Friday, August 5, 2016

Love by Lecce: Cultural Differences

Hi all! This week has been a bit crazy for me mentally so I didn't get a post up on Wednesday but I'm back again with another Love by Lecce post! I won't be posting about my week on Monday, but I have so much planned and lined up there simply isn't room in the schedule for it. I've loved blogging about Italy but I'm also very excited to return to my regular blogging style! As a reminder these posts labelled "syllabus post" are in Italian and then English.

È la fine della della quinta settimana! Dopo aver vissuto in Italia per cinque settimane, sento di aver capito un paio di cose. Ecco le nove maggiori differenze culturali tra (sud) Italia e l'America che ho notato.

1. Svegliarsi presto e uscire più tardi
Probabilmente la prima grande differenza culturale che ho notato è che gli italiani rimangono fuori molto tardi. Ora, so cosa stai pensando. Sei rimasto fuori fino a tardi! Ma no. Rimangono fuori fino a due o tre volte! E non solo gli adulti. Ho visto bambini piccoli ancora fuori a mezzanotte. Ed eccomi qui, un adulto, e io dormo è ancora dieci di sera.

2. Il pranzo
Il pranzo è il pasto importante qui. Non la cena. Non che la cena non sia importante, ma in realtà chiamano la loro sala da pranzo la Sala da Pranzo. Sono fanno sul serio con il pranzo qui.

3. Ritmo della vita
Mio Dio, si muovono lentamente qui. Non è una brutta cosa! Ma sul serio, è tutto lento. Anche questo potrebbe essere il motivo per cui gli italiani vivono più a lungo rispetto agli americani. Ci sono alcuni aspetti negativi di questo, però, come le Poste Italiane sono pazzamente lente.

4. Il cibo
Hanno davvero solo il cibo italiano qui. Ci sono solo un paio di ristoranti stranieri. La mia insegnante di italiano che è stato in America ha detto che in Italia i burritos non sono buoni in quanto sono come in America. Mi piace la cultura del cibo americano, quindi mi manca ottenere mangiare qualsiasi tipo di cibo che voglio in qualsiasi momento. Molto triste, lo so.

5. Parlare Inglese/Italiano
Quando ho visitato la Francia con la mia mamma, il francese ripetevano le parole in inglese in modo condiscendente. Qui, però, se gli italiani ripetono in inglese, è perché stanno praticando il loro inglese. Sono molto gentili e davvero vogliono aiutarvi con l'italiano italiano se possono.

6. "Cat Calling"
Questo non è, ovviamente, ogni uomo italiano, ma il mio Dio, se non si ottiene "cat calling" cinque volte sulla mia casa a piedi dalla scuola ogni giorno. "Cat calling" avviene sicuramente anche in America, ma è molto meno accettabile e ho onestamente sempre e solo stata gatto chiamato una mano piena di volte, e solo nelle grandi città.

7.  Guidare
Sono venuto per imparare che i segnali di stop e luci rosse sono suggerimenti. Ho visto un sacco di vetture passare attraverso luci rosse, quando stavo cercando di attraversare la strada. Ci sono anche un sacco di strade a senso unico, che non aiutano, ma arriviamo nei posti più velocemente. (Non so come questo sia in sintonia con il loro ritmo lento della vita ...)

8. Spazio
Abbiamo una grande quantità di spazio in America. Abbiamo cinquanta stati. A causa di ciò, siamo abituati a grandi case ed edifici. Forse non tutte le case sono palazzi in America, ma gli edifici sono almeno separati. Qui, gli edifici sono smushed insieme e tavoli del ristorante sono sulle strade.

9. La moda
La gente qui solo vestirsi bene. I vestiti sono buone, eleganti, e alla moda se le persone stanno andando fuori a cena o semplicemente a fare shopping. Tutti gli insegnanti della mia scuola hanno bellissimi vestiti. Ed è così semplice per loro. Capiscono di moda.

Spero vi sia piaciuto leggere sulle differenze tra (sud) Italia e l'America! Solo altre tre settimane, gente!
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It is the end of WEEK FIVE! After living in Italy for five weeks, I feel like I have picked up on a few things. Here are the nine biggest cultural differences between (southern) Italy and America that I have noticed.

1. Waking up early and staying out late
Probably the first huge cultural difference that I noticed is the fact that Italians stay out really late. Now, I know what you're thinking, you've pulled all nighters! You've been out with friends until the early hours of the morning! But if you think you are on the Italians' level, you are wrong. They stay out until midnight AT THE EARLIEST every. single. night. And not just the adults. I have legitimately seen stroller bound children out and about at midnight. And here I am, a grown adult, and my bedtime is still ten at night.

2. Lunch
Lunch is the important meal here. Not dinner. Not that dinner isn't important, but they literally call their dining room the sala da pranzo or the room of lunch. They're serious about their lunch here. My host family almost always makes lunch for me, but very rarely dinner unless I ask.

3. Pace of life
Dear God do they operate slowly here. Which isn't a bad thing! But seriously, from walking down the street to trying to get the waiter to take your order before you've been sitting at the table for a half hour: it's all slow. This also might be why they live longer than us, they're honestly probably onto something. There are some downsides to this though, like the Italian post is crazy slow. I must say though, I'm definitely getting used to this pace.

4. Food
So they really only have Italian food here. There are some other cultural delicacies here and there, a sushi restaurant, some Mexican food (40 minutes away), and Chinese place, but that's about it and that's really a huge maybe. As my Italian teacher who has been to America has also pointed out, the burritos aren't nearly as good here as they are in America. They don't even sell tortillas as the supermarkets! As a lover of the American food culture, I've really been missing my ability to get literally any type of food I want at any time via delivery or take out. Very sad, I know.

5. Speaking English/Italian
When I visited France with my mom years ago, I noticed that the French would speak back in English in a condescending manner. Here though, if Italians speak back in English it's because they're practicing. They're very kind about it and really do want to help you out with your Italian if they can.

6. Cat calling
This is obviously not every Italian man but heck if I don't get cat called at least five different times on my walk home from school each day. Even days that I'm in frumpy clothing with no makeup, it's like these guys just yell at anything that walks on two legs. Cat calling definitely happens in America too, but it's way less acceptable and I've honestly only ever been cat called a hand full of times, and in big cities.

7. Driving
I have yet to get into a car (personal or taxi) and not feel like I'm about to die. I have come to learn that stop signs and red lights are suggestions and have seen plenty of people blow through red lights when I was trying to cross the street on many occasions. There are also lots of one way streets which don't help, but hey, we get places faster. (Not sure how this fits in with their slow pace of life...)

8. Space
We have a ridiculous amount of space in America. We have fifty states and then some and each state could be its own country in Europe, honestly. Because of that, we have gotten used to large houses and establishments. Maybe not all houses are mansions in America, but buildings are at least separated unless they're condos. Here, buildings are smushed together and restaurant tables spill into the streets.

9. Fashion
Ending on a positive, but I'm sure you already knew this one. People here just look good. The clothes are good whether people are going out to dinner or just going to work. All the faculty at my school have beautiful dresses and nice pants and tops. And it's so simple for them. Clothes just work.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the differences between (southern) Italy and America! Only three more weeks folks.

16 comments:

  1. Love this post! so cool reading about the difference in cultures

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  2. When I was abroad I went to McDonald's and Hard Rock Cafes all the time just to have some good ol' American food once in a while!

    Tori

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    1. That’s the perfect plan! I love Hard Rock but we don’t have one near where I am, McDonalds has been my friend this week though! Thanks for reading.

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  3. Oh my gosh, I just stumbled upon your blog through someone else's blog and I am so glad I did. I would love to get an outsiders perspective on Italy and here you are! Just got yourself a new fanclub member :D
    xoxo, Simona and Indre

    www.sistertalessite.com

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    1. I'm so glad you found me! Are you from Italy?? Thank you so much haha!

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  4. Loved reading this! I went to Greece a few years ago and felt like everyone just looked so fabulous and chic, even the TSA agents were these gorgeous model-esque women so I completely agree with you on #9! Also when I was there I found the catcalling to be weird too, my friends & I got cat called by a group of police officers which I thought was SO inappropriate! Enjoy the rest of your time there!

    Kristin
    The Blush Blonde

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    1. That's crazy! So sorry that happened but I'm glad I'm not just super paranoid about it all. Thanks for reading!

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  5. So cool to read about the cultural differences you have encountered. I don't know if I could handle staying out so late every night but I could definitely embrace the delicious lunches!

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  6. It's amazing how different everything is in other cultures!
    www.kayleighskloset.com

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  7. I loved reading this! I've never been to Italy so it's fun reading about how it is over there. I probably would get sick of pasta every day though! I also think it's so great that you're learning Italian.

    xo // www.thematerialgirl.co

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  8. I heard the night life is super late in Europe! How fun and different!

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  9. I remember that about Europe when I studied abroad last year- early mornings and late nights! When do they sleep?! haha!! Glad you're having a great time!

    xoxo A
    www.southernbelleintraining.com

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  10. How amazing!! What an incredible experience, I hope to travel to Italy one day!!

    http://styledbys.ca

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  11. What an amazing experience! I love reading about the cultural differences! I really want to visit someday!!

    xo Ashley

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  12. I would love to travel to Italy one day! It's so interesting reading about the differences in different countries! I hope you're having a fantastic time!

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