70% of the time. I am encouraging my girlfriend to come with me somewhere else. Aliyah is to 'go up'.. but in other ways I have 'gone back'... twenty years.

Maybe it's you and not us. If the OECD rated individuals, maybe you'd be dead last, or just before Zimbabwe or North Korea.

I dont know where you come from and the reasons for you to make aliya, however coming to a new country is not easy but is desition that involves knowing that you come to a different culture and you need to shape yourself to it and not otherwise,as a lot of olim do, I myself came 9 years ago and Iam very happy and feel mself part of this country like I was born here

Im so sorry to hear that ur Aliyah is not going well. I did Aliyah 6 years ago, before it I had a very comfiest able financial life in my country and once living in Israel decided to live in beautiful Paris. As amazing and as happy as my life was in my other country (Mexico) and Paris, the happiness that Israel gave me and it's giving me, I've never felt it before. I'm so glad I did the step of my Aliyah - surely not all days r easy, but the more I live here, the more I love Israelis (they r wonderful and warm people) more I love Israel that is my country now and more and more I realize that doing Aliyah was the BEST decision I did. #3 is right, a big part of doing a good integration of ur aliyah is to shape ur urself to fit here and to INTEGRATE and not make the country and their people to shape to u! If I don't feel happy here, so leave fast mate, but stop talking crazy about Aliyah. The fact that doing Aliyah was not for u, doesn't mean is not for everyone else.

If the Israelis or we the Jews in general were not moaners in nature, Israel would have rated 1st place in OECD life satisfaction index. "We built a $10 million community centre, but we have no money left for importing kiddush wine" Sounds familiarly Jewish?

As a 5th generation in israel, i do appreciate your efforts to live here, in Israel. Travelling a lot, and having a choise, I met a lot of people feeling that although it might be easier to make a living somewhere else, they prefer raising their children here, in Israethe Many Israelies feel the same. We thank you for trying to make aliyah, i know the first years are challenging, and even after many years you may feel differences from the 'locals'. Even i feel like it sometimes (or often). However, in my opinion, the benefits of being in a place with such ancient roots on one hand, and a vast mixture of cultures, on the othe, makes you a better person, better thinker, and adaptable. Add this to the warmness and willingness to help of most Israelis and you may find a good and sustaining reason to your initial choice to make aliya. I hope you'll get over the difficulties soon. Bear in mind that usually the first 1-2 years are the most difficult, and leaving just before you start enjpying, might be a questionable decision. Try to consult some other olim, from yr country that are living here for many years, they might make your adaptation easier. Enjoy,

No. 1: My advice is that if you are serious about living in Israel and want to succeed here, get married, and have children. I've been here over 30 years, I don't say that it was easy adjusting, it was darn hard, but looking back I can tell you that the kids grew up here in a way that would have been impossible anywhere else (I come from the US). They had the most incredible experiences, friend, many of them will be life long companions, school years, army life, I stress "friends" again, because the relationships and social life that they've had here, I just can not imagine happening elsewhere. When I go back to the US, I see relatives and friends' kids, (OK we're not religious, I'm sure their experience is different), and a lot of them have so many problems, starting with bullying in school, a general sense of aimlessness, feeling of alienation, hours spent at the mall, getting into college and not knowing what the hell they're doing there.... I love the life that my kids have had here, and wouldn't change it for anything, although I do agree that there are many reasons to prefer living in the US, I don't deny any of them.