Waking up in the homeland
I am finally here in Haifa after quite the adventure at the airport. Luckily I ended up sitting next to a person from my program on the flight to Heathrow so I had some entertainment for our 6 hour layover there... and then on the flight into Haifa I was seated next to someone else from my Ulpan so I had people to help me with my 85 lb bags and to make sure I didn't end up
lost around Israel. We got in extremely late last night so I didn't really get to see Haifa until this morning, but it was definitely worth the wait. The University is situated atop a mountain so I can see the entire city and the beach from my window. We are so high up that we can see the smog that hovers above Haifa.
I'm living in an apartment right on campus with five other girls who are currently in the midst of their exams because their semester was delayed because of a strike.
My program has kept me pretty busy today with various administrative and orientation stuff. I had my oral placement exam where I attempted to recollect some Hebrew... I'm sure I'll end up in Hebrew for tots... oh well-- they still say that I will be at a conversational level when I leave since I intend to continue my class during the semester. The people in the Ulpan are from all over the world (I think they said some 40 different countries are represented... I've already met people from Austria, Germany, and Korea).
If anyone has the desire to send me anything my address here is:
Madeline Stein
c/o The International School
University of Haifa
Haifa 31905
Israel
*****Don't send anything via UPS or FEDEX because then they go through customs and take forever and have all sorts of fees tacked on-- the post office is the best option.
Well, I am going to try to post on this whenever I get a chance since the computer lab is in the basement of my apartment. I miss you all and hope everything is going well with you--- I can't wait to hear updates.
|
|
|||
|
|
