No shame

Cultural observation: Israelis have no shame asking how much you bought a certain item for. In the U.S. that is outright tactless, and could even be considered offensive. But here, its almost expected that when you get a complement on something, the price will be asked. My first observation of this phenomenon was when a co-worker of mine walked in with new boots. Everyone kept walking over to her, complementing her on her boots, and then asking, "kamah hayu?!" (how much were they?!) Because its so accepted to divulge how much you paid, its also very common to volunteer the information even before being asked. One of my co-workers booked a very last minute trip to Europe for Chanukah break. I said, it must have been expensive being that you booked so late... she said "No, it was 4,000 shekel." Okay, by now I'm getting the hang of this... its actually a little freeing.
Yesturday I went to the mall, and for the first time in 5 months, I looked for something to buy myself. Novel idea. I found a really nice pair of boots. Thats an understatement. I'm pretty picky and I have to say these boots were perfect. They were 399 shekel. I didn't hesitate to buy them, and the whole trying on and purchasing process went pretty quickly. Only after I left the store did I slow down and think: when I wear them tomorrow, and when people ask me how much I paid, should I say 399, or 400 hmmm... something to think about. Now you're all wondering what happened today in school- do you really have to ask?