From 6,000 miles away I thought stepping back into the American life I put on "pause" would feel strange and foreign; like trying on a pair of jeans that no longer fit. But after a week of: speaking English, American customer service, reunions with all the amazing people I'm blessed to call friends, driving my car, the US dollar, bathing in a bathtub, 110 voltage etc. I am appreciating the realization of how comfortable life was for me in Chicago. It's surprising how in the 11 months I've been living in Israel, I honestly managed to forget how much can be accomplished in an American day. That's probably why we are able to finish university, get our first jobs, buy homes and build families at such an early age.
There is a reason why people call this the "Land of Opportunity." For someone with intelligence, determination, and education there are no limits to what can be achieved here. Though now I see that there is a price that is paid. It is an "easy come-easy go" model seen the minute the economy crashed and people were jobless and upside down on their homes.
America's corporate consumerist beast lures us in and encourages us to exercise our purchasing power until we wake up one day and find that we are working like hamsters just to maintain large lifestyles. And because this standard of achievement is what we are born and bred for, we work relentlessly to acquire our large homes filled with our large furniture and appliances. We, of course, need to drive our large cars and take large vacations and fill our large bellies and pay our large medical expenses and college tuition bills. Our autonomous and independent existences provide us wings to fly through the red, white & blue American skies while across the ocean in Israel people are serving their country, competing for selective positions in the universities and job market, and living with parents and roommates in order to cover the expenses of a modest lifestyle.
So back to the million dollar question I ask myself and the many other Westerners who chose to go through the optional Israeli immigration process: "why?" Why leave a healthy salary, home and car ownership, artificially deflated gas prices and the purchasing power of the US dollar? Why choose to ride the bus, share an apartment, make minimum wage, struggle to communicate, argue for reasonable treatment and conditions? It all sounds quite masochistic, indeed.
I guess I will spend the next year developing my final answer. For now....I'd have to say it is because there is something meaningful about living in the land of my ancestors where national holidays overlap with the history of the Jewish people. There is something I'll call "exotic" about learning to speak an ancient language. Somehow the changes I've made have simplified my lifestyle so that it is smaller and more manageable. This feeling is liberating. Detaching from my materialism has increased my appreciation for the smaller things in life. I can now find happiness in smaller things. It is a challenge and a growing experience to move away from living on auto-pilot and learning to survive in a foreign culture. While living in Israel is similar to living with one large dysfunctional family, it feels like people are all in the same boat and will take the time to listen, care, and help out *
* disclaimer that statement only applies on a social level not when it comes to business, landlords, bureaucracy etc.
