Shalom From Herzliya!

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the long delay in my posting. The blog website here is entirely in Hebrew and since I don’t read or write Hebrew, it has taken me a little time to figure out how to post.

I am all settled into my student apartment and have had five weeks of classes at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya Israel. My apartment is about a 20 minute walk from school and I am living with three American girls (two from Chicago and one from Florida) who are completing their entire undergraduate degrees at The IDC.

So far the way of doing things here differs a little from what I have been used to at Penn. I came to the school with no schedule and no list of the classes offered and was told not to worry about it and that “this was the Israeli way of doing things”. After I was finally told that I could take any class offered in the school, I then had to begin the search for classes that are offered in English, fulfill my Wharton requirements, and are not overlapping. After going through each course offered and consulting with older students I am enrolled in 6 classes (students here take a heavier course load than we are used to since the undergraduate programs are only three years). I am currently taking Organizational Behavior, International Financial Reporting, Contract Law, Theories on the Study of Terrorism and Guerilla Warfare, Israel’s Foreign Policy, and Personality. All my classes have been great, especially the government classes since I don’t have much time to take those types of classes back at Penn. It’s interesting to learn about a place while actually be there as is the case in Israel’s Foreign Policy.

In addition to the academic element everything about the school has been really good. The first week was orientation week for all the new students, so I got to learn about the school and meet a lot of new people. We also went on an overnight camping trip to the Negev Desert and the Dead Sea which was a lot of fun. Herzliya is a small city located on the water only 15 minutes outside of Tel Aviv so it is a great location to study in Israel. We can easily get to Tel Aviv which has all the conveniences of a major metropolitan city not to mention great nightlife on the weekends and during the week we can focus on our classes. The school’s student union also plans parties in and around Herzliya for the student body to attend which are fun and a great way to meet new people.

Today is Saturday which means that is Shabbat and so public transportation doesn’t run and everything is closed until sundown. Since I’ve been here I’ve learned that it is the perfect opportunity to get some homework done since there really is nothing else to do. It’s a different than what I’m used to (I have to stock up on groceries on Friday afternoon), but slowly I am getting used to it and beginning to like the quietness of Shabbat. If anyone has any questions at all about Israel or Studying abroad please do not hesitate to ask and I will try to answer your questions as best as I can!