More comparisons
Reverse culture shock, cont'd:
- Friday night I went to services at my home Temple, and there was *minimal* Hebrew. I'd forgotten what Classical Judaism was like! The rabbi asked me up to do the candle blessing, which was nice.
- I wore a skirt today, and was the only person I could see wearing one. At the movie theater ticket line, it was a sea of blue jeans and short shorts.
- Memorial Day here is *so* different than Yom Hazikaron. Instead of visiting cemeteries and mourning, here it was all about sales and "click it or ticket" (seat belt safety).
- Spanish is everywhere. I heard more Spanish in In n'Out (burger joint) than English.
- It's depressing how ubiquitous SUV's are. No more small cars. But at least people stop for pedestrians here.
- Candy bars are the new fruit and vegetables.
- Cell phones are just as popular, but are much more shiny and new. We're entitled to upgrades on our Verizon plan, and I almost feel wasteful. What do I need a camera phone for, when I had the lousiest Israelphone in Jerusalem and it worked perfectly?
One cool thing that I had completely forgotten about: I got invited to a free movie again! I love the LA area, where lots of times free tickets are given out for upcoming movies. The way it works is you see a mostly-finished movie (maybe the musical score isn't all there, or the ending will be changed, or a voiceover doesn't have the actor's voice yet) and fill out a survey on it. The studios incorporate the information, change the movie accordingly, and then it comes out months later. It's fun to see the work-in-progress and then the final version, we've done it with quite a few.
This time we got invited to "The Invasion," the one coming out in August with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. But I'm sad, we can't go! It's next week, and by then we'll be in Northern CA with Jonathan's family. We're road-tripping it from Long Beach to north of Sacramento - it'll be 10 hours up and down by the time we're through. Amazing that you can cross multiple states in that time back East.
Off to have lunch with Becca, who's in for a couple of days...
- Friday night I went to services at my home Temple, and there was *minimal* Hebrew. I'd forgotten what Classical Judaism was like! The rabbi asked me up to do the candle blessing, which was nice.
- I wore a skirt today, and was the only person I could see wearing one. At the movie theater ticket line, it was a sea of blue jeans and short shorts.
- Memorial Day here is *so* different than Yom Hazikaron. Instead of visiting cemeteries and mourning, here it was all about sales and "click it or ticket" (seat belt safety).
- Spanish is everywhere. I heard more Spanish in In n'Out (burger joint) than English.
- It's depressing how ubiquitous SUV's are. No more small cars. But at least people stop for pedestrians here.
- Candy bars are the new fruit and vegetables.
- Cell phones are just as popular, but are much more shiny and new. We're entitled to upgrades on our Verizon plan, and I almost feel wasteful. What do I need a camera phone for, when I had the lousiest Israelphone in Jerusalem and it worked perfectly?
One cool thing that I had completely forgotten about: I got invited to a free movie again! I love the LA area, where lots of times free tickets are given out for upcoming movies. The way it works is you see a mostly-finished movie (maybe the musical score isn't all there, or the ending will be changed, or a voiceover doesn't have the actor's voice yet) and fill out a survey on it. The studios incorporate the information, change the movie accordingly, and then it comes out months later. It's fun to see the work-in-progress and then the final version, we've done it with quite a few.
This time we got invited to "The Invasion," the one coming out in August with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. But I'm sad, we can't go! It's next week, and by then we'll be in Northern CA with Jonathan's family. We're road-tripping it from Long Beach to north of Sacramento - it'll be 10 hours up and down by the time we're through. Amazing that you can cross multiple states in that time back East.
Off to have lunch with Becca, who's in for a couple of days...
posted by Michal at 10:41 AM
4 Comments:
Woohoo! This was a blockbuster of an update. I could relate to almost all of it. I had never heard of that movie-business where you get to see the unfinished product and influence its outcome! What a blast! Who would have thought that after being away for ONE year, "home" presents you with surprises, and you feel like you have to break in a new shoe.
I have to tell you, dear ones, for me Israel is not the same since you left. There's a big void where I can't pick up the receiver and dial your cellphone.
Have a good trip up north. Goodness, if you drove ten hours in Israel, you'd be in another COUNTRY not of your choice!!!!
Lotsa luv, Savta
So true, Savta! It didn't even occur to me that it would be this difficult to come back.
Both of us miss not being able to call you too - we're going to get a good long-distance plan in Cincinnati, for sure.
And yeah, I love CA, though I do think San Fran and LA are reminiscent of two different states!
I was there while you wrote this entry?! Funny! It was wonderful to see you and I hope this upcoming year is just as rewarding (if not more so) than the last!
Hehe, you were! I think it was after lunch when you were napping. :)
It was great to see you too - and woohoo, we can talk on your commute now. Thank goodness for being only *one* time zone away.
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