Congratulations to all of you who are planning on beginning an adventure once August rolls around. I am finishing up my 1st year at Sackler and actually have my last final tomorrow. I just went through everything that you guys will soon be experiencing for yourself. I know the millions of questions floating around in your head and all the answers you want before you arrive... Believe me, everyone goes through this and gets through this transition along the way with each other. To be quite honest, it feels alot like a pledge class going through rush and at the end--- initiation.
I'll answer anything you guys want to know about school, books, living, apartment, travel, bank accoutns, cell phones etc....
The most annoying thing last summer was not being able to get a cellphone for about 3 weeks b/c I needed to have an israeli bank account first before I could get a phone that didn't require a "pay as you go" card. So what you guys can do is buy a
TRI BAND phone with a
SIM CARD in the states...like one of the little motorola ones. So, by doing this you can buy a card for like 20 dollars (about a 100 shekel) and you can use that phone until you account is cleared and you can get a regular pay as you go plan w/o the card in about 2 to 3 weeks time. And of course the phone will probably cost 100 or less in the states somewhere... in israel electronics are crazy high...crappy nokia phones from 1996 are about 150 dollars here... new color flip phones run up to 350 to 550 dollars (2000 shekels or more). So you'll save some money doing it this way. I wish I knew that last year. Also, a great idea for everyone in an apartment is to get a
vondage box...this works through the internet and allows unlimited calls to anywhere in US or Canada for 25 dollars a month. So split with 2 roomates it's like 8 dollars a month each umlimited calls to anyone. The box actually has a
US number and area code. So you could make it a 212 number in NY and it would be like calling next door...via the internet but the phone rings in Israel...pretty cool huh.
As for money for the first weeks... don't bring any cashier or travelers checks at all... most of these have a fee associated with cashing each one and these aren't exactly what cab drivers or street venders want to get...they want cash. Also, you don't want to wire transfer funds b/c it's was about 40 dollars at my bank and then a fee at the local branch here to accept funds regardless of the amount 1 dollar to 1 million ... So, just make sure you have a
credit card or two and a checking account card. So if you make sure you have a few hundred or thousand dollars in your checking account you can go to the atm at the banks or mall for that matter and take out up to 4000 shekel at a time. This is like almost 1000 dollars. As long as your bank has no draft limit you could just do this as many times as you need. My bank was initially charing me 5.00 dollars per withdrawl fee and no fee here at the israeli branch.
So just call your bank before you leave and tell them to UNRED FLAG your account here. Let them know you'll be living in israel and this way they won't red flag your account and freeze it when they see activity in another country. Also, tell them you're a student and you should be able to get them to wave your withdrawl fee. I think citibank doesn't have a fee if I recall. In israel it's mainly 20 , 50, and 100 shekel bills there are also coins of smaller denomination like 10, 5, 1 etc.. So when you want to break 100 people will look at you like this is a ton of money to break for lunch or something... it's only less than a twenty but you'll just wait and see.
You guys may want to have some kind of a battery alarm clock until you can buy one that works here. There are alot of activities everyday during your orientation so you have to be up sometimes 7 or 8 am so you'll need a wakeup call. You can't just put an adapter for the plug on your alarm clock, b/c you'll be chainging the voltage from 120 to 240v but the frequency is still on a 60 Hz cycle and not 50Hz ...so a US clock will run 1 hr and15 min in an actually hours time here... just warning you! So be sure to pack that. Dont' worry about your laptop adapter b/c all the battery packs are made for 120 to 240v and 50-60Hz cycle. You just need the little plug adapter that looks like two cyclindrical rods instead of the two US shaped prongs.
Of course, for those non hebrew speakers a pocket dictionary is a good idea to start learning some hebrew b/c it will really help you out everywhere. Ulpan classes are offered for free at the school twice a week 1st and 2nd year.
****** Something else important about packing*****
You can pack up to 70 lbs. in your bags on international flights. So, definitely go to someplace like bed bath and beyond or whatever store is in yoru area that sells the vaccum pack seal bags. This will allow you to put like 2 pillows, comforter, sweaters, jackets and vaccum suck the air out to like a few inches and you'll still have tons of room in your suitcase. This is by far the best way to pack and keep everything sealed.
Also, you're definitely going to want to set up a wireless internet in your apartment here. So, you'll definitely save yourself some hassle and alot more money by buying a
Linksys wireless B or G router in the states and bringing it with you. Also, if you want a cordless phone for the apartment in addition to your guys cell phone.. probably want to bring that too if you have room. Like I said before, electronics are all like 2 to 3 fold more here.
Also, bring all your medicine and stuff you'd find at a pharmacy back home that you want to have. Of course you can get just about anyting here...but there may be certain things you want to bring from home. So check out super wal mart before you go and clean off the shelves there. You don't have palces like that here.
For those of you who are tech savy... a
digital camera is a great idea also b/c you can get all the pics you want of places and friends...post them online and your families can see them instantly. Also, for those of you who can't live without music...be sure to
bring your ipod with you b/c they're alot more here. Or if you order one...the tax on getting it through customs is 18% more on top of retail price.
During orientation you guys will go on some great trips. Just about all of you will meet each other then living in the "TAU dorms"...everyone will be inspired to find a nice apartment. Anyways, those first few weeks at the dorms in august everyone will really become good freinds and seek out who they want to live with...sometimes this happens on the plane flight over or a week later... Everyone really starts to feel that familyness (if that's a word). For the exception of a few people who might come to israel early to live or who are married perhaps and are living there already.... pretty much everyone should be really tight with each other by the time school starts up. Be sure to make it out to Tel Aviv Yam al rehov hiyarkon " tel aviv beach on hiyarkon street" for the beerfest i think august 14 , 15, 16 th...just double check the dates. This was incredible the first weekend i was here last year. It's about 300,000 people literally-- and hundreds of beer venders from around the world setup on the beach with different stages and platforms like a huge concert every 100 feet apart.... there are women dancing and guys pulling people up on stages and it's just one huge crazy israeli event I can't really explain but this is just a little something for all you guys to lookforward too. I should probably be back late august but haven't made plans yet. Good Luck (B'chatzlacha) to all of you! If any of you want to get in touch with me you can reach me at
[email protected] my cell phone here in israel is 054 800 7384 I think it's 1972548007384 from the US.
All the best, Seth c/o '08
