In the mix of everything you need to do for a successful Klita, why would you want to sign up for a workshop? How can attending a workshop help your Aliyah? These are great questions! Let’s look at them a little more closely.
There are many details that one has to consider when moving countries. The language might be different, the climate is different, attitudes and ways things are run are all different to what you are used to. This can be very stressful. Some find it exciting and a challenge or adventure, but for others, the stress of the many changes can be overwhelming. There is often so much to take care of that figuring out how and where to meet like-minded people in order to develop appropriate friendships is hard.
With the above in mind, it is not surprising that many find that time passes and they do not have friends. Or perhaps they know some people but not yet real friends. What can one do to meet more people, make some connections, develop friendships and ease the stress of moving countries?
I recently attended a wonderful workshop at Wix and the experience provided answers to many of these questions.
Photograph by Shoshanah Shear
Seeing Another Part of the Country
The first benefit of attending a workshop is that you get to venture out of your comfort zone. You leave your home and travel to another location. Whether in your own city or another part of Israel. In my case, Wix is outside of Jerusalem and hence I had the opportunity to see a little, a very little of Tel Aviv.
Actually, the location of Wix offices in Tel Aviv is fascinating. I knew it would be somewhere near the sea by the section of the address that says Namal which is Hebrew for “port.” I did not expect to find a very cool area of offices in what looks like reconditioned hangers.
Photograph by Shoshanah Shear
You Have the Opportunity to Learn about an Israeli Company
So, now that you know that the workshop took place at Wix, let’s look at this a little more. Attending a workshop at the offices of an Israeli company helps to put Israel companies into perspective. It helps you to gain a little insight, meet some of those working in the company and gain a sense of belonging.
The above image is the outside of the building where the workshop took place. Actually, we discovered that Wix offices are located in more than one building. What a stunning entrance to a workshop. It felt like we were going to a tropical island resort or restaurant. The glorious weather added to the holiday feeling that met one at the entrance.
Being able to see and experience another part of Israel is helpful in so many ways. Firstly you have the opportunity to appreciate our beautiful country. You get to see the diversity in geography, nature, types of buildings.
Photograph by Shoshanah Shear
Meeting Others
The workshop taking place at Wix office was a writing workshop and this provided a few more benefits to getting out and attending a workshop. As you can see in the photograph here, the workshop was very well attended. In fact, there was a packed room! There were mostly women, but there were some male writers too. The wonderful thing was that those attending the workshop came from all over Israel.
Many of us are members of a Facebook group for freelance writers in Israel. It was great to be able to meet some of those fellow FB members in person. It is so important to be more than just an avatar or profile pic.
The day prior to the event there was quite a lot of discussion about how to get to Wix due to the threat of a strike. Out of the discussion, we had the opportunity to hear of those coming from Netanya, Efrat, Ramat Beit Shemesh, the South and lots more places. How wonderful and inspiring to meet others who have a similar interest and skill to your own, coming from all over the country.
Linking With Those You Share a Skill or Interest With
A great icebreaker for getting to know new people, especially in a new country, is to attend a group, workshop, course or activity that is concerned with a specific interest or skill you have. This writing workshop definitely illustrated this point. There were writers there from many different countries and differing religious levels, but we all had a common interest. To write and to improve our writing skills.
Wix did a wonderful job of enabling us to meet others in two ways.
Firstly, they had wonderful catering that gave us the opportunity to mingle and chat during the various breaks.
Secondly, they gave us the opportunity to work on what we learned together with the others around our table. This is such a great technique. I remember it well from learning about group dynamics and how to increase interaction between those attending a group or workshop.
Actually, they had one other detail that I really should have mentioned first. We were each given a sticker to wear with our name on. This meant we could easily see the name of the person we were talking to or working with.
I will be sharing more about the writing workshop in another post. For now, I just wanted to encourage those making Aliyah who might be having a tough time. Participate in groups on Facebook and keep a look out for workshops, courses, events, trips related to your interests. Attending a workshop is a wonderful way to meet others, see more of Israel, have a break that helps you to de-stress. When the workshop is as well run and as much quality as the one I attended yesterday, it has all the components to help you to stay focused on making your Aliyah a success on every level.
