1life, 2 short, 3 years, 4 what? the end

follow-up thread for this one

It's over
three years. starting back at that sunday, 31 of july 2005.
I met alot of people, been to alot of places, saw many strange phenomenas, had some wrost times and some best of times.
the current bed list has almost 30 entries, which means 30 bases I've spent a night in. some places were 'home' for a few months. some are places I merly opened up a sleeping bag at and went to sleep, I remember each and every one of them,
I've been through all of of Israel, to the north and to the south (sometimes even at the same day), the hot summer and the freezing cold winter (summer is better).

when it began, I didn't think I'll make it to the end. right now, I can't believe it's over.

I'll miss everybody there, people I spent countless days with, even those guys I have nothing in common with. heck, I'll even miss the work itself (not APC's though, I hate them), I hated it every waking moment, but still, it gave me some sense of acomplishment, and you can't get that in home.

but it's over, a few hours at the drafting base, a protest for "Giliad Shalit" (the soldier who was taken hostage at july 2006 in the gaza strip, and was also supposed to finish his service today) and we'll be gone. the aug-2005 tank soldiers will be sent back home, into the military reserves, into life on our own.

I have no idea what's going to happen with me now.
I need to get my grades up, take the SAT test. figure out what I want to do with my life.
I need to get a job, I need to have some sort of profession, I'm going to be home all day, and I can't relay on the system anymore.
I need to kickback, relax, let myself go, smell the roses, let myself cool down before everything starts.

I want to do everything, I don't want to do a thing, I don't know what I want.

the last month and a half were hard enough, due to some extra vaction days (and a lot of creative accounting) i've been able to spend a good deal of time home, but the feeling is quite different.

but enough with the melancholy, It's a good day, I've been waiting for it for over a thousend days (1086, to be exact), I know someone who had a countdown in his watch to this day. three years. every day ending with "can you smell it? it's smells like something is burning... it's another day that being burnt away!".

I've made many friends there, I've met great people, I'm even going to keep in touch with some of them, it's been gzillion times better than highschool.

this is it, fellas, I'm going to spending a whole lot more time here from this day forward. the real thing starts here, I believe they're gonna be a blast.

(I'll update this again tommorow night, when I come back. I'll try and put up some pictures as well)

Congrats man. I think compulsory service is good for the nation's youth and to build national pride. I can't wait for it to be implemented in the US to straighten out the punk youth of America. I guess you decided against a career in the military?

Good to see you made it out alive.

Buy Armed Assault and play some good games to lessen your withdrawal symptoms from the military...

Like Ani said, compulsory service is a good experience to build some character. In ye olde times they used to say it makes men out of boys, but of course these days it's something else that is said to do that (and that something else you don't want to do in the army)... However, worst cases aren't allowed to go through it, though, so it wouldn't ever straighten everyone. After all, you don't want to give a loaded assault rifle to some nutcase under pressure. For the rest it's a very good school to help leave the home behind and find confidence in yourself. Plus, when you afterwards find yourself in the company of strangers, there's always one topic to discuss.

Increasingly many countries have abandoned the system but I had never any regrets and it doesn't sound like DBZ does either. I hope you'll have good success in whatever you are going to do now. Just don't forget this place!

My cousin lives in Israel. He will be 17 soon, and has been waiting for his papers to come to the USA for 6 years now. He hopes very much he will be able to make it, as you are not allowed to leave the country when you turn 17 I believe. Were you in a lot of dangerous situations?

Congratulations DBZ. Really good to hear you've come out of this with a positive outlook. I remember that original thread, so it's nice to have a sequel 3 years later.

Hope the pictures are interesting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by XanBcoo

Really good to hear you've come out of this with a positive outlook.

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Don't forget the assault weapons and hand-to-hand combat training. Those will be useful in the coming years.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Animeniax

I think compulsory service is good for the nation's youth and to build national pride. I can't wait for it to be implemented in the US to straighten out the punk youth of America.

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Asshole.


Anyway, congrats on making out alive.

yeah, i'm just glad you're okay.

on the 4 what? part. well, really, it's 4 whatever you make out of it now. try not to let it go to waste. 3 years and all the shit is too much to just let roll off your back.

also, you said something about a sense of satisfaction that you can't get back home. really, i can't pretend that i know how it was, but i don't agree with that statement at all.

just take it easy, don't rush, do things you enjoy, find new ones you might enjoy, and just try to be in the present, because it's the best gift of them all.

Seems like it was only yesterday when you were enlisted. Hope it was a meaningful experience for you and that you learnt some valuable things during your service. :)