Looking for a pen pal: Maja from Mannheim

Maja, 24, is originally from Poland. She is a social worker married to an Israeli. They will soon move to Israel and she will convert to Judaism.

By MAJA CHERNYAK
Dear Cafe Oleh, My name is Maja (Maya) Chernyak and I live in Mannheim, Germany. I'm married to an Israeli who is studying in Germany. After his studies we will move to Israel. It will take two or three years until we move to Ha'aretz so I've started to learn Hebrew. Because I'm a social worker I'm also gathering information about social work in Israel. To get more in touch with the country, its social system and of course the language, I thought of getting in contact with a pen-pal who might practise Hebrew with me by writing e-mails or letters. That way I could learn about Israel. I've been to Israel already twice to meet my parents-in-law in Kiryat Motzkin and to volunteer at Save A Child's Heart. That s an organisation in Azur (near Holon) which provides Pediatric Heart Surgery for children from devoloping countries. I'm 24 years old and I was born in Poland. I ve got two citizenships: Polish and German. I'm not Jewish yet, but I'll do giur in Israel. In Germany it s almost impossible to convert and then become accepted in Israel. I would like to get in contact with somebody who would like to write e-mails or letters to me. It would be nice if the person were a woman and maybe social worker. More about me I was born in 1981 in Wroclaw (Poland). In the 80s the political and economical situation in Poland was very hard, so when I was five years old my parents, my elder sister Magdalena and myself emigrated to Germany. I grew up in a small town in Bavaria (in the South of Germany). When I attendend the 11th class my sister went to Kiel (a town in the North of the country) to study there. I visited her and met Felix who lived in the same students accommodation. But at that time I was still a student in high school, so for a year and a half we stayed in touch in spite of a distance of nearly 1,000 km. When I finished high school in 2001, I decided to study in Kiel because I wanted to live close to Felix and because I anyway wanted to leave Bavaria. I enrolled for social work at the michlala in Kiel. But afer three years I changed my place of residence again. Felix changed his subject at the university and also the town. He moved to Heidelberg and started attending the University for Jewish Studies (it's the only one in Germany). During his first year there I stayed in Kiel and finished my theoretical part of the studies. Living in different towns (which meant again a considerable distance of 700 km.) didn t endanger our relationship, so we decided to get married. Both of us are foreigners in Germany, so getting married here was pretty complicated because of bureaucratic barriers. So, in May 2004 we went to Denmark where it's much easier for people from different countries to get married. The marriage certificate is recognized in Germany. After six semesters (in the of summer 2004) I finished the theoretical part of my studies and had to do two further semesters of practical training as a social worker. For my michlala it was no problem to do the training in another town, so two months after our marriage I moved to Heidelberg and completed my first practical semester at the AIDS relief there. (I mean a place where people who are infected by HIV or already suffer from AIDS get psychological and social help). And the second practical semester I completed at a psychiatric hospital (of course not as a patient ;) ). After the practical training, I passed my final exam and got my diploma at the end of July. In August I got a job in the employment office (lishkat avoda) as a job agent. Actually I work with young people up to 25 years who are unemployed. I have to ascertain if they already have any qualifications and if necessary arrange different measures to fill gaps in their education or training. I also have to control if they take part in the measures and fulfill the conditions to get financial aid. Oh, I forgot to tell why we moved from Heidelberg to Mannheim. It's because of the rent. It is exorbitant in Heidelberg, so we got an appartement here in May. Mannheim is approximately 20 km away from Heidelberg so Felix goes to university by train. I also work in another town and commute by train as well. So, that's me. I hope to find my pen pal through Cafe Oleh. Many thanks, Maja Send a reply to Maja by clicking here. >>
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