Love affairs in Tel Aviv

Just as Tel Aviv can be a nightlife heaven, it is also the perfect place for new encounters and nice love affairs.

Girls, try it on your own: go out to a few bars and clubs and you’ll see how many men you’ll meet in very little time. Cute guys, of all types and styles, to suit everyone’s taste.

…Paradise, then?

Not so fast! As everyone knows, there’s no free entrance to heaven…

You first have to understand the rules of the game. And there are quite a few to the Tel Aviv seduction games, so much so that, as a non-local, you could get a little disappointed and lost.

To help you handle THE love affair of your vacation, here are the golden rules to deal with Tel Avivi men… and understand them:

• Choose the one that suits you:
  As we mentioned earlier, it is very easy to meet new people, and cute guys are not in short supply in Tel Aviv. So take your time, screen the place, and find the one you really like. Once you spotted “the one” –in Hebrew “Chatich”, means a nice piece!–, it is highly likely that he will try to pick you up. If not, do not hesitate to go talk to him yourself. It is very common in Tel Aviv for women to start the flirting games.
• Don’t be offended by the straight-to-the-point way:
  It is very possible that after a few minutes of talking to him, he will ask you to spend the rest of the night together. “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?”, as the famous song says. What ??? Keep cool, this is how it often goes in pick-up places. Two options then: you don’t really like him and answer a simple “No”, or you want to give it a chance and try to establish a seduction game between the two of you. That is to say, of course, that you won’t be the easy one to get. So, to attract him, play hard-to-get. At the end on the night, you can be sure he will ask for your number.
• Wait before he calls you back:
  Totally seduced by him, you are dying for him to text you the next day. Don’t panic if he doesn’t! Indeed, one of the golden rules in Tel Aviv is that he will wait two to three days to get back to you. Be patient and DO NOT call him before he does. He might loose interest in you if you do. Let him come to you and invite you on a date.
• Out with him on a date:
  Be yourself, enjoy the moment, and see where the end of the night takes you.
  Just keep in mind that it is common for Tel Avivis to date several women at the same time. So, protect yourself and try not to fall in love too quickly.
• Keep the love affair alive:
  After first kiss (or more), let him come back to you (again!). You understood, the Tel Avivi guy needs to feel that you are hard to get. So, give him a little, take back a little, appear, disappear, be unpredictable! This is what we call the “Esh Ktana” strategy (lighting the fire little by little). So play local and adopt it!

These were a few tips that will hopefully help you turn a new encounter into a love affair.

A hundred more pages could be written on the topic...

But let’s stop here for we think that experience is a great way--if not the best!--to discover the local culture. Take the plunge then… And enjoy Tel Aviv and all the cuties it has to offer! 

Elya Trigano