This past January has been quite the experience, and I learned a lot about Israel, Israelis, and about myself. Israelis are very direct and to the point, which is nice because you know where you stand with them. However, it was a bit awkward for me because I’ve been raised as Chinese-American, so there was definitely a difference in how I handled social situations versus how the average Israeli would act. One would be that I don’t really complain and sometimes I don’t really mind, but Israelis want you to be direct and blunt with them if anythings is wrong, which was an interesting experience.

I also rekindled my love of biology - I had forgotten how fun high school biology was. It also reaffirms that I want to be involved in education eventually in my career, but I first need to figure out what I’m going to be doing post-graduation, and before that this summer.

I also definitely want to do GTL again next IAP. GTL-Israel was a fun first experience. The people I encountered were so nice and willing to help out, and I definitely learned a lot. It was also interesting to see the cultural differences because for Americans, the next step after high school is either a job or college, whereas for Israeli high school students, it’s the military. Thus, there was definitely some differences in ways of thinking. We got asked a lot of how do people decide what to do with their lives at 18 in college in the US. The short answer was - you don’t. I think people everywhere kind of just fake it till they make it by gaining experience and eventually figuring out what they have to do.

Regarding what I’d do differently in my preparation, I would probably back less shoes and bags, and maybe a few more layers. I didn’t expect it to be so cold in the Negev, but then again we also had the (un)fortune to experience the coldest week in Yeruham as well as Mitzpe Ramon during our stay. It was ironic because today was definitely warmer than what the Negev was like during all of January despite there being snow on the ground.