國際環境青年領導力會議以色列之旅
A Trip to the Promised Land

雙語部 11B 周子瑄
　

        本（100）年暑假，我很榮幸地與其他五位同學獲選代表我國參加本年八月十二日至十八日在以色列Hakfar Hayarok Youth Village舉行的國際環境領導力會議。
        我團於八月十二日飛抵以色列後，前二日我們被安排住在接待家庭，實地體驗以色列一般家庭平常的生活方式。之後我們正式前往Hakfar Hayarok報到，並展開一連串活動，包括認識環境、參加有關環境、領導力及媒體等主題的研討會及工作坊。在參與這些研討會過程中，使我對於我們所處環境的脆弱及無法回復特質有更加深入的瞭解。另外我團也利用該一機會，將台灣介紹予與會各國代表，為台灣在國際上發聲。另外，會議期間，會方也安排我們參觀以色列名勝古蹟，包括特拉維夫大學，特拉維夫市中心、耶路撒冷古城、昔日大希律王朝所在地Masada、死海、Apollonia海灘等地。參觀Masada，念及大自然摧枯拉朽，滄海桑田的力量，那個上午，我便浸淫在唐朝大詩人陳子昂登幽州台歌─「前不見古人，後不見來者，念天地之悠悠，獨愴然而涕下」的情懷中。另外參觀以色列猶太大屠殺紀念館也使我警覺，人類對於類此悲劇，可以選擇原諒，但絕不可被忘記，我們應該從中記取教訓，時時警惕，以避免該一不幸事件再次發生。
        會議結束後，我團前往我駐以色列代表處拜會並承蒙該處招待以豐盛的早午餐，使我們有賓至如歸之感。最後我要感謝行政院青年輔導委員會辦理此一活動讓我有機會前往以色列與其他各國與會者進行交流，尤其要感謝相關長官在籌辦、組團、執行過程中給予我們細心的指導與照料。

        Last summer I had the pleasure of being chosen to represent Taiwan at the International Environmental Youth Leadership Convention held at Hakfar Hayarok Youth Village from 8/11-8/21 along with four other students. Overall, it was an unforgettable trip filled with workshops on a variety of topics, such as the environment, leadership and the media, as well as much sightseeing.

        Leaning back in the plush navy blue seats of the El Al plane, I watched the city of Tel Aviv sprawled below me, still asleep in the early morning. Gradually, the match box houses got bigger and bigger as we descended, and that’s when I realized: this is it, I really am going to Israel – the promised land.

        But I am getting ahead of myself – this trip really began twelve hours before that. All of us, Chloe, Claudia, Kenneth, Sunny, Professor Liao and I, met up at the Taoyuan airport, luggage in hands and an endless bound of enthusiasm in our hearts.

        As soon as we came out to the lobby of the Ben Gurion Airport at Tel Aviv, we were greeted with warm smiles by Hedva (the conference director) and two Israeli students. We were hurriedly ushered into the bus outside and whisked away to Hakfar Hayarok – the school where we will spend the majority of our time in Israel.

       At nine o’clock, our host families came to pick us up at the school. I was paired with a German girl, Jacqueline, to stay with a fifteen year old girl called Nitzan and her family. After dropping our luggage off quickly, we drove to a swimming pool where we spent some time clinging to the side of the pool and sharing facts about our lives with the pleasant Israeli sun warming our faces.

        As it was Friday, Jacqueline and I participated in the Shabbat ceremony of our host family. It began with a Bible reading, a song, and then Nitzan’s father passed around a glass of red wine. I’ve never had red wine before, but I felt too rude to refuse it so I took a tiny sip. I must say it isn’t my favorite beverage – the liquid seared my throat as it went down, and left a bitter aftertaste. Thankfully, the bitterness of the red wine in my mouth was quickly relieved by the bread that Nitzan’s father passed around. Afterwards, the actual eating started, and I ate two servings of the slow-cooked chicken in gravy.

        After dinner, we went to a part of Tel Aviv called Jaffa, which was apparently considered “young” for Israeli standards (it only has 500 years of history). Jaffa is filled with sand-colored buildings and its streets were all beautifully cobbled, reminiscent of the old times. After a hearty serving of ice cream at a small ice cream parlor, we walked along the coast and watched the dark waters of the ocean tumble in the night.

        The following day, we went to a beach at Tel Aviv (the wonderful thing about Israel is that there are beaches everywhere – beautiful, white-sanded beaches) as one of Nitzan’s friends had a birthday party there. Jacqueline and I left Nitzan with her school friends for a while as we walked along the beach, feeling to warm waters of the Mediterranean caress our feet.

        Dinner was spent at Nitzan’s grandparents’ place, which is a short walk from Nitzan’s house. There, I was introduced to the deliciousness of pita bread, hommus, falafel (I LOVE this!) and another dip that I didn’t know the name of. In fact, merely thinking about it now makes my stomach rumble.

        We arrived at Hakfar Hayarok at around 10 in the morning on Sunday, and after a brief opening session we enjoyed a guided tour of the school on a tractor. The unique thing about Hakfar Hayarok is that it was pretty much a village, with dorms, an elementary school, a high school, and even a university. There were also cows, horses, and an assortment of other domesticated animals.

        We were all dragged up at 7am on Monday morning for a quick breakfast then a workshop on environmental leadership. After lunch and much to our excitement, we were taken to Jerusalem for a day of tourism. Our first stop was Yad Vashem, which was the Holocaust Museum of Israel. There, we learnt much about the cause, nature and effect of World War II with a special focus on the Jewish persecution. The museum finished with one particularly memorable room. The room was painted black with a small pool in the middle, which faintly reflected the photos of the Jewish people who died during the Holocaust on the roof. The idea behind the design was that as time passes, the deceased become blurred in our minds but we must fight against the insensitivity that time ultimately brings and remember the horrors that once occurred in order to prevent history from repeating itself.

        After that serious beginning to our afternoon, we were taken around the Old City of Jerusalem which lightened our mood considerably. The awesome thing about the Old City is that you could literally see its length history in the form of cracked walls and smooth surfaces of the pebbled streets, worn by centuries of shoes scraping against them.

        The highlight of Jerusalem was probably visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was absolutely mind-blowing. We visited various parts of the Church, including the locations where Jesus was crucified and revived, as well as the place where King Solomon’s mother found Jesus’ cross centuries after his death.

        On Tuesday, we were taken to the University of Tel Aviv for a workshop on leadership and the environment, followed by a visit to the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv. That night was Gala Night, when representatives from each country invited to the conference, and the Israeli Minister of Finance came to enjoy a variety of performances put on by the delegations. We chose to do a Taiwanese Girl Scout routine, a traditional Taiwanese street dance (台客舞) as well as a short segment of the dance from the “BOBEE” (a Taiwanese pop song) music video.

        That night we didn’t sleep at all – partially because of our excitement after Gala Night, but mostly because the next morning, at 3am, we were departing to Masada and the Dead Sea.

        After stepping shakily off the bus after a lengthy ride, we spent around 20 minutes climbing up Masada, and observed the sunrise just as we reached the top of the plateau. There was something cathartic about watching the orange sun creep up slowly but steadily over the horizon, warming the cool dawn air. Afterwards, we spent the rest of the morning touring around Masada, the desert where King Herod’s kingdom used to stand. Later, during the afternoon, we went to the Dead Sea (the lowest place on Earth!) and floated around in its salty waters - a rather enjoyable experience, although the Dead Sea itself was rather lukewarm.

        Thursday morning saw another leadership workshop where we explored the two leadership styles of democracy and dictatorship. After lunch, Kenneth and I presented our report on the Taiwanese environment and Taiwan’s actions to counter climate change.

        Good times go fast, as they say, and that night we found ourselves at the farewell party and disco, exchanging numbers, emails and facebook accounts with the friends that we made throughout the course of the week.

        We left for Taiwan on Saturday night, and as El Al carried us higher and higher up into the night sky, I felt a little excitement at the prospect of drinking bubble milk tea again, but that was mostly eclipsed by a hollow feeling left after the best ten days of my summer came to a close. Glancing at the windows of the airplane, I saw the lights of Tel Aviv shrink and finally disappear as we headed back home. In our lives, there are certain pictures that just say ingrained within our minds for years. For me, I believe I will never forget the glittering interior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the sunset of Jerusalem and the sunrise of Masada after this amazing trip around the promised land of Israel.

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