L.A. immigrant blogs about the fun-damentals of Jerusalem

When Joanna Shebson immigrated to Jerusalem two years ago she discovered two phenomena: a plethora of children's events in the capital and a plethora of people complaining about the lack of culture there. Noticing that there was not one place that comprehensively listed things to do for the young ones, she started compiling lists for herself and her friends. After taking a class in social networking - during which she realized that running a blog is less complicated than it sounds - she launched in June "Fun In Jerusalem," an English-language Web site listing all events and activities for children in and around Israel's capital.

"It's just so unbelievable how many activities there are available for kids in Jerusalem," Shebson told Anglo File last week. "This is such a kid-focused city, and I read in the newspaper that people complain that there is not enough culture in Jerusalem. From what I've seen there is not enough time to do everything that's on the calendar." Apparently, Shebson - who holds an MBA with a focus of children's marketing - found a real market gap: more than 10,000 visitors surfed to FunInJerusalem.com, and over 100 people signed up for the site's newsletter during its first two weeks. The 34-year-old Los Angeles native works to provide updated, detailed information about street festivals, mall openings or special events in museums or theaters. The site lists not only the what and the when but also answers questions such as what age group the activity is for, what buses goes there and what language will be spoken.

"I love knowing what's going on," Shebson says of the site - which so far brings in no income. "I love being able to help people do stuff with their kids." Shebson writes in English but also lists events in Hebrew. The site features a daily updated events calendar and an extended list of ongoing attractions and extracurricular activities, as well as occasional feature articles, such as a recent guest post about getting kids to want to go back to school by Micki Lavin-Pell, a Jerusalem-based family therapist from Melbourne, and an upcoming interview with a local carpenter who makes children's furniture.

Under the motto, "Helping local kids feel like tourists and tourist kids feel like locals," the site also lists a directory of swimming pools in the area, a guide to doctors, hospitals and pharmacies and an article about volunteer opportunities for teenagers. Shebson, says she is making the blog more professional as she goes along, working more like an original reporter than merely copying and pasting information.

"I always ask tons of people what they're doing, I'm always reading the paper and I always read the signs on the street," she said about her news gathering techniques. Her goal is to find obscure as well as popular events. "The Jerusalem light rail had an open house and I called up the woman and asked her if they're doing stuff directed at kids," Shebson recalled, adding the organizers had arranged train rides and special lectures for the little ones.

Besides the hours in front of the screen, Shebson also goes into the field as often as she can. She's even planning to upgrade her cell phone to be able to twitter out messages from event she's attending. "I once went to an event outside Jerusalem, which was advertised so much and [promised to] be amazing. When we arrived, there was no shade and hardly anything going on, so I called my friend who was going to come with three kids by herself and I told her it would be a disaster if they came."

Plans for the future involve teaming up with professionals to organize Shebson's own events, and to advise adults on how to incorporate kid-friendly aspects into their events. "During the recent Book Week in Jerusalem there was no puppet show, no storytelling - nothing. Every event should have something for kids."