Culture tips - Israel Video Transcripts
Video 1 Transcript
If you go to, say, Jerusalem and you go through the old city, you're going to see different barber shops. And they're cool because they use like floss to get the hair off the guy's face and things like that. So looks neat. I can't say if it's any good or not, but I needed a haircut. And so I just thought, you know, in America, a barber can do a boy or a girl's hair, but they don't out there. I went in to get my haircut in a Palestinian barber shop, and they looked at me like I was a unicorn, but they did have me sit in their seat. And they, all their buddies came around and watched. And I thought, this is weird. And he pretty much just took the scissors and just went like that. Then he's like, the back of my hair, just clip, clip, clip. And then he's like, okay, where's my money? Males do male's hair and females do female hair. I learned that the hard way.
Video 2 Transcript
You have to be aware of the political situation there as far as the Palestinians and the Israelis. The Palestinians do not like the Israelis and the Israelis do not like the Palestinians, but both are very nice people. So if you want to be friends with both, don't, how do I put this, don't let them know that you're friends with the other one, I guess. You don't want to be talking about your Israeli friend to your Palestinian friend or your Palestinian friend to your Israeli friend. As well as, you know, when you greet each other, make sure you say the right greeting. You don't want to say, you know, Shabbat Shalom to a Palestinian and you don't want to say, you know, thank you by saying Shukran to an Israeli. Both will become offended if you say the wrong thing. So be careful.
Video 3 Transcript
You can really enjoy from the good side of the culture. There are downsides that people can be rude or unpleasant or very upsetting, but like if you're trying to take it not personally and you understand that this is the environment of the society, that there is clashes and violence, so you kind of understand. I will recommend to leave the tip when you finish it in the restaurants.
Video 4 Transcript
This isn't unique to Israel, it's more of a broader Middle Eastern culture tip. When you go and visit a family or when you go and visit someone's home, usually they'll serve a meal, you'll have a conversation, and when it's all winding down or when it's time for the evening to be over, they'll serve coffee. So that's kind of the signal that the visit is coming to a close. Hopefully it's never the case where they serve you coffee right away because then you know your stay is going to be very brief.
