Coming to Israel I was expecting a huge culture shock but to my surprise it’s been a pretty easy transition. Don’t get me wrong there are some pretty big differences in the food, the language, the people but overall it’s not hard to get by. Almost everyone that I have personally encountered has been able to speak English or at least understand what I’m trying to say which is incredible. It’s so cool that I am in a whole other country on the complete other side of the world and I can communicate. The difference I was most worried for was the food. I am a picky eater and before this trip I had never tried falafel or any type of chickpea for that matter and i could not be happier I tried it. I get falafel almost every night now that’s how amazing it is. In America we have so many varieties of chips and fast food restaurants but here it’s the opposite they have fast food restaurants here and there but nothing compared to the grease we have in America. No wonder they’re thinner here. However the biggest difference between America and Israel is how religion shapes this country.  It’s surreal to see so many Jewish people in one place and to witness almost everything shutting down for two days to celebrate Shabbat. In America we have Saturdays and Sundays off and both of those days are in no way as restful as Shabbat. America is also a melting pot of so many religions and ethnicities where is Israel the majority of people are Jewish and everything happens according to that fact. Besides the obvious differences after being here a month and getting to talk to so many people in my time being here I have noticed a huge difference in priority. In America everyone goes to high school and then must go straight to college not wanting to start life late and it being extremely difficult to get a good paying job without higher education. Israel on the other hand puts way less pressure on young people and has everyone go to the army which is a whole other story but after the army young people have so much less pressure to go straight to collage and instead most people take a year or two in between the army and collage for traveling. For that reason I am so jealous I wish it was easier for Americans to take their time before collage and travel. Overall the differences aren’t too great but I have definitely gained so much more respect for this country and how they do things after being here for a month. I can’t wait to see how the next month goes.

Till next time,

Sydney Klein