There are American moments in Israel, and Israeli moments in America. In these situations I do a double-take. Then there are Israeli moments in Israel, and American moments in America. In these situations, I kick myself.
I will explain. Bear with the thesis, Sherlock.
With that, let's return to CHEESEburgers (see blog #1). What a glorious non-kosher, non-Israeli novelty! When I am in an Israeli restaurant and suddenly meat and cheese are found on the same menu, I just have to give in. It's like my gentile-ness emerges into the barbaric entity that it is, and "just say no" is lost to the lust for the luscious luxury. Well, okay, so it's really not like that at all. I exaggerate and alliterate in order to inspire your shock effect, but it probably was not as successful as I had hoped. Anyhow, I just prefer a cheeseburger over hummus and pita every now and then. To see meat and cheese on the same menu causes me to do a double-take and it just feels homey.
However, during a recent trip to the United States, I sensed that I must have been on candid-camera. At one moment, I was most assuredly in Israel. As I searched for a coffee shop in Charlottesville, Virginia, I spotted "Aromas Cafe" across the street. Really? Red and black ornamentation? I looked closer and saw "Mediterranean Cafe" on the window. I wanted to shout out, "Yeah! No kidding, since you stole the whole idea from the cafe that pushed Starbucks out of Israel!" This, my friends, is true, and I'm sorry to say there was not even a Starbucks in that shopping center of Charlottesville. And, I was not on candid-camera, it was just altogether weird without any embarrassment for me. While I may have brought Starbucks to the Commonwealth of Kentucky (sorry, but it's a true story), I didn't expect a wannabe of the quintessential Israeli c
afe to pop up near UVA. Just compare the website and the picture below (when I called you Sherlock, I meant to imply that you would have some detective work):
Now, the other mentionable Israeli-moment in the USA came a
long while visiting DC. You see, many places in the city ask you to drop off your
bags as you walk through the metal detector upon entrance. I am just way too pro at going through security checks after being here in Israel for a couple of years. I start opening my backpack or purse whenever I walk through an entryway wherever I go. The only problem is, when this happens in America, I want to start speaking Hebrew to the security guards. "Toda, Adoni…I mean, uhh, thanks…"
Now, the double-takes can be fun--a little bit like snapping out of a dream. However, it's the worst once you realize that you are adapting all too well to the negative aspects of the culture or realize that you have not quite shed the negative aspects of your own.
This was most clear to me one day while waiting "in line" for the bus in Israel after first being here for several months. Of course, the line was much more like a blob of people, and when the bus came the blob pressed against me in unison. I was going to be last on the bus if I made it all. Now, pushing may be fair game sometimes, but that does not mean that it ever becomes right. Yet, suddenly, with a grand wave of chutzpah, I PUSHED! As soon as I did that, I realized "adaptability" isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be. I was just being a jerk.
In the same way, I have often wanted to kick myself while acting American in the States. There are many wonderful things about America, but the term "Super-size" is not one of them. When I first returned to the USA and ordered a Tall (small) coffee from Starbucks, I was astonished to hold the humungous cup in my hands! I politely asked the barista if the sizes had increased recently. The barista stared blankly and informed me that the sizes had never changed. So, it was me.
After going back and forth between Israel and the USA and becoming used to the smaller portion sizes in Israel where obesity is not on the same level as the States, I promised myself that ordering a large anything under any circumstances is simply inexcusable and unnecessary. Yet, how many times have I kicked myself as I re-enter my culture and put on my habits of the past. "Do you want to make that a large for $0.10 more?" In the moment, it all too often seems logical and desirable to say "yes." While all things are permissible, they certainly are not beneficial, and it's here I want to kick myself for having an "American" moment in America.
So, for better or worse, I have American moments in Israel and Israeli moments in America. Meanwhile, I give into cultural norms at times of which I am simply ashamed in hindsight, as I have Israeli moments in Israel and American moments in America.
