First week of classes slammed me in the face for two reasons, which one will be focus of today's entry. First, I actually passed out of first semester Intermediate Hebrew. When the teacher explained how she planned to start the course. She planned to start exactly where I picked up during my summer ulpan course. I was looking to repeat the material for the third time. I knew the book inside and out. Over the course of the week between her, the department chair, and I managed to get an independent study worked out. At first she did not want to do it because she already had a full load but after forgetting about a student who asked her ages ago and observing my skills in class, she decided that I was really too advanced for this class. So starting Wednesdays, I have my own Hebrew class with that student that will focus on a lot of reading and writing. Believe me, on the first day, I really wanted to disappear and just go back to Israel, back to those Hebrew ulpan classes. 50 minutes of Hebrew now is really painless!!!! Barely a slap on the face compared to all the beatings I got during those 25 hours/week ulpan classes. On that pain scale- score 0 for Colgate and 8 for Israel.
Second thing. Fashion.
Picture this:
Mor and I were walking down Fifth Avenue. While she was looking around in amazement by New York City's massive, glitz buildings and soaking in the lod noises from the honking cabs and zipping cars, I was drawn by something else: the STORE NAMES Ralph Lauren. Abercrombie and Fitch. Salvatore Ferragamo. Nine West. Cartier. Tiffany's. Saks Fifth Avenue and the list can go on as long Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue. When I saw the labels, my mind quickly reeled in the facts behind them- Ralph Lauren is famous for its polo horse and player, its polo shirts are the staples, American designer for the preppy people.... Salvatore Ferragamo is Italian, beautiful, classy shoes, Italian leather.... I looked to Mor and said to her. "You know Israelis don't really care about brand names, right?" She nodded, a bit in puzzelment. "Well, here... Americans care. It's a big thing. We know the story behind each designer on this street. I can tell you everything about each label. We're obsessed. Look, here's Brooks Brothers. That's preppy, American designer, my parents and brother love its clothes... Oh, here's Ferragamo, my mom and I love their shoes, it's Italian." Her eyes widened in surprised at my unnecessary knowledge.
Back in February, I complained about shopping and fashion in Israel and how I was so happy to be going on a shopping spree at H&M in Prague. Over time, I began to recognize how Israel defines its fashion culture: individual style. I went in the stores in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and saw that many shops would have lines and lines of different clothing that if there was something that you liked but didn't have your size, you were out of luck. Everything's unique there. I have this beautiful dress that I bought on a retail therapy shopping that I know would never be found anywhere else because it was the only dress in that store. Clothing there isn't really mass produced as it is elsewhere- I don't know how or where from. Either way, I had to take my own chances to put together a wardrobe that I liked and would go together well. Additionally, I developed a taste for earrings. I used to dislike wearing them because I'd lose them all the time but they're on the Israelis all the time. So I sort of fell into that trap. By July, I was pretty happy with how I was expressing myself. i was even beginning to lose my taste for my American clothes.
On my first day back at Colgate, I felt that I was missing something when I noticed a lot of girls wearing THE DRESS for this season: jersey knit empire waist, worn as a jumper or with a tank under underneath or/and leggings. Suddenly, I became more aware of the students were dressing including plaid shorts on the guys. Even I seem to fret a bit more in the mornings on what to wear. I was beginning to develop my own sense of style and now I'm not so sure how to blend that in. I really felt out of place. The campus newspaper's fashion columnist criticized the entire campus for being lazy on the first day with lots of casual clothes. I wanted to slap her in the face and tell her to leave everyone alone. She was just in Italy in the spring and I don't blame her for being culturally shocked over how casual we wear. At the same time, let people wear what they're comfortable wearing and not everyone has that THE DRESS. Basically, she was giving out what the first-day-of-class uniform should've been.
Israel's lack of concern in brand-name and relevant prices taught me how to be a better shopper.
For example, I went into American Eagle last week and bought a pair of its jeans on $10 off sale and a navy tank for a total of $50 exactly. Normally, I'd scoot myself over to wherever Lucky's jeans were being sold. I reasoned with myself in American Eagle, well, these jeans fit, they look good, they're only $30. Why should I pay $60 more? I could use that $60 to buy a new wallet to replace my stolen one or to pay off a new pair of pumps.
I like to look good to make myself feel good but i don't want to look good just to get others' approval. That's what Americans are all about- dressing for others. You dress what's acceptable for everyone else. For Colgate, it's anything out of a JCrew, Abercrombie, or Ralph Lauaren Polo catalogue. Memorizing designers names, styles, and prices aren't on the top of the Israelis' mind. They had different priorities and I guess my priorities have changed some too. I still love to shop but I'm not going to obsess over what's in vogue and what's next and how much I should be paying.
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