In America, we learn about the history of our people but here we have our classes in the places that history happened at and we get to experience what our past ancestors went through. We aren't forced to stay in a small classroom at school in the same place every day with no change of scenery, here we do learn in classrooms but we take little field trips and move on our feet throughout the days and see the things in our textbooks come to life. We imagine what it was like in the past.

Back home I have a very traditional school, it starts early in the morning, I see the teachers once, and I sit in desks all day. It's a very conventional and normal environment. Only here in Israel, every site is my classroom. There is so much to learn all around us. In a normal history class, you learn about it and you never get the chance to see it. Here, once we learn about something, we get to see, where a battle happened or where people lived before. I really appreciate how we can see first hand were past Jews and others used to live.

Since I have been in Israel, my group has been traveling the country and using it as our classroom for our Israel Studies class. We base our travels on the time periods we learn about in class. Using Israel as my classroom has been great because we get to learn about something in the classroom and then actually see and experience it through activities, stories, and adventures. This helps me reinforce the information that we learn in class and forge a stronger connection with what I read on paper.

Using “the land as your classroom” is the slogan of AMHSI. The core Israel studies class follows the history of our people in the classroom and physically in the land; across the preserved history of archaeological sites and by walking the same paths as our ancestors on hikes. We bring our notebooks, find a shady spot to sit and have our lessons right out there on the trail - the land is our classroom in a very literal sense.

As the first month of the program comes to a close I have started to really observe the benefits of using the land of Israel as a living classroom. School in Israel includes everything that I would find in school at home. From note taking, to quizzes, to really hard unit tests that force us to use all the knowledge we have learned in our classes. But in our Israeli studies class, we take it a step further, and get to explore the ruins and spiritual sites to compliment what we learn in class.

I can see Israel as my living classroom in two major ways. First off, in our Israel studies class, we learn about different sites in Israel and what happened there historically and then go and visit it and learn more about what happened there, there. In that way, Israel is my classroom because I got to learn about Masada on Masada rather than in a class in Miami.

I have spent much of my time here in Israel sitting in or studying for my many classes. However, school is not the only place that I learn; I have found that everyday life here teaches me just as much, if not more, than my academic courses. For example, I have a Hebrew class several times a week that has taught me formal grammatical rules. Although this subject has been helpful, the majority of my knowledge of the language comes from exposure. After about a month here, I find it far easier to understand, pronounce and repeat words and even sentences in Hebrew. Hearing students my age speaking with each other has provided me with an invaluable opportunity to pick up on key phrases and colloquial expressions.

Hello again, this blog I’d like to write about Israel as a living classroom. Israel is a beautiful country with many interesting nuances, stories that bring out every kind of emotion from pride to inspired to grieving. But translating that to our tiyulim?

Many strangers will approach you on the street just to have a conversation about anything with you, while in America people are very close minded to talking to people they don’t know. People are very welcoming and helpful to me because they know I’m a tourist. If I ever can’t figure out where I need to go, what something says, etc., there is always someone there that is happy to help me out.

Hello again, this blog is about the differences between America and Israel. Stepping out of Ben Gurion, I felt a lot of things, amazement, excitement, lucky, anxious, and a lot bit stressed about my luggage. The aura of an airport wasn’t much different from any American one I’ve been to, if at all.

Another big difference is the food! I mean how could I let a blog go by without talking about the food. Being in Israel has been great for me food-wise because I am kosher and I almost never have to worry about finding kosher restaurants. Another difference is that in America if you were dancing on the streets with friends and singing they would look at you wrong but here they will join you. All in all, here in Israel the vibes are different. Wherever I go and whoever I meet I feel instantly connected you because I know that we share our Judaism (for the most part) and our love for the holy land.

So, after being here in Israel for almost 3 weeks now, I have been able to see many differences between Israel and America. Not just the countries, but the people, the food, and the culture.

Another difference I’ve noticed is how important going to the army is here and being responsible and knowing their duties and paying their services. In America, most people, or at least the people I know, are so scared of joining the army. In Israel, people are happy to be loyal to their country, which makes me so happy about Israel being so united. I feel that if more people had that mindset in America, it could solve a lot of issues. Unlike in America, people aren’t really doing anything with some situations, which causes a lot of problems.

In a big country with so much diversity like the US, it's easy to forget that people in other countries have different cultures. For us, maybe there are differences between the coasts or regions, or city vs. rural, but we are all part of the same American culture. I’ve only been in Israel for three weeks, but in this time as a foreigner in another culture, I’ve been able to notice some of the differences between Israelis and Americans.

In terms of school, I am afforded greater freedom at Muss. Much like in college, we are simply expected to find our way to our classes and may return to our dorms at any time. In general, the academic atmosphere here is informal when compared to America. We are allowed to refer to teachers by their first names and the relationship dynamic is, in general, less strict than back home. Overall, Israel is unfamiliar to me; however, I am confident that it will feel like a second home to me soon.

I have been living in Israel for about three weeks and I have encountered so many differences than living in Seattle. I noticed that in Israel everything is faster especially the aggressive driving. The currency is different so knowing the exchange rate is crucial and helpful so you know if you are getting a good deal or not. The service can be on and off where I get my falafel the employees are very nice but sometimes when I go to a place for the first time they’ll try to scam me to make an easy dollar.

I feel the difference in culture because pretty much everyone is Jewish, but Jewish is such a broad term. You can think of it as one religion but inside that religion there are many other, such as how religious you are in the sense of orthodox, or Conservative. They still are both Jewish and believe in the same god just have different ways of showing it.

I’ve been in Israel for three weeks so far on this amazing program and I am having the best time. Being away from home for this long can be very hard. At first I was overwhelmed but I adjusted fairly quickly because I found how connected I am with the land of Israel and the people. In Israel, the people are not afraid to speak their minds.

I left the United States nearly about 3 weeks ago and arrived in Israel. When I first stepped off the plane to get on the bus that brought us to AMHSI everything felt a little different. Obviously the big differences that I noticed first were the amazing architecture, it's so diverse from what I see in America. Another big difference is the people, they have different versions of manners here. Israelis will tell you the truth straight up and definitely don't wait in line.

When I got to the city I looked around expecting to see many American chains everywhere. Instead, I was greeted with Hebrew and Arabic words everywhere, and I was instantly hit by the real, authentic Israel, which has a much more unique culture and lifestyle than I could ever have imagined.