some notes on Israeli society...

I learned something new about Israelis during a visit to the post office yesterday. Because Israelis are notoriously incapable of waiting patiently - for anything - Israeli bureaucrats have implemented different systems to make waiting slightly more tolerable. One such example is a new machine at the post office, whereby upon entering one selects from a variety of options (such as sending mail, picking up a package, etc) and then you are given a number according to the service you need. Therefore there are several lines, for the different categories. I went in, selected the service I needed, and received my ticket with the number on it. But after about 10 minutes of waiting, I realized that some people who had come in after me were being served before me. Then I saw a woman go up to the machine and select a ticket for every available service. She held the three tickets in her hand, and whichever number came first, was the one she went with. I couldn't believe it! But I'm a quick learner, so I hurried back to the machine and withdrew more tickets, and as a result was also serviced faster with one of the other tickets. oh, Israel.
I had lunch with an Israeli friend the other day who's part American and part Canadian, so he has an interesting view on the differences between Israelis and North Americans. One little anecdote, he pointed out, is the concept of "free refills" in America. In America, it's not a big deal. You go to papa gino's or wherever and get your pizza and your cup and you drink however much coke or pepsi you want. No one really gets too crazy about it, maybe children get overexcited sometimes, but it's a relatively normal concept. In Israel though, he pointed out, offering free refills would never work. People would practically bring jerry cans to the soda fountain to fill up on a lifetime supply of soda! That's the way Israelis are - milking everything for as much as they can get :-)
and one side comment about my Hebrew studies - I am dyslexic in Hebrew. I have come from being an honors English Literature student to being dyslexic in Hebrew. I literally think in my head of something I want to write, and when I look down at the paper its something else entirely. I invert letters, I write things backward, I mix up letters - you name it. It's quite fascinating to watch my hebrew dyslexia in action :-)
on the plus side of my Hebrew studies, I'm finally beginning to understand the random comments men call out to me when I walk down the street here. I'm thinking maybe it was better when I didn't understand... :-)