Igor, a high-tech specialist and former company owner, feels confident in Israel. He studies Hebrew at the UTime college Ulpan to get a job in his specialty as soon as possible.
” I am a graduate of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, a high-tech specialist,” says Igor. “In Russia, I was involved in management issues, I had my own company in the field of construction control and production automation.
My wife, three daughters and I have immigrated in Israel a year ago. My wife, like me, graduated from ‘Baumanka’ and is now developing in the high technology industry. She is a software tester.
On October 7, 2023, my wife and I were in Ireland taking an English language course. At four o'clock in the morning we woke up to an air raid signal - an Israeli application went off on our phones. We were completely confused... My mother and my wife’s parents were taking care of our daughters at that moment. We realized that we urgently needed to fly home. But returning to Rishon Le-Tzion was not so easy. First, we got to Munich. Then, with other Israelis, we flew to Athens. Only from there we managed to fly to Israel.
Sometimes we feel differently here, but overall, we feel good. At first, we rented an apartment without a built-in shelter. During missile attacks, we had to take the younger girls in our arms and run with them (some days two or three times in an evening) up and down the stairs. Now we have moved to another apartment. It has a built-in shelter.
We have been learning Hebrew since our arrival. Without stopping. We completed the Aleph level ulpan on our own and passed the exam as an external student. At Ulpan Bet we had a wonderful teacher, Michael Gerstein, a veteran of UTime College. He taught us grammar beautifully - cheerfully and easily - and laid a solid foundation. Now we are studying at the Bet Plus level ulpan, deepening our knowledge with teacher Michal. It is harder to learn from her, because she speaks to us not in light Hebrew, but in high Hebrew, and fluently. Just what we need now!
When we must communicate with Israelis, we understand almost everything they tell us, but it is still difficult for us to understand the news broadcast on TV.
Two of our daughters go to school, the youngest (she is four years old) goes to kindergarten. We all love to listen to songs in Hebrew, including children's songs. Our favorite performer is Shlomo Artzi. Together with the children, we learn his songs by heart, and listen to funny songs of Grandfather Tuvya.
While we are mastering Hebrew, I continue to work as a programmer. My wife is now looking for a job in her specialty. After October 7, the situation in Israeli high-tech has changed. Before making Aliyah, I thought that I would come to Israel and the largest companies would immediately hire me, but now there is a huge competition for positions that suit me - sometimes 150 people per place.
But I believe in myself, in my professionalism and experience. And I hope for the best. That is why I continue to study.
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