Medium rare

“No sports, no rock, no information, for mindless chatter – we’re your station!”
(the Simpsons' KBBL radio jingle)

Sometimes being a workless traveler slash ”freelance” student can be really tough. You don’t have any structure to work in. It’s almost 11 am, and I am still in my pajamas, struggling to find something else to read, some additional piece of data. When all is done, I resort, again and again, to the Israeli news, to acquire some new peace of data. Maybe a kindergarten using new techniques was opened in Tiberius, maybe there is another reportage about the building extension in the settlements, or (as I just saw today) a list of Israel’s “10 best falafels!”.

I first experienced it when I was living in Berlin – this adherence to the Israeli papers, first and foremost “Haaretz”. I am not alone. I have an Israeli friend who has been living for more than five years now in Berlin, and still, every time I saw him open the computer, he checks Haaretz. I guess we do it out of a mixture of boredom, genuine interest and routine – your fingers just slip over automatically, after you read your last e-mail.

On top of that is the society we come from and (on and off) live in. According to a research I have heard of during my studies, the Israeli society is unique in the huge disparity between the high amount of time citizens spend in acquiring news and discussing politics (and Israel is indeed a pretty interesting country to live in), and their negligible belief in their own ability to change the situation they so habitually consume. This sure explains a lot, and I won’t be surprised to find out the Palestinians take second place.

In a way, a similar disparity is reflected in almost all Israelis I know, especially in my circle of friends, who can be clearly distinguished between the ones who plunder these pages daily (usually people working with a computer. They check NRG and Ynet too), and the ones completely out of the loop.

Sure, it’s important for me as an Israeli and an activist to stay updated. Yet how can reading Haaretz daily help me? I usually recommend it to foreigners, it might really help them understand the situation. But for us natives, it’s simply the same stuff every day. It’s not that by reading it I get any smarter, get to know my country better. Most of it is simply politicians’ blabber, discouraging reports and maybe an occasionally enlightening yet worn-out commentary in between. The attention to what’s going on in the world which actually surrounds our small dark bubble might be increasing, now with the crisis and all, yet is still minor, some kind of back-cover amusement.

Well, now it’s over, I tell you! I am going to be an updated yet newsfeed-free Israeli. As long as nothing extreme happens (oh, it will) and as long as I am out of the country, I will just let the Zipis, the Bibis and the Libis do their thing. I hereby promise to open Haaretz only once a week (Friday, usually the time homesickness kicks in). The rest of the time, I will settle for Asahi shinbun, New-York times, China Times and Süddeutsche Zeitung. Who knows, maybe they got some middle-east section…

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this post was written about three weeks ago, yet I decided to wait with it, and see whether i can keep my promise. well, so far so good, and with nice results too. the scattered news i do get from Israel, especially from Netanyahu's never-ending and depressing coalition negotiations, make me even more determined.

青岛

Do you know that thing sometimes in movies? Out of some kind of weird turn of events, the protagonist arrives at some peaceful place, a haven of some sort. The lighting is bright, the view a bit blurry, people are tender and calm, the kids are all wearing white, singing. Yet there always some catch. Maybe our hero is dead, maybe dreaming, maybe the place conceals a dreadful secret, and maybe the cruel world around is just about to cave in.

In a way, this is the feeling for me these days in Qingdao ("green Island"). Ever heard of this place? I am not even sure anymore if I knew of it till more than a month ago. Well, I heard German colonialism, of good beer. People told me it is an awesome city. I thought about a big city, very touristic. Nothing prepared for this city, which seems to have everything good to offer – clean beaches and alleys； shiny huge skyscrapers and broad, spacious streets in the new part of town； a nicely kept old barrio, with a great hostel to stay at； lively and not too posh nightlife; a proud yet not hedonistic foreign community; good food; a big park in the middle of the city; great air; San-Fransisco (or Haifa) style inhabited hills with a great view; a small city feeling (This city is supposed to be housing a population larger than Israel's. From the looks of it, I wouldn't give it more than a million). Mostly responsible for all that is of course the population itself, both local and foreign. All radiate satisfaction, mildness... health.

I know what you are thinking – "the guy has fallen prey to the oldest traveler mistake, spending his time in the nice side of town, rubbing shoulders with the plump elites, and disregarding the misery of the rest". Well, a bit. But I have also walked through the poor market, witnessing nothing but calm faces and nicely undertaken dense living. I have been to the police bureau; all clean, few people, and no cutting in line. Heck, I have been to the hospital, and all I have seen were smiling aunties and a laid-back doctor, sitting alone in his room, reading a newspaper at midday.

I am not fooling myself. The experience is subjective, and the catch is there to be found, some kind of dreadful truth. Or maybe I am just dreaming. But for now - does that make it less authentic?

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I am here for the coming days, and afterward it’s probably on to Kaifeng and Xi’an. After I see these two cities, I will decide where do I wish to stay and study.