I’ve already mentioned that I’m the worst blogger in the world, but now I really have an excuse – I’ve jumped across the pond to visit my family in Israel for the holidays (Hannukah, not Christmas, thankyouverymuch) and have been having a blast back home. Nothing ever changes around here, so familiar places and familiar faces always manage to make me feel like it hasn’t actually been almost two years since I moved away.
One of the things which I enjoy most about visiting back home, besides seeing my family and friends, and cozying up in front of the TV with an afghan blanket, is being able to speak my native language on a daily basis. I enjoy speaking the Hebrew language and when in Germany, not having many people to speak Hebrew with is one of the things I miss most on a daily basis. While I speak English at mother-tongue level (my mother is American and we speak it around the house), I find that in most cases, I can explain ideas and express myself better in Hebrew. I find my Hebrew to be much more intuitively spoken.
During my stay here, I’ve been been mainly catching up with friends, running errands (bank, haircut, dentist, etc), shopping, taking in the sun and drinking a lot of coffee. Felix and I have been spending our evenings either with friends or at home with the laptops on the dining room table – I’m not entirely sure what he’s doing there for hours on end, but I have been uploading trip photos at an industrial rate.
Some of my friends and colleagues back in Germany had been concerned for our safety during our trip. Rest assured, our trip has been very safe and besides the cross-eyed security guard at Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv (which had us somewhat worried), we have had nothing to worry about. Apropos, here’s what the inside of an Israeli bus looks like.
Tomorrow we’re going to be visiting the World Press Photo exhibition in Tel Aviv and spend the rest of the evening packing and relaxing with friends and family. Friday morning we will be flying to Berlin, and are expected to return to Hamburg late in the evening. This trip has been fun and exciting for me, but I am also excited to return to everyone in Hamburg.
Keep well, be safe, and happy landings,
Liron in Israel
