Italian/American Impressions

The CIMBA program shares the campus with high school students, and a group of the Italian students came to my class this morning and we did a joint workshop. Two American students to every Italian student, and the focus was on food.   It was incredible how well they could speak English and how hard they work at it. We discussed what we traditionally eat, how we eat, etc, and then we had time to move on and talk about life in general.  Moving from the classroom to the computer lab, each American student had one Italian student sit down and discuss a first impression they have of the opposite culture, and then, the student either agreed and elaborated, or corrected the impression and explained the difference(s).

I met with Stefano, who lived with an English-speaking family in Vietnam for 5 years.  His English was practically flawless; he was truly a delight to sit and talk with.
He asked me about our meals -- he said, "Your meals seemed rushed.  If you have time to eat, you eat.  If you're too busy, you keep going.  Is this true, is that how everyone lives, rushed?"

I explained that in college, you don't get a 'lunch break,' you eat between classes or after, so, in that instance, he is right.  But when it comes to work, you get a lunch break, even if you still eat at your desk, you at least get a break.  When we go out to eat, we like to sit and talk, but most restaurants are still fast with their service.  Sometimes we even complain when things "take too long" to come out of the kitchen.

My turn! I asked him about wine.  I asked, "is wine as important to the youth as it seems? We always here about children, or teens, having wine at very young age… how old were you when you started drinking?" 

He started his answer with an old Italian saying, he said, "'good wine does good blood' – if you have a good glass of wine, it is good for you AND your health.  You usually don’t “drink” until you’re 16, that’s the legal age."  He said he prefers red, "even in winter it somehow manages to warm you.  White you usually drink it in the summer, when you’re having tappas or happy hour, you always have white or prosecco.  White is fresher, and easier to get down.  Red is more dense, it has more flavor and spices…it’s thicker." I then explained that I prefered white, because in America, practically everything you drink is cold.  We put ice in our water and our soda, we have our beer cold, white wine is chilled, etc.  So, I only like red wine with certain foods because it's warm, and I don't really enjoy that aspect of it.  His response was classic, “Putting ice in your red wine is like swearing in public.  It HAS to be warm.  It warms your soul.”  

My second question session was with Ludovica.  Her English was not as good, but compared to my "Italian," if you can even call it that, she was great.  
I told her I had no idea how laid back Italy was going to be.  Almost everything closes at 1 o'clock for a few hours, and everything opens later in the mornings and closes earlier in the evenings.  So I said, "everything seems very relaxed here, a much slower pace, is that how just the businesses operate, or is that the culture and country in general?"

She said, "Yes, almost everyone and everything is relaxed here.  But as a student in Italy, we cannot eat or drink in class, so we make time for meals. We even get breaks between classes, for example I have one at 10:30, to smoke or have tea, eat crackers, socialize. And it is the same for stores, they work hard but they deserve lunch too, so they close for a few hours to rest and eat."  She then explained to me her school schedule, and how she gets a few breaks in during the school day, but she goes from 8-5, and in class it is not relaxed.

She asked me, "In America, you start class at 7 but go until shorter? And not everyone wants to leave America, right?"  

I explained that in high school, most schools start at 8 and go about until 3, but some can be shorter or longer.  And yes, most Americans don’t want to leave the states.  Most people are born there and want to stay there...travel everywhere – yes, live away – no.  Not every college students leaves to study somewhere else, but many would like to.  But even when American students do study abroad, they usually go for no longer than a semester, and some even go just for a few weeks.

She explained to me that even if Italian students don’t spend their collegiate time in America, majority try to go for at least one year during or after.  They do this to perfect their English and learn the culture.  She said Spain is popular too, because most students who learn English, then learn Spanish. 

Our conversation was fairly short and quickly turned into a discussion about her boyfriend, "ragazzo"…but that’s a turn in the conversation that I won’t discuss!