March TI bulletin article
The other night, my friend Mara went to the restaurant “El Poyo Loco” for chicken wings, and then went bowling. She told me that she and her table were the only Americans in the restaurant and the bowling alley – “It’s like we were experiencing Israeli culture,” she said, “only it happened to be American!”
Her words struck a chord. I’d always contemplated the differences between Israel and the United States, and sometimes even the similarities, but I’d never before considered how they meld. Israel has truly become Americanized, in food, culture, and even language. Israeli fast-food can be schwarma (meat roasted on a spit and put into pita) or kosher McDonald’s. Jonathan and I rent movies from Blockbuster, and the expression “kol b’easy” means a task will be simple. Has American culture been transplanted to Israel, or has Israeli culture assimilated aspects of America? In many cases, I think the answer is one and the same. The two are inseparable.
Israel is still definitely Israeli, but it is not purely so. On one hand, Purim is a huge affair with costumes donned by adults in grocery stores and banks alike. The shuk, or open market, is standing room only on Friday mornings before Shabbat. Ultra-Orthodox Jews run their own bus system between B’nai Brak in Tel Aviv and Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, the two ultra-religious havens in the country. Bedouin shepherds harass their camels to cross the road on the interstate to the Dead Sea, and in the far south, kibbutz members pick pomellos under the blazing Sinai sun.
On the other hand, chicken wings and bowling may have been solely “American” at one time in the past, but they are now thoroughly Israeli. The Russian influence is equally large, as almost one-fifth of Israelis come from the former Soviet Union. During the month of December one can see Christmas trees in department stores, and many restaurants now serve pork. In the main hospital in Beersheva, the “Exit” sign is in Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian, but not in English. Russian music pours out of Russian clubs, vodka outsells schnapps, and customer service lines have recorded messages in Hebrew and Russian only (the option to speak in English is found only in the Hebrew menu).
This cultural clash is not uncommon in today’s world, no matter one’s country of origin. I picture the contents of my refrigerator in Long Beach before I left - I always had certain staples on hand, and wedged in among the milk, cheese, and orange juice were the constant package of tortillas and the container of salsa. Was I adopting Mexican culture by considering burritos a comfort food? No, burritos were my culture, just like freeways or hamantaschen. Certain facets of Mexican culture have been adopted by southern California, as bean and cheese burritos, El Pollo Loco and churros at Disneyland are now as de rigueur as baseball and apple pie.
Not all southern California culture is Mexican, and not all Israeli culture is American or Russian. But the intermixing is easily apparent, just like it is in the rest of the world. The Euro is widespread across an entire continent, Starbucks is found in China, and the internet connects people from Tibet to Alaska. The world is shrinking, and only so much originality can be retained in the face of globalization. Outside influences are unwittingly absorbed into a native culture, no matter its location. In the case of Israel, I am left asking if it is for the better.
Her words struck a chord. I’d always contemplated the differences between Israel and the United States, and sometimes even the similarities, but I’d never before considered how they meld. Israel has truly become Americanized, in food, culture, and even language. Israeli fast-food can be schwarma (meat roasted on a spit and put into pita) or kosher McDonald’s. Jonathan and I rent movies from Blockbuster, and the expression “kol b’easy” means a task will be simple. Has American culture been transplanted to Israel, or has Israeli culture assimilated aspects of America? In many cases, I think the answer is one and the same. The two are inseparable.
Israel is still definitely Israeli, but it is not purely so. On one hand, Purim is a huge affair with costumes donned by adults in grocery stores and banks alike. The shuk, or open market, is standing room only on Friday mornings before Shabbat. Ultra-Orthodox Jews run their own bus system between B’nai Brak in Tel Aviv and Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, the two ultra-religious havens in the country. Bedouin shepherds harass their camels to cross the road on the interstate to the Dead Sea, and in the far south, kibbutz members pick pomellos under the blazing Sinai sun.
On the other hand, chicken wings and bowling may have been solely “American” at one time in the past, but they are now thoroughly Israeli. The Russian influence is equally large, as almost one-fifth of Israelis come from the former Soviet Union. During the month of December one can see Christmas trees in department stores, and many restaurants now serve pork. In the main hospital in Beersheva, the “Exit” sign is in Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian, but not in English. Russian music pours out of Russian clubs, vodka outsells schnapps, and customer service lines have recorded messages in Hebrew and Russian only (the option to speak in English is found only in the Hebrew menu).
This cultural clash is not uncommon in today’s world, no matter one’s country of origin. I picture the contents of my refrigerator in Long Beach before I left - I always had certain staples on hand, and wedged in among the milk, cheese, and orange juice were the constant package of tortillas and the container of salsa. Was I adopting Mexican culture by considering burritos a comfort food? No, burritos were my culture, just like freeways or hamantaschen. Certain facets of Mexican culture have been adopted by southern California, as bean and cheese burritos, El Pollo Loco and churros at Disneyland are now as de rigueur as baseball and apple pie.
Not all southern California culture is Mexican, and not all Israeli culture is American or Russian. But the intermixing is easily apparent, just like it is in the rest of the world. The Euro is widespread across an entire continent, Starbucks is found in China, and the internet connects people from Tibet to Alaska. The world is shrinking, and only so much originality can be retained in the face of globalization. Outside influences are unwittingly absorbed into a native culture, no matter its location. In the case of Israel, I am left asking if it is for the better.
posted by Michal at 3:48 PM
2 Comments:
You're absolutely right, Hannah - "Russianization" is more common than even Americanization, I'd wager. And how interesting - what do you mean, you take her to school?
So Mara went bowling, eh? Does she know that Israelis go "bowel-ing"? Yep! That's how it's called by Israelis whether they are speaking Hebrew or English! I've become Israeli enough to often not notice when something quite different from the original is presented as "American"! However, the "BOWEL-ING" still brings me up short!
Luv,
yer Savta
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