The topic of discussion thus far has been the condition of the dorms. My building (Brodetsky) is far from what most Americans are used to, but it's totally livable. It's got character. I have a nice roommate from Baltimore who goes to Maryland. Lots of cool kids from Berkeley, Cornell, USC, Brandeis, Miami(OH), Illinois, and Penn State. GW appears to have the most number of kids on the trip. Philadelphia is well represented for sure. We are split into two dorms with lots of other kids in the Einstein dorm. I met some good kids who live there from UMass and Michigan.
After checking into my room, I went with a bunch of kids to the mall--a ten minute walk away. The school is in a nice neighborhood in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. Nothing too fancy, pretty plain in fact with a few tall buildings but mostly 3 story apartments. We got a quick tour of the university though a more extensive one is in store tomorrow. With my new Tel Aviv Univ ID, I am officially a student here. The campus is on a big hill with large Soviet block-looking buildings. Lots of weathered white stucko with names of American donors everywhere.
Tomorrow is official orientation that culminates with bowling on thursday. Ulpan starts on Sunday morning at 8:30 and goes until 1:30 everyday. A lot of the kids know a decent amount of hebrew though others seem eager to learn. Buying sheets today was quite the challenge though I managed to get the right size because I pieced together what "Katan" (small) and "Gadol" (large) meant with regard to bedding.
The hebrew placement exam is tomorrow and promises to be engaging. I'm hoping to place into "Bet", level two, though it's been a while so I might be headed directly for "aleph", level one. That's all for now.
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