(no subject)
Last night, we started "official orientation." Thus far, things have been mostly standard. We stood in a circle in the courtyard outside the library and did some fairly standard getting to know you activities. Then we sang the Shehechiyanu, and surprise, surprise, I got a little weepy. Services this morning were nice, and also ended with the Shehechiyanu, and I again got kind of emo. We got the speech about professional school/graduate school/seminary again and talked about the importance of building a strong and safe community. Balance seems to be a pretty big theme here. Balance between our own needs and the needs of the community, the needs of our academics and the need to get to know Israel, etc, etc. We got our Hebrew placements, and I found out that I've been placed in the highest class, which kind of freaks me out. We were given a calender for the year and went over it, July through May, which also freaked me out.
After these big lectures, we had the opportunity to break into smaller groups and take some time to do some text study on journeys and blessings, and reflect on our hopes and fears for the year.
Here are some things I am afraid of: speaking Hebrew to Israelis, running out of money before the year is over, not making any friends, having a nervous breakdown, and spending all my time in HUC and missing actual Israel.
Here are some things I hope to accomplish: the ability to listen to the news and Hebrew and know what is being reported, to visit all the synagogues and museums on my (yet to be written) list, to build a strong social network, to journal consistently, to not worry so much about money that I don't have any fun, and to do well in my classes while still keeping in mind the point of all our learning.
So, yeah, nothing too hard there, right?
After these big lectures, we had the opportunity to break into smaller groups and take some time to do some text study on journeys and blessings, and reflect on our hopes and fears for the year.
Here are some things I am afraid of: speaking Hebrew to Israelis, running out of money before the year is over, not making any friends, having a nervous breakdown, and spending all my time in HUC and missing actual Israel.
Here are some things I hope to accomplish: the ability to listen to the news and Hebrew and know what is being reported, to visit all the synagogues and museums on my (yet to be written) list, to build a strong social network, to journal consistently, to not worry so much about money that I don't have any fun, and to do well in my classes while still keeping in mind the point of all our learning.
So, yeah, nothing too hard there, right?