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Yay I'm happy to hear from you! DH and I decided to move here because of the economy in the US and the fact that I was not going to get a job out of law school and his job was not going anywhere. We are both lawyers but he has been in the workplace for 10 years. He came to Israel on a trip with 13 interviews lined up, got a few offers and accepted a job just before we got married in October. We moved November 13 and currently live in Tel Aviv.
We are both Jewish, DH was born in Haifa but moved to Boston when he was 3 and grew up in the US. I do not speak Hebrew but he does and he still has family here. We started my Aliyah paperwork through Nefesh B'Nefesh (www.nbn.org) six months or so before we wanted to move because you need to have an interview and provide extensive paperwork that you are Jewish and eligible for the Law of Return to make Aliyah. I recommend getting in touch with NBN sooner rather than later, as they have a lot of seminars in person and online to help answer questions and assist with the process.
Many people get to Israel through an NBN chartered flight-we did not. Instead we flew on our own, but the Jewish Agency covered the cost of my flight (not DH's because he did not make Aliyah as he is already a citizen). It is important to note that there is a difference between NBN and the Jewish Agency. NBN is an American organization that helps new immigrants make Aliyah by providing info to them and setting up a file in the system to streamline the process for the Jewish Agency. NBN does not pay for the flight or provide any of the benefits that new immigrants (olim) receive. All of the benefits are provided by the Israeli Government (once in Israel) and all of the help prior to arriving (free flight, Aliyah interview, expedited Visas) are done by the Jewish Agency. I'm not sure how the process works from Scotland but I know the Jewish Agency helps people make Aliyah from all over the world, not sure about NBN though.
We did not move for religious reasons, we are conservative American Jews, but we do have a Zionist mentality about Israel (DH more than me). We are planning on staying here for up to 5 years and then moving back the US.
I am currently taking an intensive Ulpan (Hebrew class) through Tel Aviv University and am learning a lot of Hebrew. Living here is definitely fun and something that I never thought I would do. It is an amazing experience.
That said, the quality of life is different. Granted we still have a nice apartment in a beautiful area of Tel Aviv, things are expensive here and quality of things is not the same. TV, customer service, banking, and random things like a choice of cars sucks. DH is lucky enough to have a company car-otherwise they are super expensive--$40k for a small Mazda! The weather is great, the food is delicious and the experiences are wonderful.
Check out my blog www.blondini.wordpress.com to get a glimpse of what everyday things have shocked me. Also, it is not dangerous here. Security is insane but you get used to having your bags looked through everywhere you go. There is much less street crime here than there is in the US and it is not uncommon for women or children to walk alone at night. When one child went missing here a month ago, the entire country was on alert and stores closed so people could help find the boy because missing children is so rare (not sure if they found him though).
I hope that gives you an idea of how things are planning to and coming here. Feel free to email [email protected] for more questions. There is a lot to tell and I'm sure you and your DH will have questions.
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