Letter from Manila - Santol - of course!

See, I know it sounds of no use, but all all these little bits together, and an opinion can be formed.

On a good project, I'm pretty focused myself.

I've worked all over the place, but never the eastern med region. Athens Metro was the nearest, and that was fairly brief.

Got to assess how my Filipinas would be accepted. That became a major problem in Malaysia towards the end.

Thank you and please keep it coming.

Just check your LBO won't have to do national service They'd teach her to fly though so it's comme ci comme ca

Is the project to make sure the wall gets built before World War Z breaks out? It's no good just waiting for Brad Pitt to come and save you

Idiotic frippery aside, I can't see any profound improvement in cultural attitude in the Philippines waiting just over the horizon. You'd have thought educationally and career-wise your LBO would have better prospects in the Middle East? Plus given the current dire warnings of radical and accelerating climate change, moving out of the typhoon belt might not be a terrible idea...

Unless of course, the Tangerine Tyrant is correct and climate change is a hoax. But then, if it is, why would he want to buy Greenland? He clearly realises that in ten years' time it'll be a tropical paradise covered in rainforest

Do you read Hebrew George? Might be helpful.
I've met more than a few young Israelis here in New Zealand. They commonly do their time in the military then take off to see the world. Most of those I've met seemed as normal as anyone else.

Shouldn't that be

?


Please go. I would love to read your take on life there.
Unfortunately I can offer no help - I know loads of people who have been there, but on holiday/tours etc, none of which will be relevant information, but I've never heard a negative story from any of them, so can you base the next few years of your life off of that please and move to a totally foreign place and then tell other people you haven't met how weird/awkward/fantastic/awful it is?

Letter from Jerusalem? I like it.

Hi, Having seen up close Israeli security on the Tel Aviv flights at the airport, They will question someone in the queue and then move on. Later on they will be questioned again, maybe the same guard or someone different, if the answers are not the same then suspicions will be raised and stepped up a gear. They have lots of covert questioning techniques to trip the unsuspecting up. If the ladies can't be trusted to resist the temptation to elaborate or embellish it could cause problems. So you would be right to be cautious, only you know the answer to that.

Colin

To follow up on my comment, when getting out of Israel the questioning was very thorough, I also made the mistake of being a bit flippant with one of my replies didn't go down well. After saying I was visiting for a business meeting I had to produce notes and then there was questioning because the distributor I had visited had a derivative logo to that of the company I worked for, that took a lot of confusing explanation.

They, understandably, take security very seriously and have a lot of national pride, (based on my limited and old experience).

some years ago, before i got a real job, i did some freelance instructing in Israel. Eilat to be precise. i also spent some time volunteering at the dolphin research place just south of town. my experiences were not lengthy - just a few months at a time spread over perhaps 2.5 years so could not really be considered representative of the nation and i have no experience whatsoever away from the gulf.

i like to think that having completed 1st degree and not being too wet behind the ears having got through my formative years unscathed that i was mature enough to have formed considered opinions on things and was able to react intellectually, as opposed to emotionally.

i state clearly right now that i have no dog in the various fights in the area, historical or current. apart from occasionally holding up my hands (when interrogated about my thoughts on their perceived plight) and conceding that the whole sorry mess is probably britain's doing back in the day, i just kept my own counsel.

however, i really struggled at times - i suspect and hope that, as i was there over 25 years ago, it may be different now. i truly did understand why there was a kind of siege mentality and do not seek to downplay their historical suffering.

i found that the national personality trait was almost sociopathic. couple this with an unassailable belief in the "rightness" of their cause and subsequent actions and the conditions for existing in total denial of any possible faults or wrongdoing on their part are created. and perpetuated.

it is said that history is written by the victors and having heard, more than once, israeli parents educating (indoctrinating ?) their offspring into how they as a nation have been forced to act in certain ways, it certainly rang true. absolutely no room for any other viewpoint. may go some way to explaining why some of those offspring implemented a social ownership programme with my airline seat, some of my kit, one or two small personal items.

discussion was never truly an option - the standard response is "yes but.." and then another diatribe.

very evident quite often was a perceived superiority and clear reporter bias when justifying same.

i also struggled with the hypocrisy in some sectors of daily life. a daily reminder were the casino ships departing eilat port, full of domestic tourists, waiting to play the tables once the vessel left home waters. likewise, the hilton hotel at taba (since bombed), whose sole raison d'etre seemed to be providing a venue for drinking and gambling just over the border.

security was at an overvalued, almost clinical, level of paranoid. Eg, after a short contract in aqaba i elected to fly home from ovda back in israel. despite having the correct transit visa from the overland border crossing and all the necessary travel docs, security at ovda airport just could not accept that i was only in their country in order to access the airport. their thinking was that i must have had some ulterior ("bad") motive for being in their country. and yes, "burn" passports were employed from time to time. i was told that, during national service, it was mandatory for serving troops to have their weapon with them at all times. it was always a little unsettling to walk into a bar and encounter a half dozen young men, enjoying some RnR, with their guns clearly and casually on display. and i don,t mean pistols either.

we were a multi-national staff group so only really got a snapshot of the people and place "in vivo". individaully, i met then and since some israelis who totally confounded my initial conceptions and have wondered if there was some kind of group dynamic at work - herd mentality type of thing ?

on the other hand though - the beauty of the landscape, the achievements in science, literature etc. their egalitarian implementation of socialist philosophies, their ancient history.

i wouldn't ever go back which may be my loss but, quite honestly, i'd had a bellyful.

paul