Part of the aliyah “process,” I think, is coming to terms with the fact that things are not what they once were. Sometimes Israel and America are as different as apples and oranges (schools), so don’t try to compare; you’ll just get frustrated. (Taxman and I argue about this all the time. In public, even. He says that aliyah is the answer to the day school tuition “crisis.” I say not so fast; the school experiences are too different, so it’s not a fair statement.)
But sometimes there are things that you think should be universal. Like shopping in a supermarket. Once you get over the “Why is there no Yoplait vanilla yogurt? Oh wait, there it is! But now it’s gone! (Poor Miss M!) And now Mueller has vanilla? For how long? (No matter; Miss M is happy. For the moment),” shouldn’t supermarket experiences be mostly the same?
Well, yes. And also no. It’s not apples and oranges. Perhaps grapefruit and oranges. Close, but with appreciable differences. Oh, just read this. And this.
Or how about 10-digit phone numbers? What? Isn’t a phone number…a phone number? Well, yes. But also no. Read this.
My question is: do Israelis in America have the same kind of amusing mini-adjustments? Do they have trouble with phone numbers? Do they have trouble doing all their shopping in one go and staying with their cart at all times?
Fill me in. I’ve only done this in one direction.
I obviously don’t know about Israelis coming to America (although my husband works with a couple, so I suppose he could ask them), but I can tell you that pretty much everyone I know who has moved countries reports similar issues.
For my husband, some of the hardest things to adjust to were food related- specifically our over sweetened bread in supermarkets, and finding the right sort of crunchy-fruity breakfast cereal.
I keep wondering if there’s a parallel “yeridahbyaccident” blog out there – I would love to read it.
We could probably just ask people who live in the Century. If we were still there. But we’re not. (You know what I mean.)
I have one!
But I only just joined the blogging world, so it isnt much yet.
That would make a great parody, Gila! You ought to write it!
Check this out: http://www.tikva.co.il/blog/userBlog.asp?FolderName=NAF869
חייו של מהגר ישרשלי בניו יורק–Life of an Israeli immigrant in New York.
Next I’ll look for a woman–mommy blogger. But I really must go do something about Shabbat.
before even reading what other people have to say, I just want to point out that YOU shop at a store that has really bad reputation in terms of service. I on the other hand, as you know, shop at the shopping capital of Israel and -from my limited experience of shopping in the US, I think it competes pretty well (plus everything being kosher…as long as you go to the kosher branch of course :-P)
Yes, but the store you shop at is so big it takes forever to go through it. Or for your personal shopper. And (if you read the links) it’s not so much about the service of the store but just dealing with the people (shoppers and staff) who populate it.
but that’s the whole point- it’s big enough and the aisles are wide enough so that you don’t want to kill yourself every minute you are there, and people are not constantly climbing on top of you and your cart. and there’s ALWAYS vanilka yogurt. once you (or my personal shopper) learn where everything is, it doesn’t take that long anymore. and at the end there are a ton of kupaiot. I read the posts now, and I totally see how most of theses things don’t apply to chatzi chinam.
Still too far to schlep when RL is 6 minutes in one direction and Shufersal Deal/Mega Bul (I hate Mega) are 10 min in the other. Why won’t chetzi chinam go out of Gush Dan?
There’s a Chatzi Chinam under Cafe Joe in Yishpro. Is this the the most amazing shopping experience? The one in Yshpro has very small aisles and does run out of things. Sorry, the best service and shopping experience in Israel is Shufersal Deal in Ranaana.
It’s a Kimat Chinam, not Chatzi Chinam. I don’t like it. The produce is usually terrible and the lines are universally awful (and no express lane). For a while I went every few weeks because it had the cheapest Cheerios in town, but then they raised the price of a box to 20 NIS and I had no reason to go.
We have a chetzi chinam at Yishpro.
Baila, it’s a kimat chinam. Not at all the same.
nooooo it’s not.
we didn’t like Mega because it doesn’t have a chease counter and a butcher (at least the one around us didn’t) but anything has got to be better than Rami Levi!
oh, and to answer your general question:
the number one complaint I hear from Israelis who have spent some time abroad (sabattical, shlichut etc.) is…the bureaucracy. unhelpful, complicated, unflexible. sounds familiar?
An Israeli friend of mine is living in Toronto for a few years while her partner is doing a postdoc and she reports that the Israelis there have issues finding squeegees. I lived in Israel for three years without a squeegee, so I find this confusing, but apparently it’s an issue in Toronto. (Seriously: it was a running Facebook theme for months.) Do YOU have a squeegee? Is it for cleaning your mirpeset? Mopping? I don’t get it.
I loved my Mega in Haifa. But it still had many of the issues Gila described in her posts. ESPECIALLY the leaving your cart in line thing. I hated that. Also the people continually asking to cut in front of me. BUT: when I was shopping and carrying my baby in his sling or Ergo, some fellow customer usually unloaded my cart for me. Also, is it just me, or do more Israeli men do their family’s grocery shopping than in the US?
Courtney, re: the men…perhaps. I feel like people here may have more flexible schedules. I am constantly surprised to see the gym half-full with “working age” people at 10 in the morning. (The gym I went to in America was crowded at 7, and by 10 had only stay at home moms and retired people.)
Israelis are definitely more will to help if your hands are full (esp with BABIEZ!)…except for bagging, then you are on your own. Though not at Chetzi Chinam or random times at Rami Levi–not that I can figure out when those times are.
Well obviously I can’t answer your real question, but I know that on a smaller scale I experience some of those frustrations and adjustments just moving from one part of the country to another. I mean–moving to Manhattan and grocery shopping there after BIG suburban stores is quite a shock. And leaving Manhattan after adapting to buying what you can carry home and it doesn’t matter that much b/c there is always take out and going back to small town/suburbia is equally shocking–at least for me.
When I lived in Iceland, I was sort of impatient with the Americans who wanted everything to be “just like home.” Isn’t that part of the allure of being other places? But I do kvetch about things not being the way they were in (fill in the blank) myself, so I do get it.
I wouldn’t say that it’s kvetching so much as being taken aback, then adapting and finding the whole thing mildly entertaining. 🙂
Some of Gila’s rules are universal–people with produce would take longer in the US also! But who on Earth would shop at Fairway Uptown and NOT get produce? (Because…back to ME.)
Just a readjustment of expectations.
“Yerida by Accident” is basically the story of my childhood. You’d think that I would have adapted to certain aspects of American life by now, but they still shock and amuse. Someone already mentioned floors – mine always feel not-clean-enough to me and it makes me crazy. Every once in a while I sponga my wood floors because I can’t take it any more, but even then I can’t use economica so it doesn’t really count. Wall-to-wall carpeting grosses me out so much I don’t allow myself to think about it. Oh, and I use a magav that I carried on the plane because American mops? I don’t understand them. Another thing: salads. Iceberg lettuce does not a salad make. Salads must be tomato- and cucumber-based. Thank you notes. Isn’t it more personal to call someone to thank them? I could go on. And on and on. Seriously, I could write the book on this one!
I’ve done it in both directions and then back again and, yes, there are adjustments both ways.
Just wanted to let you know that this post inspired me to write about my shopping experiences here in chul (it actually felt good to do so, in stead of just complaining to my friends about it, so thank you). It’s here if anyone’s interested http://lostinchul.blogspot.com/2010/11/shopping-european-style.html
Ha! The supermarket was the site of my biggest meltdown when I moved from Australia to New Zealand. I threw a temper tantrum worthy of a three year old in the dairy aisle… And why? Because I wanted plain, unsweetened, unthickened low fat pot set yoghurt. And all that was on offer was sweetened fruity stuff. It was a low moment.
Oh – but I frequently park my trolley and then bring the groceries to it. I don’t think it’s a common habit here.