Natasha Gee-Firsht has recently made aliyah. Read her first blog about her journey to Israel as an olah rather than a tourist
A couple of days after I arrived in Israel - after meeting my roommates, settling into my shared room with minimal A/C (thankfully fixed now) and meeting other Olim on the same programme as me - Ulpan started. When planning my aliyah programme I committed to learning Ivrit for five hours, five days a week. I was lucky to have two lovely teachers and we started covering things I already knew from school. Just as I was thinking this was too easy, I discovered how complex Ivrit can be! I decided to set myself some goals, starting with learning enough Hebrew to get by. As long as I have the confidence to communicate with people and perfect my accent, I will be ok.
My main concern was how I’d make new friends. I’m used to having a great support system and wasn’t sure how I’d get by without friends and family surrounding me. I was surprised at how easy it was to make new friends, though. Of course, being in the programme you’re surrounded by people in a similar situation to you and you tend to gravitate to people who speak the same language as you at first.
I also found that when I’d go to a party or an event people would hear my accent, and they’d be keen to know my story, which is a great way to meet new people. I feel almost like an Israeli now when it comes to my social life!
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