FAQ, part 2

Here are some more Frequently Asked Questions. Find the first ones here.


When are you moving to Jerusalem?
I'll be arriving in Israel on August 16th but won't actually be moving in until the 26th.


What are you doing until you move?
I just finished up my job at Penn State Hillel on May 13th. From mid-June to mid-July, I have the privilege of working as a program fellow at the Brandeis Collegiate Institute in Simi Valley, California (more to come on this amazing program).
In the off-time, I'll be living at home with my parents, doing the following:

• Visiting friends.
• Studying Hebrew (using a combination of a workbook, Rosetta Stone, stalking my Israeli friends' facebook statuses, and these).
• Cooking with my dad (this will be a challenge, as I have been a vegetarian for the past 10 months or so, much to his chagrin. He refuses to eat any of my "hippie crap.")
• Getting back into running.
• Catching up on some TV smut that I've missed, including the occasional Hoarders, My Strange Addiction and other shows profiling socially deviant people. 

You're moving halfway around the world for a year! Are you scared?

Shitless. Next question.

How do your parents feel about  you moving?

My parents are being very supportive of me. They are even coming to visit halfway through my program (their first time in Israel!).

However, my mom is afraid I'm going to bring home a guy that looks like the first picture.

My dad is afraid I'll bring home a guy that looks like the 2nd picture (sans the political views).

Who do you think I'll bring home? 

           

Also, I've been noticing is a similar reaction upon telling some people that I'm going to Israel, which is one of fear. There is an immediate, "be safe," or a recoil, and then the question, "is it safe there?" I've also received a few, "are you scared to go there?" or "is this the best time to go there?"

I can't blame people for asking this, especially with all of the recent middle east news coverage. Living in America, our perception of Israel is distorted, as all that we see on the news are the bad things: the wars, the suicide bombings, the conflicts surrounding the peace process.

The reality is that Israel is a thriving and vibrant country. A very young country, Israel has already contributed so much to the world (check out some of these things here). Tel Aviv is consistently voted as one of the top cities in the world, dubbed the "miami of the middle east." Ok, I could go on and on about how awesome Israel is (maybe a later post).

Like any other country, Israel also has problems. Some major. Like the fact that it's surrounded by countries that want to wipe it off the map. It's unsettling, but it's the reality. So, bad things do happen, and things are uncertain, just like anywhere else.

So am I scared to go? I'm scared to move halfway around the world and live in a new place with new people and a new culture. It's a risk. But life's about taking them, and there's no place I'd rather spend time than the beautiful little country of Israel.