Transitions

So this has been something of an eventful week.

Rosh'Hashana has ended and the holiday of Sukot begins soon. I've been spending a lot of time with my Hebrew teacher and her friend Sapir, and that's been great. I've made a fair few friends so far in Israel- it's hard moving to a country where you cannot speak the language. But these are among the first friends I have made who are Israeli.

I got my first introduction to the Israeli education system- their high schools are both very much, and very different from those back home. The grades of the school I visited in Arad has grades 8-12, and the classroom setup is arranged like those back in the states. The air conditioner was at least two decades old, whereas the projector was brand new and Toshiba. Hebrew lined the walls, and there was no English, something strange to me since the class is an English class.

Much differently, there are no desks for the teacher. This suggests to me that teachers have different classrooms, but I suppose I will see.

I met a great guy named Dan/Roshem (his Hebrew name) who is an immigrant like me from the States. He is already teaching in the school system, so he has already taken the path I would like to with getting certified and acquiring a job in the education system.

He invited our group to sit in on his class, and half of us did, the other half visiting another classroom. There is a lot, a LOT of shouting in the classrooms to manage them. And that is something common in the education system. Very different from the U.S., but I have to admit, it was necessary. You would not be able to teach otherwise.

The class was composed of eighth graders, and I can tell you from firmly established memories from my own time how difficult such an age group can be to teach. In my own English literary class the teacher had to take a leave of absence because of an engagement falling apart and how ridiculous my own class was.

We were supposed to meet at 7:45, but there was a last minute teacher union strike, so we began at 10. I ended up almost being late because I had to rouse my roommate to avoid being late, and he was extremely hungover. I'm not happy about that, but am happy I did my duty and helped him get there.

I like Dan, we've had some good talks, and he's helped introduce me to dungeons and dragons. That's so surreal to me- playing Dungeons and Dragons in the Middle East. They are catering to me and we are playing in English. But I hope to be able to transition to playing the game in Hebrew as soon as possible. I am playing a Monk, and somehow at level 1 managed to one hit kill a creature, dealing 30 damage. That's ridiculously rare, apparently.

Granted the others were playing my character for me, as I had to leave the room to attend a group learning on the old testament, the focus on Yom Kippur, another holiday fast approaching, and the most important in the Jewish faith.

I also have the pleasure to announce I managed to get an affirmative yes for a date with a really cool Israeli girl, my teacher's friend. Her name is sapphire in Hebrew. I think this really cool- the idea of dating at all was something I would not have been able to do for perhaps years after coming to Israel.

I'm thinking I will cook dinner with her and watch a movie. Then go to the top of the building I live in with her and watch the sun set. It's low key, and should be nice. Of course I will also take into account whatever she would like to do. She's really, really cool. Cannot put enough emphasis on that, and a former soldier. So a real Israeli woman, as far as I understand them to be considered here.

On a different note, my father is currently vacationing in and around Croatia, and I admit, I am a tad worried about him. With the border restrictions to Hungary becoming severe because of the Syrian migration occurring, my father as an already established immigrant himself now living in Hungary may have serious difficulty re-entering the country. Perhaps not, we will see. But I worry.

That's all I can think of for now, but I will keep y'all updated as usual.