Take a look in the Mirror

by Gusiachkin Anastasia

I had to spend a brief period of my life in the country of exhausting sun, sand and the lack of culture. As I was born in Russia, a country of thousand years of history and rich culture, I wasn't enjoying my time in Israel at all. Finally, I escaped Israel for Hungary. The following is my comparison of people belonging to two different nations - Hungarian and Israeli, both of upper middle class.
            Israeli people are extremely loud, wherever they go and whatever they do. This is not a generalization, unfortunately. I personally asked a number of my friends from different countries and nationalities, what their short description of Israeli people would be; loud - they said. The majority of Israeli people lack basic understanding of what being well-behaved is. For instance, this is a common thing for Israeli people to ask for a discount on anything in a very demanding and rude way. I recall some years ago I needed to buy a dress for my prom night. Since we were still new in the country back then, my mom asked her friend's boyfriend to come with us and show us shopping places in Tel Aviv. I will never forget the embarrassment I had to deal with when this guy started arguing with the shop assistant over my soon-to-be prom Versace's dress. Fortunately, it did not last long. The shop assistant cut off the argument by saying that "this is not a bazaar where you usually shop". 

Hungarian people, on the other hand, are generally quiet and well-mannered. Hungarian people are usually humble and very gentle once you engage into a conversation with them for the first or second time. It's very unlikely that Hungarians would ask you too many questions or go too far in the conversation. Israeli people, on the contrary, have no shame at all regarding private questions. After seeing you for couple times, they will feel comfortable enough to ask when the last time you had sex with your boyfriend was. Russian people can be extremely open in those kind of conversations, but with friends, specifically good friends. We respect our privacy and this is the reason why Israeli behavior is alien to the majority of us. We don't feel comfortable when a person you saw couple times in your life walks into your apartment as if it was his or her place. I used to rent an apartment back in Tel Aviv with a couple of my Russian friends. It always annoyed me how their "tzabari" mates (this is what we call the locals who were born in Israel and had at least couple of generations living there) would come into our flat without taking their shoes off and go directly to our shared fridge and grab whatever they felt like eating at the moment. Never have I seen a Hungarian person behaving in this way. I suppose that Russian mentality is somewhat closer to Hungarian.
            The majority of Hungarian people, however, do not speak any English, which makes them an isolated nation in some way, I believe. They also tend to get angry at you for them not being able to speak English. I used to get annoyed by this sort of behavior, but then realized that there is nothing I could personally do about it. It seems to me that the level of nationalism is dramatically high in Hungary, and the majority of people stick to their one and only language. 

Contrary to that, Israeli people of different age will be able to express themselves in an understandable way in English, so it's highly doubtful that you will ever feel desperate and lost in the country. They will smile at you if you start speaking English to them and will gladly answer all of your questions and, sometimes, even guide you to places. Even though Israel also has a strong sense of the nation, they are not nationalists. Racial prejudice exists mostly within non-educated lower class families, carried out by teenager kids who do not yet understand what they are talking about.

To conclude, I must say that this essay was not written in order to offend any culture or nationality, but rather to observe and comment from the other side. Even though I was born in Russia and consider myself a hundred percent Russian, I do associate both with Israeli and Hungarian cultures in some way. I also respect the local traditions and ways of thinking, because as they say "when in Rome, do as Romans do".