The last few months, in a nutshell

Well, it's been a whirlwind of a few weeks /month since my last post.  I recovered from surgery, with the help of family and friends. They all managed to take our dog to the dog sitter for the week, organize shabbat food for us, and handle anything that we needed. And somehow in the middle of the first week of recovery, I managed to score a few job interviews.

Since a lot has happened since then, I'll skip to the end. I got a job. And not just a job. I put on my big girl pants/skirt and got the guts up to call the hospital where I missed the interview because I ended up in their emergency room. And tada, I now work in the postpartum unit of that hospital. Technically I've only worked in the nursery but I have a thing for babies so yeah, I'm happy that I'm in the nursery, at least at the beginning.

But sadly, after my first day of work, we got the sad news that my father in law passed away. He had been very excited for me to start this new job. I'm not going to write much about this here as I don't feel like it is the proper forum. But let me just say that he is very missed.

So after two days of work (I had to go in and tell my bosses) we all flew to NY for the funeral and Shiva. I returned after three days because of work.

Everyone else eventually returned from NY and they took over Pesach prep because I was working like a crazy person.

Flash forward. I have now been working for about three full weeks and it has been a whirlwind. The training here is kind of minimal compared to the USA (understatement) but I just keep asking questions. So I'm doing a brand new job, in a brand new country, in a brand new language. Oh, and also the hospital is brand new. So it's a lot. I have to focus every second because I need to really focus on someone if they are speaking to me in Hebrew. And everyone is always speaking to me in Hebrew. This is not Jerusalem where I might often run into other English speakers. So far I have met exactly four and only one works in the same department.

One day I was working and I saw my surgeon (who happens to be an English speaker) and I got so excited. I was like, hello fellow English friend, hi, ,hi, hi,. Lol. I don't even know if he knew where he knew me from. Ha! Then a family started speaking to me in English and I was like, can I hang out here all day? And update. I have since met two other English speaking families. I might have showed my relief a bit too clearly when we started speaking in English.

To sum up. Instead of sitting at home watching my puppy and Netflix and instead of taking yet another Hebrew ulpan, I have decided to actually find a job. And OMG have I mentioned how much Hebrew there is??

Now, some highlights and bloopers.
I went for the interview and before you can get into the parking gate, you have to answer the security guard's questions. So no, I don't have a gun. Yes, I'll open my trunk. Where am I going? To an interview. To which he replies, oh, it should be with much luck!

I have the interview and then they send me up to the postpartum unit to meet the manager. But first you have to pass by the security guard of that unit. I tried just slipping in with some guy holding balloons but that didn't work. So he asked where I was going. Then he wished me much luck. I meet with the manager and on my way out I just said goodbye to the security guard. But that wasn't good enough. He stopped and said, nu, how did it go??

Bloopers:

Trying to use the Hebrew computer charting system. I have decent spelling in Hebrew but not so much for new medical words. Aka, the Hebrew work for murmer, as in heart murmur is suprisingly similar to the word for, I am ashamed. This will make for some interesting reading if anyone goes back and reads my notes from before I learned how to spell this word.

Speaking to parents of newborns, all day long.

I've mastered the phone calls. "Hi, this is the nursery, your baby is crying, come and get him/her." But I haven't mastered answering all of the questions they ask me.   I do however, love first time parents. I love teaching them what to do. I especially love the dads who come to me for lessons on diapering, and then they want me to check their work. They want info on burping and how to hold this tiny baby.

More highlights:

 I definitely use tons of improper grammar every single day, but the parents are so sweet about it. I've rarely had one who acts like they can't understand me. Even most of the staff is understanding ( though they speak to me way too quickly). I had one staffsmember give me a really positive lecture about why I shouldn't be nervous about my Hebrew and my accent. She told me that the minute someone hears my accent and mistakes, they know I'm an expert in a different language. So I try and remember that at 3am when I'm stumbling over Hebrew.

And to preempt anyone who is wondering why I stumble over the Hebrew, I tell anyone who asks, that I've only been here for a year and a half. That usually results in them complimenting me. And at 3am, I'm all for compliments. #layitonthickplease

Okay, to sum up, because who knows when I'll have time to sit down again and work on this.

I have a job.

I work rotating shifts. Which means this week I am working days evenings and nights, depending on the day.

I usually don't know what day it is

Eating cake at 2am apparently is required here.

Babies don't mind that I speak to them in English

I have learned lots of new words and don't always know their English counterpart. But I've learned that check list is also apparently used as a Hebrew word.