post aliyah continued...
so I've finally had a taste of real Israeli beauracracy. the bank account and health iinsurance business went smoothly...too smoothly.I knew I was lucky, and that my luck had to give. and it did. at the student authority.
because I would like them to also pay for my fancy university ulpan, the nice lady told me that I had to open a tik (account) in Jerusalem, where the fancy ulpan would be. (I was in Tel-Aviv at the time.) that sounded simple enough. but my friend, who was doing exactly the same thing I was at the exact same time, only with a different office worker, heard a different story.it seems that before they will pay for our university degree, we have to go and get ourselves drafted.
not bc they want us in the army. we're getting piturim bc we're religous. but the university apparently wants a guarantee that they won't lose us to defending the mothers, children, and noble innocent bystanders of our great nation (not to mention everyone else here) before agreeing to shell out money. I guess they don't want to lose out on the chance that we never finish a degree and fail to become productive members of Israeli society. it does make some degree of sense, despite the fact that nobody I know who has made aliyah before me has ever had this requirement. ok, it's a new rule.these things happen.
except that it's sort of a mess; forget abt getting back to Jerusalem and dealing with more desk people; I have to meet with university people tomorrow to discuss scheduling and registration. they may ask abt this (as in, "sorry, kid, you can't register until we get money from you,") and I don'know what to tell them, especially as it's sort of ambiguous as to whether or not I managed to actually open a tik with the student authority people. (she took my paperwork, made photocopies and sent them to Jerusalem. so that means....what?)
not really particularly exciting; not really even close to what the worst of Israeli beaurocracy can be, I'm well aware. I guess I just felt the need to express some frustrating Israeli-beaurocracy-aliyah story because...everyone else is doing it? sorry; as ever, it's late. but everyone always uses that excuse so I'll add...and I'm sleep-typing. for real. I mean it. really.
(not really.)
because I would like them to also pay for my fancy university ulpan, the nice lady told me that I had to open a tik (account) in Jerusalem, where the fancy ulpan would be. (I was in Tel-Aviv at the time.) that sounded simple enough. but my friend, who was doing exactly the same thing I was at the exact same time, only with a different office worker, heard a different story.it seems that before they will pay for our university degree, we have to go and get ourselves drafted.
not bc they want us in the army. we're getting piturim bc we're religous. but the university apparently wants a guarantee that they won't lose us to defending the mothers, children, and noble innocent bystanders of our great nation (not to mention everyone else here) before agreeing to shell out money. I guess they don't want to lose out on the chance that we never finish a degree and fail to become productive members of Israeli society. it does make some degree of sense, despite the fact that nobody I know who has made aliyah before me has ever had this requirement. ok, it's a new rule.these things happen.
except that it's sort of a mess; forget abt getting back to Jerusalem and dealing with more desk people; I have to meet with university people tomorrow to discuss scheduling and registration. they may ask abt this (as in, "sorry, kid, you can't register until we get money from you,") and I don'know what to tell them, especially as it's sort of ambiguous as to whether or not I managed to actually open a tik with the student authority people. (she took my paperwork, made photocopies and sent them to Jerusalem. so that means....what?)
not really particularly exciting; not really even close to what the worst of Israeli beaurocracy can be, I'm well aware. I guess I just felt the need to express some frustrating Israeli-beaurocracy-aliyah story because...everyone else is doing it? sorry; as ever, it's late. but everyone always uses that excuse so I'll add...and I'm sleep-typing. for real. I mean it. really.
(not really.)
posted by Miri at 3:39 PM
7 Comments:
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Speaking of bureaucracy do you know the origin of the phrase "red tape"?
no. do you? was it Russian?
Argh! Now you've freaked me out! Except that I think that I have a tik with the Student Authority already. Do you want to hear what BIU beaurocracy did to me? Sent me an e-mail on Monday telling me that my window for registration was... Sunday! An hour on the phone (at 6 in the morning) managed to clarify that I would get a new window in the next registration period several weeks from now. The funniest thing was that there was no apologeticness or anything at their mistake- it was more bored tolerance for the silly, stuttering little girl who had gotten herself into such a pickle.
tobie, you stutter?
"red tape" is (at least the folk etymology) from post-American Civil War. The veterans had to go to D.C. themselves to collect their pensions, and the volumes the bureaucrats used to track such things were bound with red tape.
http://thesurrealist.co.uk/trivia.pl?subject=Miri&gender=f
(just to be silly)
what? what was the last one?and yes tobie I hear that; but actually, hebrew u was even worse... oh the stories i could tell... do you have a room yet?
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