I have done my first visit to IKEA in Israel. The parking lot was over-full and cars were standing on all assigned spots, as well as forbidden areas, so clearly the campaigns to boycott Swedish products after the Boström organ trafficking scandal had not reached too many Israeli homes.
Examples of Israeli parking outside IKEA
This store is always packed, and today that was even added up a little bit more, since this week everybody is free from work for the Sukkot holidays. It could therefore be questioned whether the day chosen was respectful enough to my nerves, but I survived. I try to set myself into some kind of trance state, where I flow freely in between people, find what I want and then flow ahead.
I think we stood in a line for 30 minutes in the checkout. Israelis are not famous for their queuing abilities, but here it seemed to work just fine. Maybe the Swedish spirit of subdued self-control have penetrated the walls just enough to create some order. However, the sabra temper shone through and we had the privilege to experience a real cat fight between a cashier and her customer. Both were screaming shamelessly at each other and were just about to take physical action when the security guard came to cool off the conflict, and as if that were not enough, a whole bunch of other people around them had already decided to join in to the quarrelling. Charming...
Our catch...
After checkout I went to the Swedish specialities corner to get some treats. I came out from there with Leksands knäckebröd, Kaviar (Unfortunately not Kalles), Lingonsylt, Digestives and Marabou Mjölkchoklad. I guess I have turned to a real expatriate Swede now...
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