Before I came on the Alexander Muss High School in Israel program, I was under the impression that Israel was very similar to America, because there are a lot of elements of Western culture. The first time I was in Israel, there was English and aspects of American culture everywhere I went because I was on a tour catered for Americans. Coming to Hod Hasharon was a huge culture shock though. 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.

One of the biggest differences between Israel and the United States is the topography. As we learn about the landscape and regions in Israel, we also get to experience it during our Tiyulim. Seattle, the city I am from, is filled with a dense temperate forests and massive mountains only a couple miles away from where I live. When the bus drives through Israel and we get to look at the land, plains of desert are everywhere and smaller barren mountains. There are farming settlements scattered throughout the land, growing things such as grapes, dates, figs, and other crops you would never see in America. One of the coolest sites in Israel are the ancient tels. It shows how historic the land is, which is much different from the northwest U.S. where the only historic sites are a couple hundred years old.

Besides the landscape, the culture in Israel is also hugely different. There are places to eat all along the streets selling falafel and shawarma and it's great. A big difference I noticed is how strangers interact. The world seems to be a lot more fast paced here, and there seems to be a universal understanding that everyone needs to get to there next destination right now. If you are caught being slow and wasting people's time, people are not always as understanding as they are in America. There are also small niche differences between the two cultures like how lunch seems to be more important of a meal than it is in America which confused me a bit for the first few days. Something in common, however, is that Israel has a strong sense of bilingualism. Most people know at least two languages here and almost all the signs are in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. But the biggest similarity is the abundance of American brands here. So whenever I miss home at all, I know I can fall back on seeing something familiar.