‘Twas the day before departure, and all through the house, not an item was folded, not even a blouse.

Hey everyone, and welcome to my blog documenting my time spent studying abroad in Israel. I thought that before I left, I should share the background of my trip, myself, and how this all came about.

My name is Sophie Cannon, I am a junior at Edina High School, I write for Zephryus, and I am currently sitting in my bedroom for what will be the last time in a while. Tomorrow morning, I will be boarding a plane to Israel, where I will be spending the next 11.5 weeks of the school year.

In the early fall of this year, I researched study abroad programs, and, being Jewish, stumbled upon an Israeli program that seemed to be the perfect fit for me. Alexander Muss High School in Israel (amhsi) is an American school based in Hod Hasharon, Israel, near the major city of Tel Aviv. Students participating in the January-April session spend the quarter living on a college-like campus, in dorms, but also immersed in the Israeli culture.

Like a typical school, I will be continuing my EHS course work overseas with a teacher from amhsi, and continue to get my EHS credits. However, the unique part of amhsi is the History/English class called Israel Core Class (ICC). It covers the history of Israel from the biblical times to the present, covering every major religion, site, battle, and historical figure. What’s more amazing is that this class takes place all over the country!

A typical week may include studying in a classroom for two days on one subject, and then taking a field trip to the actual site the next part of the week. This interactive classroom setup can only really be done in Israel because of its small size, but the range of things to do, see, and study, are countless.

As this is my first time out of the country, and also flying alone for more than a few hours, I am openly nervous. Meeting brand new people, having roommates, doing my own banking, financing, and scheduling my free weekends are all new to me. But my goal for this trip is to take things as they come, and fully immerse myself in the new world I’m making for myself, and then hopefully bring what I’ve learned back to Edina.

Phrase of the week: תאחלו לי בהצלחה

Pronunciation: te’achloo lee b’hatzlacha  (“ch” as in a hard “h”, not in “chew”)

Meaning: Wish me luck!