I will start with the most obvious cultural difference: almost everyone here is Jewish.

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful Rosh Hashanah and a restful week. Personally, I really enjoyed my holiday, as I was able to spend time with my family in Israel, and take a break from all the craziness of day-to-day life on campus. I’d like to say I can speak for all the Fall Semester students when I say I took full advantage of all the extra time I had to sleep. Anyway, since i was living in an Israeli city with an Israeli family while I was away, I was able to notice a good amount of cultural differences between Israel and America, some being more obvious than others.

I will start with the most obvious cultural difference: almost everyone here is Jewish. I am from Miami, so I am used to living in a place with a large Jewish population. In fact, Miami’s population has one of the the biggest Jewish communities in America, with almost 10% of the people there being Jewish. Even so, people still act surprised when they find out I am Jewish, the roads are still busy on Shabbat, it’s fairly difficult to find kosher restaurants, and we don’t get any days off for the holidays. Even the environment here is different. It’s like being a part of one giant community; you have something in common with almost every single person you meet!

Another big difference between here and America is the drinking and smoking culture. While in the U.S. everyone is very anti-smoking, it is a huge trend here. Everywhere you go you can find a bunch of people having a smoke, whether they are sitting at a restaurant, hanging out at a park, or just taking a walk. On the other hand, you rarely see people smoking in the states now-a-days and there is a huge campaign against it. 

Overall, I am not sure whether I like Israeli or American culture more. On the one hand, Israel is much less concerned with consumer culture, but I kind of miss the sleek, beachy, city vibes of Miami. Either way, I am super happy to be living in Israel, and am having a wonderful time!