When I walk down the street in Boston, I am left to myself. I can do as I please, and mind my own business. If I were to talk to someone, I would be judged immensely. Back in America, people keep to themselves. But as I walk down the streets of Hod HaSharon, or along the beaches of Tel Aviv and Haifa, I am stopped constantly. I have talked to more people on the streets of Israel in the past three weeks than I have in my entire life on the streets of America. People love to strike up conversation with random strangers, especially if they hear them speaking English. Earlier this week, I was buying schnitzel from a little shop near campus, and there was a large group of Israeli teens, boys and girls, standing behind me in line. They heard me talking to my friend, recognized that we were speaking English, and began to ask us where we’re from. At times, it was hard to understand their English, but they were almost fluent. Once we got our food, we sat down with them at a picnic table and continued to talk. After talking to them for a bit, I learned that most of them had grown up in Hod HaSharon, except for one boy who lived in Tel Aviv until he was 7, and none of them had never left Israel. They knew English as well as they did because a girl from their school had grown up in New York, and decided to help them learn so they could one day go to the States. They learn the language in school, but this group was much better at English than the rest of their grade. They all loved America, and asked us millions of questions. One of them said that she’s always wanted to go to Boston, and talked to me the most, just asking me about everything she’s heard. I told her about Newbury Street, all of the colleges, and the Boston Gardens. They even taught us some basic Hebrew. We talked to them for about half an hour, and we just talked about our lives. I learned so much about these people, and the culture that they live in, that I never would have learned otherwise. If I had been in America and heard some people talking, I definitely would have listened, but I never would have talked to them. This difference fascinates me, and is definitely one of my favorite parts of Israeli culture.