OK. So I have a blog.

Yes, I have a blog all my own and it says "Berkeley".

Lovely.

From my 4th floor hostel window I see a terra-cota rooftop that shelters the arcaded facade of Berkeley's main post office. Despite some differences, it is so strikingly similar to Brunelleschi's orphanage (early renaissance) that it could only exist in America. To its right is a local-looking pine tree, and in the distance behind the two I can just make out the cranes of Oakland's port. Farther still is a body of water backed by a towering mountain range. This is the peninsula at the end of which San-Francisco is perched, just out of view. Every day for the past week a fresh bed of clouds has climbed over this range and rolled down onto the bay. Another one is doing so right now.

I've probably found a place to live, but a definitive conclusion and a thorough description will have to wait for a later post. In fact, there are several issues that await a definitive conclusion, not least of which is my identity: I am currently suspected of fraud by AT&T, who claim that my name is not my own, at least in so far as their social security records go. I will have to clear this out in the morning, as it is quite troubling and likely to affect many things.

Cellular communications here are remarkably expensive compared to home. On the bright side, calls to Israel are cheaper than to any other country on the list.

The first person I met with here is Ity. Now that I've arrived he's no longer the only Israeli economics student at Berkeley. He's entering his second year and is extremely friendly. It turns out that he was my metargel in Manuel Trajtenberg's seminar (I met him once at the time and he said "you must read more..."). We met for coffee on tuesday and he invited me for dinner with him and his wife the next evening at their apartment. They have a very cute baby girl who walks excitedly around the house and ate (well, drank) with us for a bit before going to sleep. They live in the "UC village", which is where graduate students with families can rent university housing, so I got a glimpse of a part of town I hadn't seen yet. Yair is their downstairs neighbour and he came up for a moment to tell me I look just like my brother. On friday I met with Shachar, who is a young economics professor here, and who is also terrifically warm and welcoming. Last in line was Mark, an English student turned economics graduate with whom I'll be taking courses this year. We spent a couple of hours over coffee. He makes great conversation, and if he's indicative of the other people I'll be studying with then I can expect to have a great time, at least as far as good company at school can take you.

Other than that I've adopted the single tourist attitude and been open to conversation with people I might otherwise not be. Today I spent quite a while with Thomas, who was in the Navy for a few years before studying at "Cal" (as the university is called here). He's "rushing" for fraternities, even though he is 26, and oh so American. I also had a long conversation with a Nepali store owner and another with an Indian PhD student who is deliberating between an assistant professor position at one of the smaller University of California campuses or returning to a university in India.

Finally, there's plenty of coffee and bookstores around, which is wonderful. Unfortunately, everywhere seems to close around 8 or 9 at the latest, which does not make for good evening out-of-house studying. I guess Berkeley is no replacement for Tel-Aviv in that sense, but I will keep looking. Berkeley is not really a good replacement for Tel-Aviv in many senses, now that I think of it, even with San-Francisco in the bundle.

More to come...