I know it seems like it from my blog posts, but we don't ONLY go on field studies here at JUC. Various other activities fill our lives, both mundane and unusual, all filled with the foreign familiarity of life here. A recent activity that we joined in with other students was bowling.
I am not a big bowler. There have been times when I've been lucky to have a final score in the double digits, shamefully enough. So when I'm thinking of fun things to do, bowling pretty much never even makes my list, much less gets to the top. This is doubly true in Israel, where, hey, do they even HAVE bowling alleys?
So you can imagine my surprise when I found myself at a bowling alley, here in Israel...not once but TWICE in the last few months.
It turns out that, yes, they DO have bowling here.
Now, I have to admit, I have no idea what state bowling is in back in America. Like I said, I rarely frequent bowling alleys, and I think the last one I was at is a tiny one in Big Timber, Montana: six lanes, dark, smokey... And what I can remember of bowling lanes from my youth (when it was considered a treat to go on a field trip to go bowling) is much the same: dark and smokey (if not always quite as tiny.) And, of course, having to rent rather gross shoes, worn by who knows how many other people, which never fit quite right. And having to go pick out a ball from the myriad of mostly black but occasionally colored, shiny balls in racks along the wall.
This is not exactly the state of bowling in Israel.
For one thing, instead of the dark, smokey, wood-paneled basement-type areas I seem to remember, Israel favors brightly colored paint jobs. And one of the bowling alleys I went to was actually up stairs about 3 flights. Who puts a bowling alley on a roof? Just seems odd.
For another thing, the computers that keep track of score now have cutsie little animations that either celebrate you getting a spare or a strike, or mock you for your inability to do so:
For another thing, all of the balls seem to be brightly colored, but also rather worn and tattered. And if you don't like what is in your lane when you get there, you'd better hope you can trade with another lane, because that seems to be all there is.
On the plus side, they don't make you rent shoes from them.
On the minus side, we quickly understood why EVERY LANE had the bumpers up (to block off the gutters) before we arrived. We put ours down and then quickly regretted it. The lanes maybe have a tendency to be warped and dinged more here...possibly because of the bowling methods employed by most of the natives (throwing overhand, bouncing along the ground, ricocheting the ball back and forth on the bumpers, running down the lane a ways to try to make a good shot)... at any rate, gutter balls were extremely common.
I have to say, though, for myself, I've had pretty good luck bowling here in Israel. The highest score I can remember having previously is maybe in the 50's or 60's. My first time bowling here I scored over 80, which was exciting for me. This last time, I broke 100, and apparently had the highest score of the night in our group.
I am not a big bowler. There have been times when I've been lucky to have a final score in the double digits, shamefully enough. So when I'm thinking of fun things to do, bowling pretty much never even makes my list, much less gets to the top. This is doubly true in Israel, where, hey, do they even HAVE bowling alleys?
So you can imagine my surprise when I found myself at a bowling alley, here in Israel...not once but TWICE in the last few months.
It turns out that, yes, they DO have bowling here.
Now, I have to admit, I have no idea what state bowling is in back in America. Like I said, I rarely frequent bowling alleys, and I think the last one I was at is a tiny one in Big Timber, Montana: six lanes, dark, smokey... And what I can remember of bowling lanes from my youth (when it was considered a treat to go on a field trip to go bowling) is much the same: dark and smokey (if not always quite as tiny.) And, of course, having to rent rather gross shoes, worn by who knows how many other people, which never fit quite right. And having to go pick out a ball from the myriad of mostly black but occasionally colored, shiny balls in racks along the wall.
This is not exactly the state of bowling in Israel.
For one thing, instead of the dark, smokey, wood-paneled basement-type areas I seem to remember, Israel favors brightly colored paint jobs. And one of the bowling alleys I went to was actually up stairs about 3 flights. Who puts a bowling alley on a roof? Just seems odd.
For another thing, the computers that keep track of score now have cutsie little animations that either celebrate you getting a spare or a strike, or mock you for your inability to do so:
 |
| And....no spare. :P |
On the plus side, they don't make you rent shoes from them.
On the minus side, we quickly understood why EVERY LANE had the bumpers up (to block off the gutters) before we arrived. We put ours down and then quickly regretted it. The lanes maybe have a tendency to be warped and dinged more here...possibly because of the bowling methods employed by most of the natives (throwing overhand, bouncing along the ground, ricocheting the ball back and forth on the bumpers, running down the lane a ways to try to make a good shot)... at any rate, gutter balls were extremely common.
I have to say, though, for myself, I've had pretty good luck bowling here in Israel. The highest score I can remember having previously is maybe in the 50's or 60's. My first time bowling here I scored over 80, which was exciting for me. This last time, I broke 100, and apparently had the highest score of the night in our group.
Pretty exciting for a little Montana girl who's terrible at bowling.
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