This Blog Needs a New Name

Yep, it’s true. As of last Tuesday I am no longer in the Israeli army. As you may know, last month I formally requested to shorten my service and receive a November release date. November 10th to be specific. Last Sunday I received an e-mail informing me that my request had been approved and that I would be released on 11/10. This might seem like exactly what I asked for to those of you unfamiliar with Israeli/European date-flipping-around, but what the e-mail meant was that I would be released on October 11th. This meant I had roughly 2 days notice that a large part of my life was about to change very suddenly. While I had planned on having a month to say goodbye to friends, look for a job, and find an apartment I now had 48 hours. To top it all off, being out of the army meant that I could fly back to the states to visit with Michelle and meet her family on their home turf. Of course I only had a day or two to find a flight back to the states at a not exorbitant price. Needless to say things were a bit hectic. In addition to the aforementioned minor details, I had to confirm that the release date wasn’t simply a typo and then decide if I preferred the release date that I had initially requested. (If I wasn’t able to fly back to the states the November release would have been better.) And I had to request expediting my advancement of rank to corporal and have an exit interview with my officer – who was flipping out because she was now suddenly down a soldier.

Want to know how everything worked out? Than you better come back tomorrow and see. I’m getting good at this teaser thing.