It's done! I'm done! The last few days went by very fast. The way the teachers prepared for the end... well, it didn't exist. No review except for the last half of class yesterday on verbs. I was surprised that they didn't devote a whole day for review since we learned so much and move so fast. There was basically no pressure to do well. Fortunately, I am taking this only Pass/Fail as I want to enjoy learning Hebrew at start before really cracking down once I start classes. And I am passing just fine. The passing grade is only 49 out of 100. My American and Canadian friends were surprised as I was- we were used to the 65 cut off mark.
I'm glad that I have this chance to study a new language in a new country like this. Now I know that I don't want learn a new language in its mother country- there are so many distractions!!! There's the cultural shock aspect that needed to be settled too. Now I am over it and I actually really studied this weekend for the final. I would not definitely want to learn German in Germany since there's probably still a lot of English. French in Paris... I don't know. But I know that if I study Spanish in a Spanish speaking country, I'd be fine as I know enough Spanish to get around instead of worrying what I am going to say next.
Today, we had a end-of-ulpan party for my classs (all Aleph classes except for those trying to pass out did it). On Sunday, we did our food shopping at Mister Zol's (our French Hill supermarket that's 2/3 smaller than Pittsford Wegmans). I was paired up with Elliot and we had to buy some stuff for the party and to fill out the worksheet that included finding the cheapest item in the store (cucumbers and oranges) and the most expensive produce (artichokes and strawberries for 11 sheklim). The party was fun. We played musical gift where the "it" had to unwrap one layer of the gift and read the post-it in Hebrew and then pass it on. We had good food. Good times.
Then the test came- it was so much easier than last Thursday's which felt like a final exam.
So what have I been doing outside of class? Sunday and Monday, I stayed on the hill. On Sunday, I was invited over to Michell's for dinner to talk about the trip to Petra. Moti invited me to join him, Mitchell, Nora, and Laura for the drive to Petra this week (before I'd go to Prague). We didn't actually talk about it right away as we had Sam and a couple of other people over. He and Sam made chicken schintzel, curry rice, stir-fry veggies, and artichokes. Nora brought over a delicious strawberry pecan salad. It was a great meal- I told Mitchell and Nora that I owed them a Shabbat dinner. Then Monday, I wasn't feeling well with a bit of a sore throat so I slept in the afternoon.
Today, after the test, Melissa suggested that we go to Mea Shearim. We donned in our long skirts. We walked along a street that we thought was Mea Shearim but when I doubled checked the map, I realized that we just happened to be in an orthodox neighborhood, not Mea Shearm. So we walked to that proper street.
It's basically a narrow street, almost a feel of being in an alley. It supposedly reminds people of a Polish ghetto. I don't know as I've never been to an Eastern European Jewish area. It was actually sort of quiet compared to Jaffa Street. When I go to Prague, I'll have a better idea. There were a lot of cheap applicance stores and Judiaca shops. Towards the end before we turned around, a shop sold olive tree wood goods. They were beautifully crafted! I took several pictures without letting other people notice. You're not really supposed to use your camera- if must, do it discreetly. There was only one restaurant- I had hoped that perhaps they'd keep their Eastern European roots by having such a restaurant. Alas, it's not the right place.
Then Melissa and I shopped along Jaffa a bit before eating an early dinner (I didn't have anything since the party and she was hungry). We ended up eating at El Gauncho's,, a South American restaurant off Hillel, behind Ben Yehuda. It was delicious and a refreshing break from all the vegges, cheese, pita, hummus, etc. I think America is the only country where the waiter puts the check on the table without asking if you want to pay yet. And where water and bread are free.
Tomorrow, I may be off to Netanya for a day trip. I'm excited especially that there's horseback riding on the BEACH. And the weather's going to be sunny and in the 70's!
I'm glad that I have this chance to study a new language in a new country like this. Now I know that I don't want learn a new language in its mother country- there are so many distractions!!! There's the cultural shock aspect that needed to be settled too. Now I am over it and I actually really studied this weekend for the final. I would not definitely want to learn German in Germany since there's probably still a lot of English. French in Paris... I don't know. But I know that if I study Spanish in a Spanish speaking country, I'd be fine as I know enough Spanish to get around instead of worrying what I am going to say next.
Today, we had a end-of-ulpan party for my classs (all Aleph classes except for those trying to pass out did it). On Sunday, we did our food shopping at Mister Zol's (our French Hill supermarket that's 2/3 smaller than Pittsford Wegmans). I was paired up with Elliot and we had to buy some stuff for the party and to fill out the worksheet that included finding the cheapest item in the store (cucumbers and oranges) and the most expensive produce (artichokes and strawberries for 11 sheklim). The party was fun. We played musical gift where the "it" had to unwrap one layer of the gift and read the post-it in Hebrew and then pass it on. We had good food. Good times.
Then the test came- it was so much easier than last Thursday's which felt like a final exam.
So what have I been doing outside of class? Sunday and Monday, I stayed on the hill. On Sunday, I was invited over to Michell's for dinner to talk about the trip to Petra. Moti invited me to join him, Mitchell, Nora, and Laura for the drive to Petra this week (before I'd go to Prague). We didn't actually talk about it right away as we had Sam and a couple of other people over. He and Sam made chicken schintzel, curry rice, stir-fry veggies, and artichokes. Nora brought over a delicious strawberry pecan salad. It was a great meal- I told Mitchell and Nora that I owed them a Shabbat dinner. Then Monday, I wasn't feeling well with a bit of a sore throat so I slept in the afternoon.
Today, after the test, Melissa suggested that we go to Mea Shearim. We donned in our long skirts. We walked along a street that we thought was Mea Shearim but when I doubled checked the map, I realized that we just happened to be in an orthodox neighborhood, not Mea Shearm. So we walked to that proper street.
It's basically a narrow street, almost a feel of being in an alley. It supposedly reminds people of a Polish ghetto. I don't know as I've never been to an Eastern European Jewish area. It was actually sort of quiet compared to Jaffa Street. When I go to Prague, I'll have a better idea. There were a lot of cheap applicance stores and Judiaca shops. Towards the end before we turned around, a shop sold olive tree wood goods. They were beautifully crafted! I took several pictures without letting other people notice. You're not really supposed to use your camera- if must, do it discreetly. There was only one restaurant- I had hoped that perhaps they'd keep their Eastern European roots by having such a restaurant. Alas, it's not the right place.
Then Melissa and I shopped along Jaffa a bit before eating an early dinner (I didn't have anything since the party and she was hungry). We ended up eating at El Gauncho's,, a South American restaurant off Hillel, behind Ben Yehuda. It was delicious and a refreshing break from all the vegges, cheese, pita, hummus, etc. I think America is the only country where the waiter puts the check on the table without asking if you want to pay yet. And where water and bread are free.
Tomorrow, I may be off to Netanya for a day trip. I'm excited especially that there's horseback riding on the BEACH. And the weather's going to be sunny and in the 70's!
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