Those of you who know me (which, as far as I know, are all my 3 readers :-)), should know by now that I am a geek who likes to play with the newest and shiniest operating systems. No, I didn't try to run Apple's OS X on my computer, though I had thought about it in the past. I decided to come back to Microsoft, who had just released the beta version of the newest 7, available for download here.
What can I say about it so far?
First of all I would like to mention that my veteran laptop, which has been the playground for so many versions of operating systems (Windows XP SP1, SP2, SP3, Kubuntu 7.04, 7.10, 8.04, 8.10, and the KDE version of OpenSuse 11). It is almost 5 years old, and as such it has 1.5 GHZ CPU, only 750 MB of RAM, and an old ATI Radeon Mobility 9200 video adapter. The latter two specifications are much less than the minimum required to run 7. Nonetheless, the setup procedure went quite smoothly. I am happy to say that, finally, this Windows is probably the fastest, and simplest, version of Windows to install. Everything take about 20 minutes and you're done. Unfortunately, unlike Linux, the distribution does not come with extra packages like an Office suite, antivirus, and other useful packages. Still, for Windows it's pretty nice, and it's free (after all you are a Beta tester) to use until September.
After the installation has ended (it took two reboots in the installation process, plus two other reboots for updates after the installation, which is stupid, because the entire system was ready for download only a day ago) the system loaded up. The GUI looks nice and slick. Very similar to the Vista one, only with the new taskbar showing only icons and not window's names. The Aero glass could not load on my machine, because my video adapter is not capable of doing it. Still, most of the features work, and it can run Gadgets. I tried the CPU/Memory gadget and it showed a surprisingly low CPU and memory usage. Surprising, because the 750MB on my machine are less than the required 1 GB and the memory used was in the range of 50%-75%.
The system was fast to respond on this archaic machine as well. I would say that it was almost as quick as a fresh installation of Windows XP if only I could remember how a new installation of Windows XP runs on that machine.
As far as drivers are concerned I had two problems. One was solved by the automatic driver update that Windows 7 ran on the computer. The other one was with my video adapter. This card has not been supported for Vista by the manufacturer, and Microsoft added a Vista driver capable of running Aero by themselves. This driver, once installed on my computer, has caused the display to flicker without end, and I had to roll-back to a default VGA driver, which lowers the display resolution. Finally, I have decided to try my old XP driver from the package that had come with my laptop when I had purchased it, and voila, it works. So it doesn't support Aero, but it still enables me 1280x800 resolution. I think that it caused the CPU usage to rise, but I haven't had time to check that out.
In conclusion, so far the system have shown a relative stability and agility that are impressive for a beta version running on hardware that is not intended to run it. I think that Microsoft has finally come up with a good version of Vista. As always, it's Service Pack 2 that does the work.
I am not sure if I will keep it or not, and anyway the Beta expires in the summer, so a new operating system will be required, or I will dump this old laptop. However, if you have the time and the proper machine to spare (Microsoft strongly advice against using 7 on the primary machine) I suggest you give it a try.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Weekly summary: back to the grind
The first week of the winter quarter is now over. That's 10% on the status bar, if you wonder. It was a busy week, but I think the next will be much worse. However, before that I would like to update about the good news that we received during the week. On Monday we were informed that D received a scholarship for her superlative performance during the previous quarter. This is important not only from the economical point of view, and we do appreciate the money, but also from the academic point of view and its reflection on her CV. We now know that the great amount of work she had put in this quarter paid off. Congratulations! Later in the week we learned that D's professors had arranged for her and another girl in her class to work part time for a company. The professors promised the company that D and the other girl will commit 20 hours a week to the work, and this will add even more stress to D's tight schedule. Nonetheless, there are upsides to this work as well: this is a project that will probably take long to evolve, and it has already been arranged that D and the friend will spend their internships (starting in the summer quarter) with this company, and probably after they graduate the company will hire them full-time. We still don't know if we're happy with all these arrangements, as the company and the project are not fully known at the moment; however, if everything goes well it will take the load of finding internship for the summer and work afterwards off D's shoulders and that's a good development, specifically in the current economic climate.
I also learned this week that my father had undergone a medical operation and a catheter was inserted to one of his arteries. He had kept the date of the operation secret from my sister, who is pregnant, and from me and told me only after the operation was over. He is fine now, or so he claims. This is one of the reasons why I cannot trust him to be sincere about his health, and it makes me worried: what if he is hiding other medical problems?
On the other hand, my sister gave birth on Thursday to a baby girl, my first niece. My father was excited when I talked to him about it and said that she is adorable. My sister and Yuval, that's my niece's name, are relatively fine. By the way the name my sister and brother in law chose maintains their tradition to name their children with names that relate to water and start with the Hebrew letter Yod: Yam is my eldest nephew and Yarden is the younger nephew. I don't know if she plans on having another child, but in case she does, you're welcome to suggest names that keep this tradition.
And now to the "boring" stuff of our day-to-day lives. As I mentioned, this was the first week of the new quarter. I teach two classes this quarter, one of them is a class I taught in the previous quarter and one new. I also study one class, which is my first in the course of my studies here. Overall I will be very busy this quarter. Teaching a class you have taught is much easier than teaching a class for the first time. First of all, you have all the notes ready, and there is no "race" between the classes you prepare and the ones you teach. In the previous quarter I usually prepared the class only a day in advance, which is very bad, because you don't know exactly how things will unravel in the next lessons, and also it is very stressful and tight on schedule. The time needed to prepare for a class now is also much shorter, I spend only 15-30 minutes instead of the 5-6 hours I spend on preparing a lecture for the first time. Finally, and probably most importantly, in the second time you have a chance to improve your previous way of teaching. You know which parts were not understood well enough in the previous quarter and you can linger on them longer and improve the explanations. I already received a feedback from one of the students that I am explaining very well and taking the time to make everyone understand.
Unfortunately, the other course is new and I still have to prepare about 75% of the lectures. This course is also very busy, with a lot of material to cover, but I have only 8 students, and it's easier to keep a good pace. Hopefully, it will not be too fast for them.
The course I am taking is a mandatory course in Analytical Dynamics. The lecture hours coincide with my lectures in the second class, so I don't have time to go to the lectures. However, I have the book, I know the professor (:-)) and I know some of the students that take the course, so I hope everything will be fine. So far, the first assignment seems OK.
D is taking a full schedule as well. This is both the requirements of the International Students Office (the office that maintains records of international students for the Department of Homeland Security) and the requirements of her program. In the previous quarter she studied almost 7 days a week, 16 hours a day. That was before the new work she now has, and I hope she'll have time to do everything and that we will have time to enjoy ourselves. I don't expect much, just a few hours every week to go out or spend a night in catching up on TV shows. Speaking of which, the holidays in America have caused a break in the TV shows we follow (Heroes and Fringe), Lost has not started yet (premiers on January 21), and the war in Gaza causes a break in the Israeli Survivor (which we follow because we know one of the contestants), so we don't have any show that we can follow right now on Hulu or Nana.
Regarding the war in Gaza: I found one of the best things about living in Ohio: it is a right-wing American state. In the last week I was asked several times about Gaza, the reasons for the Israeli offensive and my views. I did my best to explain the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially the problem with the Hamas, and its never-ending efforts to launch attacks against Israel in the last decade or so. It is not easy to explain something, which has such a long history, to people, who may have heard a few things here and there, but have not followed the conflict as we Israelis have lived it. Still, they come from a strong belief in Israel and its right to live peacefully. Part of it I attribute to the fact that they don't know too much about anything, but another part is that the American media is much more unbiased, relative to their European counterparts. I am certainly happy that I don't have to live in a European country, specifically not in the United Kingdom. I think that this article summarizes well the problems and the solution, and it is much better than anything I can write.
Ending with a more positive note: a week or so ago I posted "The Legendary Sunjay Gupta". It seems that I am not the only one who noticed this doctor. It seems that Obama's transition team wants to appoint him to be the next surgeon general. Could it be that the transition team reads this blog? Or maybe, the opponents of this appointment do. In any case, it seems that more news will come of The Legendary Sunjay Gupta!
I also learned this week that my father had undergone a medical operation and a catheter was inserted to one of his arteries. He had kept the date of the operation secret from my sister, who is pregnant, and from me and told me only after the operation was over. He is fine now, or so he claims. This is one of the reasons why I cannot trust him to be sincere about his health, and it makes me worried: what if he is hiding other medical problems?
On the other hand, my sister gave birth on Thursday to a baby girl, my first niece. My father was excited when I talked to him about it and said that she is adorable. My sister and Yuval, that's my niece's name, are relatively fine. By the way the name my sister and brother in law chose maintains their tradition to name their children with names that relate to water and start with the Hebrew letter Yod: Yam is my eldest nephew and Yarden is the younger nephew. I don't know if she plans on having another child, but in case she does, you're welcome to suggest names that keep this tradition.
And now to the "boring" stuff of our day-to-day lives. As I mentioned, this was the first week of the new quarter. I teach two classes this quarter, one of them is a class I taught in the previous quarter and one new. I also study one class, which is my first in the course of my studies here. Overall I will be very busy this quarter. Teaching a class you have taught is much easier than teaching a class for the first time. First of all, you have all the notes ready, and there is no "race" between the classes you prepare and the ones you teach. In the previous quarter I usually prepared the class only a day in advance, which is very bad, because you don't know exactly how things will unravel in the next lessons, and also it is very stressful and tight on schedule. The time needed to prepare for a class now is also much shorter, I spend only 15-30 minutes instead of the 5-6 hours I spend on preparing a lecture for the first time. Finally, and probably most importantly, in the second time you have a chance to improve your previous way of teaching. You know which parts were not understood well enough in the previous quarter and you can linger on them longer and improve the explanations. I already received a feedback from one of the students that I am explaining very well and taking the time to make everyone understand.
Unfortunately, the other course is new and I still have to prepare about 75% of the lectures. This course is also very busy, with a lot of material to cover, but I have only 8 students, and it's easier to keep a good pace. Hopefully, it will not be too fast for them.
The course I am taking is a mandatory course in Analytical Dynamics. The lecture hours coincide with my lectures in the second class, so I don't have time to go to the lectures. However, I have the book, I know the professor (:-)) and I know some of the students that take the course, so I hope everything will be fine. So far, the first assignment seems OK.
D is taking a full schedule as well. This is both the requirements of the International Students Office (the office that maintains records of international students for the Department of Homeland Security) and the requirements of her program. In the previous quarter she studied almost 7 days a week, 16 hours a day. That was before the new work she now has, and I hope she'll have time to do everything and that we will have time to enjoy ourselves. I don't expect much, just a few hours every week to go out or spend a night in catching up on TV shows. Speaking of which, the holidays in America have caused a break in the TV shows we follow (Heroes and Fringe), Lost has not started yet (premiers on January 21), and the war in Gaza causes a break in the Israeli Survivor (which we follow because we know one of the contestants), so we don't have any show that we can follow right now on Hulu or Nana.
Regarding the war in Gaza: I found one of the best things about living in Ohio: it is a right-wing American state. In the last week I was asked several times about Gaza, the reasons for the Israeli offensive and my views. I did my best to explain the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially the problem with the Hamas, and its never-ending efforts to launch attacks against Israel in the last decade or so. It is not easy to explain something, which has such a long history, to people, who may have heard a few things here and there, but have not followed the conflict as we Israelis have lived it. Still, they come from a strong belief in Israel and its right to live peacefully. Part of it I attribute to the fact that they don't know too much about anything, but another part is that the American media is much more unbiased, relative to their European counterparts. I am certainly happy that I don't have to live in a European country, specifically not in the United Kingdom. I think that this article summarizes well the problems and the solution, and it is much better than anything I can write.
Ending with a more positive note: a week or so ago I posted "The Legendary Sunjay Gupta". It seems that I am not the only one who noticed this doctor. It seems that Obama's transition team wants to appoint him to be the next surgeon general. Could it be that the transition team reads this blog? Or maybe, the opponents of this appointment do. In any case, it seems that more news will come of The Legendary Sunjay Gupta!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Quick update
This is a quick update for news that cannot wait for the weekly update: D received a scholarship for her excellent grades in the previous quarter. We're very happy for the extra money and I am very proud of her! Kudos!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Weekly Summary: On The Brink Of...
It's Sunday evening, the day before the new quarter begins. This quarter I am teaching two classes, one of them is new for me and the other one I taught in the previous quarter, and taking one class and 3 points of research. It is going to be a very busy quarter and I hope I'll have time to do everything I need to do. The problem with the quarter system, especially as it is done at UC, is that it is so intense: the lessons are given on every other day and as a lecturer I have to prepare them, check works, prepare tests and check them as well. In the previous quarter I barely had time for all that, and I had to give up on checking the students works. Now that I start my studies I will have even less time for that, and it's making me nervous. D, on the other hand, is supposed to have an easier quarter than the previous one, but only slightly easier, and I guess she'll be busy as well. We don't expect to have time for fun during the weekends.
Our flights back were long ones. The part from Tel Aviv to NYC went pretty well: we took a flight with Olympic and the flights were very good, there was room for legs (especially in the Boeing 737 from Tel Aviv to Athens), and we had a separate pair of seats for us on the flight from Athens to JFK (it was an Aerbus 340-200, which was my first time to fly in and the seats are arranged in 2-4-2 format, unlike the 3-4-3 format on Boeing-747). Even the food wasn't that bad, although D, being the vegetarian that she is, got the same three meals, which made her quite sick of Greek antipasti.
To break the sequence of 4 flights from Tel Aviv to Dayton, Ohio we decided to spend the night in NYC. It proved to be a huge success, as we managed to meet three different friends in the limited time we had in the evening after arriving in NYC. It also proved to be a good idea because we came rested and refreshed after a good night's sleep to the second part of our flight sequence, which was less successful. It started with us waiting an hour and a half for a replacement steward on the first flight from JFK to Detroit, which made us miss the second flight from Detroit to Dayton by less than 5 minutes. I was at the gate of the second flight even before the flight was scheduled to leave, only to find out that the gate was locked. We had to wait 4 more hours for the late-night flight. This could have been alright if the management of the Detroit Metorpolitan Airport had realized that the temperatures on the last day of the year in Detroit might fall well below freezing point and had warmed up the terminal. They didn't realize and didn't warm the terminal and each time the gate opens to let people board and disembark the planes the terminal temperature dropped by another degree or two. In short, it was freezing cold there. We wore every possible coat, hat and scarf we had, and still were shivering. D caught a cold, which we assume was the blame of that waiting in the terminal, and she is now sitting here being all sick and miserable. We need the legendary Sunjay Gupta to save her. Eventually we arrived in our home after midnight so we missed all the celebrations and fire-works (except the ones we saw in the car mirror as we drove away from Dayton on our way to Cincinnati). Which reminds me: happy new year everyone.
On Friday I went to show my face at the university, just so that people would know that we returned from the vacation. The university was almost desolated, except for three people I know from the department. One of them is B, who is almost finishing his Ph.D. and was awaiting news regarding a possible position when we left to Israel. He is probably the only person that I talk with at the university on a regular basis. He landed the job, and I am really happy for him.
Our flights back were long ones. The part from Tel Aviv to NYC went pretty well: we took a flight with Olympic and the flights were very good, there was room for legs (especially in the Boeing 737 from Tel Aviv to Athens), and we had a separate pair of seats for us on the flight from Athens to JFK (it was an Aerbus 340-200, which was my first time to fly in and the seats are arranged in 2-4-2 format, unlike the 3-4-3 format on Boeing-747). Even the food wasn't that bad, although D, being the vegetarian that she is, got the same three meals, which made her quite sick of Greek antipasti.
To break the sequence of 4 flights from Tel Aviv to Dayton, Ohio we decided to spend the night in NYC. It proved to be a huge success, as we managed to meet three different friends in the limited time we had in the evening after arriving in NYC. It also proved to be a good idea because we came rested and refreshed after a good night's sleep to the second part of our flight sequence, which was less successful. It started with us waiting an hour and a half for a replacement steward on the first flight from JFK to Detroit, which made us miss the second flight from Detroit to Dayton by less than 5 minutes. I was at the gate of the second flight even before the flight was scheduled to leave, only to find out that the gate was locked. We had to wait 4 more hours for the late-night flight. This could have been alright if the management of the Detroit Metorpolitan Airport had realized that the temperatures on the last day of the year in Detroit might fall well below freezing point and had warmed up the terminal. They didn't realize and didn't warm the terminal and each time the gate opens to let people board and disembark the planes the terminal temperature dropped by another degree or two. In short, it was freezing cold there. We wore every possible coat, hat and scarf we had, and still were shivering. D caught a cold, which we assume was the blame of that waiting in the terminal, and she is now sitting here being all sick and miserable. We need the legendary Sunjay Gupta to save her. Eventually we arrived in our home after midnight so we missed all the celebrations and fire-works (except the ones we saw in the car mirror as we drove away from Dayton on our way to Cincinnati). Which reminds me: happy new year everyone.
On Friday I went to show my face at the university, just so that people would know that we returned from the vacation. The university was almost desolated, except for three people I know from the department. One of them is B, who is almost finishing his Ph.D. and was awaiting news regarding a possible position when we left to Israel. He is probably the only person that I talk with at the university on a regular basis. He landed the job, and I am really happy for him.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Legendary Sunjay Gupta
CNN’s chief medical correspondent is Dr. Sunjay Gupta. Naturally, I don’t know the guy personally, but it’s funny to see how the CNN anchor men and women treat him with adulation. In any health care related item they turn to this distinguished neurosurgeon and ask for his commentary, like sending Danny Rup with a stupid wool-hat to the first snow in Jerusalem. It’s not the first time I have seen Dr. Gupta on CNN, but today we saw him appear twice: once on a research about how running is good for health, and even does not have undesired side-effects such as joint problems, which were associated with running in the past. The other item was about the state of hospitals in Gaza, overflowing with injured people and under equipped. The anchorman asked him: “Dr. Gupta, you were in situations like this, what can you tell us…” and all I could think was: this is a doctor that has been reporting for CNN in the past 10 years (almost), and probably never saw combat casualties. The only blood he probably saw was after a well organized cut in a prestigious American hospital, under the neon lights, and air conditioned (actually, according to CNN's page this is not true and he did perform surgery on field in Iraq). What the hell does he know? It caused me to create “The Legend of Dr Sunjay Gupta, the doctor who cured every disease… except cancer”. We now consider him to be some kind of a Superhero.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Weekly Summary: In-Between
I haven't updated the weekly blog/mail for a long time, and what better time is it than doing it just before we fly back to the US? The last 10 days were busy times indeed. We met so many people, and I would like to thank each and every one who found the time to meet us, no matter how or when or for how long. It was great to see you all and I'm already looking forward to seeing you again.
We were frequently asked how did we find it here in Israel, or how did we find Cincinnati so far. I have to say that, for me, the jury are still deliberating. There are many things that we don't like in Cincinnati, and we have mentioned a few of them in passing to some people we met here. There are also things that become apparent when you come back to Israel after a while abroad. For example, I am still shocked at how bad people drive in Israel, how dangerously reckless they are and how frequent they use the horn. In three months in Ohio I heard only two honks (not including the fact that the horn honks whenever we lock the car), and one of them was my own doing when I tried to avoid a danger. Here it seems as if people drive with one hand on the cellular and the other on the horn.
I think that the main problem for us now is that we feel a bit "homeless". We haven't settled in Cincinnati yet, and I'm not sure we ever will feel "at home" there; however, we no longer feel at home here. I don't know if it's just because we don't have our "physical" home, or if it's something deeper than that, but it felt a bit like being tourists. Still, all the people I know, love, and want to meet live here in Israel, so probably I still consider this place to be my home. I think that apart from the "physical" home I miss in Cincinnati, I don't miss anything else there. Certainly I do not miss the university, teaching or students. If anything, this visit proved to me how weak my connections with Cincinnati are. I wonder if it would have been different if we had chosen another place, for example Boston, Seattle, or Calgary, which were all candidates at some point or another. No doubt that more people would have pledged to visit us if we had chosen one of these locations. We certainly need more friends there, not just classmates as D has.
D also mentioned how strange it feels to live with our parents. I said that it feels like being a 16 years old again, just without the (few) perks that come with that age. We were living with my dad for a week, and I found that he does his best to manage his new life after my mother's passing. It seems somewhat fragile, and I'm still worried about him. I think that it was a good idea to move out of there while we're still in Israel and we saw him yesterday, but it's hard. My next visit, I'm afraid, will be only in the summer, and even that is not guaranteed, and it's hard to keep an eye from afar. I have to rely on my sister's testimonies, and I think that her words were always more bleak than the true situation was.
In a totally unrelated note, but something I wanted to do a long time ago, I'll try to summarize why I think the Americans are over the hill:
So, finally, where is home for us? Home is where our high-speed internet is. :-)
We were frequently asked how did we find it here in Israel, or how did we find Cincinnati so far. I have to say that, for me, the jury are still deliberating. There are many things that we don't like in Cincinnati, and we have mentioned a few of them in passing to some people we met here. There are also things that become apparent when you come back to Israel after a while abroad. For example, I am still shocked at how bad people drive in Israel, how dangerously reckless they are and how frequent they use the horn. In three months in Ohio I heard only two honks (not including the fact that the horn honks whenever we lock the car), and one of them was my own doing when I tried to avoid a danger. Here it seems as if people drive with one hand on the cellular and the other on the horn.
I think that the main problem for us now is that we feel a bit "homeless". We haven't settled in Cincinnati yet, and I'm not sure we ever will feel "at home" there; however, we no longer feel at home here. I don't know if it's just because we don't have our "physical" home, or if it's something deeper than that, but it felt a bit like being tourists. Still, all the people I know, love, and want to meet live here in Israel, so probably I still consider this place to be my home. I think that apart from the "physical" home I miss in Cincinnati, I don't miss anything else there. Certainly I do not miss the university, teaching or students. If anything, this visit proved to me how weak my connections with Cincinnati are. I wonder if it would have been different if we had chosen another place, for example Boston, Seattle, or Calgary, which were all candidates at some point or another. No doubt that more people would have pledged to visit us if we had chosen one of these locations. We certainly need more friends there, not just classmates as D has.
D also mentioned how strange it feels to live with our parents. I said that it feels like being a 16 years old again, just without the (few) perks that come with that age. We were living with my dad for a week, and I found that he does his best to manage his new life after my mother's passing. It seems somewhat fragile, and I'm still worried about him. I think that it was a good idea to move out of there while we're still in Israel and we saw him yesterday, but it's hard. My next visit, I'm afraid, will be only in the summer, and even that is not guaranteed, and it's hard to keep an eye from afar. I have to rely on my sister's testimonies, and I think that her words were always more bleak than the true situation was.
In a totally unrelated note, but something I wanted to do a long time ago, I'll try to summarize why I think the Americans are over the hill:
- They are lazy. They don't like to work, they don't want to work, and they don't work. You can attribute the current financial crisis in America directly to the fact that they, as an entire nation, have ceased to manufacture things for quite a while now. Everything is manufactured in China, or India, or some other 3rd world country.
- They are ignoramuses and insulated who think it's a bliss to be such people. They have no idea or wish to know what happens in the rest of the world. They don't want to learn about obscure places which use the metric system. They don't want to know that there is such a thing as the metric system or why it's better to use it. They think their undrinkable wash-water is a great beer, or that their undrinkable mud-water is a great coffee, or that 30 MPG on the freeway (miles per gallon if you have to know, it's about 12.5 Km/liter) is a good fuel consumption.
- They live a life of superficial, surface-deep, facade, without any attempt to take anything deeper (except, perhaps, inhaling the smoke of their cigarette). You can see it everywhere before Christmas with all the richly and ridiculously ornamented houses. You can understand it fully when you realize that in order to prepare for a job interview all you need to do is wear your best suit and look sharp. It is almost a profanity to ask them to think, God forbid to understand.
- There is no such thing as American society. As we mentioned in this visit, there are huge gaps between rich and poor, and between the races in America. There are only three things that are extremely expensive in America: nutritious food, good education and good health-care. Poor Americans cannot afford to eat vegetables, they eat junk-food, they can't afford good schools or universities, and they can't afford going to the doctor. You can see this research on how the difference between poor and rich in America has grown in the past two decades regarding life expectancy. American society is a mix of several classes which meet only at the mall: the rich buy, the proletariat sell and the poor people (namely, Afro-Americans) clean the mess after them.
So, finally, where is home for us? Home is where our high-speed internet is. :-)
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
On the move
We are currently at the Dayton "International" airport. We got up at 5am, the temperature was -5 Celsius, and it will not go over freezing point today. From here to Washington, from there to JFK, and from there to TLV, where the weather is somewhat warmer. We will stay in Tel Aviv for the next two weeks, and return on December 30th to celebrate the New Year in the States.
It is my first "home vacation" after such a long term abroad. To some extent I feel that I'm not entirely home in either places; in Israel we don't have a home anymore, and we will be staying with our families, with all the consequences of that. On the other hand, I still don't feel that Cincinnati is my home, although I did start to feel at home in our flat. Perhaps if it was another city in the USA, e.g. Boston or Seattle, it would feel differently. I don't know.
We spent the few days before our flight celebrating the sudden change from a very busy quarter (for both of us) to total freedom. I think that D even found that there is too much free time on her hands. We spent it well, though, with going to pubs, watching a movie (the new James Bond - what a horrible film), more pubs, and more shopping. It was a much deserved time off and I think we enjoyed it greatly.
We'll see you back in Israel soon.
It is my first "home vacation" after such a long term abroad. To some extent I feel that I'm not entirely home in either places; in Israel we don't have a home anymore, and we will be staying with our families, with all the consequences of that. On the other hand, I still don't feel that Cincinnati is my home, although I did start to feel at home in our flat. Perhaps if it was another city in the USA, e.g. Boston or Seattle, it would feel differently. I don't know.
We spent the few days before our flight celebrating the sudden change from a very busy quarter (for both of us) to total freedom. I think that D even found that there is too much free time on her hands. We spent it well, though, with going to pubs, watching a movie (the new James Bond - what a horrible film), more pubs, and more shopping. It was a much deserved time off and I think we enjoyed it greatly.
We'll see you back in Israel soon.
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