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Who would have thought that living in Singapore, studying in an international school, being a student with friends around the world would lead me to being a soldier in Israel, running in the mud in basic training in green clothes in the Middle East. Every year I visited Israel I was meeting family I didn't know. I am Israeli but calling Israel my home country felt like a lie I was telling myself to belong somewhere, until I finally did. I was in a boarding school for 2 years in high school in Israel, and with little love for the country I studied my way through high school until my graduation day. My roommate from Vietnam sat by me, drinking the lemongrass tea I pulled from the bush in the back of the school. We were just sitting, enjoying our last moments as teenagers, anxious yet excited for the future. She randomly turned to me and asked if I was going to live in Israel in the future, and when I said no and she looked at me, surprised. When I asked her why, she said "I have this Ubuntu connection to the country." And I laughed. When we first came to high school, our houseparent told us we needed to have Ubuntu in our life. Ubuntu is a word from Zimbabwe that literally means "I am because we are" or a type of humanity towards others. So she said this and I laughed. I laughed because Israelis are known to be rude and awful and nasty and greedy. But, I was intrigued. I later took my tea and walked towards our local farm. I thought about what my roommate said. My Vietnamese roommate has a powerful love for this country and my love towards it is bland. Flavorless. My roommate is spices and I am flatbread baked with no salt. I decided to find a love. For this country and not for anyone else. I was recruited into the army, dedicated to wearing green for two years and saying "I am a soldier" is so scary, and now with Ubuntu my love for Israel has expanded through to all the people I meet. Who would have thought that my Vietnamese roommate would help me find a local connection, literally. "I am because we are"