Empty city....

Israel is such a great country, everywhere you can meet wonderful and friendly people, the great views and so many things involved with culture and custom, but the history and religion always are the best part to feel, I almost cried when I read the history about Jewish people, their intelligence, work hard and belief, at last they have their own hometown and fatherland after 2000 years later, now this place is the homeland for Jewish people here and also it is the spirit and culture land for the Jewish from all over the world.

But, if you travel here and you need to know something about their religion and custom, in fact we plan go to dead sea on Saturday, but that morning we found there are no public transportation on Saturday, for it is Jewish Sabbath--from sundown on Friday until Saturday night, and we must change our plan. There are no public transportation, bus and train, and almost all the resturants are closed, even no place to change money.....

We have several times to meet empty city when we are in Israel.

Last time, in Jaffa, it was afternoon, some sand storm, but all the old Jaffa seemed empty, nobody was on street besides three of us chinese people, just many cats were sitting under a tree, may they had a meeting....

Friday night, all the Tel Aviv seemed empty, no restuarant, no shop, no food and bus and taxi....it likes an empty city when you walk on the street alone. All the daytime of Saturday, the sunshine is bright to light everywhere in the city, but it is a quiet and empty city, just can hear the sound of wave and wind from the beach. But after five oclock on Saturday afternoon, people suddenly appeared on the street, everywhere is crowed in several seconds, wow, the empty city just is in your dream, amazing.....

Meet Itzick Weingarten

Gila told us that we should watch a play without words and she will ask somebody waiting for us in the lobby of our hotel, and then we met Mr. Itzick Weingarten, the headmaster of Israel arts institute, a really good man.

Mr. Itzick took us to his institute and watched his wonderful play which is presented by his students who just gratuate from insitute, but he said he does not want them go to join the cameri theater or national theater, they should have their own company, they are new generation and they should establish their own work. Itzick's office is not that orderly and without computer, he tried to find his name card from all his books and other stuff, on his desk, in an ashtray with some dog-ends, he took it away when he first entered the room.

" I do not smoke, these were done by my students." he said and took the ashtray away. A cat jumps out and tenderly close to him," she is my cat, she is hungry and need some food, here it is...", he gave some food on the ground and the cat ate them quietly, " now I will tell you something about the show, it is all involved with women, written, directed and created all by women, it is about butterfly...."

Yeah, such a good show, such good actress, they are young, but they gave audience such a good show, meaningful and wonderful, it is a play about butterfly's life, a whole life, with some strings, but the image and action are really great, enjoy them so much, I felt surprise it just is a production by students.

"They went to my institute after army and high school, I treat them like my sons and daughters, they are so wonderful, I love them, in all Israel, many arts schools, but mine is the best." Itzick said after the show and he drived us back hotel,"of course they will pay around 4000 dallors per year, but it is worth, and I need to beg money from everywhere for the institute too." Itzick said that proudly after I asked him where the money from for the institute.

"they would love go to China, they will love that, they are the best....." Itzick said after I invited him to bring his wonderful show go to China.

Yes, they are the best, I thought, also we love another production which named " the mad song of the land" which is directed by Itzick and presented by the same cast.... wonderful people....and great Itzick, we are the friends soon.

Yes, it is a magic thing, some people became friend in several seconds.

Another magic thing, I saw a pic on the wall of Itzick's office, it is a pencil sketch of Chehov's portrait, and I also have the same one in my mobile phone, maybe it is the fate....

Wow....

The taxi driver in Israel

Tel Aviv is not a big city, you can walk to everywhere in two hours, but it will become bigger when you take a taxi, for example, from the hotel where we stay to another hotel where my friend stay, it is about five minutes to walk, but it will spend almost ten minutes by taxi.....

The taxi driver never tell you the true price, you must know how to consult the price with them, never just take the taxi to somewhere and forget to get a good discount, some pieces about the taxi driver who I met in Israel.

1.

" how much go to the center hotel?"

"forty shekels."

"forty? I took a taxi here from center this morning around ten oclock, just thirty shekels."

"It was in the morning, but now it is afternoon."

"It is five oclock now, why?"

"OK, thirty five shekels".

" But why?"

"It was in the morning, but now it is afternoon."

"Why different? OK, I know morning is morning, and afternoon is afternoon, but...."

"OK, thirty shekels, but it is afternoon now."

" Let's go, it is afternoon now I know."


2.

In the street of Haifa, 2:00pm, we are walking and suddenly a mid age guy who smiled to me far away.

" Hi, where are you from?"

" China."

" China? Great, we love China. Are you traveling here?"

" Yes, could you tell me where is the best view here which we should not miss?"

" I can take you there by taxi."

"Taxi?"

" I am taxi driver."

" Oh."

"But we need to have lunch first."

"I can drive you there, my car is there, not far."

" But here have many resturants"

"Oh, yeah, you can choose one of them, they are great, but after the lunch, I can drive to the garden, you can call me after your lunch," he gave us his name card, " and maybe you can give me your phone number so that I can give you a call."

" I will call you if we need your car."

" Ok, have a nice meal, do not forget to call me, I will drive you to the garden."

After the lunch, we walked two minutes and found the garden....


3.

In the taxi, we went to the dance center...

" Japanese?" the driver asked.

"No, we are from China."

" China? Great, do you need taxi?"

"Go to China? I wish."

" Go to Jerusalem."

"we have been there yesterday."

"you should go to dead sea, I can drive you there, just 1000 shekels"

" but I need go to the dance center now to talk with my team."

" Your team, do you need two cars?"


4.

In Haifa, we took a taxi to bus station, the driver took us a long way and find a bus stop by the road.

"Here is the bus stop", he said.

"no, we want to go to the bus station, not stop."

" it is the stop."

" I know, we need go to the station."

"there are no bus in the station today, it is a holy day."

"but we just took the bus this morning from Tel Aviv to Haifa, there are buses there."

"you can take bus here."

" to Tel aviv?"

"No." he said

"why we are here?"

The driver suddenly can not understand what I said, so we found a guy to help us, bla, bla.... he needs us to pay more 25 shekels to go to bus station, but I told him that we just can pay 25 shekels which he asked when we took the taxi...he looked somewhat unhappy, but he started to drive again.

"Bus station? how about train station?"

"is there any train go to Tel Aviv today?"

"no"

"why we need go there?"

"Bus?"

"the bus with ten seats, I told you many times during your drive, the bus, mid bus, not that big, but bigger than a car, have ten seats, ten, one, two, three...."

"taxi?"

"No, it is bus, have ten seats."

"No, it is taxi, not bus? I know, I know, that kind of Taxi, I know where....."

He drives us there soon and we paid him more ten shekels, in Israel, mid bus calls taxi, do you remember?

5.

I am calling a taxi driver on the phone....

" Could you take us to Dead sea?"

"Jerusalem? No."

" Dead sea, not Jerusalem."

"Dead sea? No."

"why?"

"It is cold today."

6.

I am in the taxi and talk with the driver.

"Sir, could you take us to center hotel?"

"Center hotel?"

"Yes, here is the name card of the hotel."

I showed him the card and he read it carefully in almost one minute, I found he read it upside-down.

"Sir, you should turn it down..."

He turns it and read it again.

"Sir, now you know where we will go, the address is in Hebrew." I asked him.

"yes, I know," he smiles to me," but I do not know how to get there, do you have map?"

7.

In taxi.

" How much to Center hotel?" I asked, when the driver turns on the mileometer, it is the first time I saw a driver who does like that.

"How much?"

"Yes, how much money?"

"Center hotel?"

"Yes, center hotel, not far."

" You want to have a price without the machine?" He asked.

"Yes, how much?"

"Twenty eight."

"Twenty eight shekels? Just now I just paid twenty five shekels from hotel."

"Yeah, twenty five shekels, but now you have three people, one more shekels each person....."

"Wow...."

8.

Just stop a taxi on the street.

" How much to Don Pronarama hotel?" I said after the driver open the window of his car.

"Thirty, thirty shekels."

"OK." We got on the taxi, and he started to have a U-trun and we found it is the wrong direction.

"Sir, we know how to drive to Don hotel, and we will pay thirty shekels, could you please do not show us Tel Aviv again....."

He stop U-trun and we use five mintues arrive the Don Pronarama hotel.


9.

My friend, Pan Yu, she took the taxi to move her luggage from city hotel to center hotel, it needs twenty shekels which she spent several times at night.

"How much?" Pan asked aloud.

"Thirty shekels".

"No, I paid many time and all of them just need twenty shekels, it is because of morning?" Pan knew the story which I told her about the different between morning and night.

"No."

"Why?"

"Yes, it is twenty shekels from city hotel to center hotel, but.....but you ordered me, it is five shekels, and you have one luggage, you need to pay more five, all together is thirty." thought about five seconds, the driver said very affirmatively.

"Oh, oh, ok, oh, I see..."

Pan told me she never understood until now.
.......

Such an interesting weather in Tel Aviv

The weater in Tel Aviv is amazing, the day before yesterday was a wonderful day, the sky is blue without cloud, and the air wa fresh and warm, people can just wear T-shirt to walk on the street, even all that day I stayed in the theater to watch many show from fringe but I still could feel the wonderful weather outside of the theater.

But yesterday the weather was changed quickly, Tel Aviv welcame its sand storm, you can not see the city clear, everywhere it looked like in a foggy view, and also you can breath the really bad air with sand, walking along the beach, the wave was heavy and big, you can not see the sky, and also your mouth will fill with some sands, yesterday I had a great walk in old Yafa city, just several people in the street, the wind was very strong, I even could not keep steady when I stood in the front the old Yafa, all the old city seemed in empty, just some cats sat in the center gerden to have a wonderful meeting and also they didnot feel scare about tourists, anyway yesterday was very similar with Beijing in such a bad weather to have sand storm, even much worse than Beijing, for Tel-Aviv is really close to desert, the driver of taxi who told me, in Dec., sometimes Tel Aviv will have such kind of bad weather.

But today the weather changed again, in the morning I found the air become to fresh again, and it was rain, such a heavy rain, and the temperature became lower, somewhat cold outside, it looks like the spring time in shanghai with rainy day, but the beach is so charm today, and the Med sea became to blue again, still windy and rainy, but much better than yesterday. And the shower came again and again, you never know when it will be shower, just came suddenly.

Since the day before yesterday, just in three days, I had experienced three different topical days in Tel Aviv, a city nearby sea and desert, which can bring any topical weather to you, maybe that is the somewhat interesting part of Tel Aviv.

Meeting with Gila Almagor

Gila Almagor is the lead actress in Israel, she was born in pre-state Israel in 1939 and became a famous actress in Israel, both in theater and film. It is great to meet her tonight, we do have a great talk about theater, film and TV things in Tel Aviv, she is a nice woman, and very proud of her work, she is very busy and will have five shows in coming Sunday for children, and also she will do Vagina Monologues on sunday night, she has been to China two times, and fell in love with China, she like chinese food and chinese people, tonight she also wears a chinese tranditional suit, our talk was beginning from the food, and many things, I watched her film " Munich" which was released two years ago, one of my favorit film. I also asked her to send me her novel " the summer of aviya" which was shot by film and won many international film award includes the golden bear award, and this plays was staged in many contries by more than sixteen languages, I would like to invite her to bring this play to present in Shanghai for asia contemporary theater festival 2008, she promised to do that, a good thing for tonight.

Gila started her wonderful career in Cameri theater and also the Israel national theater, it is great to talk with her about the situation for theater in Israel, from actor's salary to management of theater, many good idea to share with her. Special she told us a wonderful story which touched me very much.

In 1991, during the first golf war, one day in Tel Aviv, a famous violinist from Israel, he played violin in a big hall where has more than one thousand seats, it is in the morning and gets a full house, and everybody brought the gas mask in case, during the concert, suddenly the warning came, and nobody felt scared, nobody moved, everybody took out the gas mask and put it on, and sat there quietly and consertrating their minds and enjoy the listening, the violinist continues his playing, the music and the waring sound mixed each other...Gila said that moment became statute in her mind and she will never forget that time. She added a last sentence, in Israel, theater can never be in dark even in the war.

A good time to spend with Gila tonight, I wish to see her soon in Shanghai, for she is invited to be a jury for Shanghai international film fesitval in 2008.

Congrantulations.

The theater Scene in Tel Aviv

Before I went to Israel, I knew nothing about theatre in today Tel aviv, also I do think Tel Aviv will be a dangerous city, it is easy to see the news from TV station in China about Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, but my thought is wrong, Tel Aviv is such a beautiful and peaceful city, walking on the street, you can feel the wonderful views from everywhere, I like Jewish people here, they are very friendly, you can hear people say " Ni Hao" to you on the street.

About the theater scene here in Tel Aviv, it surprises me so much, I never think the theater here is so strong, all the theater are full, people enjoy the theater very much, Cameri and the Israel national theater are so great, they have lots of repertoire programe, I saw three plays from Cameri thaeter, the municipal theater company from Tel Aviv, their plays are really great, amazing and wonderful, I almost fell in love with this theater immediately when I just saw the first play " Requiem" which is adapted from three short stories of Chehov, I love this play very much, great actors, great writing, great set and wonderful direct, I like the way which the director who directs the play, like painting but with such a deep feeling, the sad feeling from the thought of Jewish history and their lives here. After I saw the HAMLET in Cameri, I almost want to stay in this theater for a long time, such a wonderful show with lots of amazing thoughts, the artists here are very lucky, they have really good audience, and they love each other, it is such a good situation for theater, a kind of traditional and old art style.

Compare to many theater companies from all over world, Tel Aviv has a really good situation for theater, in Cameri, each night, they will have around 6 or 7 shows, most the show are full, in the new cultural center, there are five different size stage for different shows, good qulity for these shows.

Just something about theater in Tel Aviv to creat my blog, I wish that I can insist to write my blog daily, will try that. Thanks for reading.