Book by nevo shaked

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Abby’s photos with her friends.

I would like book for my parents, that supported me all the way and gave me Idea of choosing this topic, and for my family in Israel.

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I would like to thank Karen Salzer that helped me write the book, to Mr. Greco and Mr. P. that helped guide me to make this book, to my Interviewees, that accepted to be a part of this, and to freestyle academy that gave me all the tools I needed to make this book.

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Abby’s patch from her first visit in Disneyland with her school chorus.

Abby and her dog, Kota.

Coffee and food from Israel.

When the English teacher announced that we were going to create a documentary project, I was scared. I have no knowledge about documentaries and I had a hard time choosing a topic. Then my mom suggested to me to research Israeliimmigration, since we are Israeli immigrants and we know other immigrants. This is how I decided on my topic.

When I started to interview people it was exciting and interesting because it was such a personal topic. On the other hand, it scared me because I never interviewed before and I didn’t know how to handle an interview. During the making of this book, I had learned how to become a better researcher.

However, it was difficult to find articles that were relevant to the questions I was researching. I wanted to know other people’s experiences like the ones I have been through. Specifically I wanted to find out life and facts about Israeli-immigrants and get others’ perspectives. I came up with some questions to uncover this information. My favorite question was about the comparison of the Israeli and American education system and I found out how different they both are. Another helpful question was about social communication.

I found out that this was hard for people in the beginning when they first moved to the United States.

The most challenging question for the interviewees was if they would want to go back to Israel or stay in the United States.

I am very thankful to work on this project and I hope whoever reads this will take away the topic of what it’s like to be an immigrant. I didn’t think I was capable of doing interviews. I discovered that I am good at this because I was able to handle it socially and make the interviewees feel comfortable.

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Jewish bible and books in Hebrew.

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n my first day at school in California, it seemed as if no one cared that there was a new immigrant student in their school. People just welcomed me like any native-born American, instead of as a different person. Because a high school in California is much bigger than a school in Israel, I needed help to see where all the other classes were located.

When I had been in elementary school in Israel, a new British immigrant joined my class with no knowledge of how to speak Hebrew. What my school decided to do was to give him a partner who also spoke English and who helped this immigrant to communicate. This is something that I haven’t found here.

When you are going to ask an Israeli immigrant why he moved to the US, you’ll probably think he is going to answer that he wants to get a job here or have a better life. But most likely he’ll generally answer you the same way: “he came here to start his tech company.” When I asked my interviewee, Yuval Vardi, why he and his family moved to the US, he answered: “I moved with my family: my two parents and my two younger siblings because my dad work relocated us. Most of his business was in the Bay Area, so we had to move here from Israel. He is the VP marketing in a cyber security company. So a lot of their

conventions and a lot of their work is done in the US. The time difference was an issue for them, so he needed to work from here.” Not many people know, but the reason that most Israelis are moving to the US, especially to the Bay Area, is because they come from a country that is pretty good at high-tech. They come here to America to try their luck here and to succeed in the US. My angle is the perspective of an immigrant who is new at living in the United States and I want to know how other Israeli-immigrants like me feel about their new home country.

According to the Times of Israel, nobody really knows why so many Israelis are moving to the US, and how many of them there are. But one of the reasons they suggest is that Israelis want to work and succeed in the US, which is why I moved here with my family. I think people should care about Israeli immigration to experience a new but unfamiliar culture.

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M

y sister Abby was twelve when she first moved to the United States. The reason she moved was, in her words: “So I moved to the US because

people recommended my dad to move here because he wanted to open an App and pursue his dream of having a succeeding company and he basically had every material he have to succeed in the Bay Area.” According to Abby, she left her country for her dad to pursue his dreams. However, to do this she needed to give up many things that were close to her, like family and friends.

“So when I moved here, I left my family behind, and there were a lot of cousins that were born that I missed their birth, so I really didn’t have a chance to meet them. And I really miss my family and I also miss my group of friends that I felt like I fit in with them, and I felt like I was a part of something, and then when I came here I didn’t really have that at first, so I really miss that.”

Abby experienced culture shocks in her first week in the Bay. “So, in my first week I was culture shocked because there was very wide diversity here, so it was very confusing to see many religions and many races mixed together, but I thought it was very interesting. But my first week of school, it was very hard, because I was culture shocked and it was very hard for me to find friends since I didn’t really speaking English, and my accent was really bad, so I was really scared that people would judge me, but now I’m good.” Even the children of the person who moved here 14

for a job, will have experienced difficulty in adjusting.

So when I moved here, I left my family behind, and there were a lot of cousins that were born that I missed their birth, so I really didn’t have a chance to meet them.

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S

econdly, I wanted to see what was difficult for other

live, something that’s gonna be more permanent, and we kinda

new immigrants entering the United States, and

went around, so we explored Target, we explored the movies

particularly Israelis at an older age and how they

and all sorts of things around, kinda figuring out where we live,

made the adjustment. When journalist Ellen Wexler reported

where are our new home is.” He gave his opinion about Israel

on the New Israeli Americans, she focused on Shelly Oria who

and California: “Between Israel and California, I think first

did her best to imitate Americans when she first moved to

of, it goes without saying, I think the language is a pretty big

New York in 2003.” Shelly learned to hold doors, to be less

difference, but also the way you communicate with people on

aggressive in conversation, to smile at people she passed on

a personal level, obviously the language is a difference but the

the street. The rhythms of American life were new and lovely,

kind you converse with people is different as well. The humor,

but they did not come naturally. Then there were the day-today challenges: opening a bank account, getting a cellphone plan, signing a lease, learning that “credit history” really means “American credit history.” When you’re new in America, she says, everything goes wrong, and everything gets stuck.” Her experience shows how she tried to adjust to a different culture and type of people.

I interviewed Yuval Vardi, a college student and he moved to USA from Israel when he was 16. When I asked him about some of the challenges of adjusting to California, he answered about his education, and the differences between Californians and Israelis. He summarized his first week here: “So the first week was interesting, we landed in San Francisco and than we got an apartment, a temporary apartment for the first month or so, and then my parents were out, trying to find a place to

the jokes, body language, that’s sort of a thing.”

He also said his opinion about the US education system: “So been in the education

I think the language is a pretty big difference, but also the way you communicate with people on a personal level

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system and the kind of a case through around, but I only spend a year here, so I don’t have to say much about that. However, I did see my siblings go through that education system and I think that in the US you learn more things, but in Israel you learn things more in depth, which I think this is an interesting difference. Coming from Israel, I think that math is a strong subject of mine, and now that I teach math I see that a lot of people don’t know a lot of concepts, but they don’t know those concept very well, So I think that’s kind of a main difference.” By revealing his perspective about what it’s like to be an immigrant from Israel, people should care about Israeli immigration to experience a new but unfamiliar culture.

Alona Vardi, Yuval’s mother, agreed with Yuval that the first week was exciting: “ We got here during July, it was summer, we didn’t know where we’re gonna live, so it was kind of... We wanted to explore the area, so we tried to figure out between the different cities and towns in the area. The kids were very excited, everything was new to us, so it was very exciting and fun.” She also agreed with Yuval that the education system is really different In California as compared to Israel: “I’m not sure. I have to say it (the education system) is kind of different, because here they learn more subjects. They get more knowledge. But I think that in Israel, when you get the knowledge that you get, even if it’s less, you get it much deeper. So for Math, I prefer the system in Israel, because even though you learn something for 2 years, or 3 years, you still remember. And I prefer the other subject here, because you learn more variety of them. Alona commented also she misses her family: “the biggest difference for me is that we don’t have our family here, this is a major difference for me. I think that we feel here more peaceful and calm, less stress that we experienced in Israel, and starting all over for me.” Despite this differences, she and her family plan to stay here.

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T

hirdly, I want to see what the experience of the Israeli

high school graduation, you don’t need to attend universities.

parent is, who has immigrated to the United States.

Students in Israel only have standardized assessment once in

According to Laura C. Rudolph, who studied Israeli

the students final year when they are 17 or 18. It is not unusual

Americans “Israeli Americans value education highly and often

for those who do not pass these tests to try taking them again

immigrate in order to take advantage of the excellent university

after military service and pass them. In Israel, fewer Israelis go

programs available throughout the United States. According

to college than American students.

to the 1990 U.S. census, 56% of Israeli American men and

I asked an Israeli-American mother to comment on the

52% of women in New York, and 56% of Israeli American men

US education system compared to Israel? Like my other

and 62% of women in Los Angeles had attended college, and

interviewees, she talked about the differences in the education

only 20% did not finish high school. On the whole, over one-

systems. : “My daughter was only in first grade in Israel, so I

third of all Israeli American immigrants have college degrees.”

didn’t really experienced many years in the system there, in the

Because in Israel you have to go to the army right after your

matter, but I think that they are much more strict here and they

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teach kids how to be more polite, and to respect each other, and respect school, and respect property of school, and respect the teacher, which that I heard that in Israel it’s not exactly like that, and I like it a lot.” As a former Israeli student myself, I can say that I agree with her. In California there is definitely more respect paid to the teacher than in Israel. My parents did search for a good school for me and my sister for us to have better education than before.

I think that they are much more strict here and they teach kids how to be more polite, and to respect each other, and respect school, and respect property of school, and respect the teacher, which that I heard that in Israel it’s not exactly like that, and I like it a lot.

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Through my research and opinion, I hope to change people’s understanding and knowledge of the experiences that new immigrants face, specifically Israelis.

Israelis came to the United States for work opportunities but also for education opportunities for their children. Each interviewee talked about not only about why they moved here, but their experience of moving here. No matter how old they were, they spoke about the things they gave up, dealing with a new education system, and understanding how American people made friends. All of the interviewees talked about how hard it was in the beginning, and how things eventually got easier for them. I think people should care about Israeli immigration to experience a new but unfamiliar culture.

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Sales, Ben, et al. “Why More Israelis Are Moving to the US.” The Times of Israel, www.timesofisrael.com/why-more-israelis-are-moving-to-the-us/.

“The New Israeli Americans.” Moment Magazine - The Next 5,000 Years of Conversation Begin Here, 3 Aug. 2017, www.momentmag.com/new-israeli-americans/?gclid.

Zollman, Joellyn. “Jewish Immigration to America: Three Waves.” My Jewish Learning, www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-immigration-to-america-three-waves/. https://www.techlearning.com/tl-advisor-blog/10128 “Israeli Americans.” Countries and Their Cultures, www.everyculture.com/multi/Ha-La/ Israeli-Americans.html.

Shaked, Abby. Personal Interview. 11 February 2018.

Vardi, Yuval. Personal Interview. 11 March 2018.

Apple Gross,Shira. Personal Interview. 21 March 2018.

Vardi, Alona. Personal Interview. 11 March 2018.

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The Author’s Name is Nevo Shaked, and he is a junior in Los Altos High School. He is a student at Freestyle Academy, focusing on animation, design and English.

Nevo is most interested in animation and movies, and he’ll grow up, he want to create great stories and characters for movies. He came to America from Israel in 2016, so that’s why he explored the subject of Israelis in America for his documentary book.

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The Vardi’s names written on a wooden turtle from their vacation from Hawaii.

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