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Tel Aviv

(2021-12-12 10:33:55) 下一个

"Seeing the monster's head looming above the dark waves, Andromeda quickly

whipped out her iPhone and dialed a number and Hermes's winged sandals flew

Perseus in in no time," The old man turned and pointed to a cluster of rocks

off-shore "and that was where Perseus slayed the dragon and saved the princess."

 

The tour guide, a lively squat gentleman in his 60s, with a wrinkled and

sun-tanned face under a head of snowy hair, charmed a group of about two dozens

of people as he went on telling stories from Greek mythology and the Bible.

"You see the port over there?" He pointed to a few white granite houses on a

cliff down the shoreline. "That's Old Jaffa where Jonah set off to the sea,

disobeying God, and soon was swallowed by the fish. The moral? There is no

running away from fate."

 

It was their sixth day in Tel Aviv. A 15hr-flight away from San Francisco, Bill

and his colleagues were visiting the company headquarters as new employees.

 

From a distance, the city looked familiar. The airport, the freeways, the hotels,

the malls, and the office towers, etc., felt the same as in any modern metropolis.

The details varied, however. Taxis cars were mostly Mercedes and Jettas and

fares were in shekels and not cheap. The streets were safe and patrolled by many

armed young people in uniforms. After being thoroughly searched at the entrance,

one found nothing special in the mall. August in the east Mediterranean fell

in-between Beijing and SF. It was warm, slightly muggy, and comfortable enough

for a vibrant outdoor night life.

 

The jetlag, however, prevented Bill from enjoying much of life, day or night. 

Breakfast was the highlight of the day for him before his mind went groggy. The

dining hall was small but the buffet boasted an abundance of sashimi, fresh from

the sea. He felt dozy soon after he entered the shiny office building in the

Ramat Gan distrct, a 20min shuttle ride away from the hotel. At work, he nodded

through lectures and seminars on corporate culture and processes. Their hosts

were understanding and friendly. Lunch was free but the food tasted bland. Many

of the locals smoked heavily. Bill had a hard time matching foreign names, e.g.,

Omer, Ariel, Tal, etc., to the faces. He spoke no Hebrew and felt shy in his

limited English. He stuck with his group of 90% Indian engineers.

 

Things got better toward the weekend and they toured Jaffa and were put on a bus

to see Jerusalem. Everything was planned to the minute, of course, which seemed

to be a cultural strength of Bill's new employer. They had a few stops before

reaching the holy city and visited recent war sites following David, a young man

wearing a kippah and carrying a Hebrew Bible which, as Bill learnt, omitted the

New Testament. To Bill, Israel was unreal until he came to the land.

 

At one stop, as they played team-building games out in a Mosaic wilderness, a

file of school kids on a field trip passed by. Marching on a dirt trail 30 yards

away, they were in black pants and white shirts, school uniforms no doubt, and

chattering and hollering in their guttural note-rich native language.

 

"We love China!" they turned and shouted in English and waved as soon as they

spotted Bill. He was stunned. He was among colleagues from all the world, and yet

the children picked him and identified his nationality! Looking at their

innocent faces, he quickly dismissed the thought that this could have been

planned, too. Proud of being chosen to represent his motherland, Bill steeled

himself and waved in return: "China loves you back!"

 
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7grizzly 回复 悄悄话 回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 : Thank you, 暖冬, for reading and your kind comments.
You have certainly over-praised again but thank you.

It was an exotic experience for Bill, too. He was already in the west for about
10 years and learnt about the Jews from the Bible and history. Israel only felt
real after this visit, however.

We are learning and helping each other to improve. It's better some clever
Chinese sayings such as "没有比较就没有伤害" have never been invented.
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 "China loves you back!"
--- Cannot stop laughing at the end. Bill is quick-witted and humorous:))
This is such a brilliantly-written piece. I enjoy every sentence, structurally or choices of words. Apart from China, the U. S and a brief tour in Vancouver, I've never been to any other countries. So it felt a bit exotic to even imagine meeting those kids "chattering and hollering in their guttural note-rich native language".
Great job, my friend! 没有比较就没有伤害:))) Just kidding.
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