Welcome to Weirdoland

My work experience in Israel is getting to a close... Juste a few more days of work left, a couple of free days and boom, back to Brussels. Wow. Has it really been that long? Almost three months have gone by but sometimes it feels like it's just been a couple of weeks. What to say... This experience has been incredibly enriching, eye-opening and a real challenge. Many a time did I want to quit, a couple of times I ended up in tears after a long day of not being treated very well (not to be rude...). But I couldn't give up, not when I was so close to the end. I don't like looking back on things, looking forward is the way! But in the situation that I don't actually know what is to come yet, I guess that gives me the time to look at these three months. I won't bore you with a deep analysis and will rather opt for a short list of points... Work:  Exhausting. I am trying really hard to think of what I have learnt but nothing is coming to my mind... I have m...

10.05am. I just woke up a couple of minutes ago, I'm still half asleep, laying in my bed when suddenly the sirenss go off, I've never heard the rocket attacks alarm but after 20 seconds of listening to the loud thing I'm pretty sure it can only be that. What do I do? What do I do? My brain is panicking to find a solution. I look out the window and people seem very calm about it, no one is running, two guys are on the rooftop of the opposite building, overlooking the streets. I admire these people who can stay very calm with this amazingly loud sirens. Is this really an alert? Should I go find a shelter? Where and how do I find a shelter? Why doesn't anyone tell newbies where the next shelter is? Let's stay very calm in my bed. After 5 minutes the sirens stop, the loudness of busy Jerusalem slowly starts again. I reach for my laptop and google sirens and Jerusalem. Nothing. I alter my search a few times, still nothing. Should this be alarming? I calm down, sta...

I found a shoebox, wait, I mean a studio to live in! Woop, woop! It's so small I wonder if people in China have bigger space. It's probably kif-kif, but without the pollution. The good thing is that I'm literally five minutes away from the Old City, that's going to be quite cool. I don't think this outweighs the bad things (small, small, small, did I mention small?) but it's just for sleeping, I'm working all day and it might encourage me to get out more. I signed and paid anyway so there's no going back though I only paid for a month, if I lose my sanity I can always move after that. We'll see. Smile, everything will be fine! I really don't know what else to write about tonight. Truth is I'm not at my happiest. Living in the same room as my editor has proven a nightmare and I think it made me rush towards that shoebox. Not the end of the world, not the end of the world, not the end of the world... I'll find a better place ne...

The day is not over yet, but that's okay, I can always update you later if anything amazing happens! I woke up naturally at 9.26am, I was so happy, you can not fathom how happy I was. A little newsreading, a before we're off to the supermarket. After a long walk in the sun which was not too bad, we get to the supermarket. No one checked my bag at the entrance! Not when I went to the chemist, not when I went to the bank and not at the supermarket! So weird! Anyway, we're in, it's the rush, everybody's pushing their trolley in eachother's legs, Not time to call "slicha!" (pardon) because the shabbos is coming, you just gotta push, get your stuff and go home to prepare everything. At the same time, the staff is pre-"cleaning", pushing everyone because they have to close in time, which is 2pm. It's mayhem, everybody's on edge. The fact that Israelis can't be in a line is a well-known fact but this situation gets even worse before the...

The first time can be so daunting sometimes. There are plenty of tips and info out there on the internet though, it makes it a little easier. The thoughts turn into nightmares, what if I suck at it? What if they think I'm lame? What if I'm so stressed out I throw up during it? What if they have bad breath I can't concentrate on anything else? Your friends try to reassure you about it, "You'll do just fine", "You're awesome, I know you can do this", etc. And it does pump your ego up, but at the end of the day, being too self-confident isn't always a good thing especially if it doesn't go as planned, then the trip back to reality can hurt. So it is important not to get your hopes up too much. At 23 years old I have finally got my first formal job interview. It is next week and I am already preparing. At first, I got the email and felt really happy, excited and pretty satisfied with myself. Then came the realisation that, first of, alth...