Reflections on the Israeli/American Contrast

I like to think of myself as American and Israeli, although I have to admit that 3 years during middle age does not really make me culturally Israeli. The following are my reflections and what I notice now that I am back in the States for an undetermined period of time.

I am back in Atlanta in the USA in order to get my new company, Hygen-Eco Systems, going. Hygen-Eco is providing green energy-efficient green products to businesses in the USA. Products are primarily lighting improvements, high-speed jet hand dryers, smart power strips, and solar water heating systems. We will also soon distribute motion sensors for lighting and other no-touch high-efficiency restroom devices. I have arrived in Atlanta after three years in Israel. It was a hard move for me as I love both Israel and Atlanta. I was unable to enter into a career that I wanted there. I will see if I will stay here or eventually run the company from abroad.

I see the cultural differences in so many ways. I have not used a dishwasher, clothes dryer, nor owned a car in three years. I am used to having to turn on the water heater 30 minutes before I shower. I now see that we really don’t need dishwashers. We put in big pots and pans and run the dishwasher when we could just as easily spend an additional two minutes on these items and put them in the cabinets.

I have notices new lingo in the language used over and over again like, “At the end of the day…”, when people are talking about business situations. I hear the same stupid political phrases like, “the American people”, “disproportionate response”, and “collective punishment”. All of these phrases should be thrown out. We know Americans means humans* and only the team that scores disproportionately wins. Otherwise, it’s a tie. One could say that Israel’s target assassinations of Hamas leaders are in order to avoid the dreaded collective punishment. Are sanctions against Iraq not collective punishment? Is boycotting Arizona’s products not collective punishment? Is any war not collective punishment? These are over-used inappropriate terms. Drop ‘em. Thank G-d Bush is gone and we are not referring to everyone who does not approve of US tactics as “terrorists”.

While Europeans criticize Americans as superficial and insincere in their politeness, I see it as an effort to act out of kindness and compassion. There is definitely pressure here to behave in certain fashions where Israel is more open to showing your authentic ugly side as well as your kind side. I also immediately felt the racial tension in the USA upon my arrival at the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson. It is different than the Arab/Jewish tension in Israel. Whites over-compensate to be superficially “friendly” to poorer black workers making minimum wage that may appear to have a subtle hostility.

I remember laughing at myself because of my American side getting offended by expecting my time to be respected. Israelis can be very spontaneous and don’t like to commit to time schedules. The American side schedules ahead while Israelis like flexibility. Americans are offended by both a last minute cancellation and a last minute invitation. Israelis don’t get that and will invite you to their home for dinner 30 minutes before it is served. You can call someone the first time and be on a date in 30 minutes. Americans want you to think that others will want our company and will have planned far in advance. I got over that in Israel when, on many Friday afternoons at 6:30, I got a call to come to a family’s home for Shabbat dinner. I learned to appreciate the invitation and to forget the guy in my head saying, “did someone else cancel?” as I was rushing out the door.

FOOD:

I miss the Israeli food, their simple, fresh vegetables, and the moderation of consumption. I find myself eating more junk here and more volume as well. Junk food advertising is tremendous and meetings with friends are always around a meal. In Israel, it is usually just a coffee.

The last time I was in Atlanta, I went with my close friend there, Hults, to a health food store in order for him to restock. I was looking forward to seeing something healthy for a change. Health Food was printed on the façade of the building. Upon entering, I could not find a piece of food in the store. There was a large variety of “energy bars” and hundreds of jars of various powders. It was as if we were on a different planet where organic foods could not grow and concentrated powders had to be brought in. Somehow, in American culture, we have come to believe that science can out-health nature. We can dry it out, mix it with preservatives, some sort of sugar, and it will be healthier than we can get from nature. Everyone is eating protein powder as if bulking up with gymnasium-built muscles is healthy. Yet, most of us eat meat and get our protein naturally. In our new obesity problem where we either vigilantly count calories or insist on an all-u-can-eat buffet, can’t we get enough protein?

Except for the super-religious in Israel where big meals are quite ceremonial, obesity is not a major problem. In Tel Aviv, people are thin and fit. You can pick out the male American tourists as they are artificially bulked up from the gym and still trying to lose the tire around the waist.

While we used to forage and hunt for food, we now sit on our tuchuses all day in front of a computer and pay to be able to exercize at the gym. While we used to walk to visit friends and to find food, we sit in our automobiles and at a computer. Now that I am in a spread-out city, I have to drive instead of walk. An hour of running or the gym is not enough to keep my body toned and ready. For three years, I walked 20 minutes to go anywhere, even to catch a bus. I would also run for exercize. Think of all the time during the day and night that you are in your car. I walked about the same amount of time daily and felt so healthy.
Although they call it junk food, the junk food in Israel still contains a lot of vegetables. Health standards are not what they are in the States as salads and pickled veggies all sit out in the open for all to cough, sneeze and sweat on. Falafel and schwarma are the hamburgers of Israel. However, they almost always come with a choice of vegetables as a side. These open air buffets contains free salads of eggplant, onions, pickles, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, olives, carrots, all kinds of peppers, tehini, and hummus. Compare this to fries, milkshakes, chocolate chip cookies and such in the USA.

These are just my first few thoughts that I notice after returning to the USA. It’s good to be back in the USA. I feel at home in either country.

Randy

*Although Canada and Mexico are both North Americans and Central and South America are American people as well.