One of the best things about taking the bus is the people you meet. Israelis are not shy, and the person sitting across from you may just start talking to you out of the blue about anything, really. One Friday, on our way home from the University, we got to talking with a young man we met at the bus stop. He had asked us, in Australian accented English, if the buses were still running, but then was speaking Japanese to his friend.
Born to a Japanese father and Jewish-Australian mother, A (we haven't asked permission to use his name) finished high school in Japan and decided that rather than go to college right away, he would like to come to Israel and join the army. This was blowing our minds! We were having a nice chat and it seemed too bad to just say goodbye when we got to our stop so, becoming Israeli ourselves, we invited A to come to dinner that night. We already had one guest coming, so the more the merrier.
We came to find out that A had come to Israel to join the defense forces as a way to bridge his transition from high school to whatever he decided to do next. A's venture into the IDF provided him with a viable and diverse avenue for experiencing a truly Israeli experience. It was also a way for A to interact with other non-Hebrew speaking folks like himself who came to Israel as immigrants or just to give something back. Needless to say, we were so impressed with A's courage and dedication to try something so new and different from that of his home in Japan. Turns out that A serves in a non-combat role and was a spokesperson for the IDF and his language skills were especially used to help Japanese reporters in the country understand the various political issues in the country.
Since A was still living in the soldier barracks in Haifa we decided to offer him a nice quiet place to spend the night. He not only took us up on the offer he already had his toothbrush with him! We were very happy to have him and have made him our unofficial son.
The following week, A's real parents were visiting all the way from Japan. He brought them to the University and Jason had a great time showing them his lobster experiments. We wish A the best of luck as he leaves the IDF for the next step on his journey.
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