When people ask me how I am adjusting to my aliyah I just say OK. I don't think they really want to know all my gripes and complaints. Additionally I don't think my fellow blog readers either want to know. In general I don't think most people really care about other peoples issues when inquiring about people's state of mind. However I do think that it is good for people who are having a rough time to vent. Tonight I went to a nefesh bnefesh event for new olim for parents with kids in school. What adjustment they are going through and what parents can do to help. Personally I thought it was an AA meeting ..you know..small room with handful of parents. In turned out to be quite comical. The topics in my mind always concluded with how Israel has its own culture and how different Americans are. For example the lecturer mentioned how Israeli s don't have boundaries. My son told me one of the first days of school how when he put his water bottle down at the lunch table everyone started taking and drinking from it. As if it was for everyone. His expression when he told me was complete shock I reacted the same way. A lady mentioned similar story where her kid brought doritos and everyone dug their hands into her bag too. Trying to Look at that with a positive eye i guess i can tell my son that it's nice to share but we can still maintain our boundaries..Lecturer also mentioned how Israelis teachers are more emotional. Another incident where my son came home and said."mom right its not good middos to get angry and yell" I answered yes. He said well my Mora screamed at me for no reason. I did land up speaking to the teacher and clarify what may have happened. The point I'm trying to bring out is that while I am an American/Canadian and living in Israel there are challenges that I am faced with aside from the biggie of not speaking Hebrew. There are lots of cultural changes that need to be learned like why do stores close at 11and reopen at 5? Why does my car not have a gear for park? Why did the warranty guy sound like he was breaking my oven instead of connecting it? Why didnt any of the delivery guys or handy man clean up the mess they made? Why are there stores in the underground parking lots? Why does everything seem so small in this country? (Including the kitchen)
Why did I only pay 60 shekels to fix two blown out tires?
Why do I keep reaching left to turn on the light in my bedroom.??? (That's only bec I had my light switch on the left in Monsey...I wonder when my brain will stop doing that)
I have tons more Q's on the differences. But the bottom line is we are different culturally and that's something I personally wont change but can try to live with.
So when asked how i am adjusting I think the correct answer would be... yeah...adjusting.
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