Whatup Mekif Alef?!

Ok, so the main part of this program (WHY I’m actually here) is to teach English to the Israeli students in Ashdod. I got paired up with Zach and we were assigned to a high school called Mekif Alef.

School's logo

A little bit about Mekif Alef: It is the first high school that was established in Ashdod in the late 1950’s. It is an “army school” as I like to call it. Basically about half of the students wear the air force uniform because once they graduate high school they will be sent to the air force unit in the army. So even at 14 years old they start wearing the uniform everyday and must follow the Israeli army rules. Also, I’ve definitely noticed that these students tend to be more disciplined and respectful in comparison to the other students.

Now, a little bit about Zach: He’s from New Jersey (poor him!). He’s 21 years old and still in College, he took a semester off to come volunteer in Israel, and will be returning for another semester of school in January. If I must say one thing: I couldn’t have asked for a better partner! I’ve really gotten to know him in the past 3 months and he’s a real sweetheart, a little crazy at times… but overall a genuine guy.

What do we do at school? Well, we go in every day around 8:00 am and sit in the teacher’s lounge while we wait for students to walk in saying “Anglit? Anglit?” This means “English? English?” We get students with all different levels of spoken English. We’ve done everything from talking to classes of students about our lives back home, to teaching small groups of students the Alphabet and how to read basic words, to having full on conversations with those who are fairly fluent in English. Every day is full of surprises, headaches and laughter. It is not easy being a teacher! Especially in an Israeli high school! Ooouuuffff! I’ve met some unique students. For example, just the other day I spoke with a Japanese Jewish boy from Italy. Talk about a mixture! Most of the students at the school also speak Russian, and there are quite a few that even speak French. So some days I speak 3 different languages and I get a little confused. I guess I shall call it Frenglew (French-English-Hebrew).

Zach & I after school one day

The students also like to play jokes on us. The best one was this student of ours who we met within our first week, he told us his name was Boris. He’s been one of our favourite students, and his English is pretty good! Finally after three months of calling this kid Boris, someone asked: “Why do you always call him Boris?” … “That’s not his name”. WHAT?! The kid started laughing and told us his real name, Arcadi. I guess he thought it would be too difficult for us “Silly Americans” to pronounce so he randomly decided his name would be Boris. Hahaha, regardless of the truth, we still call him Boris!

Some of the conversations with the more advanced speakers have taught me a lot about Israeli mentality, its culture and the army. I’ve definitely picked up a few Israeli traits since I’ve been here, hopefully you will recognize me when I come home! Along with meeting some great students, I’ve also spoken with many of the teachers. One girl in particular is so sweet, Loren. She’s like a student teacher in all high school subjects, not only English. I can see a lot of myself in her, and I’ve really enjoyed spending time with her in school and outside of school.

Loren & I

All in all, the teachers are thrilled to have us there. Zach & I offer a mixture of accents: American and Canadian. Some days we really do feel like we’re making a difference, and on those days it feels great.