Summer time

It has been a long long time since I posted anything in this particular blog everything has either been in my rabbitobe blog or over on another site.  But after two years it feels like its time to post in this blog.  I am holiday (and in case this is the only blog you have been reading I am now settled in London and have finished my second year).
Until only a few days ago the summer here had been very disappointing, that is it never really came at all, but we are having a summer now. Its warm and sunny and I and Emily have been doing our best to enjoy it. Although all this means is hanging out in our near-by park and going to get lunch and dinner out. But nevertheless I am enjoying these mini-brakes.  Its just nice to be relaxing and not doing anything work or study related.  Latter Emily and I are going to go and join some other friends to watch the olympic torch go past which should be fun.
Outside of school I am also working on something for Limmud, which although its work is still a lot of fun.

Fun and Happy times

Hey so after my not so good exam, please see other blog, I went to guys night out (or rather in) and it was great fun. Had fun chatting with the people from my course. Smoked some hooker (cherry flavord tabbacco) very very delicious and smooth and drank quite a lot of wishky and vodka, started with Jack...but Gavi came with a very nice single mult. Yum., end with Mariv well we are all future Jewish professinals to be.. Much fun and I am so so happy that Jlem is no longer hot beyon belief. Happy happy times and tonight is Shabbat. Fun alround.

Not feeling well

So hey long time no posting on this blog but most things have been rabbi to be related...so there you go. In case you don't know I am in Israel (Jlem) and I am not feeling great, its nothing terrible just a head cold but I am feeling priety rotten even so...and I have a lot on...so I should really get of the internet and start doing some of it so i can hopefully get an early night. Jlem is still silly hot and I am so looking forward to this cold weather that we have been promised.

So very tired

I am, as the title of this post suggests so very tired. I really don't know whether I am coimg or going. I feeling like I am juggeling a load of stuff all at once. It is also horrible hot here still and the humilidity has shoot up its like 87% today. Which is just horrible. (So I am not really sleeping)...I had tropp class today which wasn't as bad as normally but what we are doing has gotton a lot harder. Anyway all is generally well and I am happy.

Things move onwards

So I thought it was about time for another posting. I think I am now used to being in Israel, which is saying somethng. I am certainly used to the heat, I am still not enjoying it beign so very hot, but I know that at times I am walking along thinking 'this isn't so bad' when eariler on I would have been melting.
I am evening geting used to the work and Hebrew. (Actually found some time yesterday to work on something that wasnt modern Hebrew or something thing HUC related.

On Wednesday I went (along with lots of my classmates both male and female to 'Women of the Wall' that was quite an experince, although not as hostile or as difficult as I had been expecting. Its also really fun meeting up with Laura we are both quite streessed at the moment. (But lots of people on the course are) but it really helps to have someone. :) Not to mention that she is great as well.

Yesterday I tried to go out and see the meteroite shower but there is too much light in Jlem to really see anything in the sky. We did see a couple of shooting stars so it wasnt a waste of time. I am now getting ready to make the house presentable and think about getting ready for Shabbbat as another week in Israel draws to a close.

Apart from that my thoughts are turning towards the yomim norim as we are now in Ellul. (The Jewish month before the New Year), really don't ask why the New Year is in September/October (No really don't). I had left all my shofarot back home so I have had to buy one here. I am very impressed by how good value Jewish ritual objects and books are here. When one does the conversion from NIS into Pounds its great.

So in general things are going really well and I am having fun. But I am missing my friends back home.

Geting used to being here

So I have now been in Israel for something like 25 days and am settling in okay, I am still not really used to the heat or the sunshine and could really really do with some rain, which is sad because its just not going to rain here until the autumn. The summer Ulpan has started and I think that it is going well, (please read my other blog for details). I am not yet sure what i make of Israel in general or Jlem in particular (but this is certainly an intense kind of place). One funny thing that happed, well it wasn't that funny at the time, was when i went to the post office to post my letter.
I have no bag just my letter, in fact i had left my water bottle at home so I was rather hot and thirsty by the time I got to the post office. As I go in the man on the door ask me something in very rapid Hebrew, i understood that it was a question but that was about it. So i did what any English man would do smile sweety and said yes. This turned out to be a very bad idea indeed.

What I had been asked was 'do you have a gun?' so my saying yes coursed some alarm and dispondancy, any way I put my hands in the air and said, rather plantively 'I only wanted to post my letter!'
Oh he says your English 'do you have a gun' this time asking in English. "No of course not why would i have a gun?" He found it all very funny. Cant say i did. But it makes a good story.

Anti-semitism

So hey its been made busy here, the going to Israeli stuff (please see my other blog), and I needed a break so i decided after dinner a few days back to go for a walk. I hadn't succeeded in going more than 150 yards when i heard a car approaching me very fast from behind, this isn't unusual on my road although its a 30 zone people drive along it like mad things, any way they shouted something and I turned around just in time to see a man nude from his waist up leaning right out of the window, he shouted something at me in a think local accent (I picked up just enough to know it was hostile and antisemitic) before I was hit hard in the shoulder by a frozen chicken burger he had thrown at me. Anyway I know that this is what everybody says but it all happen so quickly that i didn't have a chance to take down the number plate. So when I get home I ask my family if i have a bruise on my shoulder because it was really starting to hurt. I didn't so all i did was facebook about it, I am something of a facebook addict :) and lots and lots and lots of my FBFs said i should report it if not to the police then at least to CST. So reluctantly I did, I say reluctantly because where i live antisemitic incidents are not uncommon and if I were to report them all I would spend all my time doing so. (That said it is a rare day when stuff is actually thrown at me), also when it happened I was very pushed for time and i didn't want to waste it. But in the end i did send an email report to CST who emailed back and said i should phone the police, so I did. At the end of the call the police person said she had to send someone around because it was a hate crime, and so latter two very nice policemen came to call to take a statement, which took ages as these things do. Anyway that was it because as i hadn't noted their number there wasn't much that they could do. I thought that that was it until yesterday about ten days latter I had a call from victim's support to see if i was okay, which was very nice but it all feels like a lot of work for a lot of people because of one silly thing. Although my should still hurts a little.
Apart from that every thing has been Israel related, excepting I read some Torah at Newcastle synagogue and went to see a student production of the Merchant of Venice at Keele with Rachel B. It was really rather good. Acting wise it was great but given the what the play was i was surprised that i enjoyed it so much.