First Day of Ulpan

Guess what? The personal tvs in the gym carries Fox News! Yay, I can keep up with what's going on in the US after all without spending extra time on the computer browsing through NYT and CNN. I don't like Fox much but... it'll do.

I spent the morning wondering and worrying what's the matter with my Hebrew placement. Did I not really show off enough Hebrew speaking skills? I could mention that I spent more time reading than speaking because I met with my Hebrew teacher at Colgate once a week for 45 minutes. Then I went over to the office and met with the director.

So, it ended up with that they were all annoyed that I neglected to mention that I have a "hearing problem." When the teachers met with me yesterday, they freaked out a little and wondered how would I do in the classroom. I talked to Hanan, the director of the summer program and calmed her down that I function just as well and I am learning to read lips in Hebrew as I am learning oral Hebrew and I could turn around 360 to see other students in the classroom. If the classrooms, as they said, were in rows instead of in a circle (like at Hebrew U), then I just sit towards the center and in the front so I could turn around to face other students if I need to. They were curious how I managed at Hebrew U! I also pointed out that because ulpan is 5 staight hours of Hebrew, I tended to do better than in the semester because I was hearing Hebrew all the time so words and phrases repeat quite often.

When Hanan the director was reassured, she took me to meet with the head of the ulpan program, Rina. Then, Rina and I talked a little more about my Hebrew background and gave me the oral exam (ah ha, it was the essay after all). I did just fine- spoke in the past tense as well as I could and threw in a couple of vocabulary words not in the essay. She was pleased with the rest of my exam. At the moment, I thought, "Yes, now can I go to class?!" Except that she wanted to talk more with Hanan and I had an hour to kill. I wasn't too happy given that I was paying to be in class at that moment- I didn't want to waste my time and money. But they kept saying "We just want the best for you, we want to help you the way we know. So let us talk a bit before we put you in class." At least could you... make an estimate and let me sit somewhere for an hour?

I returned to Hanan's office to find out the story. She seemed excited to get me into a classroom (not quite seeing how aggravated I was...) so I ended up exactly where I wanted to be- in Bet! Dvorona was my new ulpan teacher and I saw a few people from the day before during our oral exams. It turned out that I really didn't miss ALL that much and I skipped one of my least favorite part of the class- conducting interviews with other students. Whoo-hoo but Dvorona had other students to ask me interview questions. I was able to understand everything except that I didn't understand the question whether I was single or not so I ended up responding that I had one brother... Dang! Then we went over the syllabi, which didn't seem so bad. It didn't look like we'd have any quizzes so that sounds nice for a change. Except that we do have a midterm exam on July 20th- the Sunday after my aunt's family comes to visit Haifa! Ack! I still felt uneasy about the whole set-up- would I get to close to finishing Bet? Finally, Dvorona handed out our homework packet and we read the short story together. But compared to my ulpan at Hebrew U, I felt more at ease but I think it's because I knew more Hebrew this time than when I first started. Does this mean that my future ulpanim will be easier, even if I don't do much Hebrew during the year? The rest of my classmates mostly came from the US. The overall student population in the international school didn't quite seem so internationally diverse as my Jerusalem ulpan but at least... everyone could speak English....

After class, I grabbed a sandwich and went back to my room to eat in peace (it was already 2 PM). I was thinking how screwed up my Hebrew experience have been and it will still get screwed up until I can get into Hebrew literature level. Would I be able to take Advanced Hebrew in the fall or would I have to wait until next winter to take Intermediate? I almost felt like maybe I should withdraw from my masters program for a semester and stay in Israel where I can stay here just to get my Hebrew on track. But no, I've made promises and I'm going to keep them. Somehow, Hebrew and I will find our way through the mess of changing programs.

I set out to explore Haifa a little. First, I went up to the 30th floor of the Tower to take some pictures as shown below (sorry for the haze!) so that you can see what Haifa looks like. Don't mind me if I take more along the way while I'm here!

(Facing Haifa Bay to the west)

(Facing south)

(Facing southeast)

(That's facing the north, towards Daliat (Druze villages) and to the right, Carmel National Park)

Afterwards, I decided to try seeing how long the walk to Carmel Merkaz would take. It was longer than I thought. Heck, I could be on Jaffa from Hebrew U in half the time! Then I realized that's why there were hardly anyone walking between the university and the nearest "center" Horov. Also it's quite downhill and I think my quads got a good workout! When I came to Horov, I saw an Israeli woman walked down this tunnel and curiosity got the best of me. I followed her and ended up in the Horov Mall! Yes- I found everything I would need except for Cafe Aroma (but it's nearby). Cassto, Super Sol, Super-Pharm, a cookie place, gelato, and a bookstore were all in the mall. I bought some clothes pins for the line outside my dorm (of course the Israelis must bring home their laundry...) and a pair of sunglasses. Now my eyes will feel better! And let's see if I don't lose them before I leave... All this walking made me consider what it would meant to be studying and living in Haifa for the next 3 weeks.

I set out again towards Carmel Merkaz. I found a produce store not too far from the Horov mall that could be a possible place to go as an alternative to Super Sol's expensive produce. But the prices weren't competitive enough and I figured that the shuk is still a better place to be. I also found a bakery place that sells mini-challah breads that I can buy for Shabbat. I kept going for a good while. Someone pulled over and seemed to ask me something but I waved him off because A) I don't want a ride and B) I don't know Haifa that well enough to give directions.

I finally made it to Carmel Merkaz. Then I realized that the Carmel that I wanted was actually French Carmel. Okay, cool. I also kept my eyes peeled for the buses that would take me down to the beach. Yes, I will need to change buses just to get to the beach. Kind of annoying but it's still faster than trying to take the 46 which comes once per hour. Oh, here's the picture of the Carmelit as I promised yesterday. Then I took a sherut back to the university.

Once I got back, there was an opening celebration for ulpan students with a falafel stand. I got some falafel (not overstuffed as I know many places do) and talked with some people that I met yesterday and met a few new ones, including an undergrad from Michigan. He lamented how awful Michigan's Hebrew program is and I said, at least Yiddish is good there. Then he muttered about how stereotypical Yiddish is.

Then comes the FUN part. I knew we'd have some kind of Israeli entertainment and I thought we'd just be the audience and watch the dancers. Instead, we ended up being the dancers! The instructor was crazy! He showed us some circle dance moves. Then he showed us how to do the line dance which was the coolest part in terms of chereography. Finally, he showed individual dances which I stepped out because that's not my strong suit.