Ani Yisraeli (Sort Of)

Wow, I guess it has been almost a week since my last blog post! I have been in a whirlwind; getting settled in Israel, along with wading through the never ending paper work necessary to get myself set up has been a learning experience.

Lets see what I have accomplished so far:
1. 2 serious job interviews for positions that are right up my alley.

2. Set up a bank account

3. Set up a cell phone account

The first accomplishment is very significant for me. After completing my MBA, I was able to set up a whopping 3 interviews over the course of 6 months! Having only been here a little more than a week, I feel very confident about where I am going professionally. However, I am getting quite frustrated with my ability (or lack thereof) to communicate effectively in Hebrew. I was able to set up my bank account and cell phone using a mix of Hebrew and English (Hebrish? Engbrew?), but I felt very dumb while doing it. I guess this is a good dose of humility for me. In the past I was very judgmental of people in the states who could not speak English. "This is America, learn the language." I now realize the difficulty of learning to speak a new language and assimilating in a new culture.

I am aware, though, that I am very lucky. I have a place to stay, connections in the country, friends and a support network all set up before I even got here. I also have spoken the language most of my life, though clearly not enough to be as fluent as I would like. For this I am very grateful.

Finally, I am going to make it a point not put myself in the American "Ghetto." What I mean by this is, as an American, it is very easy to only associate with other Americans and not take on the Israeli culture. I see this a lot, especially here in Jerusalem; I am determined not to fall into that trap. I moved to Israel to be an Israeli and I will work as hard as I can to become one, not only on paper, but in my heart. That is not to say I will forget where I come from; I grew up in America and spent most of my life there, it will always be important to me. However, I need to move forward in my integration into Israeli society, while striving to remember my heritage as an American.