My Challenges and Developments as a Olah Hadasha ( New Immigrant) in Tel Aviv, Israel

     Making Aliyah (citizenship) to Israel is no small feat. Especially as I came alone, without family or friends. Needless to say, I've encountered many challenges. Of course living in Israel as a foreigner is difficult but living in Tel Aviv specifically has it's own unique set of struggles. I've heard Israeli's refer to Tel Aviv as a 'bubble' apparently completely different from anywhere else in Israel, different in good ways and bad. 

 

1. The Language Barrier

    Of course the first thing that comes to mind is the language barrier. Although living in Tel Aviv I do have some advantage. With so many Olim (Immigrants) living here, mostly everyone has adapted  to speaking English. At the same time it doesn't help much to progress my Hebrew when Israelis want to practice their English with me. 

    My biggest struggle with using Hebrew, and other Olim I've talked to agree, is communicating with the bank, insurance and other government agencies. Even the apps for the bank and insurance companies are all in Hebrew, usually without an option to change to English. Luckily I've gotten better at understanding the processes I need to go through and taking screenshots to use on google translate.

     I've also greatly improved my Hebrew throughout the years. It's not yet at the level that I would like but I can at least have basic conversation and understand a good amount. It's also a very difficult language to learn, not only are the letters different, you read right to left instead of left to right in English. Also, everything is gendered, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, verbs unlike English. 

    Unfortunately, Hebrew is not a very beneficial language to know, it's not really used outside of Israel. On the positive side, I have really enjoyed my Hebrew learning journey. It's quite satisfying to finally start to understand a language that everyone around you is speaking. It also makes me feel accomplished, smart and more confident to communicate with native speakers. As an American we are never really pushed to learn another language from necessity like non English speaking countries. So, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to challenge myself with learning a new language. 

     2. Loneliness 

      Another big challenge I had to adapt to as an Olah Hasasha is the feeling of loneliness. I think it's easy to feel lonely here specifically because Israeli's are all naturally very community and family oriented. Israel is a small country, most Israeli's live within short driving distance from their families. While my family is thousands of miles across the world. Holidays here I also tend to battle with loneliness. 

    Jewish and Israeli holidays here are taken very seriously here. So when I have no where to go for a holiday it's easy to feel down. Tel Aviv specifically can feel very lonely, just as cities often do. There are always people out and about, in the beach, restaurants, bars, clubs events. It's easy to feel sorry for yourself that you don't have a huge group of friends as it appears like everyone around you does. I believe places outside have more of an open, community vibe which might make it easier to connect. 

     On the other hand, I'm grateful that I've created some lifelong friendships here that I know I can depend on when I'm in need to human connection. Most importantly, I feel like I've grown exponentially as a strong, self-sufficent and independent woman, in a way that I never would have if I stayed close to my family. I'm proud of myself for how far I've become and my ability to be comfortable alone, for the most part. 

        3. Weekends

        Weekends might not be something you would expect to have difficulty adapting to. But here in Israel weekends are Friday and Saturday, with the work week beginning on Sunday. This is not what really bothers me since I'm working in a hotel, I often work on the weekends. What tends to bother me is many things not being open and accessible Friday night and Saturday. These days can sometimes enhance the loneliness when you didn't get invited to a Friday night dinner or you don't have any plans on the weekend. At the same time it forces you to rest when there is nothing else to do which is nice. 

    My goal this year is to make more Friday night dinner plans because it is something I quite enjoy when it happens. Right now I think I prefer to be working on the weekends, so I don't have too much time to overthink. 

       4. Living in the Capital of the "start up nation"

        Israel is often referred to as the start up nation. Considering the multitude of start-ups founded here, the name is fitting. Many of these start ups and hi-tech companies are established in Tel Aviv.  Therefore, for the average Tel Avivian there is a lot of pressure to be super successful and make lots of money in hi-tech. We all aware that working in hi-tech will be the highest salary you can achieve in the country where the minimum wage is around a mere 7 USD. The average income in Tel Aviv is barely livable with the rent prices comparable to NYC. But I often see hi-tech and start-up employees working long hours, just living for the weekend. This is not the type of life that I really crave. 

       I struggled a lot when I worked as a preschool teacher in Tel Aviv, I wasn't happy and I always felt less capable compared to everyone I knew working in hi-tech. I assigned higher value to hi-tech workers, I felt they were smarter, happier and more successful than me. Now I feel that I've overcome this because I see how many people are also struggling with a low paying job here.  

        I just began working as receptionist at a small boutique hotel in the artsy southern neighborhood of Tel Aviv called Florentin. At the moment, I feel content with this job. It's easy going, quiet, and provides me with a good amount of free time. I'm actually writing this now as I work front desk at the hotel, that's how chill it is. It's true my salary is much lower than that of a skilled worker in hi-tech, but it works for me now and money is not my number one priority in life. I like that this job gives me to opportunity to meet people from all around the world and hear their stories. I'm also hoping that working in a hotel will help kickstart my career into the travel industry. Although I don't feel like I'm working my dream job, I'm content with it for now. 

5. Finances  

          Speaking of income, finances are probably the number 1 struggle of living in Tel Aviv. Last year it was named the number 1 most expensive city in the world. This year it's dropped with 3rd behind New York City and Singapore, which is still pretty crazy. Before I get into it all, I want to say that I'm fortunate enough to be able afford life here, but money is still challenging for me. Odds are you won't leave a grocery store spending less than 30USD. Even if it's just a few items.  

        And like I said before, there is a large gap between the average salary and rent prices. Many of us are paying over half or our monthly salary on our rent. There's also many enticing restaurants, bars and clubs which of course makes the city always exciting but also quickly drains our wallets, with the money we don't have. We also have a food delivery service similar to Grubhub, in my opinion even more efficient. But you can see where I'm going with this, it's too easy to spend here and too difficult to earn. I think this will always be the biggest compliant of Tel Avivians until they decide to leave. But it's a reasonable complaint. Many residents decide to take on multiple jobs to supplement for low salaries.

         6. Lack of Politeness

          In small town America, where I'm from, people are sometimes be overly polite, with an unnecessary amount of please, thank you and excuse me. While in Israel its pretty rare for these words are not often used even when you would expect them. I realized Israelis are raised much differently from Americans.

           When I worked at an elementary school here I was surprised to see students yelling at the teachers with no consequences. We all know in America this wouldn't fly. We're taught from a young age to have good manners and to cough and sneeze into your elbow. I've often encountered people here on the bus or on the street just coughing and sneezing out into the open, with no mind for anyone around them. I instantly feel annoyed when this happens. Also Israeli's don't shy away from confrontation. Yelling for them is not at all unusual I'm no longer phased by people yelling at each other on the bus, it happens almost everyday. 

           One plus side that I see is Israeli's are usually pretty genuine compared to Americans. I like to say that Americans are nice on the outside and mean on the inside and Israelis are mean on the outside and nice on the inside. This might be a huge generalization but I think it accurately represents the tendency for Americans to be fake and avoid conflict while Israelis are more genuine and don't mind conflict. 

             Every city has it's own pros and cons. It's very easy to see the negative side  of things especially when its all anyone talks about. And moving here was far from easy, I've  had my hardships but I feel that I've finally gotten to a point where I feel comfortable and confident with my life here. I'm choosing to see the positive aspects of life here everyday and  even when I have my bad days, I am grateful to live here and proud of the person I've become as a result of this move.