiting in long lines.  I happened to show up at the post office at the wrong day of the month. After waiting an hour and having dozed off for about half an hour in the chair, I started talking to the guy sitting next to me who was 50 numbers ahead of me in the line.  I was asking if it was always this long of a lineup and he said nope, just today because of taxes.  I said, of course this would happen to me.  I thanked him for the tip and said that I was a oleh chadash (new immigrant) from Canada. At this point (after 5 minutes of conversing with him in perfect Hebrew) he starts talking to me in English!  His English was horrible and he was struggling to form the first sentence, to which I said to him in Hebrew that he can talk to me in Hebrew, like we have been doing for the past 5 minutes! This is the best example I can provide of how too many people here insist on talking to me in English because I am a foreigner even though I can converse perfectly in Hebrew. The man was really nice and he told me to come up to the window with him so I could do what I needed to do and get out quickly, as I would have been waiting another hour to do something that took me literally 45 seconds to do. 


At the bank, there was one specific teller that was supposed to be very nice and was helping all the people from the ulpan to set up their accounts.  When I sat down and started to talk to her in Hebrew she said "wait, your at the ulpan? What are you doing there?  Your Hebrew is perfect".  Many other people I have spoken to have been surprised to find out that I am here doing an ulpan.  They think that my Hebrew is great.  This woman was really nice.  For signing up for an account we got a backpack, and a dictionary as gifts, and when she realized that it is almost my birthday she went and got me another gift and wished me a happy birthday!  After I told her that my Hebrew is so good because I was in the army, she said that maybe I still have money from the army waiting for me.  After getting released from the army soldiers receive a grant that can be used for several things.  I was unsure if I was entitled to it because I was volunteering, but long story short she found me almost $4000 that I didn't know that I was entitled to!  All in all, my banking experience was very successful unlike every other banking experience I have had in Israel.


Thursday evening a group of us went out partying in Tel Aviv.  At the first club I randomly bumped into a friend of mine from the US that was with me in the army who was shocked to see me because he had no idea that I had made aliyah!  Two of my commanders from the army joined met up with us for our long interesting night of partying.  After the night of partying we ended up at the beach at around 430 and waited until 8AM when we were finally able to go get our bags that we had stored with someone else.  During that time, we were watching a search boat and helicopter search for someone who had just drowned.  Once we got our things we changed into beachwear and played some frisbee, went in the water and hung out by the beach and caught some sun.  By 1030AM it was starting to get really hot and I headed back to Jerusalem for Shabbat.  We had spent the perfect amount of time having fun on the beach, and it was a lot more fun because the temperature was bearable in the early morning.  The beach was practically empty, so we had plenty of room to ourselves to throw around the frisbee.  


Once back at the ulpan, Shabbat was pretty relaxing as I had to catch up on the sleep that I didn`t have on Thursday night in Tel Aviv, finished my homework for Sunday and played some frisbee and went for a run.  We even have a test this week on the stuff we learned during the first week.  ugh - I really am back at school.

Welcome to Israel!

My flight for Israel left New York at 130PM on Wednesday and was scheduled to arrive at 7AM on Thursday Tel Aviv time (midnight EST).  For some reason they told us to show up for the flight 4 hours before!  Well I ended up showing up at 9AM which made for a very long morning of just sitting around waiting for the flight.  They did a whole lot of behind the scenes processing of our documentation during that time and on the flight, so that was the main reason for having to show up so early.  Not a lot of exciting things happened during those hours except good conversation and meeting people who were on the flight.  During the processing they check to make sure all your documentation is correct.  They also ask if you would like to change your name (simply because you can). I said yes (kind of).  I decided to change my name from Alex to Yitzhak, which is my given Hebrew name.  So now my documentation reads my first name as Yitzhak.  In doing so I am now introducing myself as Yitzhak, but feel free to still call me Alex.  My reason for changing my name is kind of simple and logical (or so I see it as such).  I was given a Hebrew name at birth.  It seems only natural that in the Jewish State of Israel I should be using my Jewish (Hebrew) name.

We finally boarded the plane and I was happy to see that someone intelligent created the seating arrangement.  They put all the families and screaming babies at the back of the plane, and us young single people they put up towards the front of the plane.  Usually flights to Israel and not fun because there are screaming babies all over the place, but this was a pleasant surprise.  The flight was a quick one - only 9.5 hours, when its usually 10 - 10.5.  I was unable to sleep a wink on the plane because I was too excited to arrive already.  Even though it was only 9.5 hours in the air, it felt like a lot longer like when you keep looking at your watch because you are excited to get to the destination but that in turn makes the time go even slower.  I spent the time meeting new people and socializing on the plane.  Everyone on the special charter plane was in the same situation as me - making aliyah, so it was exciting to be sharing this experience with other people who were just as excited as I was to be moving to Israel.

Posing for a picture with a bunch of important people wearing suits moments after we  got off the plane!

9.5 hours later, the plane touched the Israeli soil and at that moment I officially became an Israeli citizen!  They brought the border pratrol officers on the plane in order to check our passports, which made things a lot easier for us.  Once that was over and done with it was time to disenbark and begin my life as a real Israeli.  Standing on the tarmac at the bottom of the plane's steps were about a dozen photographers, TV cameras and press.  They were there to document this exciting moment in our lives.  It was televised on TV and online here.  This kind of publicity shows the value that the State of Israel has in bringing in Jews from around the world to settle in our country.  It was a surreal experience to finally step off the plane as an Israeli and it went by too quickly.  After a quick photo-op we boarded a shuttle bus that drove us approximately 3 minutes over to the terminal where the ceremony would be held.  We got off the bus to a crowd of people cheering with signs, and Israeli flags.  They were families, friends of people who had landed and also random Israelis who came to welcome us home.  We snaked through the path through the cheering crowd like rock stars and then we arrived inside the terminal to congregate and get ready for the ceremony.

There were many dignitaries and some government ministers at the ceremony. The ceremony felt very long as it was about 2 or 230 in morning and I had gone through a long day.  To sum up the ceremony in one sentance, everyone that spoke was very happy that we decided to move to Israel, and they wished us luck and welcomed us home.  Once the ceremony was over it still wasn't time to leave the airport - we still had to go through immigration, sign some papers and get some things.  After waiting around for over an hour, I was naturally the last person called to go through immigration.  The lady took my picture for my teudat oleh (the ID card indicating that I am a new immigrant), made me sign a few things and gave me cash!  How awesome is that? I get off a plane and the government gives me cash!!!  What could be more important than getting cash from the immigration office? Well, I will answer that in a bit.  The woman gives me a bunch of things and I ask if I have everything.  She says yes, and just about beats me to the door as she is going for lunch.  I leave the office, and the waiting room is empty.  Great.  I go downstairs to pick up my luggage - also the last person to get my luggage.  I figured everyone was already long gone on their way home.  But luckily when I went to wait for the free taxi that I get (another benefit for making aliyah) there were still tons of people waiting.  I got a nice boxed lunch and a free plant from the JNF. There were even about a half dozen people still waiting for a cab that was going to the same place that I was.  This was convenient because the cabs were more like large shuttle vans, and they probably could have fit all 6 of us in one and take us to the same place.  Well, that would be logical and in Israel, they don't do it that way.  I went in a cab with 3 other people who were going to different places within Jerusalem.  Naturally I was the last of the 3 to be dropped off, yet we had passed close to my neighbourhood first.  2 and a half hours after I left the airport I finally arrived at my new home shortly after noon.  During that cab ride, I managed to get my first 45 minutes of sleep. As we were stuck in Jerusalem bumper to bumper traffic, I saw someone that I knew, rolled down the window and yelled at him from across the street. It didn't take long at all to randomly bump into someone that I knew.  It happened again at the bar later in the evening too.  Shortly before arriving at my destination, I get a phonecall.  This was odd because I had just received a pay as you go phonecard to get me started from the immigration office.  I think who possibly has this phone number?  I answer it and it was someone from the immigration office, duh!  They asked me if I had my teudat oleh with me.  My response was "umm... i dunno - what does it look like".  I didn't think that they gave me one and when one person in the cab showed me her's I told the person on the other line that I didn't have it.  She told me that I never took it with me when I left the office, to which I corrected her "actually you never gave it to me!  Let's be clear I didn't take the card because a card was never given to me!"  They said okay, we will call you back to tell you how we are going to get it to you or you will have to come back to the airport.  Great, just my luck.  The most important document that I needed to take, the stupid woman didn't bother giving to me.  I'm convinced it's because she was in a rush to go to lunch.  I guess its only natural that this kind of thing would happen only to me.  They called me back later saying that they would send my ID card with someone else who was also coming to the same place as I was who landed several hours after me.  Having chatted up the cab driver and him overhearing my situation and my swearing in disbelief of the immigration office and their shitty (dis)service he laughed and with a smile he enthusiastically said "welcome to Israel!"

Once I arrived at the Ulpan I went to register and have them print me a student card that is to be used in order to get my meals and enter the campus. The only things they needed from me were my teudat oleh, ID card and a picture of me.  Well I had a picture of me, I just explained the story of where my teudat oleh was, and the ID card for some reason we didn't get but were to go pick it up the following week.  I told them that I didn't have either a teudat oleh or and ID card and they said "thats not possible, you were supposed to get your teudat oleh at the airport.  You need that, its very important."  They didn't want to believe me when I told them that they never gave me one.  So it immediately became apparent to everyone that works at the ulpan that I was the fool that somehow ended up leaving the airport without getting the most important piece of documentation.  It all ended up working out in the end, but obviously the whole situation was just a big mess.

I moved into my new appartment which I will call home for the next 5 months.  There is a washroom, tiny kitchen and a bedroom which is about 15' x 8' which sleeps two people.  I started unpacking my things and meeting new people as they were moving in.  I managed to nap for about 45 more minutes at night before going out to the city center with a few new friends I made to celebrate our arrival and for becoming Israeli citizens.  At about 2AM I arrived back at my roomlike sauna (yes, I am implying that the 4 walled area was more of a sauna than it was a bedroom) and attempted to get a good night sleep after having slept a total of 1.5 hours in almost 2 days.  All in all it was a very exciting day and I was happy to be back home in Israel.

At 9AM I got woken up by someone knocking on my door.  So much for catching up on sleep.  It was my new roommate right from the airport all the way from Melbourne, Australia.  We started chatting for a while and he seems to be a great guy (and I'm not just saying that because he's probably looking over my shoulder right now).  Shortly thereafter I left to go visit relatives for Shabbat before the ulpan program officially starts on Sunday.

How cool is this?  This card came inside our packaged airplane meals.  This card definitely made up for the shitty food!

Kaldor's Korner is back!

Welcome back friends, family and loyal readers of Kaldor's Korner!  This blog is now back in service because of your requests! Today (July 11, 2012) I am in New York City ready to catch my flight back to Israel - only this time I am going for good!  I'm making aliyah (immigrating to Israel).  The Hebrew word aliyah literally means to go up.  In this context it means to go up spiritually where I am moving to a holier place.  I am excited to become an Israeli citizen and start my new life after getting off the plane on July 12th.

I quit my job last week, packed up my 137 pounds of belongings into 2 suitcases and a carry-on and flew to New York City in order to move to Israel.  In NYC I am meeting another 229 people from around the US and Canada who have packed up their lives as well to make the same move. The flight that I am taking is a special aliyah charter flight where everyone on the plane is moving to Israel.  They streamline the immigration process by processing a lot of our documentation during the flight.  When we walk off the plane there will be photographers, press and a ceremony to welcome us to Israel!

Once in Israel I will move to a community called East Talpiyot in Jerusalem and move into an absorption center for 5 months to learn Hebrew, or do what is called in Israel as Ulpan.  This specific program is one for young professional olim chadashim (new immigrants) from around the world to live together, learn Hebrew and get adjusted to our new lives as Israelis.

It was sad to leave my family and amazing friends in Toronto but at the same time I was overly excited about moving back to Israel and starting my new life.  I had a great last week in Toronto where I spent quality time with family and friends and had a few great going away parties. In my one night in NYC I also managed to meet up with a few friends to help send me off in style.

I hope that you all are as excited to hear about what is going on with my new life as an Israeli as I am in experiencing it for myself and sharing it with you.  Here is an article in the Jerusalem Post about the charter flight that I took and Nefesh B`Nefesh - the organization that facilitated the aliyah process.

Don't forget to follow this blog and become a facebook fan of Kaldor's Korner if you aren't one already.  Just so everyone knows, I arrived safely and I'm getting settled into my new place.  I'm not going to give too much more away but the next post will be all about the historic day that in which officially become an Israeli citizen.

The End of Kaldor's Korner!

After 25 months of living in Israel and the successful completion of my 1 year and 8 months of army service this blog post will conclude Kaldor's Korner. I firstly want to thank my loyal readers who have followed my blog from the beginning. If you aren't one of those people I will try and wrap up all my greatest experiences in this one blog post, and hopefully that will build your curiosity and you might decide to read just a few of my 114 blog posts. Here it goes...

Forget about the army! who would have thought I would have survived living on my own in Israel for over 2 years?!?! After graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from a top Canadian university I decided to go and join the IDF. With a very poor handle on the language, somehow I actaully managed to survive the Israeli beaurocricy and fill out the required forms for enlistment and everything else I needed to do. At the same time, I was enjoying my summer! The beach, the floating in the dead sea, hiking the desert and the golan, visiting Petra, SCUBA in Eilat, etc. I really

made the best of my free time before it was taken away.

I was excited for my enlistment day and it finally came on August 20th, 2009. I survived the first week in the army and they even gave me a gun! The first 3 months was spent on a base up north in an army course for foreigners who need to improve their hebrew. Everything in the army is done in Hebrew, so it was about time that after 3 months of living there I actually start speaking (or attempt to) the language. I went through basic training, Hebrew classes (was a model student), and did some masa'ot (forced marches). I became introduced to guard duty and had my first real emergency. I spent my first holiday in Israel - Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Years) doing guard duty in the army. This was just one of the countless examples of how the army screws you. I went AWOL and attempted to raise my medical profile in order to be eligible to be an infantry soldier. I improved my hebrew a bit and after 3 months I was happy to be leaving this base for my combat unit. We had a nice graduation ceremony and it was back to bakum for my second go around of my first day in the army.

I finally made it to the armored corps and started basic training all over again. Now I was in for a shock. People speaking real hebrew and not taking any bullshit from anyone. I was also the only 24 year old, university educated, foreigner, and person who didn't speak hebrew on the base. It was difficulty juggling learning how to be a soldier and completing the daily activities as well as trying to learn the language on the fly. Much of basic training was spent outside in the field, living in the hot desert (during the day) and freezing cold desert (during the nights). I continued to do plenty of guard duty leaving me time to devise a plan on how to take over the world. I completed basic training, got a visit from my parents and got sworn into the IDF! We began working with tanks and found out I would be a tank loader - the job I wanted! We began learning about everything about the tank. We had classroom lessons, practical exercises in the tank and homework. I even got to drive a tank, which even now after having completed my service I can say was one of the most exciting things I have done in my life! I learned everything there was about being a tank loader, and completed 4 months of basic training with our masa kumta - a 25km hike and I received my black beret!

Following basic training was another 4 months of advanced training. In advanced training we worked as an entire tank crew (driver, gunner, loader and commander) to practice working together as an entire unit. I was designated to be in the company commander's tank and began taking my M16 rifle home on my weekends. I got screwed again by being volentold (told to volunteer) to spent my first Independence day in Israel doing guard duty in the desert. I practiced loading lots of ammunition, and just to make things interesting I did it with a gas mask on. We finally practiced firing from all the weapons in weeks of technical training (cannon, machine gun, mortar launcher and m16). I ran 10km for the first time in my life. I think I had quite a good time (53 minutes) considering I decided to run 10km instead of 3 about 20 minutes before the race. We had our final tank crew test where our company commander was in our tank. This test was the completion of our required training to become licensed tankists. We had war week which culminated all of our training! We had a graduation ceremony where we were given our warrior's pin. The company commander gave me the pin off HIS uniform which was a huge sign of respect. My tank crew also won the outstanding tank crew award for our company.

I joined the my new company and we began our 6 months of guarding Israel's border with Lebanon. I began adjusting to the new life of doing border work; what could possibly go wrong on the first day? There was one day of conflict with Lebanon that occurred quite close to where I was stationed. This was the closest thing I saw to any action during my service. We had some pleasant surprises in the army - fun field trips, and had my first solo mission! That was followed by some horrible weeks out in the field. After a year and 5 months in Israel I got 2 weeks off to go to Toronto for a visit. I got promoted to sergeant and we finished our 6 months of duty on the Israel-Lebanon border.

We moved to the Golan Heights to begin our 2 months of winter training. I decided to extend my army service by 2 months because I was expecting the training to be fun! Once at our new base we prepared for a thorough tank inspection by the battalion commander before we began our training. We had our crew training and I was given the weekend off for being outstanding soldier of the week! We had our platoon training which involved a 5 hour drill of rolling around in the mud. I participated in tank exercises with 10 and 35 tanks, got stuck in the mud and flew in a helicopter! After the 35 tank battalion exercise I completed my army service! I had one month of vacation, where I traveled the country before I officially got discharged from the IDF.

Once I reverted back to civilian living, I lived in Jerusalem for my last 2 months in the country, and nearly missed a terrorist attack. I hiked the Israel trail in Eilat and Mitzpe Ramon, took a vacation to Italy, enjoyed Israel's 63rd Independence Day in Jerusalem and had a chance to visit Sderot.

So that is 2 years of my life in Israel and the army in a nutshell. I learned a new language and excelled as a soldier, despite the language barrier - gaining the respect of my commanders, officers and peers. I made some great friends and connected with family members I had never met before. I spent my time living in Jerusalem, Kibbutz Ein Harod in the north, and even a Merkeva 3 Tank! I spent my army training in the beautiful negev desert, and was the first line of defense up north on the Lebanese border. I thoroughly enjoyed my army service and really felt that I was contributing to the state of Israel. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Thank you again for following Kaldor's Korner and I hope that you enjoyed reading about my experiences in Israel and the army. I hope this blog was enjoyable, funny and informative and that you learned something about Israel, the IDF, or me that you didn't know before.

Here are some pics of my evolution as a soldier in the IDF. The pic on the left was taken on my enlistment day. The pic with the battle ready tank was taken during my service up north.

Jerusalem Living

I have been spending most of my last month month and a bit in Israel living in Jerusalem. I have been hanging out with my sister and seeing many friends. I have been going for jogs along the promenade which offers an incredible view overlooking the old city and the Jerusalem hills. On one day I did a hike with my sister through Jerusalem. This hike is part of the Israel trail, and this specific section took us down into the valley behind the old city and all the way up to mount scopus. We got a great view of the old city from every angle.

On Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), which celebrates the reunification of the city of Jerusalem which was won over during the 6 Day War in 1967, there was a fantastic outdoor concert featuring 5 extremely popular Israeli artists (Hayehudim, Barry Sacharof, Shalom Chanoch, Dudu Aharon, and Balkan Beat Box). It was an all night party, with Balkan Beat Box finally leaving the stage at 630AM - well after the sun rose. I went back home in order to sleep and in the afternoon I went out again meeting up with friends as we walked to the Western Wall so sing and dance. When we got there, the place was almost full. When I left at around 8PM I could barely move my way to the exit. After spending a few hours there I decided to leave, but apparently the party hadn't even started! They could have fooled me!

Every year they have the Jerusalem light show where artists use the architecture and the space of the old city to put on some incredible displays of light shows and art. The light show was on for a week and there were thousands upon thousands there to see it. We picked up a map and it had several different trails to follow taking you to the different displays. The old city can be extremely difficult to navigate, so each path had lights hung that direct you where to go. It was pretty cool.

Damascus Gate of the Old City used as a backdrop to tell fairy tail stories.

Excellent use of a building in the old city for art

Sderot

Having been in Israel for over 2 years now and with my stay coming to an end I have seen a lot of the country, but one place I had never visited was Sderot. For those who are unfamiliar with the unique city, here is a brief explanation. Sderot is a town located less than 1km from the border with Gaza. For over 10 years now, Hamas and the terrorists in Gaza have been launching thousands of Kassam rockets and other deadly projectiles into Israel. Due to Sderot's proximity to Gaza, it has been an easy and popular target. Once a rocket has been launched, a siren sounds in Sderot notifying everyone that they have 15 seconds to run and seek shelter before the rocket lands. The rockets can come day or night at any time, and their targets are schools, homes, playgrounds, synagogues, day cares, etc. After thousands of rockets and years of living like this, the city and the people have been changed forever.

My sister was on an organized program and I joined them for the day when they took the day trip from Jerusalem to Sderot. The tour was provided to us by Sderot Media Center (more information on Sderot can be found at their website http://sderotmedia.org.il/). The very first thing that we did was have a security briefing. They explained that if we hear the loud tzeva adom siren we need to immediately run to a fortified shelter. If we can't make it to a shelter, lie face down on the ground and cover your head with your hands. It was hard to believe that people who live in Jerusalem - only an hour and a half drive away didn't know the harsh reality of Sderot. Some of the people on the tour had never heard of Sderot before, so with this as the first introduction to the city, they were in for quite a shock. There was a period of calm without rocket attacks, so there wasn't any expectant danger, and luckily no rockets were launched during our visit.

We took a drive through the city where we could see shelters all up and down the streets, spaced close enough where you would never be more than a 15 second run from a shelter. They explained how kids have to plan their walk to school always knowing where the closest shelter is. From the outside, we saw a school that had a fortified roof. They explained how people don't wear seatbelts in their cars because if they hear the siren it takes more time to take off the belt. They drive with the windows down and never listen to music to ensure that they will be able to hear the siren. Every house has one fortified safe room, and often this one room is where the entire family will sleep! These conditions have led to over 80% of youth suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and sleeping disorders.

The shelters found all over the city. Many of them are painted like this one.

We went to an outdoor playground which was not like any other playground. Aside from the fact that children rarely go outside to play, the playground itself had a castle that kids could play in which was also a rocket shelter. Anywhere were there could be people, there is a shelter. They took us to the edge of the town where we could see into Gaza. We could see quite clearly into Gaza and the cities of Beit Hanun and Gaza City where many of the rockets originate.

Our tour guide described how the rockets have affected the lives of the citizens of Sderot. If a rocket lands in an "open area" as defined by the mainstream media when reporting on rocket attacks, the guide told us that these "open areas" are defined as areas that are not buildings (i.e. backyards, front lawns, streets ,etc.) and that even if there are not any physical injuries from the attack there is most definitely a emotional factor that the rockets cause on the citizens.

The shelter next to the playground

Following the tour of Sderot, we were taken to a temporary settlement which was set up for one of the communities that was evacuated from Gaza in 2006 after the disengagement. For those who are unfamiliar with the disengagement plan, here is a quick summary. Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to take steps to advance the peace process by unilaterally disengaging from the Gaza Strip and remove every Israeli and Jew from the territory. The idea was to provide the Palestinians with land that they could begin to develop on their own and where they could work towards creating their own state beside that of Israel. There were major protests leading up to the disengagement as a large sector of the population believed that the disengagement would not advance peace, but lead to more terrorism. This has proven to be the case; after the disengagement the number of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip has in fact increased. In August of 2006, the IDF expelled, in some cases forcefully every last Jew living in Gaza from their homes and they were put in these temporary settlements before they were able to find permanent housing. After 6 years, many communities, like the one I visited still lives in these poorly designed and quickly built 'temporary' houses.

One woman gave us a first hand account of her story. She explained how she moved to Israel from the US and decided to settle in the Gaza Strip and farm the land. She talked about the good relations with her Arab neighbours and the normalcy of her life. She talked about her successful farming business and daily life. She discussed the beginnings of the terror - the cessation of relations with her Arab neighbours, the stabbings, murders and rockets. She talked about how the disengagement plan came about and her opposition to it. She then went on to tell us about the day that the army came to evict them from their communities and leave Gaza for good.

Intro to Italy

Four days ago I booked a last minute flight to Italy for 12 days. I have never been to Europe before and from Israel, it is relatively close and very cheap if you look for a last minute deal. By the time I landed in Italy, the only thing I had booked were a hostel for the first 2 nights of my trip in Florence and a 3 day tour at the end of my trip which was recommended by my sister. Thats it. I had started to look into whats worth seeing and doing in Italy, but it felt like I was doing an internet research project, so I said forget about it. So without a clue of whats worth seeing and doing I hopped on a plane with a guidebook, my 12 kilogram backpack and my one 8.5" x 11" moslty blank piece of paper which I called my itinerary (however it would probably be more accurate just to call it a mostly blank piece of paper). Off I go for an unplanned trip that is bound to be quite an adventure! The blog posts specifically from Italy can be found here. Alternatively here is the URL to the homepage of my travel blog: http://AlexVersusTheWorld.blogspot.com The Kaldors Korner blog is more centered around my 2 years here living in Israel and my army service.