Michelle's List

Recent Israeli immigrant and former yeshiva staffer Michelle recently went back to America for her wedding and she posted a list of things she misses about America while in Israel and things she misses about Israel while in America.

I will comment upon her items...

Things Michelle Misses About America

Department stores (I miss Target and Old Navy; we have "department" stores but it's definitely not the same as Macy's, etc.)
Washing machines with large capacities and short cycles (As laundry guy, I would love a shorter cycle washer - each load takes about an hour and a half to wash - it's very long and I'm not sure why)
Garbage disposals (As I mentioned before, I would trade in my washing machine for a garbage disposal. Not having a garbage disposal is just awful.)
Polite service people (We haven't found this to be a problem; people have been really nice and friendly. However, We've heard lots of horror stories.)
Entenmann's (The food here is amazing and wonderful; I need no U.S. replacement.)
Sundays (Absolutely! One needs a day after Shabbat to recover. Sunday as a "normal" work day is very difficult to get used to.)

Things Michelle Misses About Israel

Fresh produce (Yeah, the produce is awesome here, as so cheap!)
A wide selection of quality kosher restaurants (Oh, yeah! Without a doubt!)
Radio news on the hour (I don't understand enough Hebrew so this isn't helpful to me but I think this is done in the U.S., too.)
Shabbat descending on Jerusalem (Friday afternoons are amazing. Everyone is rushing around all day and until the afternoon and as sunset gets close, the people disappear from the streets and the stores close and then, all is peaceful and you see families dressed up, heading to synagogue. I heard the Shabbat siren for the first time last Friday. It is sounded at candle lighting time and could easily be mistaken for an air-raid siren but one just needs to keep in mind that it's being sounded at sundown on Friday.)