Seeing life in blue and white

I am feeling very Israeli. I have just hung a big Israeli flag outside on my balcony so everyone can see it.

Next week will be my first Independence Day as an Israeli citizen and for the first time in my life I feel patriotic enough to hang my national flag outside my window.

Over the last few weeks I shared the country with lots of visitors who came to celebrate Pessach here. It was wonderful to see everyone and it was a good opportunity for me to get out of Jerusalem and see some new places and old faces at the same time. I braved the Israeli roads and rented car for a couple weeks and I think I crammed in as many friends and family as possible.

Now that Pessach is over and that all my English visitors have left, I am witnessing Israel gearing up for a month of nationally important days.

Today (Monday) , is Holocaust Remembrance Day and at 10 am this morning the entire country came to a standstill - and I mean standstill: cars stopped on the motorway and people got out, the buses and restaurants stopped functioning - as a siren blared for three minutes to remember those who perished at the hands of the Nazis and the bravery of those who stood up against them.

Next Monday we will be remembering the fallen soldiers who have died protecting Israel over the last sixty years – and as the sun sets on Yom Ha’Zikaron, Israelis will begin celebrating Yom Ha’atzmeut, Independence Day and Israel’s 59th Birthday.

Day by day the streets, houses, lampposts, cars, and now my balcony, are becoming a sea of white and blue flags, lights and ribbons, as people get ready for the serious celebrations of the weeks ahead.

In the meantime I continue with my studies and I can’t believe that I only have two months left of ulpan. The reality of this move is slowly dawning me and on my 160 other ulpan friends who arrived at the same time way back in December, as we contemplate what to do next. Some will start work straight away, others will continue studying in some guise (as new immigrants we are entitled to do a Masters degree for free), others have signed up to the army for a minimum of six months – and with talk of another war this summer, this is a pretty harsh reality check – and some will be returning home having realised that Israel isn’t for them.

As for me, I am missing the thrill of chase of work and am keen to get back into it as soon as I can. But this sense of frustration is met by an equally strong desire to get my Hebrew to a good a level as possible so that I feel confident enough to argue with the taxi driver who is trying to rip me off, to understand my phone bills in their entirety and eventually understand what my kids teachers are saying at parents evening.

I am thinking about doing an intensive summer ulpan at Hebrew University (also in Jerusalem) for six weeks over the summer, after a brief visit back to London, and before the pressures of working life take over once again.

Right now though, I am loving being part of a such a small and unique country and enjoying all my ‘firsts’ as a new citizen. Happy Birthday Israel.