Culture has been described as an onion. Immediately you can determine the obvious things about a new culture: shape, color, smell (most definitely the smell), and how it differs from other cultures that are already familiar. But many layers does an onion have, and there is always something to peel back and discover (and, to be honest, learning about the layers does sometimes bring tears to your eyes)!
This morning I examined another layer of culture I have peeled back since returning for my second term:
1) I now recognize accents in Hebrew that I didn't know were there my first term. For example, there was a mom in the kindergarten that spoke English and Hebrew, and I thought she sounded perfect in both. I have spoken with her twice this week and realized that she, in fact, has quite a strong Ethiopian accent! It's a small victory for my progress in Hebrew; at least as far as my listening comprehension goes.
2) It is acceptable to stare at people while you walk by. They will also stare at you. It's a really strange experience because it's as though they are watching the news on a screen, be it a television or computer or tablet. They simply stare at you without reaction or acknowledgement that you exist in flesh and blood. And when you stare back at them, it's as though your staring into a TV camera; so of course you are looking in their direction, but it's not really them that you see. So the exchange of stares occur quite detached from any sort of definable interpersonal interaction. We just stare completely void of any uncomfortable glancing away or nonverbal suggestion that the golden rule of interacting with strangers has been violated.
I wonder what else is in this layer?
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